Longest Novel: Fall of The Republic

by morgan kingsley

In 2020, a middle-aged author, living too deeply in the past, decides to write the story of what really happened to him and his friends when he was younger, and as it unfolds, a giant conspiracy starts to show itself. An AU of seasons 1-4 that take place in the United States. Crossover with several other series for one overall universe.

17. The Monsters Returning

Chapter 1 Episode 11 – The Monsters Returning (T.K.'s POV)

Scene 1 – The New Heir (Rob)

When Gumball and I were finally at his house again, he was at his front door step, and I was wondering what in the world I was going to be saying to him, to make him feel better about everything going on. "Sorry for not listening to you about your parents more. I should have taken what you said into consideration more. I am not really a good friend, and I think that pretending that I am is only making things worse."

"It's okay. I mean, you are trying to do what is right. So just relax, and I will not be too upset about it. I need to sort of look at myself as well, and see what issues I have been causing with the way that I have been acting as well. I feel like we are both making a lot of mistakes here." Gumball said, and then he was placing his hand on my shoulder.

"If you want to continue looking soon enough, then I can find out what I can to continue giving you information. You deserve more help, and I feel like you have been really doing a great job being a good friend to those around you. Hopefully this will end soon enough, and the answers that we are both seeking can finally be giving us some form of rest." I said, and in all honesty, I knew that something like that was not happening. But in all honesty, I hardly cared at all.

"I do want to know. I mean, Tina and I did not get along well at all. But her parents deserve better, and I feel like I should be doing something for them. It is not their fault that she had turned out the way she did." Gumball said, and then I looked at him, shocked at his relatively liberal stance on this issue, given their past history.

"Well, thanks for keeping an open mind. I feel like I am going to have to go back to that summer camp again. I have no other way of putting it, but I feel like that summer camp is where everything is going to be giving me more of a idea on what I need to do." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I was wondering what Gumball would say to this.

"Just make sure that when you do something like that, that you have a couple of people with you. I do not want to hear that something happened to you because the people who are behind this whole thing are basically doing some fucking house cleaning." After Gumball said that, this comment was really sinking down a bit, and I knew that what he was saying was probably true.

"Yeah, I guess that having a team would help out quite a bit. But to be honest, I am scared of what I would be doing if I have one with me. How many people would be hurt when I would do that, and how many people would be thinking that it was all my fault this happened." I said, and then with that, I shrugged, and I had nothing else to say to that.

"You would be having a greater chance of survival. And that is all that you need to know. And I think that you understand that, even if for some reason you are trying to pretend it is more than that." Gumball was saying, and then with that, he was just keeping quiet, and I was feeling like I just needed to be more reasonable with what I had been doing.

"Yeah, I guess that I do need to consider that more. Having a greater chance of survival is already a good enough reason to be looking at going through with doing things your way." I said, and then I was shrugging, and then after I had said that to him, I was starting to place my hand on my board, and I was starting to rub my arm cast a bit.

"Are you planning on getting that checked up? It seems like you really need to get that looked into, and I feel like you are only hurting yourself more and more the longer that you do not attend to that." Gumball said to me, and then after he was saying this, I sighed, and I felt like he was probably telling the truth here. "And besides, you need to work on your practicing. That was probably why your mother bought that board to begin with."

I was slowly nodding, and I was wondering what it would be like if I just understood what was going on in my mothers mind. I just wish that I understood her perspective. If I did, then perhaps I would have saved her. Perhaps she would have actually had a chance to see that she did not need to do what she had done to herself.

"Yeah, I guess that perhaps that is true. Hard to really know what she was thinking, or why she was thinking it. I feel like that is probably the biggest thing that I would love to fucking know. Is just see where she is coming from." I said, and then after I had said that, I decided to remain silent, and then I was ready to just start skating, and leave him alone for now.

"Before you go, thanks for being there for everybody. It feels so much better being able to open up with people, and I feel like I can actually get to know people better when I can talk with them more. I feel like you actually do care about what people are thinking, and that is something that I am so fucking happy to know." After Gumball said that to me, I was happy to hear that somebody really did respect what I was doing, and respected me, so I was starting to leave. For real this time.

The next day, when I woke up, I was getting ready to head out, but once I was outside after getting all the stuff ready, I had already seen Rob waiting outside. I was scared of what Rob was planning on doing, but at the same time, I did not want to be letting him down, so I figured that I would just see what he had wanted to tell me.

"Rob, what are you doing here?" I asked, hoping beyond everything that whatever his plan was, it was something that I would actually be able to handle. If it was something that was way out of my league, then I was going to have to find a way out of it. I was looking down, just wishing to excuse myself out of this as fast as possible.

"I was wanting to talk to you about some recent developments." Rob said, and then I was sighing, since I felt like this was super duper obvious, and there was no reason for him to be here if that was not the case. But I decided to just remain silent, and not be a total smart ass when I was going to talk with him here.

"I heard the news that Candice had recently been murdered in the forest. I mean, you know how much I hated her, and felt like she was a miserable human being. But she did not really deserve something like this, and I feel like we need to just see what in the world even happened with her." Rob was saying, and I was wondering how he would fucking have me solve this case for him.

"Do you seriously expect that I can find out the truth? I mean, I barely even knew her, and she was kind of a hard person to talk with. In fact, I would not be surprised if something like this had been planned from the start." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what he would have said to this statement. I saw that Rob looked like he was not too certain what to think.

"I know how you are, and I know that you are willing to try. We all know how you are. I just feel like it would be smart for us to see what we could be able to find out. The fact that she had been targeted shows that there is something of a plan going on here." Rob said, and then I was sighing, and felt like I just needed to let him say what he wanted to.

"Maybe it was because she was seeing Ocho, and these people are trying to communicate a message to him that they are willing to take his life apart if he doesn't stop this stuff. I mean, that is a reasonable thing to be assuming that they would be doing." I said, and then I looked at him, and I was seeing that Rob was just taking a second to debate what I said.

"I mean, I suppose that something like that could be true. But I feel like it is much more than that, and I feel like you fucking know that." After Rob was saying that to me, I was sighing, and I wondered what his general goal with this entire conversation was even going to be by doing this.

"Oh god, how in the world did I get myself into this whole fucking mess? I guess that maybe this is my fault for trying to know everything that I do. But regardless, I feel like we need more to work with here." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what he was even thinking here. "Alright, I guess that if you feel like we need to check it out, I will be willing to give it one look, and maybe I will see what you are saying." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling that there was no real reason to not be doing this at all.

"Thank you. I mean, you already clearly stated that this is not really something that you are interested in. But I feel like we are really seeing something here. And I know it might sound silly, but I think that just brushing this off so casually is only going to be making things much worse for us." Rob was telling me, and I hated the way he was acting like I didn't care or whatever over what was going on here.

So with that, we were heading to the forest, and I was feeling like whatever in the world we were going to find there, I just needed to pay more careful attention. And I was feeling that if the police had seen what we were doing, they would probably try to force us to never go inside of the forest ever again, as if we were breaking the law.

"So Rob, do you think that she was taken out by the company or something? I mean, I just find it so strange how they would be targeting her of all people. Even if she was not the most well received person ever, I feel like there is no reason to really be going after her." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was really not having any other way of saying it.

"I mean, I think it is certainly possible. And I think that both of us would be really doing something wrong if we did not look into it at all. So I think that we need to just fucking look into what was there. I understand that you might be wanting some more action. And I know you recently bought into the monster theory. But with literally no evidence, I am not sure how to go with that." Rob said, and then I was laughing at the 'no evidence' comment since he was not there when one literally almost fucking killed me that one time.

"Trust me when I say that there is a lot of evidence that can show that they are real." I said, feeling like I just needed to drop it with that, and not be pressing the issue any further. As I was thinking this, I had been looking around, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be saying.

As we were in there, Rob just started to lead me in the direction of where Candice had died. In all honesty, when we were heading there, I was wondering what Rob was actually going to be able to do here. Although I will admit that I was wondering if Rob had a plan here. Or if he was just messing around, and didn't really know what he had been doing.

I was seeing that there was a lot of blood that was in the area. I looked around, and saw that one of the trees had a hole on them. Confused at this, I started to head to the tree, and Rob was looking over, to see what I had been doing. Once he knew what I was doing, I saw that he was starting to smile a little bit, as if glad that we actually were getting something here.

"What do you think you can find in there?" Rob asked, and then I was starting to pull around the tree, wondering what in the world I was going to find. Eventually, that was when I pulled out what looked like a gun bullet. As I looked at Rob, I saw that he was looking like he was just having a pale face. "Did Candice die by gun shot?"

I shrugged, thinking that it was slightly possible, but did not really have any idea what to tell him. "Honestly, I don't know if that is the case. But it seems to be far more likely than not to be totally honest with you." After I said that to him, I started to check around, wondering what I was even going to be doing by checking this all out.

"Probably one of those men in black are responsible for it. Although that makes me wonder what she did in order to cause this to happen. I feel like the men in black should be going after Ocho if they are so worried about taking somebody down." After Rob was saying this to me, I was shocked to hear him say this, and I was wondering what he was even planning here.

"I mean, I do see where you are coming from. That does make no sense. I mean, I do not want anything to happen to him, but I feel like if they are trying to root out the main issue to their cause, then Ocho is really the one person that should be gone after." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I really had no idea what the hell I would get out of this anymore.

As I was looking around, I saw that Rob was checking out the blood sights. I was seeing that he was trying to decide if the positions here were even making any sense to begin with. "It seems like when Candice was here, she managed to put up a fight against the person who killed her. As if she had known that something like this was going to happen in the first place." After he had said that to me, I was really just unsure what the heck I was doing.

"I mean, she did hang out with Ocho a lot. I feel like she probably heard some stuff from him that made her really suspicious about what is happening. But I feel like that is just paranoid causing her to be acting the way that she had been." I shrugged, and I was feeling like I really had no idea what in the world I was going to even do now.

As we were standing up firmly, the two of us were just thinking about what in the world we were going to do. Before long, there was a grinding noise that went off. I was closing my eyes, just mentally wishing that Tina's death was at least less painful than the noise was probably making it sound like it was. When I was done, I looked right at Rob, and I was seeing that he was looking like he was just utterly horrified at the fact that this had been happening once again.

"Gumball and I probably know who the victim is this time." I said, and I was hoping that Rob would at least be willing to hear me out, and not be upset at the fact that I had not stopped her from going missing. "Tina Rex. We found her jacket in the forest yesterday." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying. The two of us seemed to consider what was ahead.

"Wow. I feel like I am failing everybody with what I am doing." Rob said, and then I looked at him, and I was wondering what in the world he had been meaning. I mean, he was just one person who was involved with this. He was not the main person behind this whole thing. As we were walking out of the forest, I was really unsure what to be doing now.

Once we were getting near the exit of the forest, that was when I was seeing Brad coming by with his car. I saw that he had a shoulder cast. And there was a very bloody spot in the center, as if it was a gun shot. I was sighing, knowing full well what this was. And I was looking at him, wondering if he had been the man who killed Candice as well, and the thought made me sick. Either that, or he was a freedom fighter who was once again caught in the wrong area at the wrong time.

As he was starting to leave, I called out to him, and I was not going to be letting him have a chance to get away without at least some questions first. "How did you get that injury?" I asked, and then Brad pulled over, and I started to walk the several feet to the car, and Rob was with me, and I was seeing that he was sort of seeing what I was trying to accomplish here.

"I was fighting a monster in the forest. You know that they are true, considering what you saw at the summer camp. If you want to actually help, I would tell your friends to actually focus on what you are saying, and realize that this is actually the truth." Brad said, and then he was looking at Rob, and I was seeing from the look on his face, he was just kind of scared of what was going to happen now.

"Hello. I heard a lot about you lately, and I was wondering if perhaps we could be able to work together on a internship going forward. I believe that there are a lot of things that you can learn from working with me." After Brad was telling Rob this, I saw that Rob was looking like he was relatively scared of what he had been doing here.

"What would you even want to show me? I mean, you barely even know me in the first place. And besides, I still don't understand the general point of most of your work." After Rob was telling Brad this, I saw that Brad was looking like he was actually mildly angry at the way that Rob had responded to this statement.

"Look Rob, I understand that you are probably too young to understand what is happening around you, but I feel like you need to start to open your eyes, and see what is ahead of you guys. I understand that many of you guys don't trust me. And I know that there is nothing that I can fucking do to change that." After he had said that to Brad, he sighed, and then remained silent for a few seconds longer.

"I will need some time to think about it, I guess. I mean, I feel like there is no reason to be so worried about this stuff for the time being." Rob said, and then he was looking at Brad once again, thinking of a new response, probably to just see what Brad would say in response to this. "I am looking into Candice's death. And I was wondering if you knew anything about her?"

Brad laughed at this, as he was opening his car again, and taking out a cigarette, and starting to smoke it. "That's funny. Are you like her brother or something. But in all honesty, I don't really know anything about her death. I was trying to find out more about it, before this attack happened, and is effectively making me out of commission for quite a while." After he had said that to us, I was seeing Brad looking like this was making perfect sense for him to say now.

"No, she's not my sister. I just thought that it was strange how a high schooler would end up murdered. There is no reason. She's not even popular. It just seems like there is something that I am missing here." After Rob said that to Brad, this was when Brad was silent, and this was when I was starting to feel like maybe I could say more, to try and get to know what he was thinking.

"I don't know. Maybe she knew too much." Brad said, and then I heard him starting up the engine, and it was making the beeping noises. I realized then that I only had one option left, so with that, I started to run in his direction, and I felt like I just needed to see what he was willing to tell me.

"Brad, you heard that grinding noise right? Do you know anything about it at all? Can you give me anything that can help me out?" I asked, and then I was looking right at him. I was seeing that Brad was looking like he was relatively annoyed at the question. Probably thinking that I had asked him a really bad question. But I hardly cared for the time being.

"I don't know. I mean, there are some people who are looking into who had gone missing. I am going to have to take some time to really know what is happening around here. But until then, I am sorry to say that I feel like I am going to have to be looking into this alone. I believe that you probably understand that I can't be able to give you much information yet." After Brad said that to me, he started to drive off, and then with that, I was seeing Rob looking like he was actually kind of pissed at this whole thing.

"What do you think about his question?" I asked, and then Rob looked at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was just kind of pissed. I was wondering if he was even wanting to talk to me at all. And I was wondering if it would be best to just leave him alone, and not press him any further.

"Why would he want me to do a internship? Does he know something about me that I have no idea about? I feel like I might have to accept for my own personal sake." Rob said, and then he was looking right at me, and I felt like I needed to suggest something that I had never done with him, but for some reason, I really felt like I had no choice at all.

"Want to hang out at my place? I am sure that dad would understand given everything that is going on, even if he is not going to be a huge fan of it." I said, and then after I asked Rob this, I was seeing him looking like he was not really wanting to do this, but that he was willing to take it. I saw him slowly nodding, and I was feeling like I just needed to along with this, and hope that this was going to head along in a decent enough direction.

"I guess that it would be a good idea. Besides, I need some time to really think everything out. Such as what Brad would even fucking want with me in the first place." Brad said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was still really unsure of what the hell he was feeling here. So with that, we were heading on my way back to my house.

The entire time that we were heading home, I was then wondering how else I was going to continue this discussion. "Hey Rob, do you feel like we should be working with Ocho here, and seeing if he needs any help with the investigation that he is doing?" I asked, and then after I asked him this, I was seeing that Rob was looking like he was just wishing that I did not bring Ocho back into this. As if he had really disliked Ocho for some reason.

"I mean, I feel like Ocho would probably be telling me something like 'oh you are not helping out all that much, leave me the fucking hell alone.'" Rob said, and then I was shrugging, and in all honesty, I really felt like that was not going to be what he would say, but I felt like I needed to just leave him alone for the time being, and not be super rough with him or anything, and that his feelings were more than allowed to be had.

"I mean, I think that he would not be like that anymore, especially if he wants to have people actually help him out here." I said, and then with that, I shrugged, and I decided that I would leave it alone. We were eventually at my house, and then with that, we went inside, and I felt like I would just leave things alone for the time being.

I was looking at the table, and I was seeing that my father was busy on his work, and he was smoking a cigarette, and when he looked up and saw us, I was seeing that the fact that Rob was here was indeed kind of scaring him. I was looking at Rob, wondering what in the world I would even tell him. I was shrugging, and I had nothing else to say now.

"Hey dad, this is one of my friends, and I was wanting to just show him the area. Sorry if I am getting in the way of your work." I said, and I was mainly just saying that to try and make him feel better. As I had said that to him, dad was waving his hand off, as if thinking that I needed to relax a bit, and not be too worried about something like that.

"I heard a lot about him. I heard that he was a dare devil to quite a big extent this school year." Dad said, and then he was standing up. "I will admit, I am kind of curious as to how you ended up hanging out with a guy who was a couple of years older than you anyways?" Dad asked, and then I was looking right at him, and I was really having no idea how in the world I would respond.

"We just both had a couple of things in common. Nothing too much honestly." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to get out of this discussion in some way. As I was saying this, I was looking at Rob, and I was seeing that he had looked like he had no real clue of what he was going to be telling my dad as well. I really hoped that this story would be able to fly with him.

"I guess that I should not be too surprised. Matt was telling me that you were involved in a lot of antics anyways. I guess that something like that would not be all that much of a surprise." After he had said that to me, he shrugged, and then with that, he was starting to head out, and then he stopped when he was at the door once again. "I am going to have to do a extra shift to cover the news story of the grinder. Besides, I don't really want to be in the house too much anymore due to recent events."

As he had said that, I was slowly nodding, since I did understand what he was saying here. I knew that in all honesty, whatever dad was doing was just any excuse that he can get to be out of the house, and I was feeling like he was probably needing to be giving us more time. Once dad was gone, I looked at Rob, and then I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be saying now.

"Hey T.K., I was wondering if you were able to confirm something for me. I heard from other people that your brother had found some stuff from Lazarus Corporation. I think Izzy mentioned it to me. I mean, I wished that Izzy was not too involved with this, but I feel like I he does have a great idea every once in a while." After Rob said that, I knew what he was trying to say. He was wanting me to break into Matt's material, and I did not know if that was a good idea.

"I mean, he talked about it a couple of times. What are you thinking you will be able to find there?" I asked, and then after I asked him this, I was seeing that Rob was looking like he was not too sure what to be thinking here. He was sighing, as if having nothing else to be saying now. But I decided that I would not press the matter too much, since in all honesty, I did want to know as well, so with that, we were heading towards Matt's room.

Once in the room, I was looking around, and I was just trying to calm down, wondering what I was going to do to make Matt not upset at me for hanging out in his room like this. But I was not really saying anything. Eventually, Rob was sitting down, and he was looking at the stuff that Matt had been working on. I looked around, hoping that this would really be the one time that I would not see Matt here.

As Rob was looking around, he was starting to look increasingly concerned about what he had been reading, and I was seeing that with each passing minute, the more scared out of his mind about what he had been getting himself into. Then he looked at me, and I was seeing him shaking his head, before he continued to read.

"Is there any information that you feel like you could get out of this?" I asked, and then I was just feeling like whatever Rob needed to find, he needed to just get this over with as fast as possible, so that way we are going to be more safe here. I also felt like Matt would probably not care too much in all honesty if he knew what I had been doing.

"I don't know yet. I think that Matt has not read very much of it, despite what Izzy would have probably preferred. If he had, then there would be many things that he would probably had blurted out by this point." He said, and then he was rubbing his eyes, probably relatively tired over whatever was going on.

"What are you fucking talking about?" I asked, and then I looked right at him, and I was just seeing that from the look on Rob's face, I was seeing that he was just super upset at what he was seeing. I felt like he just needed to tell me what the fucking hell was going on. I just needed him to just be frank with me here.

"Not much. Just trying to decide what the fucking hell I feel here. I read some information that Kenta kept in his company computer. Beyond the fact that I have no fucking clue how Kenta got this information, this type of information really just makes me upset. Makes me feel like I can finally see where most people are coming from with their perspective on how they had been treating me." After Rob said that to me, I looked right at him, and I was wondering what he was talking about.

"Can you please explain to me what is going on?" I asked, and then Rob was standing up, and he was rubbing his eyes, and I was trying to decide if he was nearly about to cry, or if he was trying to express a different emotion, but had a hard time really showing it all. "Rob, I mean, Matt will probably be home in a bit, and I really doubt that he will be cool with us being here." I said, and I was just trying to calm down here.

"If his records are correct, and for better or for worse he has been correct every time so far, then Kenta's files have revealed to me that I am the heir to Lazarus Corporation when Shaun dies." After Rob said that to me, I was shocked for a few seconds, until I really started to look at his face, and then I was sighing, realizing that he looked exactly like a younger version of the guy, minus the destroyed eye.

"Is this why Candice hated me? Did she know, or figure it out on her own? Is this why I am starting to find myself wondering if maybe they had a good idea." Rob was starting a rant, and I was holding my hands up. I wanted Rob to be feeling better about himself, and I knew that this was not going to be making him feel better, if he had been acting like this the whole time.

"Oh shit. I mean, I can see it now. But in all honesty, this sucks dude. What the fucking hell are you going to do about it?" I asked, and then I was seeing Rob looking like he had no idea what in the world he was even going to be saying now. I was seeing that even if he was wanting to hide it, that there was a small tear coming down his face, and I had started to feel like I was way out of my league when I was seeing him acting like this.

"I don't know. I mean, knowing that I am going to inherit the most hated company in the entire town is really going to be hard to accept. But I feel like I just need to take it for what it is, and I need to let it fucking go. Maybe I will just wait until I am older, and see how things are." Rob was saying, and I was feeling like there was nothing else that I was going to be able to tell him. In all honesty, I felt like perhaps he was going to be all on his own, and I just needed to accept the fact that I made a big mistake here.

"I don't really know dude. I think this time, you need to try and talk to somebody else about this. Maybe seek a therapist. I don't really know. I am sure that the school councilor will try to help you out here." I said, and then after I had said that to Rob, I was seeing that he was actually at least willing to take what I said into consideration, and not brush me off, as if I was a fucking idiot or anything like that. As I was looking right at him, I really had no idea what to tell him.

"That is a fair case. I guess that I can see what it would be like if I tried to give him a chance. I still feel like it might not be a smart idea. But it is better than nothing." After Rob was saying that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was relatively upset at the fact that he had been saying this. As he was walking out of the room, I felt comfortable, knowing that I can now leave Matt's room, that I didn't care about the fact that Rob clearly did not put his stuff away.

"Rob, I think you should keep that information to yourself. If you tell anybody the truth about what you are, then I believe that you are going to become one of the most hated people that go to school with us. For your own sake, just try and keep this out of the lime light." After I was telling him this, I was hoping to make him see that I was trying to be helpful here.

"I know that I should. I am not fucking stupid. If I was telling people this, nobody would want to speak with me. That or everybody would want to know every detail about me to try and get on my good side. In all honesty, I want to try and just kind of forget all about it." Rob said, and then I was looking at him, as if feeling like such a thing would be a terrible idea. As I was looking at Rob, I really hoped he would know that this would be a terrible idea.

"Just give me a day or so to think about this fact. I mean, I feel like I am going to have more power in what I do than virtually everybody else in our strange social circle. There is no reason to be hiding from what I know needs to be done." Rob was saying, and then I was starting to see him walking off. As he was leaving, I felt like I needed to just call him once again, and see what he was going to tell me now.

"Rob, does this mean that I will never be seeing you at the skating park again?" I asked, and then the fact that I was asking him this, was making Rob seem to be relatively confused here. Probably thinking that the fact that I was so focused about something like this was fucking insane. But then he was shrugging, as if feeling like there was no reason to be so against answering that question, since it was something that showed that I was still letting him try to have at least some connection to his original behavior.

"I want to. I really fucking want to. It would probably be the one thing keeping me from having nothing left to look out for." After Rob said that to me, he was sighing, and I was feeling like he needed to have a better answer here. Something that could show that he was still feeling slightly better about what had been happening here.

"Yeah, I will try and go to the therapist. I mean, they usually only meet with patients once a week. So talking about it for a hour once a week is probably going to be the most that I need to think about it. At least until it goes down when I do have to… take over." Rob was saying, and I was seeing that he was hating the fact that he had to say take over, and that it was his least favorite thing to say now.

"You know, you can still talk with me about this, if you ever feel like you need to try and talk to anybody about this." I said, and then Rob was shaking his head, clearly making it seem like this was the last time he ever wanted me to be bringing it up. I saw him looking like he was looking just so out of it, and like he had no idea what was happening.

"No, I should keep it away this time. I mean, if you want to hang out still, that is one thing. But that is going to be my one rule. That you are going to be leaving that stuff at the fucking door." After Rob said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was utterly serious about everything that he had said, and then with that, I was sighing, and I just decided that it would be best to just not try and force this on the man. And he needed to do things when he was ready to talk here.

"Just know that I do appreciate the fact that you are trying to be a nice guy to me. I mean, it makes me feel like there is some hope in what is happening here." After Rob was saying this, he was shrugging. "I just feel like whatever Rachel will say when she finds out, if she ever finds out, will really help me determine if I am going to be ready to ever talk with somebody about what is really going on here." After Rob was saying this to me, I decided that it would be best that I would not try and say anything to him, to try and make him feel better, when I knew it would not work.

The next day, I was at the councilors office, and I was looking right at him, and I had finally finished catching him up on all the things that had recently happened. AT first, he seemed to be in disbelief at what I had said, but over time, I was seeing him changing the tone of his face, and I was seeing him looking like he was accepting what I said as fact.

"In all honesty, if you had experienced all this, and had been a part of what had gone down, I believe that you need to consult with those who were involved, and see how they would be able to help you. They are probably going to be rather willing to give you some pointers. After all, it seems like you already do have some friends who are willing to help you out." After the councilor said this, the idea of friends was still hard for me to really buy here.

"Yeah, I mean, I feel like I really accidentally put a rift on Gumball and his family, and in all honesty, he deserves so much better than what I had done. And I feel like perhaps if I had been more of a friend, and not judging, I would have seen them be more happy." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I was feeling like I just needed to stop doing this.

"You did what you honestly believe was right. You should never feel guilty for doing what you thought was the correct path. What you will need to do however is make sure that you look at all the evidence before you do something next time, that way you can be more assured that this is indeed the right thing to do." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, since in all honesty, I had a feeling that something like this was not going to be enough for me to go off of.

"I know that I did what I thought was right. But for god sake, I feel like I am probably the one person in this town who had been making things just worse for those around him. I have a feeling that in due time, everybody around me will probably hanging out with me, and will hate with me. I just feel like I really need to look at myself. I still feel like these monsters are real, and I feel better about slowly seeing people not act like I am being insane when I say that. But there is the other part of me that realizes that if people are taking me seriously now, then what am I going to do to change it?" I asked, and then after I had asked him this, I saw that my therapist was looking relatively unsure what in the world he was going to say.

"I think that you need to look for further proof about this. I mean, I can't make the choice of how you handle your time, but if you want people to believe you, then you need to show them the evidence to this." After my therapist was saying this to me, I was feeling like that made sense, but I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying now.

"I will do what I can. But I feel like this is not going to fucking work. But I feel like I do not need to tell you the obvious here." After I said that to him, I was really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be telling him. This whole thing was just too much for me to comprehend this whole thing. I was standing up, mainly because I saw the time, and I saw how late I had been.

"Sorry for going five minutes over. I should be respecting your time more." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I felt like I really had done the wrong thing. As I was heading to the door, the therapist called out to me, and I was wondering what he was planning on telling me here. I sighed, feeling like I just needed to let him say what he needed to say for our own sake.

"Come back when you need to. I am not sure if I believe everything you say, but I am slowly starting to accept that a large part of it is true. I am sorry for always having a hard time believing in you." After he had said that to me, I slowly nodded, and then with that, I was walking out of the room. As I was walking off, that was when Rob was coming by, and I was wondering if he was actually going to be doing it.

"Hey T.K., I decided that I would tell the therapist the initial confession. Get it off my chest. After I am done with that, I will see if this will be making me feel slightly better. But he is the only person that I plan on telling." After he had said that to me, he was walking inside of the room, and I was sighing, unsure what to say now.

I was walking away, and I was really hoping that Rob would be taking this whole thing in stride, for his own sake. In all honesty, I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I was hoping that by the end of this story, the two of us would be able to just look at what he knows, and maybe he will bring sanity back to this town. I honestly had hope in home more than most people. I just hoped that I wasn't wrong…

Scene 2: Letting Go Part 1 (Ocho)

I was out near the summer camp again, since I was still not really getting over the fact that I was feeling like that was where I needed to be if I wanted to fully know what the hell was going on here. As I was looking around, I was starting to get the feeling of how unsettling the whole camp was.

As I was checking things around, I heard a call out towards me. I turned around, and I was seeing that it was Ocho. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, since in all honesty, it was just so strange to see him at the summer camp of all places, especially when I never pictured him having a interest in it.

"Andrea wanted to come here a lot when we were dating last year. She kept bringing it up at least once every week, and she had made it clear that she was really caring about that more than anything else in the main school year. I was so fucking happy to see her excited, that I hardly cared." Ocho said, and then he was shrugging, and I saw that he was already regretting talking about this.

"Do you feel like you will ever fully make peace with what had happened?" After I asked him this, I was seeing Ocho looking like he was trying to find a good answer to that question, but that in all honesty, I knew that he was having a hard time really admitting that he was still at least partially tied down by what had happened, even if he did not want to admit it.

"I mean, I really loved her, and I thought that I would be the one who would finally turn things around, and show her that there was nothing to fear. But I ended up just making promises that I would never really get to keep. And she was right, I did let a obsession with this grow too out of hand." After Ocho was saying this to me, I was hearing the pure hate in himself that he was growing.

"I mean, I am a terrible human being, and we all know it, but for some reason, everybody fucking pretends like I am not because of the fact that I am looking into this town. But if I had just understood what I had done, then this whole thing would have never happened." Ocho said, and then after he was saying that to me, he just remained silent.

As we were going on, I was feeling like there was no point in even trying to talk to him about any of this now. He had made it very clear that there was no way in hell I would make him feel better. And besides, even if I did not want to admit it, I was feeling like maybe there was a small hint of truth to what he had been saying here. And that I was wrong for thinking otherwise.

"Ocho, do you feel like most people will actually look at what you are doing, and consider your contributions helpful? Some people, who are not as nice, might be thinking that you are not really helping out at all, and that you are only making things worse for them." After I had told him this, I was seeing Ocho looking like he had no interest in hearing it at all.

"I don't really care what they believe. If they want to talk to me about how I am not really helping out all that much, then they need to be looking at themselves, and they need to see that they are just sitting around, and judging people who are actually at least working." Ocho was saying, and then he shrugged. "The main thing that I am worried about is if I will ever forgive myself, or if I ever feel like I am doing enough to help her out." After he had said that to me, I had nothing to say now.

"A lot more people respect the work that you have been doing than you probably think they do. I think that you are just needing to talk with them, and then maybe you would see that people are not nearly as out against you as you are trying to make it seem like." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was wondering if I would get a new reaction from him.

"I guess that I can tell you some things. Such as the fact that I have indeed seen Justin Ryder, and I have worked with him a bit. He has trained me a little on how to fucking fight." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I really had no idea what to tell him. I was feeling that if he really did know this Justin guy, then he needed to use that information to help us out more.

"This is huge dude. I mean, you know that there are several people who are looking into this town that want to know where Justin is? And you are telling me that you have that information right here, this whole fucking time." I said, and I was trying to not express my annoyance here. The way he was looking at me showed that it clearly did not work out all that well at all.

He was then pulling something out of his pocket. When I was seeing what it was I was aware of what it was. I was seeing that it was another one of those energy swords. "I made this in the crystal cave, when I was alone, as a part of my trials."

"Trials? What the fuck? Was he training you to be like a jedi or something?" I asked, and then after I had said that, he was looking away, and he was walking down for a while longer, and I was feeling like I just needed to see what the hell he was trying to hide from. I needed to see if there was any way that I could be able to help him.

"You need to talk with people more if you want them to trust you. If you do not open up, and you just keep letting them talk with you, with nothing in return, then sooner or later, people are going to turn their back on you. Surely you see that." I said, and then after I said that to him, he was looking at me, and I saw that he looked like he could not have cared less.

"Have you thought that maybe I am not wanting people to trust me? That is only going to be leading to trouble, and we both fucking know it." After he had said that to me, we were continuing along, and then I was feeling like I needed to ask him another question, to see how he would react. Depending on his reaction, I would be able to see where to go from there.

"What are your thoughts on Candice's death? I figured that since it has been a couple of days, that perhaps you would know something about that." I said, and then after I said that to him, I was seeing that he was looking like he was just super upset with what I had said. I wasn't the one who did it, so I was just trying to figure out what the issue was.

"Did they seriously go after her too? When are they going to fucking stop? It feels like they are just going to keep going and going until I have nothing left!" Ocho screamed, and then he was starting to walk to me. The pace that he was using was something that really did scare me for a bit, but I was feeling like I Just needed to remain silent, to not make it obvious.

"I am going to destroy every single one of those factories! I am going to make sure that the fucking company can't live any longer without knowing what it is like to be on their knees." After Ocho said that to me, he was sighing, and looked up at the sky, and I was seeing him just taking a second to mentally wince a bit. "Do you know anything about that grinding noise? Or was that her too? And you are just not telling me?" He asked, and I raised my hand, not sure what the hell to tell him at all.

"No, I really don't think that she has anything to do with that. I have a feeling that it is somebody else who went to Andrea's grade. Gumball and I found a jacket in the forest, and we have a feeling that perhaps it is going to be Tina Rex. Although that has not been confirmed yet. I think that you need to let it go, and see that you are only making things worse." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I honestly did not care what he was going to be telling me.

As I had said that to him, I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to find something else to say. Something to make it clear that he did not want to fucking hear it, and that I was only making things worse for her by doing this. "Wow, you really are just making it hard for most people to enjoy working with you. I mean, you should not be telling people that, even if you believe that it is true." Ocho said, and then he was remaining silent for a moment.

"I mean, I feel like I need to be honest with you, and I see that there are a lot of things that is going on that is probably proving my point as I am saying that." I said, and then I was seeing him upset. I was just wanting to keep up this debate, but I was feeling like I would just leave it alone.

"Look, neither one of us are going to get anywhere with this pissing contest. We got to just focus on the important things here. I feel like if you feel like this is Tina Rex, then let's go to her house, and see what her parents say. Simple as fucking that. That is something that we can agree on." After Ocho said that to me, I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to go along with it, and not be arguing with him for a while.

"I guess that at least it isn't a forest where we are dealing with potential monsters." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was seeing that Ocho still did not think that it was amusing that I was constantly bringing those things into this. They probably thought that I was just trying to be getting a reaction for the sake of getting a reaction.

"Do you actually care what happens to Tina Rex, or are you mainly just doing this for the fact that you feel like people might like you better if you do that?" After he had asked me that, I was sighing, and I really was not in the mood to be having this discussion with him. But I was feeling that maybe I just need to let him have his punches. After all, he was right, I did only have a minor clue who she was, and she was somebody who really made the life of one of my friends miserable in school.

When we were in the middle of our discussion, that was when we were hearing another one of those monster cries. This time, we were too far away from everybody else to have somebody be able to help us. And with it being near the sewer that the one body was found near, I was starting to wonder if perhaps the monsters were the ones that were behind this. Ocho looked at me, as I grabbed my bat, and then he was his weapon out again.

It was charging to me, and then I grabbed the baseball bat, and before it could attack me, I slammed it with the bat, and I was seeing that it was getting another small crack, and I was starting to realize that soon enough, I would not be able to use this too much anymore.

I was staring at the monster that was on the ground, and I was still bleeding from the attack that it had given me. I was feeling like there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to let this whole thing down, knowing that I was never going to be good enough to actually fight for myself. And that I needed somebody else to always save my life.

Ocho was staring down at the monster, and he was taking out a gun, and he was starting to look like he was about to cry. I was really having no idea why he was starting to get all teary eyed, and I was feeling like I just needed to see what he had known that I did not. "I was told that the hardest thing to do when moving forward from a tie to the past, is the idea of letting go." Ocho said, and then after he had said that, he was closing his eyes, and he blinked, and then he fired the gun, and then he remained silent for a few seconds, trying to decide what he was going to do now.

When he was done, he looked right at me, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and understand what the hell he was going on about. What he had said really did make no sense to me, and I was feeling like I needed to understand if I was going to work with him, more. "What the fucking hell was that?" I asked, and then he shook his head, not really sounding in the mood to hear me trying to get in his business about this.

"The harness that was on it was one that my father gave to one of our animals before he died. They ran away one time, and I had tried to find it once, but it never came home. The thought of what it had to deal with when it was gone is something that I do not want to picture." After he had said that to me, I was feeling like I did not get it, but I decided not to fight it.

"So you think that Kenta might have turned that into a monster or something like that." After I said that, I was seeing Ocho looking like he was really having no idea what the hell to say. "Honestly, I guess that something like that does make some sense."

Eventually, before long, that was when we were near Tina's house, and I was seeing that Ocho was looking like he was just sort of looking relatively unsure. I was wondering what in the world was going on in his mind. I felt like I just needed to see what was going on, so I could help him.

"I mean, I kind of know that at the end of the day, you guys are telling the truth. I know that what is best for everybody is that I really do need to just sometimes let things go. But Andrea, I feel like that is the main exception." After Ocho was telling me this, I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to say a bit more.

When we knocked on the door, we had to wait for a few seconds before her parents answered, and when they saw us, I was seeing that they really did not look like they were in the mood to be dealing with us at all. "Hello. If you are looking for Tina, you would be wasting your time. We haven't seen her in nearly three days." After he had said that to us, I was sighing, since I felt like something like this was relatively obvious, and I felt like I should have seen something like that coming along, even if I did not like to admit it.

"We were wondering if there was something that you probably knew. Since we went to school with her, and we were just wondering if there was anything going on with her before she went missing? Like strange behavior or what not?" After Ocho asked this, I saw that her father looked like he was really not in the mood to be hearing something like this at all.

"Tina was not doing anything too out of the normal. She was just wanting to try and be popular for her class. But that was the most. And when you're in high school, something like that is actually relatively normal." After he was saying this, I was seeing that Ocho was looking like he was minorly annoyed with the way that this man was acting to us. The level of being hostile for virtually no fucking reason at all.

"Sorry for taking your time." After he had said that to her father, that was when Ocho and I started walking off, and I was seeing that the man looked like he was much more angry about what we had been doing than he ever really had the right to be. But I was not going to be dealing with a man who clearly had a stick up his fucking ass for no real good reason.

"What a asshole." I said, and then with that, I shrugged, feeling like saying more would only be making things worse for us. But it was the truth, and I just felt the need to get it out before we went on, and I continued supporting Ocho's insane crusade.

"I mean, I can't really fucking blame him. I mean, he probably has a right to be feeling so uncertain. I mean, I will admit that I have probably made promises that seemed great to people, but when they realized that I was not able to fulfill them, they decide to abandon ship on me." Ocho said to me, and I was wondering why he was suddenly acting like he was the one who was wrong here. "I mean, I feel like if I really did want to find Tina, her friends really are the best starting point." Ocho said, and then I looked at him, feeling that I had no choice but to ask him the next question.

"Who the fucking hell were friends with her though? I mean, you barely knew her, and I certainly never shared more than a fucking sentence with her. So I feel like you are going to be shit out of luck if you are going to try and go that way." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was seeing that Ocho had looked like he was not in the mood to hear it.

"I don't know. I mean, you were talking about how Gumball was often bullied by her. Maybe we can ask him what he knew about Tina, and he would have a idea then." After he was saying that to me, I was sighing, and I was slowly nodding at this, thinking nothing of it for the time being. "If she bullied him, surely her friends were probably at least a small part of it as well."

"I just feel like Gumball would probably not want to have a discussion with us about that." I said, and then I was shrugging, and then Ocho was sighing, probably trying to find way to tell me that he was not caring what Gumball was feeling about this, and that it was what needed to be done at this point in time. "But I do see what you are saying. I am just trying to explain why it might be hard for him to listen."

"Just stop dude. I know what I am doing, and I know that in order to make it work, I have to just sort of push him a bit. I mean, I think that if Gumball was aware of the fact that I am just doing my best to help, and that we are finally getting close, then he would understand." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to ask him more.

"I mean, are we one hundred percent sure that we are getting close though? I mean, we probably want to say that we are getting close. But in all honesty, we are probably just getting things worse and worse. I think that the truth is that we are thinking we made a great deal of progress, when it is anything but." After I said that to him, I saw that Ocho was looking like this discussion was just driving him insane right now.

"I mean, we both know many more things than we used to. If we are not close, we are certainly closer, and I think that is what really matters." After he was saying this to me, he was shrugging, and then with that, I was slowly nodding, since I was probably just letting my fear get to me a bit more.

"Yeah, anyways, I guess that we just need to find out what our next strategy is. I mean, we have nothing now. And we are going to have nothing to work with if we don't stop arguing. I mean, I know that you are still having a obsession with Andrea. But maybe that obsession is none of my business." I said, and then I looked at him, hoping that me calling it that would not bother him as much now that I said that last part to him.

As we were walking along, we were getting closer to Gumball's house, and I was feeling like I just needed to remain silent, and that if I kept this shit up with him any longer, then he was going to have every single right in the world to just eventually hate me, and everything to do with me. I mean, I was basically being a bitch to him at every direction possible.

"Do you think that Gumball hates me? I mean, I started the whole thing against his mother, and now he probably has no trust in her. I feel like if he did not hang out with me, things would be easier for him. He certainly would have never seen that factory explode." I said, and then I was sighing, and I was feeling like I just needed to state what I had actually been feeling so far.

"I mean, he might. But if he does, then I think he has done a okay job hiding it. Probably knows that making a controversy about it is only going to be making things worse for him, and that he probably knows deep down inside that everything that is being said is true." Ocho said, and then there was a moment of silence for the time being.

"Great, that was not the answer that I was wanting. But it was the one that I was expecting. Whatever, I mean, I guess that I will just have to work with it for the time being." I said, and then with that, I was thinking about what I was going to do to apologize if this was to get much worse. There was no way to properly explain to him in a sincere enough way that this was something that I did not want to drag out our friendship any further at all.

Scene 3: Last Night of Peace (Matt)

I was at home, and to be honest, the entire time that I was there, I was wondering what Matt and I were going to be discussing. I was feeling like whatever the two of us needed to discuss before we were to go back to our normal things, he needed to probably do it right now. "So Matt, I know that we have had a hard time really working together lately, and I am sorry for that. But I was wondering if you wanted to talk for a bit." I said, and I knew he was not going to buy it.

"There is nothing to talk about. You have made it very clear that this investigation is more important to you than anything else. I mean, I have gotten to the point where I feel like it is not really worth arguing over." After Matt had said that to me, I was hearing a still minor amount of resentment here. Although I did not know how to take it.

"And besides, even if I wanted to argue, I would be a massive hypocrite to, since I have started to feel mostly the same way." Matt said, and then he was shrugging, having nothing else to say here. "And for all I know, I feel like you are probably onto something when you say that." When he was done, he was starting to grab his care keys, and head towards the door.

"Have you found anything related to mom yet? Or is that just essentially going nowhere? I am starting to really think that maybe I do not want to be looking at her case. I mean, if I do, then that really opens up the gate to so many facts coming fourth that I will probably not be ready for. I mean, I can accept the idea that dad knows something, since let's be honest with ourselves, we would be lying to ourselves if we said he didn't… But mom?" I said, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he was tired of having this discussion, since we just kept having it.

"No, I haven't yet. But it isn't for the reasons you mentioned. It's mainly because after the shit you pulled several days ago, where you so fucking recklessly went into that building and tried to pull some action hero bullshit, I am just worried that if I tried to do anything else, then I would be getting killed. I mean, I just feel like focusing on my relationship with Sora is more important to me than some revenge quest." Matt said, in a relatively matter of fact tone

"You have to admit that it could have worked out if we were more careful. I mean, think of the fact that we were in that meeting, and heard some information there." I said, and I was hoping that I would get him to at least lighten up on the story. As I was saying this, I saw that Matt was looking like he was still not really wanting to buy it at all.

"It probably couldn't have. But if that is the fable you are wanting to go along with, then I will fucking not argue. Although maybe it really is not my place to be fighting with you. I mean, at least Ocho is willing to talk with you, and at least he seems like he actually wants to make something work. But with me, it seems like he wants nothing to do with me at all." After Matt was telling me this, I saw him looking like he was just taking a moment to think about what he had been saying.

"Do you think that Ocho wants nothing to do with you anymore?" I asked, and for once, I was getting a more sincere vibe with what I was asking. I was not really wanting something like that to happen, since they had been friends in the past, and I was having a feeling that if they stopped working together, then that would be a sign that things really were going down the slump. As I asked him this, I saw Matt looking like he was just not having any desire for this talk.

"I mean, I think it is certainly possible. I mean, he hasn't talked to me as much anymore, and he seems like he is just getting even more too busy with his work than he usually is. I feel like I am going to get to the point where even just being around me is going to be a giant waste of time for him. And it is a damn shame, because I really did enjoy hanging out with the guy." Matt said, and then I was wondering if I could shed some light on that last time that I hung out with him, to help Matt see a bit better.

"Ocho was telling me earlier that he was feeling that the biggest thing he needed to do, to move forward from what was happening, was to just let it go. Let it go that he wasn't able to save Andrea, and it go on other things. It seems like he is worried that if he keeps this up any longer, then he will only be making things worse for everybody else." I said, and then I looked at him, wondering what he was going to say to that statement.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess that I can see where he is coming from, and he might be right. But I think we both know that he is going to never do that. I think we both know that he will just say that, and then maybe move forward with it for a while, but then before long, he would decide that such a thing was impossible, and then continue on." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was feeling that talking to Matt about this stuff was just simply never going to get us anywhere.

"I mean, I feel like he might be wanting to do that, so that he can focus on his other investigations. I mean, I think that whatever Ocho is thinking, and whatever he feels like he is capable of doing, I think we probably have to accept the fact that it would be best to just try and help him out." I said and then after I was telling him this I was feeling that Matt would just brush this idea off.

"You are so into the idea of helping those around you, and so into the idea that you have to contribute to the situation, that you are not really looking at what you are saying. You are not looking into the fact that you are just needing to see that maybe all this helping isn't really, well, helping." After Matt said that to me, I was shrugging, since I had already accepted that fact a while ago.

"I never denied that though. I never denied that me doing all this stuff might not be the best idea ever. But I feel like if I just remain silent, and do nothing, then I am going to only be making things worse. And I think that you would want me to try and do something, if it meant that I was sure that I was helping those who were in need." I said, and then I was feeling like I needed to try and make him feel slightly better once again.

"That being said, I really do wish you the best when it comes to Sora. She really is a good person and I feel like she deserves to have somebody who will be able to commit to her. And I think that you are showing that you are able to do that." I was telling him, and then I was seeing that from the fact that I brought her up again, and I was showing my full support, that he was probably not going to be too upset with me here.

"Thank you. I mean, in all honesty, I feel like that is really the only thing that I have to shoot for. If I can be able to make her feel like she is appreciated. In all honesty, nothing else matters to me. And I feel like that is how it should be when you are in a relationship." After Matt was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, and I decided that I would let the situation go, and not push it any further.

As Matt was looking down at the ground, I was feeling like whatever was going on in his mind, I just needed to do whatever I could in order to make it clear to him that I was not going to judge him in the fucking least for everything that he had been feeling. "Matt, I am so sorry that I was not a good brother to you in the past, and I feel like I should have tried to do more for you." I said, and then he was looking at me, as if wanting to just not hear me say something like that.

"You are my younger brother. You really should not be trying to be making me feel better at all. That just sounds insane, and I think we both fucking know that. But in all honesty, I think that the only way we are going to be making this better for anybody is if we stop having each other at our throats, and just work together." After Matt was telling me this, I was sighing, and decided that I would just let it go for now.

With that, Matt was for real getting to his car, and then he was looking right at me for a second or two. "I am going to be heading on over to Sora's place. I am going to be heading on a date with her. If you want to talk afterwards, then be my guest." After Matt said that to me, I was thinking about that, and thinking about if I was really actually wanting this, due to the issues we were all on here.

"I guess that would be nice. But if you do not want to do that, then I would not blame you." I said, and then he was shaking his head, as he was heading on towards the car, and then he was opening the door. I was looking at his facial expressions for a while, when he was clearly trying to decide what he was wanting to do for the time being. "I mean, if you feel like you are kind of over this whole thing, then I would really not fucking blame you at all."

"No, I just feel like I need more time to think about what we have been discussing, and I feel like you are thinking about too many other things for you to fully focus on what we are discussing. I hope that you do not mind me saying that at all." With that, he was starting the car, and then he was starting to leave. As he was gone, I was staring down, and I knew for a fact that he was probably right about what he just said, and my feelings about that made me feel even worse.

I was balling my fist. Not at him, but at myself. I was really starting to hate myself, and the way that I had been working with others. In all honesty, I was feeling like they had every right to just throw me away when they had wanted to, and that if I was going to try and fight them, then I would only be making things much worse for him.

Later, after the date, when Matt was coming home, I had still been thinking about what he had said, and I was still trying to decide how right he was. When I had seen him though, I was standing up, and I saw that Sora was with him. And I was feeling like I just needed to leave him alone, and not disturb them on their night together. As I was starting to head to my room, to mentally exile myself, Matt called out to me once more.

"Hey, you do not need to worry about leaving us alone. From what I understand, Sora wanted to talk with you anyways." I sighed as he had said that, since by saying that, I was now going to be forced into this conversation, regardless if I had wanted something like this or not. So I turned around, and I was seeing the look on Sora's face looking like she was still relatively innocent here.

"If you do not want to, then I am fine with leaving you alone." After Sora was saying this to me, I was feeling unsure of what to say. "I mean, I was just worried about you, and I know that you prefer to be left alone. So a part of me wasn't even planning on talking. But I just wondered if you were actually sure that you were getting through this well enough."

"I mean, I am going through it better than I thought that I could. I guess that I am just trying to make sure that I don't let myself get distracted by the terrible things that are going on around me. I don't know. I just feel like if I got too distracted with normal life, then my desire to be working on this would probably drop a lot." I said, and then I was heading to my door, not really in the mood to be talking about anything like this at all.

"How have you guys been anyways?" I asked, and then I was seeing Sora looking like she had no idea how to answer that question, considering the fact that she probably did not want to be talking about herself at all. "I mean, come on. There is no reason to be acting so stiff. If you guys enjoyed the date, then just admit it, and tell everybody how you had been feeling."

"I'm doing alright. The date was a lot of fun. We were just talking about how we had both been throwing each other away due to the situation at the town. And we were talking about how we were planning to rebound our relationship." Sora said, as I was looking over at Matt, and I wondered if it was his fault that it had gotten as bad as it did anyways.

"But yeah, I am doing alright. You do not need to be worrying about me. I just sort of want to take things slowly, and just see what comes ahead of me. I made a few promises, and no matter what you think of them, I feel like I am just kind of being unfaithful when I am not working on them." I said, and then I was feeling that there was no need to be discussing this any further.

"I mean, you would not get what I feel if you did not make any promises with anybody. Because you will never feel like you are just neglecting them when things are not done properly." I was saying, and then after I was done saying that, I was feeling like I would be able to just leave things alone for a while.

"T.K., please don't do this today. She is trying to have a polite conversation with you. There is no reason or you to be acting like this right now." Matt was telling me, and then I was then sighing, and I looked at them, feeling that this conversation was only going to be making things worse for both of us.

"Look, I am going to be doing this no matter how you want it or not. It all depends on if you want to help or not. I am not going to say anything if you decide that you want nothing to do with it." I said, and then I looked at him, hoping that my way of saying it would make it clear to him that this was really no big deal at all.

"Well, Matt was telling me about what you were doing a few days ago. Going inside of that company hall, and trying to find out more about them that way. I mean, that was extremely dangerous. But I feel like you were probably onto something." Sora said, and then I looked at her, feeling that if this was the conversation she was going to go at, I would just give her a hint of how bad this was getting.

"I feel like this is confirming that most of the people in this company are not as they seem. I think that it is time to admit that Brad Carbunkle is not really the man that everybody thinks he is." I said, and then after I had said that to them, I was seeing the look on their face and neither one of them were fully aware of what I was talking about. "It seems like he is fully subscribed to this company, and that there is no real way to get him out of it."

"I think we all knew that. But he still seems like the best chance that you have if you really want to get somebody who is willing to talk with you. And besides, is that all that you learned? In all of your time here, this is the best you have?" Sora asked, and I felt like I just needed to not say anything about Rob, since I was feeling his spot as heir to the company should be something that is discussed later, and only one person at a time. If ever discussed at all.

"Never mind. I am sorry for saying anything. I should have known that I am only making things worse for you." I said, and then with that, I was staring to head out towards the door, and then before I was able to fully leave, Matt was calling out to me. I turned around to him, wondering what the point of this was going to be, since in all honesty, I had no desire to hear it.

"What are you going to be doing?" He asked, and then I was placing my hand on the knob, and I was feeling like I just needed to tell them what happened straight up, and then with that, this would probably be enough for them to be willing to leave me alone for the time being.

"I got attacked by a monster, and Ocho was the only one who was there to save me. I am not very strong, and I feel like I need to be. For your guys sake, as well as everybody else's. If he was able to get some training from Justin Ryder, then I feel like there is a chance that this legend is true. And that I would be making a mistake not to at least try and see where he might be." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I opened the door, and then I started to head on out, not wanting to leave much room for this being a argument.

"You do believe that man is real? If that is the case, then what are you going to fucking do to convince him to work with you? There is no way he is going to work with somebody like you." Matt said, and then before I was able to fight him any longer, that was when he sighed, and then told me the truth behind all that he had been feeling lately.

"The truth is that after everything with mom, I have been really worried that you will also be getting yourself killed. I really just do not want to find out that you had died as well. If that happened, I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself." After Matt was saying this to me, I took a second to stop and really let it sink in.

"I know that there is a good chance. But you were the one who said that if this happened, then clearly she knew something, and that it was our job to actually try and fucking learn what it was. So wouldn't this be clearly going against everything that you were telling me earlier?" I asked, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he had been thinking about what I had just said, and he remained silent for a bit.

"I did say that. But that was before I was realizing that even after this time, I still have found literally no evidence, and I started to realize that this is probably a waste of time. That is the main thing that I am looking at right now. This whole thing could be a giant waste of time." Matt was saying, and then with that, I was now taking several steps outside, and Sora was getting in the way of our discussion, probably to just try and find a way to make this whole conversation seem at least slightly less bad at this point in time.

"I have been looking into those legends you were telling me about earlier. You know, about Justin Ryder. I think that we could be able to locate him if we went to a certain location not too far from here." After she had said that to us, she was glancing at Matt for a few seconds.

"I think that he might be onto something. Maybe we can go to where the Wutai village once was, and see if he has something there. That is what I heard from all the stories." After Sora said that to us, I was seeing Matt looking as if he had considered what she had said for a moment.

"Wutai? Are you seriously thinking that this place is actually even allowed to visit? I mean, if the stories are true, then I think that the company would be doing their best to be trying to hide us from that for as long as possible." After Matt said that to us, I saw him shrugging, as if what he was saying was making perfect sense in his mind.

"Nothing wrong with giving it a try. I mean, I thought that it would be a good idea to go and try that place out. But for some reason, I always found myself worried about going there. So I might as well just see what can come from it." After I said that to him, I was sighing, and then I was starting to place my board on the ground, and I started to skate in that direction. Both Matt and Sora looked like they were just unsure of what the hell to even say to this as I was leaving.

As I had skated along for a while, that was when I was hearing them getting to the car, and then start heading toward that direction. I was mainly just trying to get as close as I could without having to deal with them. Because honestly at this point, I was feeling like neither one of them really cared at all what I had been doing.

Eventually, they caught up with me, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he was trying to keep his cool. "Can you please try and look at this rationally? I mean, you are just literally going in there like a fucking bull. And you are seriously thinking that this is actually going to be helping you out? Please at least try and look at this with some intelligence." Matt said, and then I looked at him, not in the mood for this type of comment.

"Maybe it would be best if you guys just drove me home. It seems like you guys are going to be having a rather serious discussion right now." Sora said, and then Matt was looking at me, and the look on his face was making it very clear that he was not going to be cool with this, since I was technically ending his date, in what I would admit was a relatively rude fashion.

Matt was slowly nodding, as if feeling like he would at least pretend like this was something he was fine with when he was around her. "Yeah, I guess that we should be doing that. Sorry that this had to happen." After Matt had said that to me, he was starting to drive away. I was not sure what in the world they wanted me to do, and in all honesty, I had a terrible feeling that maybe it would be best to just not try and push his patience further, since he probably hated me at this point.

What Sora did say to me before they were fully gone was making me feel slightly better. "Hey, if you want to check that place out, I would be fine with coming along. Just let me know if you are actually going to do that." After she said that to me, I was feeling so much better about the situation that I was in, that I started to think that I had a chance to turn this around.

As I was gone for a while longer, that when I was starting to head to the skate park, and I was just feeling like I would pretend like everything was all normal to the general viewer when in here. Maybe if I did that, then when Matt would see me next, then everything would be a bit better. And besides, I was having a feeling that Matt was going to come here eventually, and he was going to try and make things up with me, and pretend like we did not have a fight or whatever. As if this was something that we could be able to just brush off.

I was also feeling that Matt and Sora were probably going to have a long conversation about this, and that in all honesty, they were probably going to be asking each other if this was even really going to be best for them. I was having a feeling that sooner or later, if they did break up, it was my fault. And nobody would convince me otherwise.

I skated there for a while longer, before I started to head on home, feeling that I was only going to be making things worse if I just pretended like this was no real big fucking deal. Once I was home for the night, I was seeing that my dad was sitting down on the couch, watching the television, and then he turned around to see me, and I was seeing that he was not having a very approving look on his face.

As I had been looking at him watching for a couple of seconds longer, I was walking to my room, and then my dad decided to look over, and he was seeing that it was me. "Hey, I was wondering if you had been getting along with Matt lately." After he had said that to me, I was starting to take a second to look at him. I was hoping that whatever point he was trying to make, he was going to make it quick, and then I could get to my room.

"I mean, I feel like we are starting to get a bit better. We still argue quite a bit. But it is nothing to important." I said, and I shrugged, feeling that I would just not let him try and get in the way of our talks. He sighed, and then started to speak up when he was done.

"Whatever it is that is getting you guys so against each other, it has to end. You guys are the only type of family that can stick together here. I feel like you need to see that you are only making things worse if you just keep getting into these fights all the time." After he was saying this to me, I had hoped that he would not be yelling at me over something like this.

"Look, I would love to do that, but we are not having a good time lately. We have gotten into a few fights, and we have had some really bad disagreements. I feel like this is going to just relatively permanently ruin the way we both look at each other." I said, and then after I was done with that, my father looked like he was just feeling so bad to be hearing that for the time being.

"Just try and get along. Take a afternoon with him, and just talk with him. If you guys just sorted this shit out, then things would be a lot better for you both. I had the same issues with my friends, although it turned out that some of them were horrible people." My dad said, and then I was feeling like I would be able to get away with asking him this question.

"Are you talking about Kenta? He was telling me about how you and him used to be friends in school, and he asked me to work with him because of that." I said, and then after I was saying that to him, I was seeing that my father clearly did not even want this to be a discussion. He was standing up, and for the first time since moms death had a look of actual anger and panic in his eyes. I wanted to ask him more, but I felt like I was going to be pushing my luck, so I just went inside, and left him alone for now.

"That man just does not know when things need to be left alone. I thought that he would have had enough sense to leave our family out of his research. I guess that I should not have given him that credit. Thanks for letting me know. I will try and talk to him soon. Maybe the two of us can work something out." After he had said that to me, I was thinking that I needed to just leave him alone, since I did not want to see him angry. Seeing a father angry is one of the worst things that somebody can do, and it always just makes things a bit harder to deal with.

I closed the door, since I did not want to really deal with something like this. If he was wanting to talk to me about Kenta later, then that would be fine. But until then, I just wanted to pretend like this was really something that I did not hear. And I knew that whatever he wanted to talk to Kenta about, I just needed to remember that I was only going to make things worse if I constantly pursue it.

I went to bed that night, pretending to act like nothing was going on, and just hoping that whatever dad was going to talk to Kenta about, he would be sure to just leave me out of it, since I was not going to be the guy who would be able to really give him any answers at all.

When I woke up that night, I started to slowly remember that I might have seen MagnaAngemon that night. If I had not, then I remembered that I certainly wanted to. I mean, I did not like MagnaAngemon, and I thought that it's sighting was scary, and would almost guarantee that something would be happening sometime soon. But in all honesty, at least when I did see it, there was a goal of what I should be looking for.

I was looking around my room, when I heard a knock on it. I turned around, and I saw that it was Matt. When I saw that, I was sighing, since I was honestly wondering what he was going to try and accomplish when he would be speaking to me right now. He probably was going to give me a giant lecture about being rude and stuff. "Look, I know that you are going to try and teach me about respect and shit. But honestly, I am not really in the mood to be hearing it right now." I said, and I did not give a fuck at this point how rude I could be coming off as.

"No, it is nothing about that. I just did not want to be dealing with that on the night that I was supposed to go on a date with Sora. But she seemed to not appreciate the way that I was acting around her. I guess that I do see where she was coming from. But even beyond that, I would have been more willing to talk about it now." Matt said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what his plan was.

"So you are looking for Tina Rex? Do you think that the monsters are involved, or that it is something different. I mean, at this point in time, I am willing to fucking believe in anything. I mean, I had all this time to get used to monsters. You know, with the shit about Onett. But it still just feels fucking crazy that I am talking about this anyways." He said, and then he laughed as he had said that to me.

"Yeah, I am looking for her now. That being said, these monsters in question I am sure have nothing to really do about it. If they did, then I feel like I would have probably at least heard about this in the first place." I said, and then I was just remaining silent for a few seconds longer. I was standing up, and then I looked right at Matt, and I knew that everything that I would say would probably sound fake. But I hardly cared at all.

"Matt, I need your help. If you know anything about these monsters, then I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Anything is going to get me somewhere here." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was shrugging, and I was feeling like everything that I would be telling him was just going to be sounding like a total ass kisser moment.

"I don't know anything about monsters. But if you are searching for Tina Rex, I guess that I might be able to have some ideas on what she was doing. I remember that she would often go to the dump. From what I remember, she seemed to try and find stuff there. I think that I remember hearing that one of the mile markers were there, and that she thought she could find her friend or something." Matt said, and then after he had said that to me, I was feeling like Matt was a fucking warrior for saying that, and that I needed to just basically hug him for giving me even that much to be working with right now.

"Matt, you are a wonderful human being." I said, and then I looked right at him, to affirm what I said. "That is going to really be making things so much better for everybody. Just remember that you can really be doing a lot of great if we can just keep our minds to it." I said, and I was having nothing else to say to him. I saw Matt looking like he was happy to hear me say that about him.

Scene 4: Wutai Village (Sora)

The next day, I was trying to get ready to head to Wutai village, but I remember what Sora had told me earlier. How she actually wanted to get involved with this, and I was feeling like I just needed to see what she was thinking here. I wished that I knew what Sora was feeling, and what she was even trying to accomplish by doing all this in the first place.

Eventually, I reached her house, and I was wondering if she was going to try and force Matt to be coming along to this. In all honesty, I was feeling that if Matt was going to be going along with this journey, then he was probably going to be judging me a lot, and acting like I was a fucking idiot. At least when I was with Sora, she would probably give me a minor hint of respect.

When I was done knocking, that was when Sora looked at me. She clearly was just surprised to be seeing me here in the first place. Probably thinking that I was not going to be going through with this idea, and now that I was here, I was just needing to get right to work, in her eyes. "So T.K., what is your plan right now?"

"I am going to be visiting the Wutai village, and I feel like I will need your help on this right now." I said, and then I looked right at her, and I saw that she was just sort of accepting the fact that this was something that she would probably have to lie to Matt about, in order for this to not turn into a fight.

"Do you know much about this Justin Ryder to begin with?" She asked me, and then I looked at her, and I honestly had no idea what in the world I was even going to tell her. "I mean, I feel like I need to know who he is. He really seems like the most interesting person here." After she was telling me this, I was looking at her, and I was wondering what her long term game from this was going to be.

"I know that Ocho has worked with him, and that Ocho trusts him. It seems like he was even trained by the guy. If this is somebody that he relies on, then I believe that it would be a massive mistake to not be seeing what he can be capable of. And besides, I heard that he saw the destruction of Wutai village." I said, and then I saw that Sora was looking like she was relatively interested in hearing that part of the story.

As we were walking along, I was wondering what Sora was planning on saying here. "T.K., do you think that Matt would be against this if he found out what you were doing." After she asked me this, I looked at her, and I was shrugging, since I was having no idea how in the world I was even going to be responding to something like that.

"Honestly, I have no idea what Matt is planning on doing here. I think that he knows that no matter how much he opposes this, there is nothing that he is going to be able to do about it. I mean, I always really feel bad when I have these fights with the man. But he treats me like I am too fucking stupid to take care of myself." I said, and when I had said that to her, I hoped that she would see where I was coming from in my frustration with him.

"Well, I mean, I know that no matter how many times you hear this, you are probably not wanting to hear it. But I feel like he honestly just cares a lot about you, and just wants to make sure that you are not doing something that is going to get you killed." After she was saying that to me, I was sighing, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood. I knew what he was trying to do. And she was just brushing off all my feelings here.

"It doesn't make me feel all that much better. But I guess that I will just have to accept what you are saying as true." I said, and then after I said that, I was hoping that this was going to be the end of the discussion. Eventually, we made it to where the only train station that would be going to Wutai village was. It only ran once a day, and I was pretty sure that almost nobody actually went to it, as if scared of what they were going to find here.

"T.K., are you one hundred percent sure that you are actually wanting to go to Wutai? I mean, I am sure that nobody would judge you if you decide to not go there. If anything, Matt would probably appreciate something like that more." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, since by this time, I really was getting sick of talking with her about what Matt was doing.

"I have no choice. If I am not going to do this, then who the fucking hell will be doing it? Think about that. Nobody is going to be doing this without me." I said, and then after I was saying that to her, I was seeing Sora looking like she was just tired of having these arguments with us. So with that, we went inside of the train after paying the two dollars per person ticket. Once we had sat down, I looked right at her, wondering what I was even going to be saying at this rate.

"Sora, are you and Matt actually rebounding? I mean, I heard Matt telling me that you guys were working on it, but I am having a hard time really buying that. After all, it seems like you guys are always having some form of disagreement?" I asked, and then she was looking at me, as if not really in the mood to be hearing what I was telling her.

"I mean, we were never really broken up. We talked about the idea a couple of times. But in all honesty, I feel like we are finally over that slump, now that we both know what we are both planning on doing, and I think that at this rate, we are just starting to respect each others space enough." After Sora was telling me this, I was really having no clue what I would have even wanted to say now.

"Do you have any advice on how I could be able to get a girl to like me? There is somebody that I am looking at, and the two of us have seemed like we are making some progress." I said, and then I was looking at her, and I was honestly not caring at all how random and how of nowhere this was. I was looking at her, and I saw her looking like she had no idea what to say now.

"Honestly, I feel like the best way to get somebody to like you is to just be yourself. You need to not be so worried about what she is doing, and you need to understand that if you are wanting to get her to believe that you are a good person, then you just need to give her everything that you have." She was telling me, and in all honesty, hearing her say this to me was not really making me feel all that much better about what was going on. I mean, it sounded great and all, and it sounded like I could do that. But what about when I started to show her everything about my character.

"I guess that I could do that. But to be honest with you, I feel like if I show her too much about myself, then she would start to feel like I am either obsessed, or a fucking loser. And I really do not want to be coming off as either. Even though deep down inside, I feel like both of them are probably true. I am just having a horrible feeling that I am not going to ever love a person who will feel the same way." I said, and I did not care how dramatic I was sounding to her when I was saying this.

"You need to chill out with that. That sounds really fucking over the top. After all, you are still in middle school. I am sure that people will come to find you eventually, and see you for who you are." She was saying, and I was seeing that in all honesty, this was going to be a discussion that she never wanted to have with me ever again.

"Okay, I get it. But seriously, I mean, everybody else seems to be finding some success with other people in Wayside. I mean, Rob and Rachel seem to be getting something going here, and then there is you. I mean, even Tai could have had something if he did not want to just push her away from him for no fucking reason." After I was saying this to her, I was seeing her looking like she was considering what I had said about Tai for a second.

"Tai. In all honesty, I feel like him and Melissa were not going to work out. I mean, they might have been fine for a while, but I feel like something like this was just going to eventually fucking fail. And I feel like whatever Melissa was doing with him earlier, this is the only reason he has become as focused on this as he had been." After Sora was saying this to me, I was then sighing, wondering what she had been meaning right now.

"I mean, he keeps going on about that promise that he had made her, and that promise doesn't mean a fucking thing when it always comes to him putting himself in danger. He has to realize that there is only so much that he fucking can do here. And maybe if it were not for that promise, then Kari might still like him." After she had said that to me, I was feeling like I was just totally fucking lost right now.

"So you feel like Melissa just ruined his whole fucking life? I mean, that might be a bit of a stretch, and I have no idea if she has even talked with him for a while." I said, and then I was shrugging, really having no idea what in the world I was going to be feeling now. In all honesty, Sora was just making me feel totally out of it here.

"I mean, he was always looking out after her throughout most of the school year. That seems to be the only thing he fucking cared about. And I feel like that is going to eventually make him realize that maybe she was never really meant to be with him. But I never really wanted to see his reaction to something like this." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, and the train was parking, and I was looking around, and saw that despite it not being talked about often, that the town had slowly been rebuilt for a while.

"Well, I guess that we need to check this out." I said, and then after I had said that to her, I was starting to get out of the train. Sora was getting out of the train with me. Once we were gone, I was looking around, and I was wondering what the hell we were even going to do. "Now the main objective is that we need to try and find out where Justin Ryder is. And we are going to force him to work with us, no matter what."

As we were going around, I was wondering if we were even going to be allowed to see Justin Ryder anyways, if we did meet up with him. I was having a terrible feeling that if we were going to try and see him, then the people in the town who either worked with him or against him would try and say something else. And honestly, I was not too sure which one was going to be bothering me more.

As we were looking around, I was seeing that Sora was just more amazed by the architecture than anything else. I saw Sora looking genuinely happy to be here with me right now, and I was wondering if she was actually wanting to be working with me, or if she was just trying to take advantage of the sights and shit.

As I had walked towards the building that had "town hall" at the top, I was feeling like I was probably going to be wasting my time by having this discussion. I knew that whatever these people were wanting to tell me, I just needed to be careful in whatever I had been doing. I needed to make it seem like I was in this for some form of project or whatever.

Once I was inside of the building, I was seeing Sora looking like she was getting a bit more serious, and looking like she was willing to focus on the project once again. When she was with me, I was seeing her looking like she was worried about what we would find when these people would talk with us. I closed my eyes, scared out of my mind what I would be able to do to defend myself if this went even half as bas as I feared it would.

I was seeing one guy who was looking like he was close to middle aged sitting down, and there was some incense going around him. I was wondering why he was trying to go so deep into the meditation sense. Probably feeling that doing this could actually give him a sense of capturing what the town was like back in the day, which was clearly just a aesthetic thing.

"Hello, I was working on a summer project, and I was needing some help with it." I said, and then I was seeing Sora looking like she was confused why this was the narrative that I had been going on, and probably feeling like I was being a bit dumb for not being forward with him.

"I heard that there was a man named Justin Ryder who lived here, and often times talked about his experiences here. I thought that maybe he would help me with that project." I said, and then after I said that to him, I was seeing that the guy was looking like he was really not buying what I had said at all. Probably feeling like whatever lies I was making, I just needed to be more creative about them.

"Do you have any part of this project?" After the guy asked Sora this question, I saw her looking like she had clearly not wanted to be a part of this at all. Probably feeling that whatever I was doing, I just needed to be a part of this alone. "It would be strange for you to be here if you were not part of this same project."

"In all honesty, I am just here to make sure that he is safe. He always does stupid and insane things, and I am just here to make sure that he knows what he is doing." After Sora was saying that to him, I was wanting to be triggered by what she was saying. But I knew that she was probably right.

"Trouble maker. Reminds me of when I was his age. Always trying to go around, and be the big hero of the day. It seems like you guys do not realize that you do not need to do this stuff. It always ends badly, and it always leaves people wondering if they were ever good enough for their family." He was saying, and then he looked right at us, wondering what we were even going to be saying to this.

"Wait a second… Are you saying that you have done these types of things too?" I asked, and I knew the connotation was super obvious. But I was feeling that if this guy was confirming what I was feeling like he was, then I was wondering why he even was playing dumb to begin with.

"Yes, I have. And I was not able to see how much what I was doing had been affecting those around me. I was convinced that I was doing the right thing, and I had thought that everything that I was doing would finally make me feel so much better." After the man was saying this, he started to head to some drawer that was nearby.

"I had a feeling that one of these days, I would have to come back, and finish what I had started. It was something that I thought that maybe I would never have to do. But life has a way of forcing those who do not want to do something to step up, and take a new level of responsibility to what is ahead of you." After he was saying this to me, I was looking at him, and I knew what he was going to be saying now.

"Are you Justin Ryder himself?" I asked, feeling that if he wasn't and it was just a dump assumption, I would rather have him just tell it to be straight up, and not leave me hanging. I was seeing Sora looking at me for a second, and I was seeing that from the look on her face, she clearly wanted me to consider what I had been doing more.

"Yes, I am. I tried to slowly rebuild this village over the years, feeling that might have been my way of fixing the mistakes that I had made. But perhaps something like this was just simply not meant to be. If it was, then perhaps I would have actually been able to get out of this mess." After he had said that to me, I was feeling like I needed to just get to know him more.

"If you were trying to hide, then why did you decide that you were going to be working with Ocho? What made him so fucking special to be working with?" I asked, and then after I asked him this, I saw that he was looking like he did not really appreciate the fact that I was attacking him all of a sudden. And I was seeing Sora giving me a look of trying to be careful. But I didn't care. I deserved the truth, no matter what.

"Because I thought that he would be the one who would fix the issue for me. Besides, I felt like he had a lot more interest in the subject than most people of his age. He just seemed perfect for the task. And I would be lying if I did not say that a small part of me resonated with the guy." After he was saying that to me, I was then slowly considering what he had said to us.

"Do you really feel like he will be the one? I mean, he hardly seems like he can be able to do much anymore, with how much people have started to suspect him. At this rate, people are already going to know what he is up to, and he is probably only going to make things worse by looking at it more." I said, and then after I told him this, he was starting to pull out a training outfit, and then a small box that he never opened in years, as you can see with the dust growing all over it.

"I don't know. I just feel like when you are lost, and you feel like you need to find some answers, you got to just be yourself. When you eventually find what you are looking for, then you will be able to finally move in the direction that you need. Just understand that some people have different views on their way of saving this town." After he was saying this, I was having no idea what in the world I was even going to be doing now.

"Can you please come back, and finish the job that you started? We need your help, and we need to have you expose what is going on in this town." I said, and then I was having no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying to him in the first place. As I was saying this, I was seeing Justin taking a second to just hide his annoyance at what he was saying.

"I would not mind finishing what I started. But that does not mean that I want to train you, and get you prepared for something that I know will only be leading in your death." After he had said that to me, I was looking down on the ground, feeling that him saying that he wanted nothing to do with me only really made things slightly worse for me.

"I want to know what I can do to help. That would really be the best thing that I can get out of this." After I was telling him this, I was balling my fist, and I needed this. As I done this, I was seeing that Justin was looking like he was indeed feeling slightly bad over what he had been hearing. I was seeing Sora looking like she needed to get in the conversation.

Sora was placing her hand on my shoulder, and then she was looking right at me. "He doesn't really seem like he believes that we are ready for something like this. And that is fine T.K. I think that it would only be worse for you if you are going to try and oppose this." After she had said that to me, I was looking right at her, and I was feeling like there was no way that I would be getting out of this without a fucking fight.

"I mean, this guy probably can do more to help this place out than anyone else. I think that you need to see that this is the best chance that we have. And we are just not doing anything about it." I said, and then I was balling my fist, and I was seeing Sora looking like she had hardly had anything to say about this.

"You might be right. But you can't just get what you want by constantly fucking forcing it. You need to understand that in order to get what you want, you are going to have to show that you earned it." Sora said, and then I was looking at her, and I was feeling like there was no point to be saying anything fucking vague like that.

"I doubt that the concept of earning even fucking exists in Wayside?" I asked, and then I looked right at her, and I was seeing her looking like she was just tired of this discussion, and I was wondering if I was only making it worse for my position when I was bringing this all up in the first place. She looked like she was trying to find some better way to go at what she was wanting to tell us.

"Let's just leave him be. He seems like he is working on getting something ready, and we are probably only making things worse for him." Sora said, and I was seeing from the way that she was looking at him that despite all she was saying, that she was actually upset at the way that Justin had acted here, and that he had ruined the hope that she had so far.

We had left the building, and I was looking at Sora, and I was seeing that from the look on her face, she was not really looking nearly as fine as she was pretending like she had been earlier. "Is there something that you need to talk about?" I asked, and then was shaking her head, as if finding the whole thing to be a waste of time.

"Why should I even bother? I think we both know that he has already made his mind up, and that if we waste our time on this any further, we are only going to be making things worse." After she had said that to me, I was looking right at her, and I was wondering why she did not admit to this earlier.

"If this was what I was saying earlier, then why on fucking earth were you fighting with me about this earlier? I think that we both know if we want to be realistic here, that are are truly on this alone." I said, and then with that, I shrugged, and I decided that I would just remain silent at this statement, since I was being realistic the entire time that I had said that. Sora was looking right at me, and I was seeing that she had looked like she had been trying to hide the way that she had truly felt.

"I'll admit it. I thought that Justin would be the one who would turn things around, and give me hope. I genuinely thought that he would be the man who would give us some feeling of change. I mean, if he is going to indeed be doing this fight, then I guess that my thoughts would be right. But I thought that he would let us get involved." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, and I decided that I would remain silent for the time being.

"So now that you are starting to see the truth for what it is, are you willing to admit that we need to be looking at how we are going to be going through this, rather than just trying to come up with excuses? I mean, your weakness with Steven Small was what got you to be blind sided by him at the end of the day." I said, and then the memory of him was getting right back to her, and I felt like I was hitting a good sour spot as I was mentioning his name.

"Please don't bring that guy up with me again. I really would rather just have that topic not be mentioned again. It hurts to know how much he had made me look like a idiot with his stuff." After she was saying this to me, I looked right at her, and I felt like I just needed to leave her alone, and that I was really only making things worse for her.

"Sorry. I am just trying to be realistic when I say that." I said, and then after I was telling her this, I was sighing, and I felt like maybe I could have done more to help her feel better about this. But before too long, I was rubbing my eyes, and decided to just keep myself focused on the bigger picture. "So now that we know what we are going to be getting ourselves into, I think that we just need to plan ahead. There has to be something in Wutai village that we can still use to help us out. Even if Justin doesn't want to help us, we are not going to be alone."

"Yeah, let's just see what we can find if we look around a bit better." After she had said that to me, she closed her eyes, and decided that she would remain silent for a few seconds longer. "I just don't know where in the hell we could be able to find the next clue anyways. Do you have any idea where we can go?" She asked, and then I was shrugging, not sure what else I was even going to say now.

As I was looking around the town, I was wondering where to go. I started to just baselessly walk around, not having any clue what I was doing. I just hoped that something in this town would be willing to give me some clues on what I was supposed to do next. As I was wandering around, and Sora was starting to follow me, I was seeing that's he was starting to lighten up just a little bit more, and I was seeing that she was actually looking like she was willing to almost stop thinking about Justin for a while longer.

"I doubt that anybody at this town are willing to even talk with us. They probably all think that we are doing this for personal gain. And I guess that I can sort of see what they are saying." Sora was saying, and she was sounding like she was just sort of tired, and she was probably just thinking that this whole thing was a massive waste of fucking time. As we were going around, that was when we heard Justin's voice calling out to us.

"Alright. You made your point. Besides, I feel like it would be really dumb for everybody if you guys are wandering around with no fucking plan on what you are going to do." Justin said, and then he was walking to us, and I was seeing him looking like he was looking just relatively annoyed with what he was saying. Probably as if every word that was coming out of this mouth was just something that he was forcing to make us feel better here.

"I will be heading to Wayside soon. I will see if I can put a end to this nightmare. If you really want to help, then you can. I have some things to sort out." After he said that to us, I was excited. I knew he was actually going to be doing this, and I felt like he was the one who would finally give us a chance to actually turn our life around in this town. It felt like the perfect combination.

And then I was sighing, and felt like I needed to ask this question, before I lost my chance. "So, is it true that you actually were friends with Shaun Reichenbach back then? If you were, then what was it that made you stop working with him?" I asked, and I knew that I just needed to know the truth. Even if it did not matter, I needed to know for my own sake.

"It was far beyond basic disagreements. Seeing the way he was treating the situation. The way that he had a total disregard for the girls in this town, and the fact that he continued to go along with what had been happening, despite the fact that he had known what was happening to them was too much. I knew that I could never forgive him." Justin said, and then I was starting to tilt my head side ways.

"What do you mean, by the stuff he knew was happening to the girls? Can you please explain that?" She asked, and then Shaun was sighing, as if feeling that whatever he was going to say now, he was not going to be able to get himself out of this. I saw him looking like he had already been planning on some form of a answer out of this.

"You don't know what he was doing? Wow, I feel like I should not be having this conversation with you then. If you do not know the truth, then I do not feel like you would be ready for whatever is to come. Maybe you should do some basic research on this stuff before you come around and start begging me for information." After he had said that to Sora, I saw him looking like he was hoping she would listen to him as he was telling her say this.

"And I say that in a good way. You need to just go along, and just keep your head down low. Don't worry about what is happening with the town and just worry about yourself." After Shaun was saying this to her, he was starting to head back inside. As he was going inside, I started to run towards him, and I was seeing Sora looking like she was just mind blown at the way that he had been treating her.

It honestly looked like her feelings were genuinely hurt as he had been saying that, and I did not blame her at all. I just hoped that when I talked with him, he would tell me the truth. I got inside of the shack, and Justin was already pulling out a cigarette, and started to smoke it. "Look, what is happening with them? Is it drug cartels? Are they being sold for drugs?"

As I asked this, he looked right at me, and shook his head. "No, it is far worse than anything like that. There is no way in hell that this would have gone on for as long as it has." After Justin said that, I was starting to get closer to him, feeling like my temper was really starting to go over head, and I felt like I just needed to get him to shut up, and talk with me.

"What is going on with that grinder? Are they being sent up there or something? Why in the world would they be?" I asked, feeling like that was something that was at least getting slightly closer to the truth. As I said that, I saw the look on Justin's face. As if he was slightly worried that I was sort of coming onto him, and that he was wondering if he was even going to be able to hide the truth for much longer or anything like that.

"That is where it all ends. Everything that can reveal the truth all goes there, to wash the truth away. It is the only way that they know of that can take away what they are doing." After he had said that to me, I was confused at what he was meaning with that. And the worst part was that there was a small part of me that was starting to piece it all together a little bit more.

"So you are going to reveal what they are doing with that or what?" I asked, and I was feeling like that was the best that I can work with. As I had said that to him, I saw him looking like he was just slightly unsure of what he was going to be doing here. I was feeling like he needed to give me some answers, and that these answers needed to make more sense than they had been earlier.

"If you want to know what these people can do if somebody looks too deep into what they are doing, just look at this town. This used to almost more popular and powerful than Wayside itself. It used to be the one thing that kept Wayside's growing influence to a halt. And then it was destroyed in a blink of a eye. One fucking night. Because I decided to look into this conflict. I want you to understand that if you are going to be looking into this, the risk could be happening that you could just make things worse for everybody here." As Justin said that, I looked down, and I was sort of seeing what he had said, even though I did not want to say it at all.

Scene 5: Nothing to Lose (Joe)

When I was done with Justin that night, I decided that I would go by the café once, and just see if there was something there that I had been missing. The whole thing that Justin said made me feel unsure, mainly because I was feeling like fi what he said was true, then there should have been some super obvious stuff that I had just not seen, and that I was really just making things worse for everybody by doing this. I mean, the fact that he was talking about the grinder, and seemed like it was super clear what it was, really made me question everything.

As I was in the café, I was seeing that Jim was starting to wrap things up for the night. When he was seeing me, I clearly saw that he was not very excited to be seeing me at all. "Yeah, Joe is up there if you need to talk with him." After he had said that to me, I was wondering if my presence here was a bother to him. As I was thinking this, I felt like I just needed to leave him alone for a bit.

"Thank you." I said, feeling that would be the best thing to say, and then with that, I was walking up the stairs, and I was wondering if Joe was simply not wanting to talk at all. I was feeling really bad if I was only making things worse for him. But I was telling myself to just not be so worried about it. I went inside, and then I saw Joe glancing back in my direction when I was here now.

"Hey. I was wondering when you would be back. After all, it seems like you come here all the time. But what are you finding so far?" He asked, and then I looked right at him, and I was looking around, and I was feeling so fucking bad for everything that he said. It wasn't taking a genius to figure out he had not wanted to see me all that much as well.

"I tried to go to Wutai village. When I was there, I did get to see Justin, and he had agreed that he would be coming back, to see what he can be able to do to help us out." After I said that to him, I was seeing that he was just looking like he was kind of shocked at the fact that this was the reveal that I gave him. But then with that, he started to smile, ready for the information.

"Wow. I did not think you were actually going to find that man. I was starting to wonder if he was even alive. But if he is here, then what do you know about him exactly." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, feeling like I would have to tell him what I was feeling, and just give him some form of a answer here.

"Are you actually going to be working with him? I mean, if you are actually wanting to work with him, then perhaps you just need him to see that you have a plan. Something that actually makes this worth it." After he was saying that to me, I was looking right at Joe, and I was wondering what he was going to try and accomplish with this discussion.

"I have no choice. I mean, I respect Ocho a lot, but I feel like he will not be able to train me or anything like that. So I feel like I am going to have to take things into my own fucking hands." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I was seeing that Joe was looking like he was sort of against this whole time. I really had no idea what Joe and I were going to even accomplish now.

"I mean, he was telling me some things that were making me second guess myself to be honest. Some things that make me feel like I really do not have a right to try and get involved in what is happening here, and I am sort of being a fucking narcissist for even thinking that I would be the one who would take care of this." As I said that, I saw that Joe was having a hard time really knowing what to be saying to that comment right now.

"What did he say?" Joe asked, as if feeling like he would just go along with what I was saying for the time being. I shrugged, thinking that maybe he would be able to help me figure out what the hell he was trying to say. If Joe had some idea what Justin was talking about, then maybe I was going to have to let him talk for a while. Have to let him essentially take the lead.

"He said that the grinder was where everything ended. Where all the answers would be destroyed, so that way nobody would know what indeed is happening there. I mean, I think that he might be telling the truth. But I think that this perhaps means that they are literally going out of their way to kill them. And in all honesty, if that is the case, then I have no idea what in the fucking world I can even tell them." I said, and then with that, I was wondering if Joe had any ideas with what to say here.

"I guess that there is a good chance that this is indeed what he is talking about. And I think that you would be doing yourself a favor if you looked at what he said in that sense. It might hurt you to hear that, but I think that maybe he does really know what is happening here." Joe said, and then after he had said that to me, I sighed, and I decided that I would just remain silent for the time being.

"Yeah, I get that. But I am starting to feel that at this point in time, after everything that is going on, that I really have nothing to lose, and that I might as well just see what I might be able to pull together. I feel like I might as well just go all in, and see what I can get here." I said, and then I looked right at him, and then I was seeing that Joe was kind of considering what I was telling him. Joe sighed, knowing that I was probably onto something as I had said that.

"You did this to yourself. But I am not going to lecture you. I think you know that." After he had said that to me, I was clearly just annoyed at this, knowing that him just saying it was only going to make things worse. With that all said, I was then thinking about what I was going to be doing now. "What is going on in your mind?" After he asked me this, I looked right at him, and I had no idea what to even tell him.

"I am thinking that I am going to go up that mountain, and try and see if maybe the grinder is up there. I mean, that would explain why literally everybody would be able to hear it. That is the best place to start looking." After I said that to him, I was seeing that Joe was looking like he was not really wanting to speak about this too much. I knew that even if he denied it, Joe clearly did not want anything to do with this in the first place.

"I guess that if you are going to be going up there, then you are going to need somebody at your side. After all, how are you going to be able to find everything on your own, when you are still too young to be able to defend yourself." Joe said, and then I looked around, wondering if Joe was going to offer coming along with me.

I saw him sighing, and I knew that he was just steeling his nerves to be getting ready for this. Then with that, he was slowly nodding. "Yeah, I guess that maybe we should just do this. After all, I know that I am not going to change your mind, so there is no reason to even try." As Joe was saying this, he was looking at the papers that he had been reading. I figured that I needed to ask him the question that would show that I was still aware of his feelings.

"How are you doing with Aurora? I mean, you have been looking for her for quite a while, and I am just worried that soon enough, you are going to realize that you might never be able to find her." I said, and then after I was saying that to Joe, I was seeing that he was looking like he still did not really appreciate what I was saying to him.

"I think that I have to accept the fact that I will never see her again. I mean, I have lost count of how many times this grinding noise has gone off during this summer alone. It feels like it is every other week at this point, and at this rate, I feel like there will only be enough time before Aurora is out of Wayside forever, or she really is dead." After Joe was saying that to me, I was sighing, since I felt like he had already made his mind on the matter.

"Joe, you should never give up hope. I mean, even getting a terrible answer like what happened with Andrea would be better than nothing at all. I mean, even Tobias has told me that despite how awful what happened to Andrea was, at least he was glad that he was having a answer, and that he would rather have that, than just be left hanging." After I was telling Joe this, I saw him looking like he was not really buying anything like that.

"I mean, I do see where Tobias is coming from. But then I would have to try and see what I would be able to tell their parents. I feel like trying to talk to them about this would break their fucking heart, and they would probably find some way to blame me, and act like I am a monster or whatever." After Joe was telling me this, he was shaking his head, and then he looked right at me. "But I feel like that is a bridge I will cross when it is my fucking time."

"I guess that it is time for us to get to work." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was seeing that Joe was still looking like he was not too sure what to feel here. But before too long, that was when the two of us were leaving the room. As I was wondering what I would do with him now, that was when I was seeing that Jim was still not out of the café quite yet. I smiled, feeling like I needed to try and take advantage of this conversation once again.

"Hey Jim. I was wondering if you could tell me something." I said, and then he was closing his eyes for a second, probably to try and pretend like he wasn't annoyed, and then he was looking right at me again, as if feeling that whatever I was wanting to tell him, he just needed to give me a chance. "So I was wondering if you would be able to tell me more about the monsters that are in Wayside." I said, and then I looked right at him, and then I saw that Jim was clearly looking like he wanted nothing to do with this discussion.

"Yeah, I have seen some of them. But I doubt that you guys will actually really buy that. I mean, who in the world would? Even to myself, it sounds insane, and hard to really believe. But if you actually believe in them, then I suppose that maybe I shouldn't stop you from looking around.

With that, Jim left the café, and then with that, I was looking right at Joe, and I was wondering what he was going to do now. "So if Jim admits to the fact that there are monsters, do you want to finally admit that you are not giving this whole thing enough credit?" I asked, and then after I asked him this, I was seeing that Joe just looked like he was a little bit scared of what I was telling him.

"I mean, I never denied it. But I will admit that him saying that does really make things a bit different." After Joe was saying that to us, I was starting to head one, and then Joe was leaving with me. I was seeing that in all honesty, he had clearly just trying to decide what in the world we were even going to be doing with these monsters to begin with.

As we were going to his car, I saw that Joe was taking a deep breath, as if just trying to decide if he was even believing that he had been doing all of this in the first place. "I mean, what are you thinking you are going to do? Are you actually going to be heading to that broadcast station, to see what is in there?" He asked, and then I looked at him, and slowly nodded. I felt like there was nothing else to be doing now. And in all honesty, I felt like if the grinder was there, I would finally know why dad was hiding everything at this rate.

"Yeah. I mean, Matt was wanting to look into this stuff, and he had refused to do something like this. And because of that, I feel like I have to take what he is doing, and run with it." I said, and then I was sighing, and with that, Joe was slowly taking a deep breath, feeling that there was no need to be fighting this debate.

"Maybe Matt is probably just worried about what you are getting yourself into. I mean, I never doubted that Matt cared about your own sake. But I feel like you are probably not really wanting to hear anything like that at all." As Joe was saying that to me, I was really having no idea what in the world I was going to get myself into.

As Joe was starting to drive along, I was remaining silent, and I was wondering what in the world my father had been doing. I knew that whatever my father had been hiding, I just needed to fucking be honest with those around me. I needed to stop pretending like there was nothing going on, and that I just needed to accept the truth of what our family had been willingly getting involved into at this point in time.

"Joe, I mean, I think that the worst part of my father being involved in what is happening to this town isn't the reality of being honest with myself. I think that it is more of being honest with you guys, and knowing that what I might say would just ruin what reputation he has among Wayside. That everything he has been working on will be gone." I said, and I was wondering if that would be worse than what Rob was dealing with, since he was dealing with the fact that he was going to be the heir to Wayside, and that everybody would hate him forever once they know the truth.

"I mean, at least you didn't question your dad when he got involved in this stuff. I was just questioning him left and right, and pretending like my father was the fucking devil due to his work at the election. And now I am starting to feel like he might have been the only one who knew the answer. And I am just being so fucking rude to him, that I just can never forgive myself." After Joe was telling me this, I saw him looking relatively out of it.

"Do you feel like your dad is actually a bad guy, or that you were wrong? I mean, this election is still kind of making me feel unsure. But if you feel like he is doing the right thing, then I feel like I might just have to let it go." I said, and then I was looking right at Joe, and I was seeing him looking as if he was just upset at the fact that this question was coming up.

"Look, I do not want my father to be the one accused of all these things. I mean, even if he is involved with everything, he probably does have some good intentions in his heart. Or I hope that he does. Maybe he doesn't. I don't know. I am just bouncing around too much." After Joe was telling me this, he shrugged, and then looked at me for a bit.

"At least you seem to have a idea on what you are doing. At least you are getting a ethos, and I think that this is something that shows that at least in some regards, despite your much younger age, you are more mature than me." Joe said, and then he was sighing, and I felt like now that we had parked in the forest, we just needed to get to work, and not worry about any of this other stuff, and not be worried about what we had been saying earlier.

Eventually, I got out of the car, and then Joe was remaining silent for a second before he got out as well. He looked at me, and I saw that he was looking like he was considering a lot of things in his mind, probably just trying to decide if any of this was really going to be worth it at al. "Alright dude, we might as well just get right to work."

We were walking up for a while, and the entire time that we were slowly climbing up, I was really wondering if I was believing that dad was involved, or if I was perhaps just thinking too deeply into it. Like taking this way too seriously, and that I just needed to fucking relax for the time being, and realize that I did not need to worry about what everybody else was doing.

"My god, if I never go inside of this fucking forest again, I would be fucking happy. Every time that I come in here, I ger fucking sick and tired of what I see here. It just feels like when I see this place, everything that is wrong with this town is just running through my fucking mind." After he had said that to me, I was seeing that he was hardly looking like he had anything else to say on the matter at all.

I was feeling like if Joe was wanting to just get out of this, then in all honesty I could not blame him at all. I just felt like if this was the case though, that he just needed to tell me, and that way we could be able to work through this.

"Joe, I am sorry that you got dragged into this. I honestly believe that if you had not gotten involved with this, then perhaps Aurora might have been safe. As much as I hate to fucking admit it, a part of me feels like her going missing is my fault." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I looked at Joe, and I was wondering if he was willing to agree with what I had said. As I said that, I saw that Joe just looked like he had hardly given a shit what to think of what I was saying.

"Look, I appreciate the stuff that you are saying. But the truth is that I honestly believe that if I had not gotten into this, then something would have been pursuing Aurora anyways. I am not a fucking idiot. I know what the hell I am getting into." After Joe was telling me this, I saw that he was looking like he just was completely lost in what he was telling me here.

"I mean, it might have happened much later. I will agree to that. But it would have gone down eventually, and then I would be hating myself for different reasons, so it would all be a fucking wash, and it would feel like I just am never doing myself any services." After Joe was saying this to me, I sighed, and felt like I would just leave it alone for the time being.

Eventually, we made it to the broadcast station, and once there, that was when I was seeing that my dad's car was still there. I was sighing in annoyance as I was seeing this. Knowing that my father was going to fucking fight this to the death, and I knew that I just needed to find any excuse that I could get to explain to my dad that this was just a visit, I was already running everything through my mind. I was looking at Joe, and I was really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be telling him at all.

"T.K., are you seeing something that is troubling you?" After Joe asked me this, I was looking right at him, since I had no idea what I was going to be telling him at all. "We need to get through this, even if it is going to be hard for both of us. Just know that no matter what happens, I will be there at your side." He said, and I was feeling like he did not quite get what I was feeling. But I did not blame him for that lack of getting it.

"Just my dad's car. And I have no idea what fucking excuse he will be making to justify everything. Although I don't want to hear it in all honesty." I said, and then I looked at him, and I was seeing that Joe was just trying to think of something to tell me in order to really motivate me. But then he decided to go for a more honest approach when he was looking right at me.

"Honestly, I get what it might be feeling like. Feeling like your dad might be the one who is going to be bringing everything to chaos. But let me tell you this, always questioning him, and always trying to get upset at him is not going to be making things any better for you." After he was saying this to me, I was sighing, and I was aware he would bring his father into this.

"At least you have confidence in him now, and feel like he might be a good guy. I am still relatively unsure, and feel totally fucking lost now." After I had said that to him, Joe was slowly just taking what I said, and decided that he would be leaving it alone for the time being. With that, we were going inside the station. Feeling that for better or for worse, we really had nothing to fucking lose now.

Once inside, I was seeing that a few employees were talking with each other, and making it seem like they were having the time of their life. As they were talking with each other, I was feeling like I just needed to try and come up with some fucking story. Any fucking story, to get this whole thing to fucking work out. Joe looked at me, and I was seeing that he was wanting me to calm down a little bit.

"T.K., it will be fine. Regardless, I will be at your side, and I will find something to help you, if I have to." After Joe said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and I was feeling like him saying this was going to be making me feel better. I was already feeling like I could calm down a little bit. "I mean, there is nothing that you are going to lose by knowing one way or another, and so much to gain if you do." After he had said that to me, I was feeling like that was bullshit, but I decided to not argue.

Once we were looking around, I was feeling like I just wanted to know what Matt found in here that made him so angry at dad in the first place. He was clearly not trusting him as much as he was willing to pretend like he was. He might have wanted to act like he was fine with the man, but I was able to see from the way that he was talking that he was anything but fine with dad, and that was my responsibility to be figuring out in all honesty.

Eventually, I was reaching dad's office, and then I took a deep breath, and walked inside. As I was inside, I saw that dad was wrapping up for the day. He looked at Joe, and I was seeing that he was clearly worried about the fact that Joe was here. Probably aware that our conversation was not going to be pleasant, and that there was almost no point in even arguing with us at this rate.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" My dad asked, and he clearly sounded like he was not having a great deal of patience with me. I was shocked to hear him use such a aggressive tone for the first time in a long while. But as I was getting used to it, I was slowly nodding, and felt like I just needed to grow a pair of balls, and just get right to the discussion.

"What do you know about the monsters here? I need to know the truth. I mean, every single secret that is in this town can be located back to here. Do not even pretend that this is not true." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was seeing that dad looked like he was just trying to not say anything, probably thinking that if he let me have my moment, I would calm down in a bit.

"T.K. these rumors about this station doing shit is really getting out of hand. You are starting to believe in them now? These are fucking stories to get people to believe something about this town." After he had said that to me, I looked right at him, and I was feeling like I needed to just stand my ground for once, and not let him be taking over this conversation.

"Please just cut the shit with me. I mean, you know that the noise that the grinder makes is strongest up here. Matt told me so. He told me everything that he had known. He told me what he had found in here." I said, and I was not even caring if Matt would be put in trouble. I needed him to just stop, and see what was going on around us.

"Why are you guys getting into my personal property like you are allowed to? I mean, you need to see how much this can damage social relations." After my father said that to me, I was sighing, and I figured that I just needed to let him have his moment, since he was probably right, at least to some smaller extent. But I did not want to say it.

"If you would just be honest with us, then we would never be doing this. It is all because we do not know what is happening, and we feel like we deserve better." After I said that to him, I saw that he was actually at least sort of thinking about what I had been saying to him. He looked down, and he was holding his eyes shut for a quick second.

"What is in that letter that mom made you? Can you at least give me that?" I asked, and then I was seeing Joe looking like he was uncomfortable with this. He was probably thinking about how to get involved, and help out, without making it really bad for both of us. So with that, he walked up, and then started to speak up for a bit.

"Guys, I think you both have good reason to be feeling the way that you are. But this fighting is only going to hurt you both. If you guys just listened for a moment, and talked, then this would not be a issue. I just think that you are both not seeing what the other person needs." He said, and then with that, I was seeing my dad just take a second.

"Maybe you guys are right. Maybe this is a giant mistake that I have been making to be honest. But I still feel like the exact contents of that letter should not be told to you." After my dad was saying this, he shrugged though, and then he was sitting down for a second.

"Truth be told, it was a confession. A confessing admitting to everything that she had known. She wanted me to understand what work she was doing, since she turned out to regret it." My father said, and then with that, I felt like he needed to just give me a bit more before I was fully satisfied with this. But the look on Joe's face was looking like he wanted me to just not push too much on this.

"What was she confessing to?" I asked, not letting him walk off with this. As I was saying this to him, I saw him looking like he was remaining relatively worried about what I had been trying to do here. I stared at him, wondering why he was trying to avoid the conversation this whole fucking time in the first place.

"T.K., I do not want to talk about this anymore. You got your answer. Shouldn't that be good enough for you?" My dad was saying, and the entire time that he was saying this, I was wondering if he even cared what I had actually been feeling. I wondered if he was really even wanting to actually help us out at all. As he was saying this to me, I was looking down, and I decided that there was nothing else that I could possibly even say to him.

Joe was looking at me. "Maybe when you are a bit older, you might get to know more. But for now, I feel like that might be the best that you can get here." After Joe said that to me, I was trying really hard to not ball my fucking fists at my dad. I wanted to plant a mark on his face so badly, and I was feeling like there was no point in even pretending like this was something that I wanted to hear about anymore. But then with that, I was closing my eyes for a few seconds.

"Fine. I just never understand why you are hiding these things. I thought that you would have told me more." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was feeling that I might as well just leave it alone. But then I was seeing that my father just looked as if he was not having anything else to say. With that, I was starting to walk off. But as I was at the door, I heard my fathers voice calling out to me, so I figured that I needed to let him talk.

"You might not realize it, but I am really fucking sorry for everything that I did to you. If I had not decided to take the job offer and move to Wayside, then perhaps this might have been better for us all. But I did not see past the immediate results. I should have known." My dad said, and then I had nothing to say about it at all.

"Maybe one of these days, I will believe in what you are saying. I just don't know how long how long something like this will take." I said, and then with that, we were leaving the room, and I was wondering what Joe would be saying to this at all. What fucking profound statement he was having in store for me and all that.

As I was in Joe's car again, I looked right at him, and I was feeling like I needed to be careful in how I choose my words here. "He's lying Joe. He's fucking lying and I know it." I said, and then I was seeing that Joe was still looking like he was just trying to decide what he was going to be saying to this idea. Probably just not too sure what in the world he was wanting to even be telling me.

"Do you think that there is more in that letter? Is that what you feel like he is lying about?" Joe asked, and then I was looking at him, and I had no idea what to tell him. I was feeling like there was nothing to say now. I was starting to rub my eyes, wanting to pretend like I was not crying, and that I was just taking this normally in all honesty.

"I know that there is more to it than he is saying. But that is not the worst part. The worst part is the fact that we are all buying into it, and that nobody is arguing at all. It is like we fucking know that he is lying, and nobody seems to give a shit." After I was telling him this, I was really feeling like there was no need to be saying more. I just wanted to have Joe feel like I was not being a worthless whiner or anything like that.

"We can search for it later. I feel like you might be right. Even if I do not want to admit it." Joe was saying, and then I was glad to be hearing him finally open up, and he was no longer hiding from the truth. And as he was saying this, I was wondering what I was going to be doing from now on. I looked ahead, finally just trying to think on where to be going now.

"I am going to get that fucking letter, and I don't care if I have to fucking steal it. I am going to make sure that I have a chance to fucking read it." I said, and then with that, I was feeling like I was finally having a plan in my head. Not a great plan or anything, but it was a plan, and that was all that fucking mattered, and I needed to work.

As I was doing this, I was then wondering why my plan was going to be going forward. Joe started the car up, probably to get us out of here. I was appreciating that gesture deep down inside, even if I did not want to admit it. Being here was hurting me more than I thought, and just being alone was all that I could be able to think about. And just not worrying about what everybody else would be doing now.

Scene 6: Heist (Tai)

I was at Tai's house, and I was wondering what in the world I was going to say to him. He probably felt like I was just trying to be a fucking hassle to him. In all honesty, I just felt like I needed to see what the hell Tai was thinking with Kari. After all, I was witnessing that the two of them were slowly growing to hate each other. Much more than I thought Matt was growing to hate me.

Once at his house, that was when I knocked at the door. I looked up, wondering what Tai was going to say to me in the first place. I was hoping that whatever else was going on, Tai would see that I was just trying my best to help out. When he did answer the door, I was seeing him looking like he was not really all that happy in the first place.

"Oh my god. What is going on in your mind? I doubt that I will be able to help you out at all." He said, and then I was shrugging, feeling that maybe just talking to him, when he was not in the area, was going to be enough to make me feel at least slightly better about what was happening.

"I was just wanting to get my mind out of what I had to deal with last night. I was arguing with my father about his work, and the letter that my mom left us. I feel like my father doesn't give a single shit about what I am feeling, and that is only making things just much worse for all of us." After I was telling him this, I was seeing that he really had no idea how in the world he was even going to be helping me out at all.

"Look, I think that you should have seen that coming. I mean, this type of stuff is what you would expect to hear all the time." Tai said, and then what he was saying was starting to piss me off. In all honesty, hearing him tell me that was just making me feel even worse about what I had been dealing with. But then I was then just thinking about what to say.

"I mean, at least with your family, you do not have to deal with parents that are terrible fucking people." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I shrugged. "Although dwelling on the past is not going to be helping me out all that much. I feel like if I want to actually learn the truth, I need to take that letter from my father."

"Are you actually planning on doing that, or are you just saying that out loud?" After he asked me that, I was sighing, and I had nothing else that I was going to be saying here. "I mean, I feel like this letter is probably going to be the best clue that we have to figuring out more of this stuff. So I guess that I will be willing to go along with this, and see what we can find here."

"Yeah, you're right. That is the best that we can fucking get. And that is why I need to take it. And besides, even beyond that, I just feel like I need to get it in order to get some peace of mind on what my fucking mother was feeling before she ended up taking her life." I said, and then I was really having no idea what I would have said in the first place.

"Well, if you are going to do this, then I might as well just see what we can do here. I guess that I might as well help you out. After all, if I am trying to contribute to this team, then I feel like that is the best that I can get here." Tai was telling me, and then I was really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be doing here.

As we were having this discussion, I was seeing from the look on Kari's face that she had clearly wanted to get involved in this subject. "Hey guys, what are you planning on doing?" Kari asked me, and then I was looking right at her, and I really had no idea what in the world I would have been able to do to make this whole better.

"I am planning on grabbing something from my house. I feel like I need to see what my mother had for us, and that is all that I need." I said, and then I was saying this to him, I was wondering what in the world I could have been able to do. I was seeing that Kari was just looking like she was relatively neutral on this whole event.

When Kari was slowly nodding, she was walking away, and then Tai was closing the door. Probably not really in the mood for this entire conversation. "God, she is going to be the worst person to be involved in this conversation. But do you feel like we need to be heading along right now?" Tai asked, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling like there was nothing to be saying at this point.

"Yeah, I feel like maybe we should just head along, and try to make a plan at the park or something. Where nobody in this fucking social group is going to be heading." I said, and then I was sighing, really really having no idea what the hell I was even planning on in the first place.

As we were walking towards the park, I was really just trying to think about what in the world I was even going to be doing. I was feeling like whatever Tai was planning on doing here, we just needed to get to work for a while. "Thanks Tai. I feel really good about this. I feel like once I know what she was feeling, at least it would be a level of closure." I said, and then after I was saying this, I shrugged, but I decided against it, but I really had no idea what to think.

Once we sat down at the park, I was looking right at Tai, and I was really feeling unsure what in the world I was even going to be telling Tai at all. "Tai, honestly, I feel like getting the note will just be the best form of closure that I would be able to get here. At least it would give me something that I can just know. That is what I need. I just need to know what is happening with her, and that is all that I can really say." I said, and I was really having no idea what to say at all.

"T.K., how in the world are you going to explain this to Matt? He will fucking have a fit if he knows what you are planning here. He will be acting like you are the worst brother and son in the world." After Tai was saying this to me, I looked right at him, I was really not having any clue what my plan would be now.

"I don't really fucking know what I am going to say to Matt. In all honesty, I feel like Matt will just be in denial over everything that he is saying. And I think that he just wants to pretend that there is no reason to take this letter. But we both know that this is fucking bullshit." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I had no idea what I would have even wanted to say.

"But Tai, are you needing to hang out with Kari, and try to get her to feel better about what she is involved with? I mean, Kari looks like she wanted to say something when she was seeing us. But maybe she was just remaining silent due to not knowing how to say her thoughts." I said, and then I was really having no idea what I would have done.

"I don't know what Kari fucking wants to talk to me about. She probably finds the whole thing to be a sign of proof of all the stuff that she was right with all that she had been thinking." He said, and then I was shrugging, and I had no idea what I would have wanted to tell her at this rate. "Honestly, I feel like Kari probably wants nothing to do with me anyways."

As I was looking right at him, I was then feeling like I just needed to ask him something that would make it seem like we were still having some form of a social connection. And besides, I feel like if he knew that I was considering this, then he would have felt better. "So Tai, are you sure that you are no longer wanting to see Melissa anymore? I mean, she probably really likes you, and I know that you are absolutely crazy for her."

"I mean, I do want to see her. I think that in all honesty, I want to hang out with her as much as possible. I want to see her soon. That being said, I have a feeling that I will never be able to be happy with her after all. At least until this is all fucking done." Tai told me, and then I was really having no idea how I could proceed with this.

"So this is mainly for your own personal sake? I mean, I guess that something like this might be making sense." I said, and then I was really having no idea what Tai would have done here. "Do you think that Kari will approve of you having a relationship with Melissa." I said, and then I was really having no idea what in the world I could have done here.

"I mean, I honestly don't give a fuck what the hell she believes about Melissa. That is her thoughts, and that is all that I can say here. And honestly, I feel like Kari will not really enjoy me anyways." Tai said to me, and then I was feeling like there was nothing else to accomplish here. I was feeling that I just needed to get right back to the main story.

"Look, we are not going to be making a whole lot of progress here if we can just talk about these random things. I doubt that many people will even fucking care what I believe here." I said, and then I was looking at him, and then Tai was looking like he had wanted to fight this longer. But then with that, he was rubbing his eyes for a few seconds, having nothing else to say to the matter.

"Yeah, I guess that I am going to have to see that you are right." After Tai was telling me this, he was standing up. And then he was placing his hand on my shoulder, and I really had no idea what in the world I was going to say. The whole thing was just kind of confusing to me, but I had no idea what to believe.

"T.K., do you know if your father has a key in his room that can be able to unlock the drawer that your mothers letter was in?" After he had asked me this, I was looking right at him, and I really had no idea what in the world I could say to that. I mean, I probably did, but the thing was that if he had hidden his key, then I was going to have to make a plan on how I was going to get him to let me see it, especially after the fight we had.

"I am sure that he has one. Just need to go in there and take it from him." I said, and then I looked at Tai, and I was feeling like there was nothing wrong with what I was doing. As I said this, I saw that Tai was looking like he was really just not sure what to agree with. But then with that, he just sighed, and decided against saying anything.

So with that, the two of us were walking along, and then I felt like I just needed to try and say something to be making him feel slightly better about what happened. "Tai, sorry for bringing Melissa up earlier. I should have thought about that before I started. You deserve better with her. But I feel like we need to always be more realistic when it comes to looking at these things."

"No, I have to be realistic when looking at these things. I mean, I know that if I was wanting to really win her over, I should have probably done something different from the start. I should have won her over, and talked with her about what I did. I just thought that what I was doing was progress on fulfilling the promise that I had made her." Tai said, and then I remained silent for a few seconds longer, unsure what to say now.

"I mean, the whole idea about a promise being based off of saving them is rather vague. There is just not nearly enough to work with to act like that is a concrete statement. Besides, it can be really taken both ways." After I said that to him, I saw that Tai was looking like he had no real clue what to even be telling me here. I was feeling that getting this key was more important than anything else, and that was the main thing that I had been reminding myself here.

Eventually, we had made it back to my house, and I was looking right at Tai once again. "I mean, I feel like after this is done, dad will want to make sure that you guys never talk with me again. But in all honesty, I feel like he probably knows that him trying to forbid it will not be making any difference." I said, and then I was going inside the house, and then I was looking around, I was seeing that he was not home. I was sighing in happiness as I had known that he had not been home, so I had time.

"When I get this, I need to find a way to hide this from everybody else. If dad knows that I took it, then all fucking hell will be breaking loose." I said, and then I was starting to head to the room. I was seeing Tai looking like he had been considering something. As if thinking about the idea of taking it from me if I needed to hide it. But I did not want that… Yet.

"I mean, how are you going to find it? I think that your dad would probably just take it from your room if he saw it." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, since I really had no idea what the hell I was going to say. I was then thinking about some ideas that could actually potentially work out. I looked at him, and I was having a slight smile in my face.

"I have an idea. I think that maybe I can put it in my locker at school. I mean, that way I can still read it, but that way my father doesn't find it." I said, and then I was seeing that from the look on Tai's face, that he was clearly unsure of what to think about this idea. Probably thinking that maybe I just needed to be more careful.

"That would not be a terrible idea. The main issue I would have with it is wondering what some people would do. I mean, there are probably security cameras. So if they saw that it was a confessional letter, than perhaps they might just steal the letter from your locker." After he had said that to me, I was sighing. Not sure what to tell me.

"It is better than what we had earlier. I mean, if it is gone by the start of the school year, then I guess that your assumption will be proven right. But if I am able to get it then, then everything will be fine." I said, and then I was walking to dad's room, and I was seeing that Tai was just looking like this whole idea was a fucking terrible one. But that he wanted me to feel slightly happier about what I was doing.

Once I was in my fathers room, I was sitting down on his chair. I was seeing that Tai looked like he was slightly more calm about what was happening. "Tai, if you do not want to be involved with this, then I would not really blame you." I said, and then after I said that to him, he was shaking his head, and clearly did not seem all that interested in hearing me trying to get out of this. I was starting to look around the area, trying to find a key.

"Do you think that he might even have the key here? I would not be surprised if he just took it with him, to make sure you did not do anything like this." After Tai said that to me, he was starting to look around, and then I was sighing, really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying. He started to walk around, and I was seeing him looking like he was willing to help me out with this investigation. Probably thinking that I was going to be wasting my time if I did anything else.

Tai was starting to look at all the drawer boxes, and I was seeing him looking around in all areas of the room. As I was seeing him do this, I had started to think that perhaps I just needed to be looking around everywhere else. I was checking all out all of the options, and I was feeling like with each minute, that I was starting to go insane with this investigation.

I was feeling upset at my investigation. Everything was fucking locked, and then Tai was pulling something out of my dads pillow, and I was wondering what it was. I started to walk towards it, and eventually realized that it was a key. "I guess that your dad was scared that people would take his stuff when he is out." After he said that to me, he threw the key in my direction.

With a push, I caught the key, and then I looked right at it, to see if I felt like it would even be usable. As I was looking at it, I started to check the individual locks, and then I managed to get one of them opened up. When I opened up, I saw that there was one single thing in this drawer. I was happy to see this. I grabbed it, and saw that it was the letter.

Eventually, I was starting to open it up. When I saw that it was four pages long, I started to think about what the confession even fucking contained. I looked over at Tai, wondering what he was even going to say to this. "Oh my god. What did she fucking know?"

"I got a idea. I think that maybe you can put the letter back in just a bit. We can use Matt's camera, and take a few pictures of it." After Tai was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I was shocked at the way that he was suggesting this. For some reason, I hardly thought of that earlier. And with that, I started to nod, feeling like there was no reason to be doing anything different.

"Yeah, I guess that we can do that. God, I just really fucking hope that this idea doesn't bite us in the ass." I said, and then with that, Tai and I were going right to Matt's room, ready to take the camera, and we were going to take the camera, take a picture for each page, and then after that, I would put everything away. I was looking at Tai, and I was seeing that he was mainly just watching the area to make sure that nothing happened, and that I would not get into too much trouble.

Eventually, I grabbed the camera, and then I left the room, ready to just get right to work. I ran to my fathers room, and I was wondering how long it was going to take for my dad to eventually come around and forgive me for everything that had been happening. I was really having no idea what I was going to do with this information once I had finally gotten the pictures that I had needed.

I went to the main room, and then I was taking pictures of each of the pages of the letter. The entire time that I had been taking pictures, I was starting to feel slightly better about the mess that I had been getting myself into. "This better be worth it. If we did this whole fucking heist and it turned out to be a waste of time. Then I feel like this will be a waste of time." Tai was telling me, and I was wondering why he was so fucking worried about me at this moment. There was no reason to be acting this way at all.

When I was done with the pictures, I was placing the letter back in the drawer, and then I locked the drawer. Then I placed it under the pillow again. I was looking right at him, and I was hoping that Tai would be fine with everything that I had been dealing with. "Sorry for forcing you into this whole thing. You guys probably deserve better than everything that I had been dealing with." After I said that to him, I was shrugging, not sure what to say anything.

"Oh my god. I wonder what in the world your mother even wanted to tell you guys in the first place." Tai said, and then I was shrugging, having no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying to this. I was then sitting down, and then I was rubbing my eyes, really having no idea what in the world I was even going to be doing here. I was standing up, and I really having no idea what I was going to get out of this.

"Sorry for always having doubts in you right now." Tai said, and then I looked right at him, and I was wondering what his point here was. I was sighing, since in all honesty, I was really having no idea what I would have even wanted to accomplish by this. "Honestly, I just felt like you were kind of driving yourself by pure emotions, and nothing else."

"I just felt like what I was doing was the right thing. But I really just don't care what everybody else wants to tell me here. But I doubt that anybody is really going to be seeing my perspective anymore." I said, and then I was sighing, but I honestly did not care here. I just needed to see if people really even fucking cared what I was feeling. I was going to into my room, and I was seeing that Tai was just wanting to see what I would be doing with this letter.

"Thank you Tai. Even if you do not agree with what I am doing right now, I feel like you probably do see that I am just trying to do what is best for everybody else. Now that I feel like I am kind of getting closure here, everything will be fine." I said, and then I was sighing, really having no idea what the hell I could do to make this feel like it was worth the investment for Tai.

"I mean, I know that even if I do not like it, that everything you are doing probably works out just fine. Just make sure that it was all worth it." After Tai was saying this to me, he was clearly seeming like he had wanted to say something else to me. Then he was sighing, and then came up with something else. "Now that we are here, what do you think we should be doing now?" He was shrugging, and I really had no idea what I was going to do.

"Leave the lecture out of this. I am doing my best here, and I feel like that is really what fucking matters." I said, and then after I was saying this to me, I was wondering what I could have done to make Tai see that I was just doing the best that I could here, and that I was going to tie this together.

"Fine. I just wanted to help you understand." After he was saying this, he was then placing his hand on his chin, and I was just seeing him considering something. "Maybe you are right. Maybe I should be coming back to Melissa, and try to explain to her that I am wanting to be with her. If she would be willing to work with me. And maybe this can finally make me feel slightly happier."

"Do it. You deserve to have a chance to be happier, and I feel like if you only keep denying this chance, then you are going to just be making things worse." I said, and then after I was saying this to him, I was then wondering if I was going to let him just go right now. I stood up, and then I was placing the camera back into Matt's room, and I just hoped that when I had more time, I would have the chance to study my notes, and I could see what mom had left us, and then I could be able to make a new plan of attack.

As we were heading out of the room, I was then looking at Tai, and I considered that I needed to tell him something. Even if he was going to consider me just trying to get the last word, I hardly fucking cared, and I was feeling like he needed to understand that I honestly believed what I was saying.

"Tai, I feel like you know that if something like this was being hidden by your father, that you would be searching for the information that he had as well. So I feel like there is no real reason to be super upset about what I am doing." I said, and then I saw that Tai was looking slightly worried about what I said. Probably because he knew that I was right.

"I mean, I guess that might be true. I mean, I feel like I would rather not be considering that idea. After all, I have no reason to be thinking that my father has anything against me." After Tai was saying this to me, I really had no idea what in the world I could have said. "But if I would have to do that, then I would be wondering what my father was even trying to hide in the first place." Eventually, we were at Melissa's area, since I was mainly just following Tai's presence, and I felt like I just needed to be safe.

When I was there, I was starting to feel like maybe I just needed to leave them alone. Let them be talking about their feelings, and then when they were done, then Tai would be able to talk to me, and then we could just discuss our new plans going forward. I was starting to head off, and Tai must have noticed what I was doing, so he called out to me, and I stopped myself, trying to not be at least slightly annoyed with what was happening.

"What are you doing? You do not need to be leaving." Tai said, and then I was shrugging, and I felt like I just needed to give him some time. I wanted him to be happier with Melissa, and I was convinced that what he was doing with me was not really helping him at all. I was convinced that I was only making things worse for him.

"I just feel like you would rather be with her than be with me. Even if you are fine with me being here, then I feel like Melissa would probably disagree with me." After I said that to him, I was shrugging, feeling like what I was saying was making a lot of sense. Before Tai was able to have a chance to respond to me, the door opened, and we were both seeing Melissa looking at us.

"Hey Tai, I was wondering when I would see you again." She said, and she seemed genuinely excited. As Tai heard the tone in her voice, I saw that he was instantly getting a brighter posture. I was then feeling like I just needed to let them have this moment, and that Tai was really finding the one girl who would make his entire life so much fucking better than I could have imagined.

"I was wondering if you had reconsidered everything. If you would be willing to try a date out after all." After Tai said that to Melissa, I saw that the look on her face was much better. And I was seeing that she clearly wanted to hear him say that, and that he would make her day.

"Who is the guy with you?" Melissa asked Tai, and then he was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was sort of seeing what I was trying to say earlier. But I decided that I would just get involved with the conversation for a few minutes, and then I would be leaving, and then they could continue this talk without having me here.

"A friend of mine. He wanted to help me out with something, and we just took care of it. I was realizing though, the entire time that I was hanging out with him, and I was realizing everything that had been happening, that I really did want to hang out with you more." Tai told her, and then he was shrugging, wondering if he was going to get Melissa to actually be super excited about what he had been doing at this rate.

Melissa was looking at me, and I was seeing that the look on her face was one of being glad that maybe I was here after all, since I did sort of help this relationship move forward, and there was something that made her feel like I could be the hero of the day. "Thanks for helping him see what he values more." After Melissa said that to me, I shrugged, and I felt like it was my civic duty, as a friend of Tai, to make sure that he had a chance to be happier for once in his life.

"I just felt like when he was having something that he was enjoying, that he needed to pursue it. I felt like if he did not get what he wanted, then there was nothing worth fighting for." I said, and then I was smiling as I was saying this, and then I was feeling like there was really no point in talking about this any more. After all, they needed the moment to themselves, and that was something that I was taking away from.

"I feel like when I am done, I am going to go to the girl that I like, and I am going to show her that I really do feel like I need to make this work out with her. She probably does feel the same way about me, and there is nothing wrong with really getting to see what she feels on the matter." I said, and then I was feeling like the idea of being with Teri was going to be the greatest thing that I could do. I needed her to see that I really did love her, as silly as everything that I had been doing was, I was doing it with the best of intentions.

After I said that, I was seeing Melissa looking at Tai once again. I was wondering what their conversation was going to be about, and I was wondering if they were fine with me listening along with them. "So Tai, do you feel like you are able to fulfill your promise." After she had said that to him, I saw that Tai was looking shocked to hear her coming back to him with this.

"I am doing my best. And I feel like, as much as I don't want to admit it, that helping T.K. with his own investigation is going to be the best way to really help this promise. I think that as much as I hate to admit it, he probably has a better grasp at this than any of us do." After Tai was telling Melissa this, he was placing his hands on her sides, and then he was taking a deep breath.

"Honestly Melissa, I know that I have not been the best friend, and I know that our entire relationship has been rather rocky. I mean, me calling you to that well one day was probably the most random way in the world for me to confess my feelings to you, and I can see where you are coming from here." Tai was rambling, and then with that, he was silent for a few seconds longer.

"I needed somebody to talk to anyways about what I was worried about. You coming over, and talking to me, just simply gave me the confidence that I needed to try and talk to somebody about it. I mean, who can look at this town, and feel like this place is okay? Every single week that passes by here, the more worried that I get that the truth will never be learned." After Melissa said that to Tai, the two of them were silent for a moment longer, and then the two of them kissed each other, and then I was feeling like I could love this whole thing, and just let them have it.

After I looked at them for a few seconds longer, I smiled, and then I walked off, and then I was wondering how things would be like with Teri. I loved her, or at least I was thinking that she did. And I was feeling like when I would see her again, I would tell her what I was feeling, and then my fears of getting hurt more would be at least slightly taken care of.

Eventually, I was feeling that despite what Tobias promised Rachel, that I did need to see the Wilson family one more time. I felt like if there was anybody that needed to know the truth about Rob, it was the two of them. Not in the sense of turning on him. But maybe supporting him, and helping him realize how much he needed to see that he had friends who would be there for him, and would get him out of the hole that he saw himself in.

Scene 7: The Dynamic Trio (Tobias)

It was late at night when I was at the Wilson house again, and I was well aware of the fact that Rachel was going to be annoyed to see me. I did not care though. I needed to talk to Tobias, and I needed him to know that we were going to be able to work together. I knocked on the door, hoping that they would at least be willing to speak with me in the first place.

Eventually, Tobias was answering the door, and I was seeing that he was wondering what my plans were going to be now. "Hey, I suppose that you probably have a really epic plan or something?" He asked, and then I was rolling my eyes, and I was feeling like the way that he was acting about this was not nearly as nice as I was wishing that he would have been able to give me.

"No. I don't. I just wanted to see if you were going to be following the promise that you made Rachel. I mean, there are still so many things to look at, and I was just wondering what in the world we were going to do here." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was feeling that Rachel would hate this conversation if she knew we were having it.

"Honestly, I feel like I need to apologize to you for everything that I had been saying. I know that you probably wanted to help me see a different perspective with the monsters. But I was just not wanting to hear it, and I was only making things worse for you." He said, and then I was shrugging, since I knew it was no big deal.

"It's fine. I mean, the whole thing about monsters does sound insane. But I feel like it is something that I need to discuss." I said, and then I was shrugging, since there was nothing else to be doing. "There are a couple of things that I was hoping that I could talk to you about." I said, and then I was really unsure of why I was even planning on telling him about Rob in the first place.

"Damn it. I feel like I might as well just hear what you have to say. Besides, I feel like it would be best for both of us." Tobias was upset as he was saying this. He probably did not want to be having this discussion all that much. I knew that once Tobias knew the truth, he would probably be demanding Rob tell him everything that he had known.

As we were walking along, I was really having nothing else to say. "Look, I was wondering if you trust anybody that I know? I mean, if you do not trust them, and feel that they are probably doing something wrong, then I would like to talk to them, and perhaps clear some issues up." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to tell him.

"Honestly, I feel like they are mostly fine. To be honest, I feel like they are all just doing what they feel like is right. There is no reason to be super upset with them at all." After he was saying this to me, I was feeling like Tobias was probably way too casual about this whole thing.

"Well, I was wondering what you were thinking about Rob most of all. I know that he and Rachel are getting along rather well, and I was wondering if they had been moving along well." I said, and then I was seeing that Tobias was looking rather shocked to be hearing me bring him up all of a sudden. But then he shrugged, thinking that he might as well talk about him.

"Interesting how you talk about him. I have not seen him in a really long time to be honest. I feel like maybe something happened, and that he is trying to just not be dragging Rachel along for this." Tobias was telling me, and then I was slowly nodding at this, feeling like I might as well pretend like I did not know this.

"I think that I might have an idea why that is happening." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I saw that Tobias was looking like he was honestly shocked to hear what I was saying. But at the same time, from the look on his face, you could clearly tell that he was at least slightly interested in what I had been saying.

"If you do, then I would like to hear it. I mean, I think Rachel would like to know the truth." After Tobias was telling me this, I felt like I needed to tell him that this was a fucking terrible idea. But I was seeing that he had hardly looked like he gave a single shit anyways.

"Honestly, I think that Rachel would not want to hear it. She would probably lose her fucking mind if she knew the truth." I said, and then I was feeling that if Tobias was not wanting to hear it, then in all honesty, I would not have been able to fucking blame him.

"Well, I want you to promise me that you will not tell anybody about this. Since Rob and I are still not one hundred percent sure here." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was seeing that Tobias did not really fully buy what I was saying.

"But I think that Rob and I found out that he might be the heir to the company. He saw some papers from Kenta's files that indicated as such." I said, and then I was seeing that Tobias was growing slightly cold with each word that I had said. He looked right at me, and I saw that he was just trying to decide what I was going to say.

"If that is the case, then he technically is the biggest enemy that Rachel has right now. I feel like it would be a really big mistake to not let her know the truth." Tobias was telling me, and I was sighing, since I did technically know what he was meaning, and I was aware that he was right to be putting her first. But I felt like this needed to be discussed here.

"I mean, I feel like there is a better way to get out of this than the way we are talking here. But I think that this does explain why some people were hard to trust him. They might have known this ahead of time." After I said this, I was seeing that Tobias clearly looked like he was just trying to decide what he was wanting to say going forward.

We were heading along, and then Tobias was looking right at me, and I was smiling, feeling like the way that he was getting his hopes up was something that could get me to feel so much better. "Can you take me to Gumball's place? I feel like I need to talk with him for a while, and just work things out with him."

As Tobias asked me, I was slowly nodding, and then with that, he clearly felt so much better about what was happening, that we were walking along, and I was wondering what Tobias was wanting to even discuss with Gumball. "I mean, I do appreciate what you did. I might have reacted a bit hard, but I feel like I just needed to be honest here." After Tobias said that to me, I was shrugging, not too in the mood to hear anything like it.

"Please just do not tell Rachel. She clearly cares a lot for the guy, and I think it needs to be her choice on what to think about him and this revelation. If Rob wants her to know, then he will let her know. Besides, this makes a lot of things relatively confusing on how to handle life." I said, and then with that, we were getting close to the Watterson house, where I was already starting to feel far better about everything else that was happening.

Tobias knocked on the door, and Gumball answered before too long. Gumball looked like he was relatively happy to see me at least, and mostly unsure of what to think about Tobias, but like he was willing to accept. "Hey guys, how are you today? Wanting to just hang out for a bit?" He asked, and he was clearly not seeing how big of a deal this whole thing really was at this point in time.

"Doing alright. Yeah, I was wanting to just hang out for a bit. I was not very good to you earlier, and I feel like I need to try and make up with you for now." After Tobias said that to him, I was feeling that both Tobias and Gumball really had no idea what in the world we were going to be doing. "Honestly, I just feel like I want to focus more on the stuff going on around us, and just not really put too much focus on everything else."

As we were walking down for a while, I was really having no idea what in the world I was even going to do now. "Gumball, I know that it doesn't really mean much, but I am sorry about everything that is happening here. I am sorry for your mother losing her factory, and I should have had something better for you guys." After he was saying this to me, I was really having no idea what in the world we were even going to be doing here.

"I just try to not be thinking about it at all that much anymore." Gumball said, and I was seeing that he was looking like he was slightly more depressed about everything that was happening here. "I mean, you guys were promising that everything will be coming together, and that there was nothing to worry about anymore. And then it was ruined. I feel like there is nothing for me to be hoping for anymore."

"I mean, we were caught, and then everything was thrown away. There was nothing that we could fucking do. Seriously. If we had something to do here, then this would have been so much better here." I said, and then after I said that to Gumball, I was hoping that he would feel slightly better about what I was saying. He shook his head, clearly not wanting to buy it too much. And the way he was acting was starting to annoy the shit out of me.

"Sorry. I know that I often times act out of line. I know that I need to be fair to you guys here. But I just sometimes have a hard time really letting it all go sometimes. I hope that you guys understand that I am just feeling unsure about this all." After he had said that to me, I was seeing that he was looking like he wanted to believe it. But that it was not really working out all that well.

As we were walking along, I was really having no idea what in the world I could have said. "Gumball, do you believe in these monsters or not?" Tobias asked Gumball, and I was seeing that Gumball was looking like he had no idea what to even say to something like that.

"Yeah, I feel like I do believe in them. But I have no idea what to think. It just seems wrong to be totally honest." Gumball said, and then he was shrugging, and then he was looking right at us. "Do you believe in them?" Gumball asked, and then I was slowly nodding, having nothing else to be saying besides that.

As we were walking along, I was then hearing Gumball and Tobias trying to talk to each other for a bit. "So Tobias, is it true that Ocho found some crystal cave in the forest?" After Gumball asks this, I was seeing that Tobias looked like he was having no real idea how in the world to respond to that question in the first place.

"I don't know. I just kind of run with everything that is going on here." Tobias said, and then he was calling out to me, and then I was looking around, and I was wondering what his plan was going to be now. I was seeing that Ocho was looking like he was actually pretty happy here. "So T.K., do you have any plans to check that area out?" After he asked me this, I shrugged, and I was feeling like I just needed to give him my honest answer.

"I guess that we can. I mean, I will admit that I do not see any point in it. But if you feel like you want to know more, then I have nothing against seeing it." I said, and then I was looking at the sky, and I was really hoping that I was not going to regret what I had been saying right now. So with this, the two of us were walking along, and I was just going off the directions that I had vaguely remembered Izzy giving us.

"Thank you." Tobias said, and then we were walking along, and after a while of walking, that was when Tobias was saying something else. He was probably just planning on opening up a little bit more, once he had realized we were ready for extra discussion. "Is it true that Rachel had you promise to not be looking into this investigation any more either?" Gumball asked, and then Tobias was slowly nodding, feeling relatively upset that he was actually confirming to Gumball that this was the case right now.

"Yeah, she did. I feel like I am really doing something wrong by just doing this right now. I should have known better than to agree to something like this, when I know that mom and dad are still having issues with this." Tobias was saying, and then after he was saying this, I saw that Tobias was looking like he was just sort of out of this whole thing.

Eventually, we were in the forest, and being here in the middle of the night was starting to really make me feel uncomfortable, and I had no better way to say it. I looked right at Tobias and Gumball, and I Had hoped that they were taking this better than I had been. "Hey guys, are you really ready to do anything like this right now?" I asked, more so to just give myself a chance to get out of this here.

"Yeah, I am. I mean, even if we were not, there is no reason not to, since we are here right now." After Gumball said that to me, I was seeing that he was just wanting to know the truth as much as possible, that he really did not care about anything else at all.

As we were heading along, I was scared out of my mind on what the fucking hell monsters were going to do here. I was feeling that if there are monsters in this forest right now, then there was nothing that I had that could defend myself at all. I just felt like this whole thing was really hard to take in right now.

"You know, I feel like despite all the issues right now, it is kind of nice to see that there are a lot of people who really do have hope in this town. I mean, I feel like I should have more hope in Wayside. But it is just really hard to. And I feel like I am really just making things much worse for everybody, and that is all my fucking fault." Tobias was rambling, and I saw that he was really feeling bad here.

"I mean, I think that you have every right to be thinking the way you do right now. There is no reason to even pretend that there is hope in the first place. Every form of hope that we have right now is just us kidding ourselves. Acting like we actually have a good grip on this shit. When that is what we have the least. In some ways, I am actually more confused now than I had been earlier." I said, and then I was really feeling like I just needed to stop right now.

Eventually, we were at the cave, and then I was feeling like it did not take us nearly long enough to get here. I was looking around, and then I was shrugging, and had nothing else to be saying. "Well, now we are here. Might as well just see what we can find here." I said, and then after I said that to them, Tobias and Gumball both looked interested in checking everything out, and I figured that I would remain silent for the time being.

"I feel like there are so many other places in Wayside to check out. But for better or for worse, this is the best that we have right now." I said, and then I was rubbing my chin, since I was just trying to make a plan on what to be doing going forward, and why I was so unsure of how to feel now.

"Alright, we need to start looking around if we want to get anything done tonight." I said, and then I was looking right at them, and I was wondering if they were appreciating the way that I had tried to take control of what was happening. Not in a literal sense. But I was worried that us fucking around here any longer was only going to make things worse.

As I was looking around everything, Gumball was sitting down on a rock. "Honestly, I feel like my siblings are going to be the ones that will have a harder time forgiving me than mom and dad. It seems like they are mostly willing to let it go. But not Darwin and Anais." After Gumball said, as he was looking right at us, and I saw that he was looking sort of scared of what was to come now.

"I am sorry to hear that. I understand how it must be like to have a sibling not like you. But the difference between Tobias and I with you is that you are actually the oldest one here. You are the one that they try to rely on, and we are unable to ever really resonate with you in that sense." After I said, and then I was really having no idea what to say to this.

"It is not the fact that they do not like me. It is the fact that I honestly was trying to help them. I love them. But then seeing that they sort of resent me, and feel like everything bad that happened is my fault, is something that I can never get over." As Gumball was saying this to me, I just decided that I would leave the subject alone, for his own sake.

"Do you think that they will ever open up with you about what is going on? I mean, you could probably clarify things with them if you tried hard enough." I said, and then I was looking at them, and then I was seeing that Gumball was really not looking like he was actually believing this whole thing. I saw Gumball looking around, and I knew that nothing I could say to him would make him feel better.

"Honestly, I feel like if they never forgive me, or never want to speak with me, then something like this should just make some sense. I am not a great brother. And even pretending like I am is a fucking mistake. I am so sorry that you guys got involved with everything that I started up." After he was telling me this, I was really having nothing else to say now.

"One of these days, I bet that we are all going to look at this, and find it hilarious how we are caring so much about this. And then we are going to realize we made a real telenovela here. But for now, it is just impossible for me to be finding this in any form of a amusing situation." Tobias said, and then I was feeling that this would never be funny.

"You have way more hope on this than I do. I have to give you that." I said, and then with that, I was shrugging, and I decided that I would just leave it alone for the time being. "Nothing is funny about the fact that we are fucking failing all the time. Even if I wish that it was." I said, and then I decided to stop being a downer here.

Scene 8: Darkness Temptation (Mimi)

The next day, I had woken up, and then I was looking around, I had forgotten the fact that I had been home that day to begin with. I rubbed my eyes, feeling that maybe I had just been way too out of it to begin with, and that maybe I just needed to focus on what to be doing now. So with that, I was getting out of my room, and I was seeing Matt.

"Hey, how are you today?" Matt asked, and then I was shrugging, feeling like I might as well pretend like I was able to brush this whole thing off, and that maybe this was something that I had expected to begin with. "I am probably going to be going out again. Although I think that Sora and I are agreeing to just simply not mention what happened a few days ago this time."

"Yeah, I got to be honest with you. I was with her when she decided to go to Wutai village. And I ended up working with her on trying to find out about what Justin is doing." After I said, and then I was sighing, and I felt like the confession was going to give Matt some level of closure about what he had been feeling. I saw him looking like he was trying hard not to snap.

"I should have expected that to be honest. I mean, the way that she was carrying herself in some conversations the last couple of days would have that make some sense." After Matt was telling me this, I was shrugging, and I felt like I was just needing to always have some level of transparency here. "I mean, to be honest, if you had not done that, she probably would have done this on her own anyways. So I guess that it would be nice to have you at her side, since it was something at least."

"I am probably needing to head out right now. I just needed to let you know. I feel like if I had not told you the truth, then that would be really having a issue on us eventually. And I feel like I just needed to give us both closure." After I said that to him, I was shrugging, since I had no idea what in the world I was even going to be doing.

As I was leaving the house, that was when Matt called out to me. As I was having my hand on the handle, I turned around, and I was looking at Matt, and I really hoped that whatever he was wanting to say, he just was going to be relatively keeping it to himself. "I know what you did about that letter. Not that I am going to judge you. I probably wanted to do that eventually anyways." Matt said, and then I was sighing, feeling like I was totally fucking screwed at this point, and that I just needed to let him have it at this point in time.

"I read it. I actually took the time to examine it. And dude, it's too much. It hurts more than you can possibly know. You need to stop right now. Leave with at least some level of innocence and happiness here." After Matt was telling me this, I was seeing from the look on his face that he was actually not even trying to shit with me. That look on his face was one of actually being broken.

"What they are doing in this town is so much worse than anything that you might be able to imagine. I have no idea how I will be able to convince you, but just take my word for it. That your theories are not really anything compared to the truth." Matt was telling me, and then I was slowly nodding. I was feeling like I could not be able to argue with him all that much, given the way he was looking.

"Thanks. I will try to listen to what you are saying." I said, and then after I was saying this to him, I was walking out of the room, and then I was starting to just try and figure out what in the world I was going to be doing now. If Matt knew the truth, and he knew what was happening in Wayside, I wondered if he would one day tell me, to just give me a level of closure.

I was wondering if I was needing to let Matt just say his peace, and if I just needed to let him be happier with him thinking that he was done. I was feeling like if he was able to put on at least some illusion that he had convinced me to let it go, then I was feeling like that would have been fine. But at the same time, I was just thinking that in all honesty, I had gone way too deep into this, and that I just needed to finish up what I started for my own personal sake.

The issue was that I just had no idea who was willing to work with me. Nobody was willing to work with me, and nobody was really wanting to help me out either. I knew for a fact that nobody really enjoyed the time that we had together. In all honesty, I feel like if I had anybody who was willing to help me out, and just put aside their bias, then that would be fine.

But then there was the other perspective that I had not really considered before. And this was that maybe I needed to stop worrying about people helping me out. That maybe I just needed to worry about trying to help other people out, and realize that I had been making things much worse by just always focusing on me. That maybe if I focused on other people was what I needed to do, to become the person that I probably should have really been.

As I had been thinking about this for a while, I realized that the only person who might really want my help more than anything else was perhaps Mimi. I mean, I was still a young guy, and I was still not going to really help he rout too much. But I was feeling that having a friend, or a confidant per se, at her side, was going to give her some feeling that people were not totally against her, and that she was still having some chance to push through this issue.

I started to head on to her house, and I felt like I was that maybe when I would be at her house, I would just tell her that I was going to be doing this for her. I was not going to be doing this for anybody else, not even myself. Maybe when I would let her know this, she would probably feel a whole lot different about the idea of having me come at her side here. Eventually, I was wondering if she had anything that she had needed to tell me. Just to help give me some perspective now.

Before long, I was at her house. I was closing my eyes, and I was feeling like whatever she was going to say about Candice's death was really going to be hurting me. I was aware of the fact that she was her best friend, and having her best friend just gone, was going to really fucking hurt. She deserved better than that. But I was feeling that maybe there was some temptation she would be having, even if she argued it.

Eventually, I was at her house, and then I knocked on the door. I was feeling that whatever she was needing to say about Candice, I just needed to let her have it. I was then wondering if I was stepping over a line. In all honesty, I was thinking that maybe I was pushing too far. But if that was happening, then I guess that maybe that would be something I would have to accept.

After a bit, she answered the door, and then I was looking at her. I was seeing that she was clearly not very happy to be seeing me. Obviously this whole thing was making a lot of sense. I mean, like I said, her best friend was dead. And to expect her to be lovey dovey after just a few days, was not going to be fair at all. "What do you want?"

The way that she had said that, despite my initial awareness, was kind of making me feel like I needed to change my delivery at the moment. I then took a deep breath, and felt like I might as well just jump right to the moment. "Do you need somebody to help you out with Candice? I mean, I would not even begin to imagine what it would be like if my best friend had died." I said, and then I was hoping that she was willing to actually talk with me for a while about this.

"I can't really put words to it. Why would she be the one that is targeted anyways? She was the one who seemed to be the least involved with everything so far." After Mimi was telling me this, I was sighing, and then I looked right at her, wondering what I could have said.

"Did she ever hint at something that would give off the impression that somebody would be after her?" I asked, and then she was shrugging, and I was feeling like I just needed her to be more open with what was happening. She was not helping out, and this was her best chance to bring justice.

"I mean, she had been hanging out with Ocho for a bit, and I feel like maybe something happened with them that made her want to check things out. That is really the only bet that I have right now. She felt like she would have hope in him, and followed him." She was saying, and then I was shrugging, since I felt like I just needed to give her more than this.

"I feel like blaming Ocho might not be the best way around this. From what I heard, it seemed like she had really trusted him, and felt like he was the best bet here." I said, and then I saw that she was looking slightly unsure of what to tell me. I was seeing that despite what I was trying to tell her, that she was clearly not in the mood to be hearing me try to debunk the theory that she had been having. She was dead set, and there was no reason to stop this.

"But there is no reason to not blame him. I mean, like two weeks after she starts to hang out with him, she ends up dying. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he is probably the one that is behind this the most." After Mimi was telling me this, I realized that she was way too set on something like this to try and change her mind.

"Well, I feel like we just need to keep a slightly open mind. Let's just see what the evidence outside of this place." After I was saying this to her, I was hoping that she would listen to me. Then with that, I was sort of just lost, and I felt like I just needed to plan things out slightly better. Mimi was just remaining silent the entire time that I was saying this.

"Regardless, I want to know who took her life. I want to know why. I am not going to give it a rest until I finally have the answers that I fucking need." After she had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, feeling like I needed to let her just feel this way. I was feeling like this was the first step to my true redemption in all honesty.

"I might not really get it. But I will do my best to help you out as much as possible. I will also get in the way if at any point I feel like you might be causing an issue." I said, and then I was looking at her, and I knew how rich that sounded. But I wanted her to understand that I was going to just do what I felt like was right.

"Maybe there is more to you than I thought." She said, and then after she had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, feeling like I would just let her say that, and then we could probably just move forward. As we were walking along, that was when Mimi asked me another question, that to be honest, I did not know the answer to: "How are you sure that Ocho is one hundred percent innocent?"

As she asked me this, I was sighing, since in all honesty, I doubted that I could ever be able to give her a answer to that. "Truth be told, I feel like that is going to be hard to answer. I feel like in all honesty, I am just kind of placing my hopes on something that might be false." I said, and then after I said that to her, I was wondering what I was going to say now.

"You know, when something happens to Shaun Reichenbach, and his fucking empire starts to fall apart, then I will really just not fucking care at all. I would not give a shit when the world eventually catches up to him. Even if he is not the one who created this, he is the one that is enabling it." Mimi said, and I was wondering if she was having any plans to actually go through with that.

"Are you planning on doing something to him?" I asked, and then I was seeing her looking like she was not having much of a response to that. The way that she had remained silent there did make me more and more sure that she did have something in her mind, but just hardly wanted to admit it out loud.

"Honestly, I feel like I will have to consider it a bit. But I am not going to get too far ahead of myself. I want to just focus on what can be done for now. I feel like I want to talk to her parents for a bit. Maybe I can at least get some peace of mind with them." After Mimi said that, I was shrugging, since while I did not get it, I figured that I would let her have her moment.

So with that, we were heading on the way to Candice's house. "So you and my brother have been doing rather well lately. In all honesty, I feel like you are probably one of his first actual friends in a long while. Do you think that it might be hard to hang out with him now?" I asked, and then she was looking at me, and shrugged, as if thinking nothing of it at all.

"Well, I do respect him quite a bit. But I feel like you probably have some good points with all the stuff that you have been saying. And I feel like whatever Matt is doing, I need to sort of just hear all the different perspectives of it." She said, and then I was then planning on making a reply, but she just turned around, and looked right at me real serious.

"Honestly though, you guys need to start to get along again. You guys are only making things harder for everybody else, and you need to understand that this constant debate and struggle is only making things worse for everybody. So please, just try and find a way to put these debates behind you guys. Maybe you will see when you guys are done arguing that in many ways, both of you are acting out of line." Mimi said, and then after she was saying this to me, I was sighing, and decided to let the fucking lecture happen for now.

"I mean, I feel like that sounds great and all, but Matt will probably just be annoyed with me suddenly trying to reach out to him all of a sudden." I said, and then I was shrugging, and then I was feeling like everything that I was saying was just an excuse to try and not go along with it. But then I looked down, and then remained silent for a second or two.

"Alright, fine you are right. I guess that it would be best to try and talk to him. For all that I know, he might be the only person that I will still have with me in the future. But I feel like apologies will not be enough. I feel like I will have to speak with words, rather than actions." I said, and then I was looking at her, and I wondered if she would agree with what I had said at that moment.

"Thanks for hearing me out. It doesn't do anybody any favors when you guys constantly argue, and only make things worse for us." Mimi said, and then I was seeing that we were getting close to Candice's place, and then I was smiling as I was here. Mainly just letting somebody else take over for once, was something that I really enjoyed. Not having to deal with what everybody else was doing right now.

Eventually, Mimi knocked on the door, and then I was feeling like I should have been doing this when Tai and Melissa were having their romantic moment. I feel that by making it all about me was just making things worse for them. I just need to learn when I was standing out of line, and stop hurting those that are around us. Before long, Candice's parents answered, and then they were both looking so much better when they were seeing that it was Mimi.

"Hey, how are you today?" Candice's mother asked, and then Mimi just remained silent for several seconds, trying to think of a way to respond, before she was ready to go. The way that I was seeing her looking like she had been considering everything made me feel more like I was able to actually take a back seat to the main issue.

"I'm doing alright. I was wanting to tell you that I will do everything in my power to make sure that I know the truth of what happened with Candice. I will make sure that her death will not be unsolved." Mimi said, and then I was slowly nodding. I felt like they would believe her, since she was a friend of hers, and not just some random guy.

"For some reason, hearing it from you makes me feel so much better about what that. I always felt when various people were saying this stuff, it was a fucking lie. Something to get people to feel like they actually cared. But hearing it from you is so good." Candice's mother said, and then her father was calling out to me, and then I was looking at them, ready to just hear it.

"Honestly, I will do whatever I can to help her out. I have nothing to lose by doing this. Mimi is friends with my older brother, and I know that they will support each other no matter what." I said, and then I was smiling, feeling that what I was saying was going to give me more serenity.

"Do you trust him?" Candice's dad asked Mimi, and then she was slowly nodding. As she had said that to them, they were both looking like they were kind of calm about something. But then with that, they were letting Mimi inside. I did not want to do this, unless if they gave me explicit permission to go in as well.

"You can come in as well. I mean, any chance of Candice getting peace is something that we will have to take." Her mom said, and then I was inside. Once I was looking inside of the house, I was seeing that it was almost completely covered with mementos of Candice. There were pictures of her everywhere, from even when she was still just a kid in first or second grade. Looking at these, and realizing that they will never get a chance to see her life after high school really did hurt to be thinking about.

"Was she acting strange in the last summer?" I asked, suddenly feeling that I just needed to get involved, and see what I could be able to do to help the talk. As I asked this, I was seeing that both of them were looking at me, as if super upset that I would potentially try and accuse her of being up to something.

"He doesn't mean anything by it. He just wanted to know if she was hanging out with anybody who gave off strange vibes. He has been doing these types of cases all summer, and is probably more of a pro at this than I am." Mimi said, and then after she explained that, both her parents looked like they were toning it down a little bit.

"Well, the entire summer, she did seem to be rather worried about something. Every since the grinder went off on the first day of summer, it felt like she just had more reservations about it. When she heard Shaun Reichenbach give a speech that day, she clearly seemed like she was starting to think that he was nothing more than a fraud." After she had said that to us, I was then looking at the pictures of when she was getting slightly older.

Around once she was getting in middle school, or maybe down as low as eleven, I was seeing that she was starting to look very different from her parents. Or at least her father I should say. I was feeling like everything that I had been asking was rather intrusive, but I had to ask if I was wanting a chance of piecing together a small picture on what was happening. "So, I know that this question is going to sound a bit out there, and I do not blame you for not wanting to answer. But was she adopted perhaps? If she had been, then maybe her real parents might have something against her." I said, and then I was seeing that both parents were initially upset, but sort of saw my point.

Regardless of if they liked it or not, they slowly nodded. Probably feeling that there really was no point in fighting this one. "Yeah, she was adopted. We have been raising her ever since she was about six months old. But to be honest, that is something that most people in Wayside do. Because many of us have issues with having actual kids of our own." After she had said that to us, I was slowly nodding for a second.

"That does make some sense. Since in all honesty, I feel like there is a small chance that maybe she started to figure something like this out, and that was affecting the way that she had looked at the town." After I said that to them, I was seeing that they were looking like they didn't really like the direction that I was heading with what I had said. "I guess that this does put some context to something I found out earlier."

Mimi decided to take over from here. Probably for her own personal interest. I was able to see from the look on her face that she had looked like she was wanting to just try and pin point something to Ocho. As if he was the biggest monster in the world. "So I know that she had been friends with a guy named Ocho Tootmorsel for a bit." She said, and then both her parents looked at her for a second.

"Yeah, we know him. She was hanging out with him a couple of times in the last few weeks. But in all honesty, it had seemed like he was a pretty nice guy. Always looking out for her, and always wanting to make sure that Candice had somebody to talk to." They were saying, and I was seeing that Mimi did not seem to enjoy that comment at all.

"Did he ever tell her anything about the town, and what he was doing? He seemed like he was always trying to get people to learn more about this place." Mimi said, and then she was looking at them, and I was wondering what she was even trying to accomplish with this whole discussion. "I don't know. Maybe I am giving him too much shit. But I just have a hard time really letting things go right now."

"I don't know. She didn't talk to us much about her friends. Basically just kept insisting that you guys were all reliable. And from the few times that we talked with him, there was no reason to argue with what she was saying." After she said that to us, I was then feeling like I just needed to try and steer the conversation back to a normal level for the time being.

"So if she was speaking about her discontent about this place, does that mean that she was wanting to do anything about perhaps exposing her feelings to the town? Honestly, I feel like anybody who does this probably gets them on the radar." I said, and then I was slowly sighing, having nothing else to say to them. As I said that, I saw that they were both looking like they were shocked at what I was trying to suggest.

"I mean, I doubt that she was doing that. But it does seem like something that could have happened, and we were not paying attention." After her mother was admitting to this, that was the type of confession that I really did not want to hear. Since in all honesty, it was something that I had expected.

I left the room, and I was leaving all three of them alone. Once I was outside again, I was looking at the arm cast again. For some reason, looking at that was just kind of the best way to really remind myself of what has happened to me since I started. I probably could remove it, but without doctor approval, I had no idea. And it was still hurting honestly.

Eventually, Mimi was leaving the house, and she was coming to my side. I was seeing that she had looked like she was just kind of worried about what I was doing. "Hey T.K., what is going on? What made you leave so suddenly?" She asked me, and then I was shrugging, not having a answer for that. I just felt like it was wrong.

"In all honesty, I feel like she probably knew more than she was letting on, and I feel like I need to just see what she had been doing. I just think that there must be something that she knew in order to distrust people as much as she did." I said, and then I was looking at her, feeling like I needed Mimi to be totally honest with me right now.

"Mimi, I know that you are probably trying to protect her. But I feel like you probably know something that she had found, and I feel like you need to just admit what she had found." I said, and then I was seeing that from the look on Mimi's face, that she knew that I was right. And I was feeling like I just really needed to crack down here.

"Yeah, she did know some stuff. She found this like weird ass fountain in the area, and decided to go check it out. After she had done that, she really seemed set on something about doom coming along. In all honesty, I feel like if she had not seen that, then she would have probably seen safe. Maybe she would even be alive." After she had admitted to this, I was slowly nodded at what she was telling me.

"I feel like I am going to have to find that fucking fountain. Can you show me where it is?" After I asked her this, I saw that she was really looking like she was having no idea what to tell me. In all honesty, she seemed like she wanted to never go back there at all.

"I guess that I can try and help you find it. I mean, I doubt that it will really do much though, to be totally honest with you." After she said that to me, I was shrugging, since I honestly did not care what she was feeling about that. I was really having no idea what I was going to be doing now, and I was worried about what she was going to say if I changed the operations a bit too much.

"Thank you Mimi. The key to finding out the truth about Wayside could be this. Trust me when I say that I do not want to force you to do something you don't like. But I really have no choice." I said, and then after I was telling her this, I saw that she was looking like she was starting to not really believe me. But there was no reason to push any further.

"Do you want to go back in there? I mean, they might still have some ideas on what is happening, that you might want to know?" After she had asked me this, I was shrugging, since in all honesty, I felt like if I was intruding them too much, than they were only going to have a certain level of patience. I just did not have any idea on what I was going to do.

"You can if you want. I feel like if I try and stay in there too much, then I feel like I would only be making things worse." I said, and then I was smiling when I said that. I felt like I just needed to take a level of responsibility in what I was doing here. As I said that, I saw that Mimi was at least seeming to consider what I had been saying right now.

"I just am worried if I make that promise, and then everything turns to shit. If they will ever forgive me. If they see that she is not back, then they will probably feel like I am letting them down, and like I am this horrible monster." After she had that to me, I really had no idea what I was going to be saying to her at all.

"They know that you would never make a promise that you couldn't keep out of bad intent. I think they know that you are probably just doing what you can. So please just try and be nicer to yourself about this." I said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was seeing that she had looked like she was at least thinking of what I had told her.

"Yeah, I guess that is true enough. But T.K., what if they still feel that I should have tried a bit harder. I feel like I should have tried a bit better." After she was telling me this, I saw that she was clearly looking like she was not having much else to say to this. Eventually, I was thinking about what I was going to have to do at this point in time. And I was not enjoying it at all. It was feeling like a terrible idea what I was going to do now.

"I will admit, that I am dreading going back to that fucking forest. I always hated the idea of being there, and every time that I am there, it is only making things worse." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was wondering why I was so worried about all of this in the first place. I just needed to be happier with what I was getting. I was seeing that Mimi almost looked like the idea of me being scared of the forest was actually really funny.

"I never thought that I would hear you admit something like that over a part of the town. You're always seeming to try and give off a collected presentation, but when you are willing to show your weaker state, you actually do seem to be much more likable." Mimi said, and then I was looking at her, and I was not too sure what in the world I was going to tell her here. I did not like the way she said it, but I felt like she might have been right.

"I feel like you might be right. But at the same time, I feel like when I do something like that, it might just be looking like I am being a bit weak or whatever. But if you said that makes me appeal better, than maybe that is something that doesn't fucking matter." I said, and then with that, I decided that I was going to just not pursue what I was thinking about the matter any further.

"Just make sure that you always talk to people that you feel like can help you out. There is literally no other reason or that. If you don't look at people as regular people, who you can actually relate with, rather than colleagues who are getting a job done, then that is only going to be really putting them off from wanting to work with you." After she had said that, I was slowly nodding, since in all honesty, I was feeling like I just needed that honest input, even if I did not like it all that much.

"Thanks for telling me the truth. When I hear that, I feel like I need to try and look at what you guys are feeling. I have a hard time actually doing that all the time. But you guys really do deserve better than what I am doing." I said, and then I was starting to think that maybe I was just a bad person. Even if Matt or the others tried to deny it, I was feeling like something like that was not really alright for me to do.

"The truth is hard to take at many times. Such as the truth that maybe Candice could have had more involvement in this than I wanted to admit. But I feel like when I look at this, and just don't fucking lie, then things are much better." I was sighing, but I decided that I would just leave things alone for the time being.

"I know that I am not the best person in the world. And maybe you guys do deserve better than that. But I am always just making things even harder for the town. Maybe I should just let Rob do what he can once he feels more confident. Maybe I should just go back to hanging out with friends." I said, and then I looked right at her, and I saw that she was confused at the rant I was going on.

Once we were getting closer to the forest, I was seeing that the look on Mimi's face was one of regret and worry. As if she had clearly had not wanted to be having this confession. But I decided that I would stop, so that way whatever she had wanted to say, we could be able to sort something out here. "I will admit that despite everything that is going on, I still always have those temptations in my mind. The temptations to admit that maybe I do want to go along with what my father is doing. If he was able to get so much success with this, then perhaps he is right." Mimi said, and then I was sighing, feeling like this did make some sense.

"I mean, you probably have the right to be feeling whatever you want here. But I feel like I want to just bring up a new perspective. What is this wasn't your father? Just a random person that you met. If that was the case, then would you really be giving him as much credit." I said, and then I was seeing that from the look on her face, that's he was clearly not wanting to hear what I had been saying at all.

"Well, I will admit that if he was just a random business man, that I would not feel that way about him. But I have grown up with him for a long time, and I have seen how he is. I feel like I know better than almost everybody how my father actually is." After Mimi was telling me this, I was feeling like she was just going down the same way that I had done at one point in time, and I was worried for her.

"I mean, I know that what he is doing is wrong. I know that he is not a good person in the end of the day. But I feel like I just need to be giving everybody the fair look of day." After she had said that to me, I was feeling like she was allowed to think this way.

"Why would he even want to work with them anyways, given the reputation of this town?" I asked, feeling like that was a valid enough question. As I asked that, I was seeing from the look on her face that she was probably thinking that over before.

"I mean, maybe he was working with them for a while. You know, before this happened. I think you need to be giving them a chance. I can talk to him though, and see what he knows." After she had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and felt like I needed to let it go for her sake, to make her not be super upset with me.

We decided to just go inside, since in all honesty, I did not want to hear too much on it anymore. I felt like whenever she was going to be saying this, even if she tried to deny it, that she was admitting that what her father was doing was more than okay, and that I was just taking things way too seriously. And if that was the way she would act, then I simply wanted nothing to do with it

Eventually, I was seeing that Mimi looked like she was remembering the path that we were going along, so we were going down a way that had been at least relatively familiar. I was hoping that whatever she was doing, she had been ready for everything that was happening. "I need to look in it again. Maybe I can find something if I do that." I heard her saying to herself, but I did not get it quite yet.

It took about twenty minutes of walking, and the sun getting almost completely set, but when it was done, I was seeing Mimi staring at a actual real fountain. In all honesty, a part of me was thinking that she might have been lying. And then I looked at it, wondering what in the world she even found in the first place. "How did you guys even find this in the first place?"

As I asked that, I was starting to look around, and I was placing my hand on the fountain. I was really wanting to know more about this place. "I mean, do you feel like whatever Candice might have found here actually changed her perspective?" After I asked that to her, I saw her looking like she was probably not wanting this discussion for much longer.

"She kept talking to me about her impending doom or some shit. I didn't take it too seriously at the time. Honestly, I felt like she was probably just saying a bunch of fucking lies, and I was feeling like she was letting her paranoia get to her near the end. I wish that I had listened to her." After Mimi said that to me, I was just taking a second to think about what to say now.

"Are you trying to pin the blame on yourself? Because you simply did not see what was ahead of you? If that is the case, then I feel like there isn't much else that we can discuss." I was saying, and I really had no idea what in the world I would say to her.

"I am not saying it is my fault. All I am saying is that maybe I shouldn't have brushed her off. That is all that I am saying. I was not the one that led her to going missing." After she was telling me this, I was then sighing, and felt like I just needed to remain silent for a few seconds longer.

Scene 9: Unlimited Knowledge (Izzy)

Before I headed back home after being done with hanging out with Mimi, that was when I was feeling I would at least drop by Izzy's place for a few seconds, and just see what he had known about everything. I felt that once I finally just talked with him for a while, and really got to learn about what he was feeling, then perhaps I could try and make him feel like we could combine our minds into one fucking goal.

And besides, I was feeling that there was a good chance that Izzy was going to want to hang out with me anyways, so I was feeling like I just needed to make it all work out as much as possible. Besides, Matt believed in him, and if Matt believed in him, then there was no reason in the world to be brushing him off or anything like that. Eventually, I was at his house, and then I knocked on his door.

I waited for a few seconds longer, before Izzy answered the door, and I was seeing that he was glad to just see that at least I was still willing to work with him, and that I had not really let that affect him or anything. "Hey T.K., how are you? What were you wanting?"

"Thanks for at least pretending to be interested in hanging out with me. I promised Mimi that I was going to be helping her look into Candice's death, and I feel like until I do find out the truth, there is nothing else that really matters." I said, and then I was smiling at her for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say now.

"I bet that she has revenge as the only thing set in her mind. Can you really blame her? I mean, her best friend had been killed for no reason, and I would feel like if something like this happened, then I would be absolutely on the fucking hunting path of them." After Izzy was saying this to me, I was shrugging, not sure what I was even going to say now.

"Yeah, I was already hearing her kind of getting tempted to fall into her own personal dark side. I was rather worried about her. I feel like she might not know how to contain her feelings at all. Like even less than I do, and that is really saying something." I laughed, not really because it was funny. But because in some instances, I was more mature than her.

"That makes sense. Reminds me of what Rob was saying earlier. Something about how he is starting to feel that the company was right, and that he had been always under mining them. In all honesty, I feel like he might be in denial when he says shit like that. But whatever." Izzy said, and I was wondering if he was just trying to pretend like Rob would not actually be doing anything like that. But I felt like it was not totally possible at all.

"I guess that this does make some sense why he of all people would be talking about seeing the good in that company. After all that I have heard." I said, and then I looked right at Izzy, and I was wondering if he was going to be saying anything at all. I saw from the look on his face that he was not buying it. I was sighing, and I felt like I might have just crossed my line when I had brought that up. But I just had a hard time not saying what was on my mind.

"I mean, I know that Rob might not be the most loving person to talk to, but the insistence that everybody has that he has something going on with him is always just so strange. I just feel like I need some fucking context here." After Izzy was saying this to me, I smiled when he was saying this, and I felt like I just needed to let him have his moment.

"I mean, I don't think it is Rob himself as much as the things going on around him that might be the issue. And that as a result, he might be the one that will have the hardest time really moving forward." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I saw that he was just remaining silent for a few seconds. I was feeling that I needed to not tell Izzy, no matter how much I wanted to tell him, about the truth of Rob.

"Yeah, I don't know. I just feel like I need more context before I really fully understand. But I feel like I just need to learn when I need to let some fucking things go." After he had said that to me, I was then feeling like no matter what we were doing, the entire conversation would just be going nowhere, and Izzy was going to just be in relative denial about everything that I could have said.

"I mean, I don't know. Maybe after everything that is happening, I just feel like I have no right to whine about what everybody is doing. And I feel like the fact that Rob is so willing to forgive me for everything that happened is the sign that he is indeed not a bad guy in the first place." After he had said that to me, he was shrugging, and then he remained silent for a few seconds longer. I felt like I just needed to try and make him see that this way of looking at things was never going to be really all that healthy here. But I felt that I was only going to make it worse for him.

"But I guess that if you are here, we need to get to work." Izzy said, and he was smiling as he had said that to me. I was slowly nodding, and then with that, I felt like we just needed to finally relax, and move forward with what we were going to move on from.

"So Izzy, what do you know about how everybody else is doing? I have been trying to really re connect with them, and make them feel better. And I feel like I am starting to kind of make it work. Mimi seems to sort of be warming up to me, and that does make me feel slightly better." I said, and then I was shrugging for a little bit.

"I don't know. Matt has only dropped by a couple of times, and I feel like he probably just wants to mainly make sure that I do not do anything stupid. But I was thinking about what he told me about the time when you actually went inside the company hall, and tried to steal information from the office." Izzy said, and then I was feeling like if he was going to start lecturing me about this, then I would really just not want to hear it at all.

"Yeah, we did try to do that. And as I am sure he has already made very clear, we did not do very well at it. I feel like if we weren't arguing as much about it, and not being in a super public spot, then we might have had some time to get away from it." I said, and then I was starting to laugh at the whole thing, realizing how much this was just all working out against my favor.

"That was not what I was trying to say. I was just wanting to see what you might have known. Relax a little bit. But in all honesty, I was wondering if perhaps you had known more about what is going on here. Everybody is finally starting to come around to the monsters." After Izzy said that, I was slowly nodding, remember that black void that appeared in the sky.

"Yeah, I think it was because of that fucking giant black void that appeared in the sky. Kind of hard to pretend like something isn't happening after that." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I was shrugging. "I feel like it took something as big as a giant portal for people to finally start getting it. And the worst part is that I still see some people argue it, as if thinking that denial could get them some time."

"I would not be too worried about it. But I feel like if we are going to be looking for various things, we got to make a plan. We can't just keep going to whatever appeals in your mind at all. Like I don't really know why going inside of the broadcast station was a great idea. I mean, everybody knows about that now, and some people are probably laughing at you over it." He said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like that was something I would have to deal with later.

"Yeah, I got it. It probably wasn't a great plan. But in all honesty, it was working fine for me. But anyways, we are really not going to get anything done with this debate. We need to just find out how to move forward from here." I said, and then I was looking at him, and then I was seeing that Izzy was kind of taking what I said into consideration.

"So he was telling me about a artificial intelligence that Kenta found at where the previous Wayside school was. I think that maybe if we head back there, then maybe we can find something." After Izzy was telling me this, I was shaking my head, since that was literally going to be failing. Since the machine had shut down, according to him.

"Well, if Matt had told you everything, I am already one hundred percent sure that he might have told you that the machine had shut down earlier, and that there is really going to be no point in looking at it any further." I said, and then I was looking at him, shrugging, thinking that I just had no be realistic with him.

"I mean, I know that he said that. But if there are remanents in there, then we can get a case file going. Like it or not, but this information that Kenta gave you, is the best that we have to learning the truth. I don't really like saying that, since I hate him, but I have to look at the truth sometimes." Izzy said, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling that he might have been on the right track and all that.

"I guess that I do see your point. And besides, for all we know, Kenta could be lying. I would not put it beyond him to do something like that." I said, and then Izzy was nodding, as if appreciating the fact that I was at least sort of see what he might have been getting at. So with that, we started to head along, and I was seeing that Izzy was already creating a plan of attack.

"And besides, I think that after that, if there is really one person that we need to listen to more than ever when it comes to the monster thing is that soap box politician. You know, Todd Robinson. I feel like he really has that information on lock." After he was telling me this, I slowly nodded, and I was feeling like I did sort of understand what he might have been getting at.

"Yeah, that is a good point. I heard that I heard him talking about it once or twice. So I guess that maybe when we have a chance, let's talk to him." I said, and I was feeling so glad that Izzy was here. He was helping me remember the stupid shit that I was too dumb to remember. But as we were getting closer to Wayside school, I wondered why they never built the school back up again.

"Do you feel like they are going to actually rebuild the Wayside school at some point in time? I am surprised that they have not already, given the fact that this place would give the company a big brand of "we came back from the ground up" type of promoting." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was wondering what Izzy would have said to that. He was considering it for a second, but remained silent for a few seconds longer.

"I don't know. Maybe it is because the general Wayside population would be able to see through that bullshit, and only the regular old passerby would believe it." After he was saying that to me, I was laughing my ass off at this. Probably because I think that the people in Wayside would in general eat up anything that was given to them.

"I hate to admit it, but I really fucking doubt that they would be looking at it as much as you have. I think that most of these people are probably far more gullible than you give them credit for." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like I just needed to be perfectly blunt as I was saying this to him. I saw that Izzy didn't have the ability to argue as much as he was wanting.

Eventually, we were really at the school, and looking at the destroyed upper floors really did make me feel upset about the situation. "I feel like they should have still done it anyways. Even without reputation or anything, it would not have been that hard of a investment. They have bank doing everything they want." I said, and then I was shaking my head. I saw that Izzy was just staying silent for a few seconds longer. I wondered what he might have been feeling right now.

"Well, I feel like if we stay around here too much longer, then we are only going to draw attention to ourselves. I think it would be best to just try and not draw anything else right now." After Izzy was saying this to me, I was slowly nodding, and then the two of us went inside of the building, as I was getting ready for whatever was to be coming next.

As we were looking around, I was seeing that it was basically a safety hazard to walk inside of. I was feeling like whatever Izzy was planning on getting here, that it was going to be worth something. But I was choosing to not say anything. "Izzy, be sure that you know what you are doing here. If you get us killed in here, then I would be going after you in the after life." I said, trying to be playing off a mildly amusing presentation.

Izzy didn't say anything, as we continued on, and I was feeling like I just needed to stop whining so much, and just take it for what it was. As we were walking along, I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be telling Izzy anyways. "So do you have any idea where the basement would be? I remember hearing that this was where the artificial intelligence would be."

"I mean, probably somewhere around the gym or cafeteria." Izzy was saying, and then we started to walk around, and I was sort of having another question in my mind. And I was sure that Izzy was probably getting tired of always having to entertain and answer my questions. But when I was here, I could not help but have them running in my mind.

"I wonder why this place was thirty stories to begin with I mean, for fucks sake, doesn't that seem really damn over kill for a fucking school?" I asked him, and then I was seeing that Izzy was not saying anything to this at all. I figured that I would take the hint, and just remain quiet. I looked around for while longer, looking for just some form of closed hatch that would lead us to a basement or whatever.

We looked around the first floor for probably about ten minutes before I was finding a ladder down stairs that was still completely wide open. "I guess that people were just so desperate to escape that they literally did not care about closing it." I said, and then with that, I was rubbing my chin, feeling that this was making things kind of interesting to consider now.

"To answer your question, I do believe that maybe they had built the school to perhaps hide what they were doing during the night. I would not be surprised if a few of the closed off rooms actually contained files about what the company was doing." After Izzy said that to me, I was realizing what he was saying, and I figured that maybe he was actually right about what he had said. I felt like a fucking idiot for not considering something like that earlier.

"Wow, then that shows how complacent they really have gotten, if they were doing that. I just kind of hope that this is wrong. Because I would not want to imagine the level of complacency that they have reached." I said, and then I was shrugging, but I was feeling that dwelling on it was not going to be helping anybody at all, so I just needed to let it go, for my own sake more than anybodys else.

"To be fair, this is still just a theory. I have no idea if that is actually true or not. And I would not be surprised if it wasn't." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, and I figured that him saying that was just kind of doing some form of damage control. Meaning I was not really buying it at all.

We were going down the ladder, and I was mainly telling myself to not think about it at all. As we were going down, I was worried about if this was going to be the last stand I would make. In all honesty, I was feeling like this was actually going to be the best chance in a while that something would happen to me that I was not really prepared for at all.

When we had reached the bottom, I was closing my eyes, and just mentally preparing myself for all that was to come here. I was scared out of my mind what I could find. I was scared if we were going to find something down there, as much as I was scared that we were not. Fears were just running through my mind at a million fucking miles per hour.

Once down there, I was seeing that Izzy was smiling, and he was holding his hands up. "Fucking god. I feel like I am finally just starting to do what was meant of me when I do this. Dude, I feel like we just need to do these types of things more." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I slowly nodded at what he was saying.

As we were walking along for a while, I was seeing that there were a bunch of boxes that were clearly in bad condition from being abandoned for so long. I was seeing what some of them were labeled. "Evacuated box from Mall Number 1." As I read this, I was looking at Izzy, suddenly realizing what this was potentially meaning.

"Oh my fucking god Izzy. I think that there is a good chance that if we stay down here, and read this information, then perhaps we can finally get the information that we need about the mall." I said, and then I was pointing at the boxes I found. "Or at least some of it." I said, and then I was smiling at him. "Not all hope is lost then." As I was looking around, I saw another two or three that were much newer. "Excavated Files From Library Regardless Labyrinth Cases 1-5." I said, and then I was looking right at Izzy, and I was having my mouth drop.

"Oh my god, they did keep some of the files. And the fact that they have these files about labyrinth shows that it is real. The rumors about the girls being taken away by these guys is true." I said, and then I was sighing, and then I looked down on the ground.

"Are you serious?" Izzy said, and then he was walking up, and then he saw it. Then he sighed, and slowly nodded. I placed my hands on Izzy's shoulders, hoping he understood what this was starting to mean at this point in time. "That means that for some reason, these older guys are taking a bunch of teenage girls and then selling them off, or even worse…" Izzy said, and I smiled as he was finally showing that he was having more humanity than being business like and nothing else.

"God damn it. These people really do have to pay for whatever they have done when they have the time. And I am going to make sure that they will all get what they deserve when this is done." After Izzy was saying this, I was sighing, and felt that his gung ho attitude was great, but it would only get us so far.

As we were going along longer, that was when I was seeing that there was a small stand that was buzzing out from time to time. I was starting to walk to it, and I was seeing that Izzy was actually almost looking like he was understanding what I was doing. "If I was a betting guy, I assume that this is what the thing Kenta was talking about was." After I was saying this to him, I was sighing, and I was just kind of remaining unsure of what to be saying.

When I was there, I was seeing that there was no button near by. But I was seeing a name escribed on it. "Property of Davis Smith. 1963." I said, and then I was nodding at this. I was wondering why a person would want this in the first place. As I said that, I was then Izzy was looking at me, and I was taking a second to get what me was trying to silently get at.

"Davis Smith. Isn't that the name of your friend? Is his father also named that, or is there something going on that neither of us are really aware of?" He asked me, and then I was standing up. I really had no idea how in the world I would be able to explain it to him. I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to come up with a more focused goal on what was going on here.

"Honestly, I don't know. I feel like I need to show him." I said, and then I was starting to try and lift it up. It was rather heavy, but I was feeling like I just needed to try, and then when Izzy was seeing what I was doing, he was starting to grab as well, and then with that, we were able to get it together, and then I was feeling like we were finally able to turn this whole thing around.

Eventually, we were starting to get up the ladder, and we were having to take each step rather carefully. As we were getting up the ladder, I was feeling like we just needed to get right to where Davis was, and we would have to just to show him in the hopes he knew. But knowing my luck, he was going to tell me that he had no idea, and then this whole thing was a waste of fucking time.

Before long, we were finally up the ladder, and then we sat down for a second. "Good, I think we both need to get into some form of weight training. This shit can be fucking ridiculous." I said, and then I was sighing, not having anything else to say about it. "Honestly, I have no idea what in the world I am even going to do once I tell Davis about this. He might be thinking about the fact that it is a common name."

"Why does it seem like everybody in this town has a evil dad or something like that? It just feels kind of dumb to be honest. Like everything has to turn into a fucking soap opera." After Izzy was saying this to me, I was laughing at this, since in all honesty, he might have been right when he said that. But I was just kind of not feeling too sure what to think now.

"I don't know man. I mean, I guess that it is just a part of the resume though. Can't be a Wayside resident if your parents don't know something about this place that would be incredibly fishy in any other situation." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering why in the world I was making jokes about it now. It was not a funny situation. But maybe the whole thing was just absolutely ridiculous to really find a answer for.

"Well, regardless, I feel like I can't really bitch about what everybodys parents are doing when it seems to be a relatively universal thing. But regardless, I feel like we just need to accept the fact that we were all led into a fucking hoax. We all thought that we knew what was going on in Wayside, but it turns out that there is nothing to be looking for at all."

"Yeah. Maybe that does show that maybe Wayside isn't as bad as we thought it was. I mean, if everybody is fucking corrupt, then doesn't that technically cancel out, and create a situation where nobody is corrupt?" I asked, and then I was looking at Izzy, and I was wondering what he would have said to that idea. He was sighing, as if wishing that he had never thought about it like that.

"As much as I would like to talk and hang out, I think we both know that we need to get out of here before anybody suspects us." After I said that to him, I was standing up, and then I was starting to head off. Izzy looked like he was just kind of sad that I was ending the conversation like this so suddenly.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I shouldn't be wasting all my time like this." After he was telling me this, I saw that he was clearly not very happy to say that. But then we were standing up once again, and then we were grabbing the thing, and then we started to all head away, not sure what in the world I was going to get involved with now.

With that, we were walking out of the school, and I was feeling like perhaps once we were outside, the two of us could be able to actually make a fucking plan on what the hell we are going to be doing in the first place. "So do you think that Davis will be upset when we drop this random thing off at his house?" He asked, and then I was laughing as he was asking this.

"Oh, he totally will. And in all honesty, I do not really care at all. I am sure that when he hears what we are doing, he will be more than understanding." I said, and I looked at him, and I was so set in what I was saying that I even saw that Izzy was believing what I was telling him.

"So T.K., how did you even get involved with Davis and Yolei in the first place? I mean, they hardly seen like the people that I thought you would be hanging out with." After Izzy was saying this, I simply remained silent, since I was feeling that there was no real need to be saying anything at all. He was just saying what he needed to say, and that was fine.

"Honestly, like I tell everybody else, when I had just moved into Wayside for the first time, they were the two that honestly seemed most willing to hang out with me. I needed somebody who respected me, and was willing to give me a chance. They were when nobody else would." I said, and then I looked down on the ground, having nothing else to say.

"I just am always interested when I hear what everybody else was doing with their friends and family before this whole situation really went down hill. I mean, as strange as it sounds, it is something that does sincerely interest me." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, and I felt like I needed to let him have his moment, even if it was strange that he felt that way.

"Well, I will admit that I do not fully get it. But I feel like I might as well just not say anything, since I am probably not all that better from what everybody else is doing." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was feeling that admitting that I sort of sucked was the best thing to make him probably feel more open with talking to me more.

Eventually, we were finally making it to Davis's house, and we knocked on his door. Well, it was more like a fucking kicking, due to the fact that our arms were both full. "I swear to god if his parents answer this, that will be so fucking embarrassing." After Izzy said that, I was staring up at the windows, hoping that Davis would answer the knock soon.

Before long, Davis opened the door, and he was looking like he was either just getting up from being asleep, or heading to sleep, with the way that he had looked when we had seen him. "What the fucking hell is that thing you have?" He asked, and then I looked right at Izzy, hoping he would be able to listen to me here.

"We were hoping that you would be able to check this out. It is something that we found in the original Wayside school, and it had your name on it." After I said that to him, I was placing it down, and then I was looking right at Davis, and I was seeing that he was at least considering what I had said. As he looked down at it, I saw him looking like he was just kind of confused.

"I am more curious what you guys were doing in the older Wayside school anyways? I mean, it's a place that has been basically confirmed to not be safe at all." After Davis was saying this, I was feeling like the lecture was not really something that I wanted to hear all that much. After all, it was just a mild waste of time.

"That is not important. We were hearing stories about how the monsters had been located there in the past, and we were hoping that we would get some fucking clues." After I said that to him, I was shrugging, since in all honesty, I did not need to be saying this. We needed to focus on the topic at hand.

Davis was looking down, and he was seeing the writing on it. He was looking around, seeing if there were any other details that I had missed earlier on. I was looking at Izzy, and I was wondering what he was planning on saying to this. "Honestly, I have no idea what in the world this is. Do you even have a remote clue what this could have been?"

"Yeah, it was a artificial intelligence that had been placed down there. It ended up giving Todd all he needed to know about these digital monsters." Izzy said, as if remembering the story. "It all makes sense now. And I understand why people were wanting this so fucking badly." After he was saying this to me, I was slowly nodding at what he had just said.

"Honestly dude, I think you already are knowing more about this than I do. I mean, maybe my dad knows this." After he had said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he had been dreading asking him anything about this now. Probably because we all knew how fucking dumb it would probably sound when he was going to approach the man about all this information. "But I guess that I can still try."

As we were talking, that was when we were seeing a car driving by. I was suddenly getting worried about what it had been. I was looking at Izzy and Davis, and I was wondering what in the world they would say if this ended up getting much worse. But I decided that I would try and pretend to be casual, since in all honesty, I might have been wrong about this.

When we were seeing the man get out of the car, I was seeing that the man was trying to hide the fact that he was a officer by the trench coat that he was wearing. As I had seen this, I started to let the worst run through my mind, and I was wondering if either Davis or Yolei would have a plan to back this up. "I feel like he will probably ask about that. Take it inside, and pretend like there is nothing going on." I said, and then I was sighing, wondering what this man would do.

"What are you going to do though?" Davis asked, and Izzy was placing his hand on Davis's shoulder, as if telling him that it would be best to just simply not argue with this. After Izzy did this, I was seeing that Davis was looking like he was mildly upset at the way that they were acting about him right now.

Davis decided to go inside, and Izzy was pushing it along as well. "I will come back if it gets worse." Izzy whispered to me, and then I was seeing the officer coming up to me, and he was looking like there was something really exciting about what he was going to be doing now.

"I heard that you were inside the old Wayside school. I just wanted to give you a warning about not getting involved into anything too dangerous. With all the rumors going on, and the panic about monsters going on, you can never be too sure." After he was telling me this, I was closing my eyes, and I was feeling like I just needed this man to get away from me, no matter what.

"I was just checking something out. There was something that I heard about, and I wanted to make sure that it wasn't some bullshit." I said, and then I was smiling as I said this. The man was then starting to get closer to me, and I was seeing that if I did not act soon enough, this man was probably going to have a new plan on how to force this.

"Look, I was going to be hanging out with my friends for a bit. I really need to go back inside. Sorry for causing you to get worried." I said, and then I was smiling at him, and I was just hoping that saying that would make it seem like I was trying to have some casual fun at this point. The man still did not look too sure what to think here.

Scene 9: A New Hunt (Todd)

After the police scare was done, I decided that before I would head home, I would speak to Todd, and see what he had known. I felt like if he could give me something related to what I needed to know, then I could work with this. So I began to head there, on the hopes that he would at least entertain the idea of hanging out with me for a bit.

As I was heading there, I wondered what stake in this whole thing Todd really had anyways. I mean, he was just a politician who was running for mayor. His connection with what was going on now was probably minimal at best, and he probably just simply did not care for the bigger picture of the younger group. Nobody ever did. It was just a matter of who would give off the disguise the best.

If for nothing else, I feel like he would feel vindicated knowing that he was right about everything that he had said. That he was not going crazy, and that there was a chance that whatever was happening here with the monsters could have been just as important, if not even more, than what was happening to the girls.

Think of it this way: If you have a monster going around, planning to kill everybody and destroy everything, or you have a person going missing, and you are still unsure of what is going to happen to them at the moment. If you were forced to choose, you would want to figure both out obviously, but making sure your town doesn't literally get fucking destroyed is just a little bit more important

And besides, Ocho was already looking into the latter very well, and was probably doing a better job at it than I had been, and I feel like he just probably needs to take over the helm on this whole entire thing if we really want a chance to bring this whole thing together.

I was at the soap box, and then I was looking around, and I was seeing that Todd was still there, giving off one of his speeches. As he was talking for a while, I was sighing, and I was hoping that he would not be too upset with the discussion. I knew that I needed him to talk. If anything, he would probably be glad to be hearing that at least one person was willing to take him seriously.

Once there, I was waving my hand, and then he looked over, and he saw me. "Oh hello. I had a feeling that somebody in your friend group was going to be coming by eventually. I was just not too sure when that would be." After Todd said that to me, he sighed, and then he looked around, just taking a moment to look at everybody. "Now that everybody is starting to see that what I said was true, and that I was not trying to create a panic."

"I was hoping that you would be able to help me. I mean, now that I know that what you say about the monsters is true, and everybody is seeing that, I feel like we need to work together to try and fix this issue. I was just hoping that you would be able to give me some advice." I said, and then I was sighing, wondering if he had anything at all to say.

"Honestly dude, nobody here cares about what I am going to say. But knowing at least one person here actually is willing to take what I say seriously gives me some hope that I can turn this whole thing around." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, hoping that he was not going to go on this speech for a giant length of time.

"Do you know anything about the artificial intelligence that was found in the Wayside basement?" I asked, and then after I asked him this, I saw that Todd was looking shocked for a second. Probably shocked that I had known about that at all. But once I started to see his face ease up, I saw that he was looking much better.

"Yeah, I was there when it was located. I never seen anything like it, and I still have not. I thought that we were going to be finding something that would literally lead us to a new age of technology. But people were fine with pretending like it had never happened, brushing it aside. It just shows that people will be willing to do whatever it takes to hide from the truth." Todd said, and then with that, he was looking around. "How about this? Let me finish up here tonight, and we can talk about it more."

While I knew that every minute I waited was another minute that monsters would be going around was bothering me, I decided that I would let him have his moment, and that trying to push him to work with me and drop everything was probably going to only be making things worse for him, and make him not want to work with me at all.

"Yeah, sure. I just hope that people are starting to see the truth for what it is. If they do not, then as much as I hate to admit it, then they deserve what is going to happen to them." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I saw that Todd did not look like he was appreciating what I had just said right now. But I did not take it back, since deep down, I really did mean it.

"They will listen. Just give them a chance." After he was telling me this, he was continuing to give his speech, and I was just mentally hoping that what he was saying was true, and that we were not going to regret his hope that he was showing the people in the town. He continued for about ten more minutes before he said that he would retire for the evening.

Then he looked right at me. "Thank you for being patient. I understand how it was like. Despite what people would love to deny, every adult was thirteen once." He said, and then he was shrugging, and then he looked at me. "And you are decently mature for your age, since you at least seem self aware of your mistakes, and you are willing to look at the bigger picture, which is something I wished I was able to do when I was your age."

"But enough about that. I am sure that you don't really care to hear me praise your age and maturity. I am sure that you want to hear about what happened in the older Wayside school, and that is something that I am more than willing to oblige." After he was saying that to me, I nodded, and then he was sitting down on his stool.

I knew that I was taking a giant gamble by bringing this up with him already, especially when we were outside, but I was honestly not caring. "So Todd, did you know anything about the files that the town had kept relating to labyrinth? They literally have some in that basement?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking shocked that I was actually bringing this up publicly.

"Oh god. I mean, I knew that they had kept that stuff. But I did not think that they would be stupid enough to keep it in a relatively public space. But regardless, I feel like you are probably figuring it out. My friend Sheldon thought that he was the one who was basically destined to be making a difference here. He went so far into it that he never gave up. But then it turned out that everything he was doing was all for fucking not." After Todd was telling me this, I was seeing him looking like he was just trying to be looking at this optimistically, but could not.

"Is my theory true? That they are being taken and sold into drug trafficking? Probably for sex." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was feeling like I just needed to know more about what I could say now. "And that perhaps it is related to why there are so many adoptions here? That is a personal theory that I have made."

As I was telling him this, I saw that there was a minor amount of being impressed with what I was saying. "It seems like you are mostly there. Are still some finer details that need to be worked out, but you are on your way there. But I am sure that you are more worried about what I can be able to do to actually help you out. After all, that is the whole reason you came to me in the first place." He said, and then I nodded at this, to confirm that what he was saying was true.

"Yeah, sorry. I just heard from many people that they are probably actually connected, and I am starting to think that there is at least a good chance that this is true, so I feel like I just need to know how they all connected. But I will try to stop interrupting you." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I looked right at Todd, and I hoped that he had something to give me here.

"Fair enough. But beyond that, I feel like if you want to finally get everything going, you need a linear focus. I can even try to help you out on finding out where the most common areas for these monsters could be. The ones that my friends and I would always go to in order to start to piece together the shroud of the past." After Todd said that to me, I was nodding at that, since that was a really cool statement.

"Alright, I do see your case. Thanks for being willing to give me a chance." I said, and then I was smiling as I was saying this. With that, Todd was shrugging, as if thinking that maybe I was taking this into too much pride and light. I hardly cared though. I was finally having a chance to finally do something right, and that was the main thing that really mattered to me more than anything else.

"Well, I am always hoping that one of these days, people would fix my mistakes. And for some reason, I am just getting to the point where I feel like I have to relay on those who actually are starting to fucking are almost more than I ever have." With that, Todd was starting to head to his car, and while it would look strange for a thirteen year old guy to go into the car with a thirty six year old man, I felt that he would not care all that much.

Once in the car, I was feeling like it was time for me to speak up, and try to get his attention on more issues. "So I would hate to tell you this, but since it seemed like you guys were relatively close when you guys were younger, I wanted to tell you that Jenny has recently died." I said, and then Todd stopped everything that he was doing as soon as he was hearing that from me.

Todd closed his eyes for a second, and then started to respond. "I wish that I had not gotten so caught up in my political ambitions that I did not see the danger that was ahead by doing so. I should have known that I was only making things worse of everybody else. In a way, I feel like everything lately is all my fault."

"It is not your fault that people are getting killed. I don't know why you are the only one left standing. I will give you that. But you are not the one who is causing this to all fucking happen." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was hoping that he would see what I was trying to say right now.

"I mean, there has to be some reason why I was the only one who was left standing after everything was taken apart. Clearly somebody is after me, or at least wants to wait long enough until they see my reaction to the others. I can't explain it beyond that." Todd was telling me, and while I was feeling like what he was saying was getting dangerously close to conspiracy territory, I could sort of see what he was trying to say.

"I guess that maybe somebody could have something against you. But in all honesty, I still just have a hard time seeing why in the world they would be after you. You are just some random guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time." I said, and then Todd was shaking his head as I was saying this. I looked at him, wondering what the issue was this time.

"Not really. I was there with Sheldon, and was his main ally, when he was going around and piecing together what many of the big crime bosses here are doing. They probably think that I am the biggest thing that can still be tying their past to now. And that is why they are going after me." After Todd told me this, he was shrugging.

"And since the general person never listens to Sheldon anymore, or thinks that he might be slightly insane, nobody is really out against him. Although I guess that might not be true anymore, if they took out his wife for no good reason." Todd finished, and remained silent for another moment.

"She sort of started to have a crush on me when we were still in school together. But I never wanted to act on it. Especially since she was eleven months younger than me, and when you are thirteen, that type of age gap is a big deal." He said, and then I was shrugging at this. I didn't think eleven months was a huge deal, even when you are thirteen.

"I think a year only really matters if you are like under ten. Aside from that, a year is not that big of a deal at all." I said, and I was feeling like the fact that I was getting into that for no reason was rather dumb, so I was feeling like I just needed to get right back on topic to the main point of the discussion. "That being said, we are sort of losing the point of the discussion, and I think we would both rather just get back on topic."

Todd was starting to drive along, and the entire time that we were driving, I was seeing that Todd was looking like he was just taking a second to deeply consider what we had been doing. "Honestly, I am so glad to be seeing that some people are taking this shit seriously. That they are not going around and pretending like we can just sort of laugh this whole thing off." After Todd was telling me this, I was remaining silent, not sure where to exactly go from here.

As we were going on, I was feeling like I just needed to remain silent. I was just needing to let him have his moment, and that perhaps when this whole thing was done for now, I would tell the others about the hot beds that we need to be looking at in order to turn this whole situation around once again.

Eventually, as I was thinking about what Todd was giving me a chance to finally accomplish, I was looking right at him, and I smiled at this. "Thank you Todd. For giving me a chance to change my way of going at this, and letting me know that some people are willing to believe in me." I said, and then I was looking at him, unable to describe how I had felt any different.

"It's okay dude. You're a good person. Some people are probably just thinking you are too young to be able to understand the big picture. And that is fine. But one thing that I have told myself ever since I was in high school is that you get older every day." Todd said, and then I was considering what he was telling me here.

"Yeah, I guess that is technically true. I mean, every day that passes by, you are technically getting closer to the end of the year." I said, and then I was shrugging, but I decided that I would not be saying anything at all. Eventually, we were near the high school track. I was looking at Todd, and I was wondering what the point of him coming here really was.

"Why the fuck are we here? There is no reason to be coming here at all." I said, and then I looked right at Todd, and I was wondering what in the world he was even going to be planning on right now. "I swear, you have got to give me a good reason to be doing this right now." Todd was looking like he was wishing that I would tone it down just a little bit.

"Dude, take a fucking breath and relax. I am getting there." After Todd was saying this to me, he was sighing, and then he started speaking again after a quick moment. "Alright, so the thing is that this place was where I fought one of my first major monsters. I honestly did not think that I was going to survive past this day. But they made me realize that the stuff Dana was telling me was not a fucking myth."

I was getting out of the car, and Todd seemed like he was just comtemplating about why this was something that he was going to regret doing later on. But then he was getting out of the car as well, and then we were looking around for a bit. "Honestly dude, I don't even know if the monsters are still going to be here or not. In all honesty, we might just be wasting our time. And if we are, then I am sorry. But I figured that I would give you a chance." Todd was telling me, and then I was just taking a second to just remain silent for a few seconds, not feeling the need to argue with him.

"So Todd, do you have a idea why in the world these monsters are even coming here all the time? I mean, Wayside just seems like a rather strange place. I think Izzy was telling me about a pattern. But he did not go into great detail about it." I said, and then Todd was sighing, probably finding my statement to just kind of be a drag. Probably thinking that he was not wanting to answer these at all.

"I heard from the artificial intelligence that this is something that happens every few decades. Sort of a part of the cycle to make sure that the data that the digital world is storing gets cleansed. But as to why it comes here, it is mainly due to the fact that there is some form of a hell mouth that opens up here." Todd was saying, and then I looked at him confused for a bit.

"What I heard is that in every state, there is one of them that is located, and that is where the monsters come out from. And that the one in Wayside is the one that is in Minnesota. I would not be surprised with how much digital information has advanced, if it has gone beyond the United States as well." As Todd said that, I was slowly nodding.

"Wow, that just sounds like really fucking complicated to be following. I am just trying my best to not be losing my mind at the stupidity of the stories that I hear." I said, and then Todd laughed at that, as if thinking that I was giving off the funniest response to that of all time.

"I get it dude. I barely followed it when I was your age. But I know that they are real, and I know that labyrinth is real. And I know that in order to feel better about myself, I need to fucking fight as much as I can, and as long as I can, to make sure that this does not continue to destroy this town anymore. That is why I am trying to get elected, or at least build a reputation." Todd said, and then I was kind of getting what he was saying, to some extent.

"I guess that it will make sense eventually." I said, deciding to not focus on it for the time being. As I said that to him, Todd was upset at this whole thing. Probably thinking that maybe we had all been messing up with what we had done so far.

"In all honesty, when I was younger, I was starting to think that everything that was going on in this town was a part of a cult. That it was just something that was meant to throw off what was going on. I mean, all the ground works were there, and it was making sense in my mind. But I guess that maybe I was just trying to find too much of a simplistic explanation to something that wasn't even real." Todd said, and then I was wondering what made him bring this up.

"What part about all this gives off the impression of a fucking cult?" I asked, and then he was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was unsure if I was actually being serious with what I was saying. But then with that, he was shrugging, and decided that he would tell me anyways, even if he was not getting it at all.

"I mean, think of it. The people in white suits who would show up to the labyrinth parties…" He said, and then for once, I could not hold it in any longer. I needed to know what the fucking hell he was talking about. This just sounded so fucking batshit insane, that I just needed to know what the hell he was going on and on about.

"What the hell are you talking about? People in white suits? You have to let me in on this." I said, and then Todd was sighing, as if feeling like the fact that I did not know this was probably proof in his eyes that I did not know everything that I had wanted to know. But then with that, he was shrugging for a few seconds.

"Maybe they are not here anymore, but when I was younger, every time a labyrinth party would happen, there would be people that would show up in white suits, grab three or four girls, and then do some fucking blood cutting test. It was dumb as all fucking hell." After Todd said that to me, I was looking at him, clearly lost for once.

"What the fuck is this? Some random fantasy ritual?" I asked, and then Todd laughed at that one. Probably thinking that this was a fair assessment. "I mean, this literally sounds like something that would appear in a fantasy story." I said, and then Todd was nodding, as if to show that he got what I was saying the first time, and needed to fucking chill the hell out.

"I am not sure. I am just telling you what Sheldon and I saw during that summer. I have no idea what it all fucking leads to. And I think that it would be a bad idea to try and pretend like we got the answers all there." After he was telling me this, I sighed, and I really had no idea what I was going to be telling him at this point in time.

"Do you feel like you would want to talk with Sheldon again? I mean, he probably will need the help." I said, and I was wondering why in the world I was even trying so hard to make him talk to him anyways. "Sorry for changing the subject. I have a hard time staying on topic. It really is a personal weakness of mind, and I am trying to get better at it."

"It's okay honestly. I just don't know how to answer it honestly a lot of the time. That is the real issue that I have with most of this." After Todd was telling me this, he was then starting to head back to his car. "I have a map of Wayside that I made years ago. I can let you have it." After Todd was telling me this, I was suddenly getting much more interested in what he was planning on doing right now.

"Honestly, that would help me a lot. I mean, that would be better than nothing." I said, and then I was seeing Todd nod, as if glad that I was seeing it from his point of view. So with that, he was heading to his car, and he was starting to look through his trunk, and I was feeling that if we were ever going to get caught by doing this, then one of us, if not both of us, were guaranteed to get a bullet in our fucking heads.

"Honestly, even though I feel like I am probably too old for this stuff, I would love to help out people, and just give them the chance that I never had. You guys are fighting, and I am over here giving shitty soap box speeches. In a way, I always do have admiration for the younger generation. Probably because it reminds of what I had once, and the fact that I lost it." Todd was telling me, and I was having no idea why in the world he was even telling me this in the first place.

"Thanks for that sentiment. I wished that I would see people who fucking believed that way. But I feel like that is never going to fucking happen, and that I am getting my hopes up for even fucking trying to think that way." I said, and then Todd was sighing, probably finding what I was saying to be a vindictive sign that things were not going the way that he had wished. But he was coming forward, and he gave me a rolled up piece of paper. "Thanks for the help." I said, meaning it very much.

Now that I was feeling like there was a chance that this could potentially work out in my favor, I was feeling so much better about what I was getting myself into. "Alright, time for us to continue this." I said, and then after I said that to Todd, I saw him looking like he was trying to look at this as calmly as I had been, but just couldn't fucking do it.

"Yeah, I guess that I can see where you are coming from." Todd said, and then before long, the grinding noise was going off. As I had heard this, I was balling my fist tightly, and I was wondering what the hell was causing this to happen again, when it had only been like at most a week since the previous one.

"It's literally the summer of 1963 all over again. Just non stop, every few days basically. And the worst part is that Sheldon and I caught them red handed and knew what we saw. But then for some reason, nobody would listen to us still. It was like they just refused to admit that they had walked into a situation that would basically get us all killed." Todd said, and then he was shaking his head.

"Let me tell you right now, when there is still time for me to say it, but there is no interest in the common good. Nobody fucking cares about anything besides themselves. They only just simply want to get what is best for them, and nothing else." After Todd was telling me this, he was shrugging, as if feeling like something like this should have been expected in all honesty.

"But I doubt that you really understand. I mean, I didn't understand until I was much older myself, that this is all just something that purely promotes the interest in themselves, and nothing else." After he had said that to me, I was remaining silent, since in all honesty, I was still feeling like there was hope in the company.

"Do you think that this company can turn around if a younger person takes over, and does the job?" I asked and then after I asked him this, I was seeing Todd looking like such a idea was almost a waste of time to even bring up. Probably just convinced that things were already set in stone.

"I don't think that will happen. Shaun doesn't even have any kids, and they would probably not understand what is in front of them until they are several years old. In all honesty, I feel like you would be better off not thinking too much about it at all." Todd was telling me, and then I was sighing, and I was wondering how, if I could at all, get him to have some hope in this place once again. Then I felt that maybe it just was not possible.

"Regardless, I hope that you take the time to look through that. I hope that you are able to finish what I started." Todd said, and then he was getting in his car, and then he ended up leaving. As he was gone, I was upset with the way that he was leaving me. I needed his help, and him just really not taking it seriously at all was only going to be making things worse.

I was feeling that despite my annoyance at Todd, he was working his best to just give us a level of safety. After all, he was the only person I have seen lately who actually gave me not just some information, but something to legitimately look at. And I was going to do that while I would try to forget that god awful grinding noise.

As he was gone, I was sitting down, and I was looking at the map that he had given me. I was seeing about ten or so spots marked red, and all the factories. I saw a bunch of writing on the side, probably stuff that he would add on later when he was getting older, and saw more of what Wayside was turning itself into.

I was wondering if this town was ever going to be fully brought back. I mean, I knew that it would probably not be back to the levels that it was before this labyrinth, or whatever it was, took over. But I was hoping that it would at least go back to what it was when Todd was a teenager. And I was feeling like maybe his influence would be able to help out with that a little bit. Although I was telling myself that I should not rely on him too heavily, in case if I was wrong about him, or even worse, in case he died.

If I was just wrong about him, I could turn my back on him, and hope that maybe in future years, one of the two of us could see more reason. But if he died, then that was never going to happen, and that everything we had been working together on would have purely been a waste of fucking time. But I just felt that whatever was going on, over time, I would be seeing his point a bit more, and that was the main thing that mattered.

I spent a few minutes looking around, and realized that one of them was very close to where the Wilson house was, and I was starting to get scared of what this could mean. And you sure as hell bet that it mean that when I was ready tomorrow, that the first thing that I would do would be to go over to his place, and see what was going on. At least give him a warning or something like that, in order to give him a chance to prepare in the future, in case it got worse.

I was heading back, and I was just feeling like when I would be done, I would feel slightly better. At least I was having something to look at, and something that I could show Tobias. Something to show him that I wasn't fucking lying or whatever. I just wanted to show him that no matter what else was happening, the two of us could continue to work together.

And besides, I was feeling that I just needed to get any confrontation with my dad and Matt about my heists and shit over with. I felt like the sooner we just talked it out, the better that things would be. If for nothing else, it would show him that I was still willing to talk with him, and apologize for any bad behavior.

It took me about fifteen minutes to skate home, and when I was done, I headed right inside. I was not going to be paying any attention to mind to Matt or the others. I wanted to be done, and I wanted to be alone. I wanted to feel like I could be able to have a moment to ponder my mistakes, and not be hated for what I had been doing this whole time.

I went right to my room, and I was not really in the mood to talk to dad or Matt if I did not have to. I closed the door, and then I placed the map on the table, and I was looking once again at the green crystal that I had been leaving behind. I was starting to think that maybe I just needed to tell Matt what I was going to be doing with it, and see what he would think about it.

I was feeling that if Ocho and Brad were able to make these weird weapons with the crystals, like the lightsabers from Star Wars, and Ness was able to as well, that maybe I deserved to make one of myself. After all, I was feeling that if I followed in Ness's footsteps, then things would be much better for everybody involved.

And I was feeling like after everything that I had been doing, I just needed some help with turning this case around. I needed help to show people that I wanted to be a great helper. I always felt like I had been inferior to Ness, and other people along the way, and that I should have been helping them much more.

I laid down, placed the crystal down, laid my hands on my eyes, and started to feel like I was dozing off, and I was feeling like I just needed to get people to stay away from me. I did not want to do this at all, and I hardly cared how much I would be hurting myself along the process to make sure that justice would indeed be served.

Scene 10: The First Fight (Tai)

I was heading out to the track field the next day, to just mainly try and figure out what I was going to be doing. I mean, the track was probably not the most objective place to start a search, but it was better than nothing, and at this point in time, I was sort of just in the mindset of "better than nothing." And with that, I just started to head on away.

When I was eventually at the track, and I was seeing that the area was relatively quiet and calm, I was shocked to be seeing that the one person who was still there was Tai. I was wondering what in the world Tai even wanted to do here in the first place. So I started to head on to him, to just mainly try and have a normal talk with him.

"Hey Tai, was there something you were planning on doing tonight?" I asked, and then I was seeing Tai looking like he was just relatively annoyed with the fact that I was here now. Probably thinking that in all honesty, I was just going to be forcing him into more investigations.

"Look, if you are going to be checking things out right now, and trying to find more incriminating evidence, then I will not really want to be a part of it. It is just too much of a fucking hassle to deal with stuff like this now." After Tai was telling this to me, I was looking down, and I was kind of feeling bad for the way that he had said that.

"I was going to be checking something out. But to be honest, I would rather be hanging out with you, and having some fun than doing this. I mean, I have been looking into these things way too much, and at this point in time, I am sort of forgetting what it is like to have a normal social life." I said, and then Tai was laughing at the fact that I had admitted this out loud.

"I mean, I can't fault you for the fact that you are at least aware of the fact that this is the case. But regardless, I just feel like everything has gotten so much worse ever since you came along. No offense, although I am sure you actually probably agree to this." After he said that, I looked down, since in all honesty, I had a hard time not seeing his perspective.

"Yeah, I guess that is true to be honest. That being said, I was told that something would be found here. But if you do not want to get involved in any of that, I will just leave you out of it." I said, and then Tai was shrugging for a second, probably not really thinking too much about it in all honesty. I wondered if Tai even had any thoughts on what to do now.

Before we were able to think about it too much longer, that was when we were hearing some loud noise, and when we were looking over, I was starting to have all my possible fears run on through my head. "I think that this is really going to be your only chance to get out of this before it gets any worse." I said, and Tai was looking like he was already making a escape plan.

When we saw that it was a black dinosaur monster, that was when Tai took a few steps back, and then fell on his ass. "Do you even have anything that could fight this thing off?" I asked, and then Tai looked at me, as if wondering why in the world he would have anything to fight this monster off to begin with, since we were never supposed to be doing this in the first place.

The thing started to shoot a fire ball at us, and we jumped away as it hit a trash can, and garbage was flying everywhere. "Okay, seriously, either we get the fucking hell out of here, or we somehow fight this thing. Either way, we are probably screwed." I said, and then Tai was nodding as he heard this, probably not needing to hear me tell him this.

As Tai was looking out, he was seeing the shed that would house all the track and field materials. "I think we can go there and make up some strategy there. Hopefully this can actually work." After he was telling me this, I nodded, and then we started to run off towards the shed, where I was hoping that if for nothing else, we can at least make a plan of attack.

So with that, we were running to the shed, and I was wondering how in the world I was going to be able to fight more of these things if they came along. In all honesty, I was thinking that we might as well just wait it out, and see what was to come without trying to make things any worse.

Tai and I were struggling at the lock for a bit, and both of us were clearly panicking beyond belief. "Oh my god Tai, we are going to fucking die!" I screamed, and then he was looking at me, as if he was thinking that I was not helping out with the way that I had been freaking out at this.

"I am doing my best! I never wanted anything to do with this!" Tai screamed at me back, and I Was remaining silent, thinking that I would just leave him alone for the time being. Eventually, the dinosaur was right behind us. "I got a idea!" Tai yelled, and then I looked right at him, and I decided that I would let him have his moment. So with that, I nodded, and he counted to three before we jumped out of the way for the dinosaur to destroy the shed.

"Where are those men in black the one time you fucking need them?" I asked, more just trying to be funny, but there was still a level of truth to what I had been saying. As I was looking at Tai, I was instantly starting to feel mass regret for everything that I had done, and I was wondering if Tai was ever going to be feeling like he would even want to be around me ever again.

We went inside the shed, and were looking around, and then I was I was finding the shot put ball. As I had seen this, I instantly started to get some ideas in my mind. "Alright, we got this. It's better than nothing." I said, and then I threw the shot put, and it ended up hitting the dinosaur right in the eye, and caused them to fall back down to the ground.

Once they were down for the count, I started to run forward, and then Tai was grabbing every single item that could be used remotely as a weapon, and I was starting to just plan out what in the world I was even planning on doing right now.

Eventually, Tai grabbed one of the javelins. I mean, it was a great idea. But in all honesty, that thing was probably not going to be very useful against this monster, since in all honesty, there was no stabbing point to it or anything like that. So I just figured that there was really no point in worrying too much about it.

"Okay Tai, if we end up dying because of this, then I hope that this will be a good sign for every single person in this town to stop following through with this insane idea that I should have never started with in the first place." I said, and then with that, I was trying to play it off as a funny joke, but in all honesty, it really was not.

The dinosaur got back up, and fired balls of flame at us, and then Tai and were hiding behind the trash can again since we hardly had enough time to even plan or prepare. And then I was starting to feel the warmth of it behind us. Which had meant that this monster was destroying the trash can next to the shed.

Tai was starting to stand up, and I was seeing that he was probably planning on attacking this monster, and when I saw that, I was looking over at him, as if telling him mentally that this was going to be one of the worst ideas he could have had.

As the monster was getting ready to fire another ball of fire at us, that when it started to moan a bit, and then fell down to the ground. Once it was down, that was when we were looking up, and I was seeing that it was one of those men in black. "Code Red. We had another straggler. Two teenage witnesses. Middle School Track Field. Place heavily damaged and burned." After the man was saying this to the person he was speaking with on the other end, he was looking at us.

"As you wish." He said, and then he was placing the gun back. "You are commanded to leave this place effective immediately. This place is a hazard, and will need to be cleared out before more show up." After the guy said that to us, I looked at Tai, and he nodded, as if having no desire to argue with this man at all. So with that, we started to just head on away.

He didn't need to tell me twice. Tai and I were walking off, and we were both just trying to find something to say now. "Tai, do you think that we are going to be running into any more of these?" I asked, and then I was feeling like asking that was probably a waste of time. I think we both knew that we were going to be running into more, and that even asking was a waste of time.

"I mean, we are probably going to be lucky if we can go more than a few days without running into one. I mean, we hardly did anything, and we were already running into one. So I think it is more of a when rather than fucking if." After Tai said that to me, I was sighing, and I figured that I would let him have his moment of freaking out.

"I wonder if those men in black are trained to be fighting more of these. I mean, the fact that one showed up right when these monsters were here probably is a good sign that these people are trained for this more than any of us are. And that maybe we are wasting our time trying to get in their way all the time." I said, and then after I said that, I started to think that I just needed to drop the whole subject.

"Yeah, I guess that maybe that is true. I mean, I just don't really want to take the risk on this whole thing anymore. But realistically, I feel like we are probably going to be doing with these things all the time, and that it might even be worth the attempt to get us to think that it is done." Tai said, and I was wondering how long it would take for him to start to get some hope in this town once again.

Eventually, I was starting to think that I needed to leave Tai alone, and not be getting in his way again. "I feel like I should probably head on home now. I will not try to bother you anymore." I said, and then with that, I was keeping my head down low, and I wondered how many times I would make that promise, until I actually stayed with it.

Scene 11: Leaving (Davis)

When I was at Davis's house later, to just try and see what he had been able to find out with the thing that we had given him, I was seeing that he was already getting ready to be heading somewhere. I was starting to feel bad for this, because I was wondering if he was in trouble or anything like that. "Hey, sorry if I was getting you in trouble earlier." I said, feeling that by saying that, I could make him feel slightly better. As I had said that to him, I saw that he was clearly not looking like he had much to say on the matter.

"No, you didn't get me in trouble. But I am going to be leaving for the rest of summer. Mom and dad both feel like it would be best for me to just get the hell out of here, and given everything that is going on, I can't really blame them for feeling that way." After Davis was telling me this, I was looking at him, and even if he did not want to hear it, I really did feel bad for him, and I felt like it was all my fault.

"Was it because of all the investigations? If it was, then I hope that maybe we can move on from this. You guys deserve better." I said, and then he was shaking his head. Clearly he did not buy what I was saying, and to be honest, given how I was earlier, could I really blame him? I just wanted him to see that I did not want this to happen at all.

"I mean, they certainly do not help. I will not lie. But in all honesty, I feel like I am just getting myself into stuff that do not make me feel comfortable anymore. Simple as that. I feel like every day that I am here, I am only making things worse for everybody involved. They deserve better than that, and I am starting to feel like I do as well." Davis said, and then he was shrugging for a second.

"But whatever is happening, and whatever you have found, you need to be more careful from now on. I feel like if you keep looking into this for too long, you are going to get either yourself or somebody you love killed. And I feel like you still would never want that to happen to anybody." Davis said, and he did not need to say 'assume' since I think he knew damn well that I would not want that at all.

"Davis, I know that you probably just simply do not trust me anymore. And I am sorry for that. But I would never go out of my way to do anything that is going to only be causing more pain than anything." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was hoping that he would buy what I was saying. I saw him looking down the street.

"I will give you a chance to prove that. Just check on Yolei a couple of times a week, and let me know that she is doing well. I mean, I know that she likes you more than she will ever like me. I have accepted that a long time ago." Davis said, and hearing him say that, without any hesitancy, for some reason, still kind of hurt to hear him say.

"I don't know why, or how, but I just have a horrible feeling that something will be happening to her. And I want to make sure that no matter what happens, she will make it to see the end of the summer." After Davis said that to me, I was wondering why he was even telling me all of this in the first place. It was honestly just making me feel unsure of myself.

"I can do that. I mean, despite what you are probably starting to think about me and my opinions on my friendships, I really do care about you guys. I want to make sure that nothing happens to you." I said, and then I was wondering if we were ever going to be the same again.

"Sorry if I am being harsh on you. I guess that I am just having a hard time seeing the good in humanity right now. As freaking fatalistic as that sounds, I feel like you probably know what I mean. The only thing that is going for us right now is that it seems like most people are slowly getting to the point where they are over this as well." Davis said, while I remained silent.

"Good news for a change." Davis said, and then I looked right at him, and I was looking kind of confused at what he was telling me. "My mom said she is having a baby girl. They say that she is expected to be born in November. I mean, I don't really know if I want to have the responsibility. But I am certainly willing to try." Davis said, and I was actually kind of feeling glad for him, and in that moment, I forgot all about labyrinth for a bit.

"Have they decided on a name yet?" I asked, and then Davis looked at me, and shrugged, probably thinking that whatever they did want was going to not stick, and that there was no point in even thinking too much about it in the first place.

"They are still going through ideas, but they are thinking of June. I don't really know what appeals to that name, but I mean, I am not the dad, so why the hell do I care about what they choose?" Davis said, and then he was sort of thinking a bit more. "Actually, you know… With Tai, and Izzy, and them having a younger sister, and seeing how happy they are, I feel like I would want one. I probably would have preferred a brother, but once she's here, I will be over it."

Eventually, we were seeing Leo riding by on a bike. When he stopped, and looked at me, I was seeing that after he took a second to remember who I was, he was actually shocked to be seeing me here at all. "Oh my god, what the hell are you still doing in this town? I thought you would have jumped ship when you realized that nobody wanted to get involved with this insanity." Leo said, and then Davis looked at me relatively confused.

"What the hell T.K.? Do you know who this guy is anyways?" Davis asked, and then I was slowly nodding, since there was no point in even trying to deny it for now. "Strange. How did you even meet him anyways?"

"We met at the arcade. I tried to teach him how to play games, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He kept focusing on the fucking investigation and missing girls. He's not really fun at all." After he had said that to Davis, I was seeing Davis slowly nod, as if thinking that he might as well admit to that one as well. I looked at Davis, thinking that he wasn't really being fair to me, since I tried to be fun back then.

"Hey! At least I am trying to be helping out with what I am doing." I said, and then after I was saying that to him, I was shaking my head, since in all honesty, I felt like perhaps he was just doing the right thing by calling me out for a little bit. Even if this whole thing was a bit hard for me to accept.

"T.K., how did all that stuff you were coming to me about even turn out anyways? I mean, you were really dead set on turning everything into one giant fucking investigation." Leo said, and then after I said that to him, I was shrugging, and I was feeling that I just needed to try and find more to tell him now.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I mean, I probably do have some idea. But it seems like I am going to be getting myself killed if I do not stop what I am doing right now. I have to be looking at things realistically in that sense." I said, and then I was shrugging, and since I felt like being honest was the best policy, I wondered if they were going to even want to help me at all.

"I know that it might be too late to say anything now, but after everything that has been going on, and after what I have seen with the monsters, if you need any help, I will want to help." Leo said, and then he started to head off with the bike. I looked at Davis again, and I was wondering what he was going to tell me now. I was seeing that Davis was still just trying to get over what he had seen here.

"I wonder if I am going to have to see him again." Davis said, and then he was shrugging, and I was not sure what to tell him either. In all honesty, I had no idea how many of these people I was going to be seeing, and I was having no idea if I was wanting to force anybody into these issues anymore. It felt so wrong to do this. I knew that I was only making things worse if I kept this whole thing up.

"Davis, I know that I probably ruined your summer, and I should have been a better friend. But deep down, I think we both knew that I am not a very good person or a good friend. I just wished that I had seen what I had done earlier, and that perhaps I could have changed things around for a bit." I said, and then I was seeing that Davis kind of looked like he was not really in the mood to be hearing it anymore.

"I should have told you my concerns earlier. I do not blame you for just trying to do what is right. I think you did have a bad way of going at it. But you are just trying to help. I mean, you are even getting the younger people to be interested in something like this as well. That is something to be proud of, and I hope that you will see to that." Davis said to me, and I was really thinking that he needed to just give me some hope.

"As long as you keep your promise about Yolei, I will leave you alone. I just hope beyond everything that when it comes time to make sure that she can have the best life possible given this fucking town, both of us can come through. She is my best friend, and she is the only one who I still think will not hate me." After Davis said that to me, I was then slowly nodding, but I decided that I would just keep things to myself, and not be worried about it.

"Thank you for staying friends with me even in times when I know that you are more than tempted to just leave me out of this. It would be better probably if you quit being friends with me. But the fact that you are still willing to work with me shows that maybe I still have some hope in this." I said, and then I was feeling that maybe it would be best if I just kept the whole situation alone. After all, Davis was leaving for the rest of summer, and I wanted our final impression, for now at least, to still be good.

Scene 12: Summer Camp Formation

The next day, I was thinking about how I was going to change my plans now. I was thinking about summer camp, and the fact that for better or for worse, that was going to be the place where everything would be figured out. I just felt that I needed to head there, and see what in the world I would be able to even find there in the first place.

I felt like I just needed to go there, and just see what I could be able to find. So with that, I was getting my board, and I was starting to head on over to the summer camp, and I was honestly having a feeling that I was going to be alone. That nobody would want to work with me, and nobody would appreciate what I have done. In all honesty, I would probably not appreciate what I was doing myself if I were in that position.

I was having a feeling that if my friends were not going to want to see me anymore, and that I just had to be figuring out what I was doing without any help going forward, then I figured that this was just something that I would have to accept, and that maybe this was something that I fucking deserved and that maybe I really was a terrible human being.

The more that I was skating in the direction of the summer camp, the more that I was starting to wonder what I had done wrong. I was starting to wonder if anybody was going to like talking to me anymore. I was probably going to have to have to talk to my dad, and apologize to him eventually. Confess to the letter, and hope that since it had been a while, that maybe he would be more willing to give me a grace period of not yelling at me.

And in all honesty, I was just feeling bad for the mess that I had created. I mean, I was not the one who had these girls going missing, I was not even the one in my friend group who wanted to investigate it. But I was indeed the one who had just kept pushing it. I was the one who had insisted with the other people in town that we needed to just check this out no matter what.

Eventually, I had found my way to the summer camp, and I was looking around. I hoped that whatever I found there, I would just be able to figure out the next step of attack. So with that, I grabbed my board, and then I started to head inside, and I was wondering what the people at camp were probably going to be saying when they saw me. I just hoped that they would be willing to at least give me space when I was not getting in their way at all. Although I had noticed as I was going by that people did seem to be more and more on edge than earlier. Probably wondering what I would be up to if I stayed around too long.

As I was sitting down, I was seeing Director Krennic coming up to me. He was clearly looking like he was just trying to plan on how to tell me to get the fucking hell away from here, and that he was wanting to do it in a way that would seem carefully planned. "Young man, I will not be allowed to accept people here any longer. We are far too deep into the summer break for new attendants." After Krennic was telling me this, I looked at him, and I was partially believing what he was saying.

"I am only going to be here for a little bit. In fact, if you want me to be leaving, I was hoping that you would be able to answer some important questions." I said, and then after I said that to him, I was seeing that he was looking like he was really hating the fact that I was partially forcing his hand on something like this right now.

"Whatever you need, I need you to keep it quick. I have a lot of things that I need to attend to." After he was telling me this, I was standing up, feeling like after a while, I would know exactly how this man talked, and I would know all the things he would try to say to get me to try and leave him alone. "But is this about the monsters that have been coming here? If it is, then I suppose that perhaps we can work together a bit."

"Yeah, I was mainly coming by for those. I was hoping that despite everything that has been happening lately, that the two of us can put aside our personal feelings to the subject, and figure something out that can benefit both of us." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I saw that Krennic was sort of toning down his anger. Probably thinking that if I was indeed in this for the sake of the camp, there was no reason to be pushing me away.

"I know that you guys are under the insane impression that we are all these terrible people, and that nothing can be done right. But in all honesty, I feel like I have a job that I need to do, and I have every intention of doing it." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, and I was wondering if he would help me out with this.

"I know that I am a huge part of why that is. I have not really done a good job on making people like working with me. I fully have to realize that if I want people to actually believe that I have good intentions." I said, and then I was laughing at that, and I was wondering if he would appreciate the fact that for once, I was trying to just show a hint of honesty to him.

He was remaining silent, probably not wanting to give me much in the light of day. It was mildly annoying, but it was something that I had sort of expected. Eventually, we were at the beach, and I was looking around, wondering what I was going to find by being here for now. "So this is where I have heard the most complaints about sightings. I was kind of hoping that if you were telling the truth about wanting to help out, then maybe you could stay here for a bit, and try to see where these are coming from."

"Alright, I guess that it is better than nothing." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I was wondering if I was really going to be the one who would help this issue get solved. I mean, I was only a seventh grader who had tried to fight these things once or twice. With a baseball that was getting incredibly close to being broken.

"I just hope that by the end of the summer, you will be able to see that most of the people in this town are not the way that you are thinking that they are." Krennic told me, and I was still not too sure of what to tell him. But I was feeling that I just needed to at least pretend like I was able to look at things that way.

"Yeah, maybe I was wrong. But just remember that at the end of the day that I am just trying to help out. It might be hard to see things that way, but I am not trying to hurt you guys at all." I said, and then after I was done with that, I was walking around the beach for a bit, not really even paying any mind to him at all anymore.

Eventually, I was looking around for a while, and I was just trying to not be too immensely bothered by all those things that were going on around me. I was hoping that whatever people would want to talk to me about, they would see that at the end of the day, I was just trying to help out whatever way I could. And that I might have done a poor job at it, but that at least I was able to tell myself that I did the best that I could.

The more that I had been walking around, the more that I was wondering how long it was going to be before I would look at myself in the mirror and realize that everything bad that has happened in this town is really my fault, and that maybe I should just wake up, and see the flowers of my sins. But as I was thinking about this longer, I heard a voice calling out to me. I was looking over, and I was seeing that it was Joe who was calling out to me.

"Hey, I was seeing you skating by, and I was just wanting to clear things up a bit. I was wanting to apologize for the way that I have been acting earlier. I know that you are doing the best that you can, and I should have just tried to be looking at that more than always trying to stop you at every step." After Joe was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I was just not sure if I should be buying what he was telling me.

"It's fine. I was just taking the moment to think about everything that I had been doing. I realize more and more that I am not really helping out nearly as much as I was thinking that I had been. I realized that if you guys do hate me, then I can't really fucking blame you for what you feel." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I was wondering if Joe and I were going to find a new discussion to be talking about.

"Don't worry about it. I hope that we can just talk things out, and just sort of come to a understanding. I mean, you are going around, and working harder than almost anybody else here. And I have been finding myself opposed to almost everything that you have been doing. And you frankly deserve better than that to be honest." Joe was telling me, and then I was shrugging, and I wondered why he was beating himself up over something like this.

"I mean, I feel like I just kind of want to let go at this point. I mean, I lectured Ocho for not doing that earlier, and then here I am, doing the exact same thing. I am just refusing to let go, and I realized more and more that I am wrong for the way that I was treating him. I stepped a line, and I should have been more considerate of what I was doing here." I said, and then I smiled, as I was looking right at Joe, to see what he had been thinking.

"Yeah, I mean, I feel like I need to give Ocho the benefit of a doubt. I mean, it would be hard to lecture him about how he has gotten over his girlfriend when I only went on one date with Aurora and acted the exact same way." He was telling me, and then with that, we were both seeming to be kind of getting to a level of understanding.

"It is strange to see how much everything has changed just in the last week or so. Ever since monsters became a threat, everybody started to act differently." I said, and then shrugged, leaving it at that for now. I knew Joe knew what I meant. So I felt no need to pursue it.

"I just hope that whatever happens, when this is all said and done, my brother and I can look at this, and realize that maybe we went too far with what we had done, and see that we both over stepped a fucking line. I just hope that by doing this, we can finally be happy." I said, and then I was wondering if such a thing was ever going to fucking happen at all.

"I think in order for you to do that, you will eventually have to just drop everything that you have been doing. And I quite literally mean everything. He is probably thinking that you pushed yourself way too deep into this whole thing, and he will probably be looking at what has been done, and just feel like your bond is too far gone." Joe was telling me, and for some reason, even though I knew that this was probably the truth, hearing it from him was only making it worse.

"I know that. But for some reason, I just feel like when I see everything that is going on, it just bothers me greatly. And when I see that nobody else even fucking cares about trying to change it. It is like people are perfectly fine with the fact that this town is fucked, and they have no reason to change it." I said, and then I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling no further need to continue.

"I mean, you probably are dealing with the same thing with your older brother. I know that Jim doesn't appreciate it. He seems to be slightly less in your face about it than before. But that doesn't change the fact that he probably wants you to not be doing this at all." I said, and then I was wondering what else Joe would even say to that.

"Yeah, fair enough. I fucking hate what we have become with our conversations. It is rather clear that he doesn't really want to talk to me all that much anymore. Probably feels like I no longer care to listen to what he says, and that I am just trying to rebel against him, and I guess that he does have the right to be feeling this way. I can't exactly blame him." Joe was saying, and then I slowly nodded at what he was telling me. There was nothing else to do. I mean, I was seeing myself in him more with each day.

"I just don't want to go down that road. I think that is a part of the reason why I am finding myself wanting to severely change my strategy going forward. Something to where he can see that I am not doing this on purpose. And I hope that by doing that, things can slightly improve for the best." Joe was telling me, and then with that, I was feeling that there was no way in hell that I would make that whole thing feel better at all.

Some time later, when Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Joe, and Mimi were here, and we were trying to at least pretend like we were going to be having a normal life again, that was when something was coming out of the sky once again. When we were looking over at the sky, I was starting to see that it was the winged monster that I had seen in Onett.

The one with the giant sword, and the grey hair. As I was looking up at them, I was seeing that the look on Tai was him confirming to us all that this was the exact one that Tai had run into all those years ago at the burnt tree house. I saw that he was clearly looking like he had wanted nothing to do with this at all.

"Oh god, I do remember this person now." Sora said, and then she was turning to Tai again. "Sorry for ever doubting what you said." After she had said that to Tai, that was when Tai was looking like he had no real desire to be debating this right now.

"Sephiroth." Matt said, and then I looked at him, wondering how in the world he even knew about this person in the first place. Since we had not seen him together. As I started to look up at the man once again, that was when the guy was starting to speak to us again.

"The great reunion has begun. All those who have doubted that it would happen are being proven wrong." He said, and then I was slowly realizing what he had meant this whole time. He was talking about the reunion between human and monsters. And as I had realized this, I was starting to really have everything run through my mind. I wondered what in the world I could do to change my style of looking at this.

The man started to hold his sword with both hands, and he was starting to head towards us, and everybody started to run on away into different spots. There was no way in hell that we were going to beat this guy. In all honesty, I have no idea how that one guy who fought with him at the tree house defeated him. If what Tai's stories said were indeed meant to be believed.

"Guys, I think that this really is the end now." I said, and then the man was starting to get on his knees. He was starting to walk to Joe, and I was wondering what in the world this guy wanted with Joe more than the others. I was just glad that I wasn't the one being targeted though, to be perfectly honest.

"You can not stop what has been set in motion. What is meant to be done has already been laid out, and trying to change it will only be futile." Sephiroth said, and then after Joe heard this, I saw him trying to get away. I was believing that he was probably referring to the election. In which case, if he was, then there was no reason to jump forward in time to tell us this.

Only a moment after Sephiroth had come down, that was when there was another portal opening. A man wearing a gas mask jumped out of it, and I swore that this man was looking like he was starting to become like a fucking cyborg or whatever. "What the hell is going on here? None of this is even making any sense." I said, and I did not care how lame what I said really was. This whole thing was simply too much to understand, and I had no idea what in the world there could have been to say now.

When the man with the gas mask was here, he was pulling out a random device that looked like a portal opener. He looked over at us, and then said something that made me dread what was to be coming. "Get out of here as fast as possible. You do not have a lot of time to prepare for what is to come. I will buy you as much time as possible." The man pressed the button, and then he lunged right at Sephiroth to push the two of them through a portal. As they were going inside, I was starting to wonder what I was going to do now. I was starting to get out from my hiding spot. Everybody else did as well.

"What is he going to be, like some fucking final boss that we are going to have to fight? I have a feeling that in no way is this going to be the last time that we are going to be finding him." Izzy said, and then I looked right at him, and I was thinking that this was super fucking obvious, and he didn't need to say it at all.

"What does this guy even fucking want right now?" Tai asked, and I was hearing that from the tone of his voice, that it was just purely desperate, and that he was probably not very happy to be dealing with this at all. "I thought that I would never have to see the day that something like this would be a fucking issue."

"Honestly, I have no idea what in the world he would want. But if this guy is here, then we need to be making a plan here." Tai was saying, and then I was wondering what I could be saying now. I looked at Matt and Tai, to see what they were both going to say to this idea.

"I know that Ocho was into learning the truth of Wayside and the fire at the tree house. Like it or not, I feel like if you want to learn more of Septhiroth, then I think you need to be going around him first." I said, and then after I said that to them, I saw that both of them were kind of coming around to what I had been saying.

"And you seriously believe that he will be telling you guys everything?" Mimi asked me, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering what the issue was with her. I mean, I get that she did not really like him all that much. But it was getting to a point where she was literally being paranoid for no fucking reason at all, and I just was getting slightly over it.

"Look Mimi, I understand that Candice is gone, and I understand that you think he could be a part of it. But this is my best friend we are talking about here." Matt said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was just thinking about how he was going to continue this conversation for her to look at this in a slightly better matter.

"Yeah, you're right. I should be taking this more patiently. I just hope that one of these days, we all know who we can really trust or not." After she was saying that to Matt, I saw him looking like he was trying to be patient with her, but that it could be really hard to do this at certain periods of time.

As we were all leaving the beach, that was when we were seeing Krennic with a cigarette in his hand, and he was looking like he was frozen mid cigarette. If it was over what he had seen, then I would really not blame him at all. This whole thing was crazy to imagine, and I bet for somebody who didn't quite know what was going on, it would be mind hurtingly insane to think about.

"What the fucking hell did you guys do to bring that man over here?" Krennic asked, and then before he was even able to get too into our business, that was when Joe was asking the questions, in a rather upset fashion. Not that I could blame him. After all, this thing basically got really up and close to him, and essentially gave him a small scale threat.

"Do you know where Ocho Tootmorsel is? We all really need to be seeing him right now." After Joe was saying this, I was seeing that Krennic was looking around, probably still just trying to get over what he was seeing. Then with that, he was slowly nodding, as if probably feeling that getting too hyper focused on this whole thing was only going to be making things worse for him.

"No, I mean, he hasn't been here in a while. But when he was here, he did come by and give me something. I guess that maybe you would like it." He said, and then he was heading to the big house. As he was at the door, he closed his eyes, and slowly looked like he was regaining his relative composure over what he had just seen.

"Wayside is everything for many people who live here. Nobody else understands what life is like outside of it. You need to understand that. Nobody wants this place to fail. Please, if you can change this whole thing around at all, I would be so grateful for you." After he was saying this, I was seeing that he was seeming sincere enough with what he had been saying that I could hardly judge him at all.

"I took this camp over because of what happened with the Boy Scout's 8 years ago. I didn't think that I would be seeing another crisis. I know that this place is a cesspool of issues. But there is something worth saving about this place." With that, he was going inside, and I was remaining silent with what he was saying. He was gone in the big house for real this time.

After about ten minutes or so of looking around, he came back, and then he handed us another journal like the one that I found at the start of the summer vacation. "This was something that he gave to me. He said he wrote it three days ago. Said that it was one big confession, now that he was going to try and focus on his personal life more." After he had said that to me, I slowly nodded, and I was thinking that there was no reason to be getting too upset at this.

"Thank you for the help. I will make sure that everything that is said in here can be put to good use." Matt was saying, as he grabbed the journal. As he was looking at the literary work of his best friend, he was looking like he was just trying to decide what in the world he was even going to be saying from this point on.

When Krennic was heading back to his normal camp site, I was feeling like I just needed to try and find something to say to turn this subject around, and help us have some hope going forward. "I mean, we have this now. We are going to be onto something good. With everything that he knows, we will have what we need to make a damning case." I said, and then after I was saying this, I was honestly convinced of every single word of what I had been saying. I had no doubts at all, and that was what was making me feel better about this.

"Do you feel like whatever he confessed in this journal will actually be what we need to know the truth about this town? I mean, if it is, we need to give it a publisher, and then have them publish it. There is no other way." Joe said, and then I was smiling, thinking that one of these days, if I was desperate, I could self publish this, and hope that somebody, someday, somewhere, and somehow would be able to see the truth of what Wayside was doing. Even if I myself did not know… Yet.

As I was thinking this, I saw that what looked to be a meteor was falling down from the sky, and headed straight towards us. As it landed after several seconds, causing a hole to appear, I looked over, and I saw that there were seven things that looked like hand devices there, in perfect condition, ready for use.

Scene 13: The Revisit (MagnaAngemon)

I was sleeping once again, and when I was in my dream this time, at the summer camp, and I was just trying to get myself into thinking that since this whole thing was done, I would maybe be able to rest and be able to get better about everything that was going on. But that was immediately thrown out the window when I was seeing MagnaAngemon sitting down on the table, and I was instantly having fear run through my mind by his sight.

"I see that your journey has been coming along far better than you have probably figured that it will. Now that you have actually won a battle, I feel like you are ready to know that the test is just starting. And you must be ready for everything that is going to be coming forward." After MagnaAngemon said this, I was wondering what could possibly be coming forward.

"How much more is ahead of me?" I asked, and then I was gripping the bars, and I was starting to feel like I was starting to just go insane here. "I need to know what I am doing here to help you out, and save my friends." As I said this, MagnaAngemon was starting to form a grin on their face.

"You are still far too eager to learn the truth of what is ahead of you. If you do not stand careful of your ambitions, it will only be a matter of time before they start to eat you alive. And when that happens, there is nothing that will be left for you." MagnaAngemon said, and then continued their speech, not even giving any thought to what I had been saying.

"When you wake up tomorrow, you will see that everything that has been going on has just been a preparation for your new life. That night that you enjoyed with your friends just now is the last truly nice moment that you will be having with your life, and I believe that deep down inside, you probably knew that something like this was the truth." MagnaAngemon said, and then I was letting what they had said really sink in, because I knew that it was true, and I had nothing else to say to it.

"Is there a way that I can be able to change this? I am not the one who is going to be able to change the world for the better. I would love to help out, but there I simply nothing that I can do about this." I said, and then I was sighing, and then after I was saying this to him, I was just wondering what MagnaAngemon was even going to be saying to what I had just said. He probably found my statements rather amusing.

"People do not choose the life that they have. The life everybody lives turns out to be different from what they want to live. You must understand that this is the way that things must go along." After he had said that to me, I was starting to sit down, and I was feeling so fucking lost at what he was saying, since I knew that I was not the one they were really looking for, and they must have known that.

"The people that were with you when you fought that monster will be there at your side, and they will help you down this road. They will see the importance of what is ahead, even if you are having a hard time seeing this for yourself. I am not able to change what you feel. Only your experience and only your new life will be able to change that." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, since I was aware that what they were saying was true.

"But most of them do not like me, and I know that virtually none of them actually fucking trust me. If I was able to get them to like me, and want to work with me, then they would have said something earlier." I said, and then I was wondering if he was going to actually say something about that. MagnaAngemon looked as if they were amused that I had figured that much out on my own, and that I just was only making the hole deeper for those around me.

"That is a path that you must change. If they do not like you, then perhaps you must find out what you must be able to do in order to change that. You must see that in order for things to change, you have to change your outlook on what is around you. You must gain hope in those around you, and trust that they will be there to actually help you out." MagnaAngemon said, and then after they had told me this, I was sighing, since I knew that what they were saying was true, it was just that I was not wanting to admit it out loud.

"I shall be watching you rather carefully going forward, to make sure that you take your duties as a hero seriously. If you do not understand what is ahead of you, or you have started to falter on your duties, then I will return, and set you down the right path again." After MagnaAngemon stated this, they put their hands together, and stared at me silently.

I felt nothing but murderous intent when I was looking at them, and to be honest, the entire time that I had seen this, I was wondering if they were going to ever tell me what I had been doing. I was feeling scared out of my mind what this Digimon meant, and I was feeling that I needed to just prepare for whatever roads they have ahead.

Scene 13: The Operation (Brad)

Brad returned to the company building, ready to get back to work. He felt that now it was time to work on the operation that Kenta had proposed to him. Now that he was getting more certain of the job that he needed to accomplish, and was getting less worried about trying to hide away, he was feeling it was time to finally just take the final step to the transition that he had known was important for his company.

Brad was going up the elevator, and he was wondering what in the world Kenta would be saying to this. Probably would be trying to give Brad a fucking lecture about how he should have been doing this sooner, and that he should have never tried to resist in the first place. He knew that Kenta was going to rub it in for every fucking second.

He also wondered if Shaun was going to try and be more strict with the way that Brad would be doing his job. After all, Brad had been kind of laxed about the life he had been leading, and in some ways, he was wondering if his timid behavior was letting people realize that he had everything he needed.

When the elevator door opened, he was wondering how long it would take before everything would be tied to him. How long it would take before people realized that Brad was indeed the one behind all the deaths. He was having a feeling that soon enough, he was going to be revealed, and everything he had been trying to do for the best of Wayside, and for Victoria, would be gone.

But after he was remembering what he had done, and the fact that he took Jenny's life so suddenly and so brutally, was something that he was thinking was a sign that perhaps he did not deserve any form of happiness at all. He had a crime to answer for, more than anything else.

He was walking to Kenta's room, and the entire time he was heading there, that was when he was seeing people looking scared at him. Those knowing what he was capable of, and knowing the fact that he was the one behind this. They were speaking to themselves, and they were wondering what Shaun would be doing next, when he was fully committing to the next piece of transition.

He opened up the door, and he was seeing that Kenta was finishing up a random project. When he had seen Brad, he was growing a smile on his face. "Nice to know that you are not running away from your destiny. I was worried that you were going to try and hide once more." Kenta said, and then with that, Brad was sighing, and he was starting to think that it would have been better if he did that.

"I am not doing this for you. I am doing this for Shaun, and to make sure that going forward, I will be able to dedicate myself to this order more." Brad was saying, and then he was wondering if his point to Kenta was going to make him actually tone down what he had been feeling. He was thinking that Brad needed to see what was ahead of them, and the fact that this was untouched potential.

"You know, I had doubts about what you were able to do. But after seeing what happened with Jenny, I realized that my doubts are unfounded. I should have never questioned if you were loyal to the company. You did what you had to do in order to do your job. That is something that people in Wayside need. They need to follow an example." Kenta said, and then Brad remained silent.

"You are becoming more and more the face of this company. The face that people are respecting. Unlike Shaun or the others. People are looking at you, and they want your guidance. They think you are the bringer of justice. Trust me when I say that you will be vital to making everything work." Kenta said, and then he was holding up his arms.

"But what if I am not ready for something like this? What if I got myself into something that I can't handle? People are already talking about the idea of me running in 1992. I know that is still six years away, but I feel like I have no day in these things. Anything related to politics is out of my league." After Brad was saying this to Kenta, that was when Kenta was smiling, as if hardly caring what Brad was feeling here, since that was perfectly fine in his eyes.

"You do not need to worry yourself in politics. Now that I have been proven right with these monsters, and people now see that they really are true, they will have no desire to be fighting with what we are accomplishing. People will now see that the best course of action is to fall in line, and accept what the company is doing." Kenta said, and then Brad was still relatively unsure of what he was thinking about here. He was thinking that Kenta might still be wrong here.

"Joe's father will easily win election. He will sweep into office, and he will be the one man who will be able to keep people at bay for the nest six years. Even if you do not become a politician, you are somebody who needs to be at his side, and help him out when he needs it." Kenta was telling Brad, and Brad was feeling more and more like this statement was far beyond his control. Something he wanted nothing to do with.

"I am here for the operation. I know that it is something that I don't really want to do, but it is something that I am realizing needs to be done if I want to contribute any further." After he was telling Kenta this, that was when he was seeing that Kenta was taking what he said in stride. No reason to be arguing with him when he was actually doing what was finally necessary.

"If you are here for that, we need to get started." Kenta said, and then he was showing his hand to the surgical table. "Rest down, and I will get right to work. You will see when I am done that this is the best course of action." After he had said that, Brad nodded, and then he was getting down on the table, and he was closing his eyes, hoping that whatever Kenta was doing, it would be done quick and easily.

For the next few hours, Kenta was starting his work on Brad, and he was starting to replace most of the parts in his body with some form of cybernetic ones. He wanted to make the changes seem seemless enough to where to a casual person would not notice that anything had been done to him. The one part of the body that would remain the same was his face, as he did not know if any form of surgery on that part of the body would lead to his death.

And if this had been a month ago, Kenta would have considered going with it in spite of the risks due to personal feuds with the man. But now it was a very different story, and he was needing to make sure that Brad would still be safe. At least until this was taken care of.

A couple of days passed before Brad woke up again, and when he did, walking at first was impossible for him to do. He was feeling like he was literally not even the same person anymore. He was looking around, and his mind was starting to get hazy. As if it was all wrong, and as if he had been through a different path to the world. Which in a way, he technically had been. He looked right at Kenta, who had been continuing his work.

"Perfect. It's not everything. But it is a start. With this, you will become unstoppable, and you will start to see that everything that I have been doing is for the sake of this city." After Kenta said that to Brad, he was seeing that Brad clearly did not look like he was super convinced. But he was remaining silent for the time being, and just wished that this was going to be a bad dream.

"It hurts." Was all Brad said at first, and he was looking at Kenta, hoping that despite everything else, there would be a response to make him feel better. Seeing the look on Kenta's face, and seeing how much Kenta looked like he had not cared, was something that Brad both respected, and also feared, out of his colleague.