A/N: Oh boy. Been a while since an upload. Like a legit upload. One that advances the story. Anyway, this one has a very interesting twist at the end that'll be sure to rattle your minds until the next upload. As for updates, they will not be as frequent as before. I'm juggling working on this fanfic and my original novel. So updates will be sporadic as time moves along. Anyway, enjoy this chapter as I've worked on it. Enjoy!
Tridon woke up to see his floor covered with the other girls and their sleeping bags. Tridon sighed and shook his head.
"Monika has her own room. Why couldn't she sleep in there?" Tridon stood up and carefully walked around the room to avoid stepping on any of them.
However, one of the girls flipped over and left their arm hanging out just as Tridon stepped, causing him to trip and fall onto the ground.
"Blegh!"
The girls shot up to see Tridon face first on the ground. They looked at who tripped Tridon on accident and it was Yuri.
"Oh gosh." Yuri shuffled towards Tridon and slowly held his head up, "Are you okay?"
Tridon groaned and instantly felt something soft on his head, "Yuri," he started, "I feel something soft and I don't think they're the type of melons I would casually allow to touch me."
"A-Ah..." Yuri stuttered and didn't move, "If you don't mind it then..."
"Yuri," Tridon sat up and accidentally rammed his head into her breasts and used his peripheral vision to look at the other girls who were glaring at him specifically, "you might want to let me get up before I'm torn apart."
Yuri slowly let go of Tridon, allowing him to rub the back of his head. He slowly stood up and sighed, "It's the weekend so you 5 of you know where I'll be most of today."
"Huh?" Lola was quick to ask, "What do you mean?"
"Well," Tridon started, "since you know about my power, I can tell you that I go somewhere to analyze and practice on using my power."
"Practice?"
"Last semester, I used my power a lot. Which lead it to becoming unstable. In order to have stabilize itself whenever I use it, I have to go somewhere to use it sparingly and teach my body to not screw itself over while using my power."
"Can we not go with you?" Lola asked.
"You know," Monika began, "you've been going to Tiff's house since late last month, and not once have we even gone or heard about your time there."
"I think it's time you let us." Sayori added.
"I agree." Natsuki chimed in.
"Yes Tridon." Yuri whispered into Tridon's ear quite sadistically and said, "We don't want to be left out."
"I feel so many goosebumps right now that my goosebumps have goosebumps." He looked at the girls who were adamant on going with him, "Oh fine. Tiff won't like it, but I'm sure she'll understand my situation."
"I just don't understand." Tridon and the girls stood in front of Tiffany who had her arms crossed, "Couldn't you have tried harder?"
"Tiff," Tridon grabbed her shoulders and said, "there's one of me and 5 of them. I don't think I have the best chances against them."
Tiffany could only sigh and say, "Well, you know what to do first."
Tridon slowly turned around and explained to the girls, "Okay. I'm about to strip down to my underwear. Don't freak out or anything." Tridon took off his shirt and looked at the girls, "Just chill." Tridon tossed his shirt to Tiffany and slowly took off his pants.
The girls stared at him with light blushes on their faces. He tossed his pants to Tiffany and looked at the girls once more. He shook his head and clapped loudly.
"Eyes up here ladies." Tridon sighed and walked towards a bed of some sort, "Just get this part over with Tiff."
"You know it'll take a minute."
"I got it."
"W-What's this for Tiff?" Sayori asked.
"It's to measure how unstable his power is at the moment and if he'd use it recently. It lets me know exactly what we're going to do today."
"How has his practice come along?" Sayori followed up.
"It's coming around." Tiffany explained, "I have a file on what tiers he can do."
"Tiers as in?" Lola asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Tiffany looked at Lola and asked, "Who are you exactly?"
"S-Sorry." Lola quickly apologized and introduced herself, "I'm Lola. I just joined the literature club a few days ago. I'm also the new salutatorian for the senior class."
Tiffany looked over to the other girls and then to Tridon, "Alright." She pressed some buttons on a console next to Tridon and walked over to another set of computers, "As for the tiers, I mean on what exactly he can alter in our reality. Whether it's new scenarios or just minor changes. So far he can change the general area around himself. Not around other people. When he does, things become a little unstable."
"So he's not exactly able to do adventures with us yet?" Yuri asked.
"Actually," Tiffany turned around and said, "I have yet to do a large group test. I've only been the only control group. I think it would be good if I observe an different control group if he were to take all of you on an adventure."
"Really?"
"It'll let me see if things become unstable or he's coming around." She took one look at Lola and said, "Sayori, can I talk to you in private for a second?"
"Sure."
The two of them walked to a secluded room away from everyone and Tiffany faced the wall while Sayori confusingly stared at her back.
"Tiff?"
"Lola is with Robert."
"What?"
"Lola is working with Robert. I don't know how, but she's working with him."
Sayori was about to say something, but stopped herself, "Actually..."
"Another girl just randomly just joins the group seems a little off, don't ya' think? Remember what happened to Erica? She joined and was initially normal, but her true colors showed when she made that call to bring Eric here."
"She called him here?"
"Yes. Robert gave her the number and she called him. Erica is willing to do anything to drive you girls away from him. Maybe Robert is using this girl to drive a wedge between all of you. She might not do it intentionally, but she'll win him over the 4 of you."
"I don't think that'll happen..."
"It's happened before and I know it'll happen again." Tiffany walked over to Sayori and handed her a small handheld device, "Watch her closely. As soon as something bad happens, press that button. My team and I will move as fast we can to the location of where you pressed the button."
"I uh..."
"Just keep it on you at all times." Tiff left Sayori alone in the room as she stared at the device.
"I won't need this," Sayori stared at the ground and asked, "right?"
Sayori eventually walked into the other room to see Tridon wearing his pants, but still shirtless. Tiffany was explaining something to the other 4, so Tridon walked over to Sayori.
"Hey best friend." Tridon started, "You two talk about..." Tridon mouthed the name "Lola" and pointed to her, "Don't worry. She said the same thing when I first told her about my fake relationship with her."
"Tridon..."
"Don't worry." Tridon wrapped his arm around Sayori and hugged her, "No matter what happens, I know you'll be there at my side."
"Of course dude." Sayori tried to reach for Tridon's shoulders, but couldn't reach, "Bend down a little?"
"Right." Tridon squat down a little allowing Sayori to put her arm around Tridon's neck.
"Thanks best friend." The two fist bumped before making their way back to everyone.
"Alright Tridon," Tiffany began, "everyone has come to the conclusion that you should make the zombie adventure again."
"From where we left off?" Tridon question.
"Where else?" Natsuki groaned, "Why would we start back from the beginning."
"However, Lola," Tiffany interrupted, "I will need you to lay back while I analyze your own abilities."
"O-Okay..."
"Please get her ready in the other room Jen."
"Yes ma'am." And with that, Jen led Lola out of the room.
"Right." Tridon shook his head and hopped up and down, "Let's see if I can get this right." Tridon snapped his fingers and they were quickly teleported back to the backrooms of the mall they ran into.
"Wow." Monika sighed and nodded, "Been a while since we've seen this."
"Nice job Tridon." Sayori turned around, but noticed that Tridon was gone, "Tridon? Did he not teleport with us?!"
"He's right here." Natsuki answered, "Remember, he got bit."
"Hi." Tridon waved at them and slowly sat up, "The bite hurts, but I don't know when exactly or if I'll turn. So it's just a shot in the dark right now."
"You should patch that up." Yuri commented, "We have to find a first-aid kit somewhere."
"I know I put one somewhere." Tridon slowly stood up and hauled his shotgun around his shoulder, "But we gotta be careful. I don't remember exactly where we are."
"Can you walk on your own?" Monika quickly ran over to offer him her shoulder, but he held his hand up, "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It's not like I was bit in the leg. Just my arm." Tridon looked around and applied pressure to his arm, "We do need to find a way to stop the bleeding and at least slow the infection down."
"Let's head inside this store." Natsuki called out, "It looks like one of those small, modern furniture store." Natsuki peaked inside and instantly saw some beds laid out, "I see some beds. Maybe we can have Tridon sit while one of us tends to his wound."
"I can do it." Yuri said, "After the mountain incident, I took some first-aid classes. I just want to be prepared in case some bad happens."
"Well," Tridon walked over to the bed and placed his shotgun down, "I think it's a little dangerous for us to split just to find some first aid. Maybe we can use one of these bed sheets or something as a makeshift gauze for now."
"I can do that." Yuri offered as she started ripping apart some of the bed sheets, "I always wondered why things still hurt when we're in these alternate realities. Why is that?"
"We're only in another reality." Tridon explained, "Our body would still react to pain and such normally as if we were in our reality." Tridon ringed his arm once Yuri finished wrapping it up and continued, "When we switch in and out of a reality, things remain the same in that particular reality."
"So that explains why your bite still remains, but disappears when we go back to our reality." Yuri nodded, "Reality is a confusing concept."
"It's only confusing if you don't understand its limitations." Tridon laughed, "Something Tiffany has been helping me understand."
"Guys," Sayori called out, "the gate is down." The rest of the group joined Sayori by the entrance of the store and it was indeed blocked by a gate, "It won't budge."
"Hm..." Tridon looked around and walked over to one of the shelves in the store, "Maybe we could..."
A few moments later, the shelf flew out of the store's large display window. The club stepped out while wiping their hands.
"That worked." Tridon groaned, "Just wish I wasn't bit."
"Now what do we do?" Natsuki asked, "We don't even know if this place is empty."
"And we need find proper first-aid for Tridon's bite." Monika added, "He needs more than just a sheet cover."
"Splitting up would be too dangerous." Tridon mumbled, "For now, we check the main entrance. Make sure that's locked and secure. We'll figure out what we'll do from there."
The girls nodded and the group made their way to the entrance. Tridon checked the main entrance door and it was locked. He sighed and looked up before turning to the girls again.
"Well, no gate to cover the entrance, but these doors aren't going to break if a bunch of zombies repeatedly bang on 'em."
"For how long though?" Yuri quickly asked, "You saw how fast and strong those things you wrote are. Why'd you write them like that?"
"It's exciting isn't it?" Tridon chuckled, "Slow zombies are nice and deadly in hordes, but sprinting zombies in massive hordes are nightmarish."
"How did you end this story?" Monika asked, "We haven't really touched this since we first did it."
"I wrote until that bitten part. What we're doing now is literally just us doing our thing." Tridon looked around and sighed, "We'll have to make sure the other entrances are secure and we gotta make sure the stores are clear. We don't need to do much for this test scenario. Just do that and we'll figure it out from there."
"Alright." Sayori stepped up to Tridon and held her hand out, "Give me the shotgun."
"What?"
"I'll go check the other entrances."
"I'm not giving you the shotgun."
"At least give it to one of us while we check the stores." Natsuki interrupted, "We can't go around without something to protect ourselves with."
"Wait a minute." Tridon snapped his fingers and 3 handguns appeared on the floor near them, "Here," Tridon picked them up and handed them to the girls, "I shouldn't explain how to use a gun."
"We'll stay here up front." Monika offered as she pulled Tridon to sit down on a nearby fountain, "I'll check his bite wound and do what I can with it." Monika turned to Yuri and Natsuki to ask, "Can one of you find a first-aid kit anywhere?"
"We'll try." Yuri answered.
"But you can't try anything Monika." Natsuki firmly added, "No cheating while we're gone Monika."
The 3 girls left leaving Monika to sigh and unwrap the wound on Tridon's arm. She watched as blood lightly leaked out of the wound before waterfalling out of it. She quickly covered it back up and sighed.
"I hope they find a first-aid kit." Monika looked at Tridon who proceeded to fiddle with the shotgun he had in his hands. She thought back to what he said earlier and asked, "So there are different versions of us when you make these realities?"
"More or less. Your body changes depending on the scenario I make. Since we've been to this reality before, it takes the place of what happened last night. Which explains why I still have my bite. I could just poof it away, but Tiffany tells me that I must keep everything as it is until she completes further testing."
"How long will tests go?"
"She said no longer than halfway through the school year. She said at most, before or after spring break."
"That long before we can do actual adventures?"
"We can do adventures, but they'll be more controlled and under the jurisdiction of Tiff."
"Hm." Monika thought to herself and asked, "Do you think you see yourself being like Tiff in the future?"
Tridon looked up and shook his head, "Probably not. If my NFL career doesn't take off, then I'll probably go into either sports journalism or on the analyst side of things. Maybe start a podcast. Maybe something that I can still include you girls in."
"That's nice, but I think journalism would be more down Yuri's side since you both are in Photography."
"True, but we've had fun doing stuff like that. I think it'll be nice if her and I partner up to report on sports and such."
"That'll be cool."
"For now though, I have to think about my future in football." Tridon stood up and walked around the fountain, "Looks like the one in the park."
"You said parts of these realities take form of things from our reality."
"Yeah. Whether that's people, buildings, or other structures like this." Tridon paused and turned around and saw a zombie glaring at him. Monika stood nearby backing up.
Tridon took a deep breath and aimed at the zombie, but it lunged at him as he shot, making him miss and tackling him into the fountain.
Meanwhile, Sayori had finished checking the last entrance and sighed in relief, "Good. Now we're safe from those zombies outside." Sayori started to walk off until a group of zombies ran into the door and proceeded to bang on it. Sayori quickly turned around in shock and laughed, "Haha stupid zombies. These doors are shatterproof. Bunch of idiots." Just as Sayori said this, the door started to crack , "Oh..." Sayori backed up and ran the other way just as the door burst open.
Natsuki and Yuri walked into the last store with Natsuki aiming, but found nothing. Natsuki nodded and turned to Yuri.
"Well, we're clear in every store." Natsuki commented, "We should meet back up everyone."
"Yeah. I don't want them to be in trouble while Tridon is bit." Just as Yuri said this, they heard the shotgun go off, "Oh no!"
"Let's go Yuri!"
"Right!"
Tridon wrestled with the zombie in the fountain while Monika stood shocked at what was happening. Tridon groaned while trying to fight the zombie off.
"Monika!" Tridon shouted, "Help!"
Monika froze while Tridon looked for her to help him. Sayori eventually made it back and saw what was happening.
"Monika!" Sayori shouted, "What are you doing just standing there?!" Sayori aimed at the zombie and shouted, "Keep your mouth closed Tridon!" Tridon did as she instructed and kept his mouth shut while she shot.
Tridon coughed when it dropped dead and he brushed off himself. Sayori picked up his shotgun and tossed it over to him.
"No time to rest dude." Sayori added, "We gotta get going! They got in!" Sayori ran passed them while Tridon looked back to see the zombies tripping over one another and seeing them.
"Come on Monika!" Tridon grabbed Monika who started to sprint with Sayori back to where Natsuki and Yuri were.
Tridon stopped and fired into the group, but failed to kill any of them. Tridon cursed to himself and joined back up with the others.
Yuri and Natsuki eventually met them at the top of the stairs and saw what had happened. They both fired into the swarm with Sayori while Monika ran behind them. Tridon was still far behind them.
He started head up, but his legged was grabbed, causing him to trip on the stairs. His cushioned his fall with his hands and quickly turned around to hit the zombies with the butt of his shotgun.
"Help me girls!" Tridon shouted.
Before they could move, Monika sprinted down and grabbed him by his arms to try and pull him up. However, this took away the only way he could push them back with them biting his legs or grabbing. As soon as she started pulling, they bit into his legs.
"Ah!"
"Tridon!" Sayori snapped and quickly, they were back in Tiffany's house. Sayori stood shocked at what she had just done.
Tiffany looked at Sayori and then to Tridon who was still on the ground. She nodded and walked over to Sayori.
"It took you this long to finally use it?"
"I..."
To Be Continued... In the next chapter obviously.
