Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108 or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
AN: I have no idea where I got this idea…maybe from 红楼梦, a Chinese novel. There was a character that kept on laughing, and I just placed it here. Slightly based on 'Nevermore', Teen Titans episode. The name 'Lin Kai Fu' came from a novel: S.A.I.N.T.S., Song of Winds. Hope you like!
Just so you know, Lin Chung is in a coma for this one, because of a battle that resulted in him hitting his head hard enough that he could have died, but instead, managed to get in a coma instead…luckily.
Wake Up:
"Where are we?" Sonia stretched, yawning. One minute, she had been in her bed. The next, she was somewhere dark and spooky with dying trees and a dark sky with no sign of a moon, stars, or a sun. She looked around.
To her displeasure, everyone else was there.
No, wait.
There were only nine of them.
Lin Chung. Her mind concluded. He was missing.
"Neverwhere." A voice spoke up from beside them, laughing. A slightly younger version of Lin Chung looked at them with amusement. Sonia could have mistaken him for Lin Chung, except Lin Chung was definitely older, and this one's hair was lighter.
And Lin Chung was currently in a coma.
"Where's that?" Kowloon scowled.
"No where!" The boy laughed again.
Latifah frowned. "Why are you laughing?"
"Because where we are is in the name - Neverwhere!" The boy laughed once more. "He gives you too much credit."
"Who?" Kowloon demanded.
"Lin!"
"Who?" Sonia asked, eyebrow raised.
Once again, the boy laughed. Why does he laugh so much? He laughed, like, four times in the last two minutes! Sonia frowned.
"You know, your friend? One that I think looks like me?"
"Lin Chung?" Kowloon's tone was disbelieving.
The boy laughed. "Who else?" He beckoned to them, leading them into the bare trees. "C'mon."
As they walked, Sonia decided to talk with him. "So, besides being in the middle of nowhere, do you have a definite location?"
"Um…" The boy looked thoughtful. "The bad part." He nodded, laughed once, and continued walking.
"Of where?" Ray demanded.
"Of his mind!" Again he laughed.
"Of whose mind?!" Latifah shrieked at him. The boy sent her a condensing look, before it clicked in Jumpy's mind.
"Lin Chung?"
The boy laughed. "Good!"
"Then why aren't we in the good part?" Ray complained.
"At least you can get out." The boy frowned. "I'm stuck here."
"Why?"
The boy laughed. "Like Ying and Yang! There's always good in bad, there's always bad in good. I'm the good in bad, so there's bad in good. Don't talk to him. He's grouchy." And he laughed. Again.
"Do you like laughing?"
The boy shrugged. "You know what they say: A day without laughter is a day wasted."
"A minute, more like." Kowloon muttered.
"What if we insult you?" Latifah tested.
"Like how?"
"Like we say you are ugly, this place is terrible, .etc.?" Ray asked.
"Do you mean it?"
"Yes." Ray shrugged.
Instantly, his demeanour changed. He curled one if his hands into a fist. "Do you want a punch to the face or a kick to the groin?"
Ray gulped, backing away hastily. "I didn't mean it."
"Kick or punch? Choose or I'll choose."
Ray sighed. "Punch." With that, a fist collided with his face, leaving him with a broken nose.
"How do we get out of here?" Sonia distracted.
"Oh." The boy smiled. "You wake up."
"What?!" Kowloon demanded. "You mean we didn't need to walk all the way here?"
The boy shrugged. "Not really. Unless you want to know when your friend wakes up."
"He'll wake up?!" Sonia demanded, eyes lighting up.
"'Course.' The boy shrugged. He studied the bark of a tree nearby. "In about…five months."
"Five months?" Kowloon exclaimed, surprised.
The boy laughed. "He'll recover when the trees over here grow back."
"But isn't it meant to be like this?" Sonia asked, surprised.
"No," the boy shook his head. "For now, he needs for his mind to replenish before he'll wake. See?" He pointed out the slowly rising dawn. "You'll wake."
"Wake?" Sonia echoed.
"Yeah. That's the only way to get out of here." The boy laughed. "And I'll still stay here."
"Wait. Then who are you?" Kowloon asked, eyes wide as he felt himself slowly dissolve.
The boy's smile faded. "Someone who Lin Chung abandoned out of necessity in order to survive."
"Younger…self?" Jumpy tried.
The boy smiled sadly. "You're smart."
"What's your name then? Is it the same?"
The boy hesitated. "Kai Fu. Lin Kai Fu."
"It was nice meeting you!" Sonia called out as she found herself floating up gently. Lin Kai Fu smiled at her, waving to them.
"Same." He looked down, before looking up again. "But for now, WAKE!"
All jolted up in their respective beds, breathing heavily.
Lin Kai Fu's laugh was still ringing in their ears.