Guest: It just happened to be there.
Al Drin Hoshizora: Bob wasn't exactly shown to be bright.
I am a burglar: If you insist.
MrScourch: I think you made a a few typos in that comment.
Creamy Buttercap: Good luck indeed.
Antha1: That's kind of the joke. Also, I don't get that last comment.
Star opened her eyes, her head feeling numb. Groaning and pulling herself onto her knees, she looked around. Her eyes were fuzzy, but she could just barely make out Brick and Pixie in her line of vision, and she was sure Teardrop and Nerve were nearby.
Brick got up, rubbing his head. "What the heck was that?" He asked as he got to his feet. "Why did unlocking that memory knock us out?"
Behind Star, Teardrop got up. "I think we may have unlocked a very powerful memory," She explained to the others. "I don't think Yellowjacket's mind was prepared for it."
Star stared at the blue emotion, her eyes widened. If what she was saying was true, then they could very well have just found the key to unlocking Yellowjacket's past.
Dusting herself off, Pixie asked, "Where are we anyways?"
It was then that Star realized that they weren't in the Headquarters anymore; or at least, it didn't look like it. Instead, they were in a very human-looking neighborhood. It took a few moments before the emotions realized that this was Yellowjacket's neighborhood.
"So the memory takes place here," Brick noted. "I wonder what's going on-"
"Duck and cover!" Nerve suddenly shouted, startling the other emotions. The purple emotion dove to the ground as a hail of bullets sprayed in the emotions direction. The emotions shouted out in surprise as they saw men in black, firing guns through the neighborhood. The emotions immediately flattened themselves on the ground to avoid the bullets, but Teardrop wasn't quick enough.
"Teardrop, look out!" Star shouted as a few bullets rained in her direction. The bullets ripped through the blue emotion, and the other emotions screamed out in horror.
Teardrop clenched her eyes shut, fearing that she was going to fade to black at any moment. However, a few seconds later, she opened her eyes when she realized that she hadn't felt anything. The bullets had phased right through her.
It was then that Star remembered. "Guys, this is a memory," She pointed out. "We're not really here!"
As she spoke the words, she heard growling coming from behind her, and the emotions spun around to see several feral-looking people shambling out of the dark woods and towards the men in black. The men shot at them as the Others dashed towards them hungrily.
The emotions watched on, unsure of what to do, as the men in black and the Others engaged in a fierce battle. Some men were overwhelmed by hordes of Others and mauled. Others were getting torn apart by bullets. Terrified bystanders scattered in a panic in the chaos-stricken neighborhood.
Star saw one particularly crazy man throw a Molotov cocktail through the window of a house, which quickly got fire. Her eyes widened as she realized that the house was right next to Yellowjacket's house.
"Guys, that's our house!" She shouted, pointing to the house right next to the burning one. Quickly, the emotions dashed towards it, ignoring the fight raging around them. As they ran to the house, they noticed several ferals breaking into their house.
Star recognized one feral man in particular crawling through the window. The emotions ran to the window and watched as they saw Bill, Jill, and an pre-infected Yellowjacket run down the stairs in a panic, trying desperately to fight off the hordes of Others attacking them. They didn't notice the wild-looking man shambling through the living room.
"Come on, guys, run!" Star begged the three as they fought through the Others. Bill made it to the door, and grabbed onto it, twisting it and practically tearing the door open.
"Run!" Star shouted, terror ripping through her. She had seen this moment in Yellowjacket's dreams, and she could tell what would happen next. She wished she could do something about it, try to stop it from happening, but she was practically invisible. She was helpless to stop what would happen next.
Then, it happened. She saw the wild-looking feral man lung towards the three as they stood at the door, distracted by the firefight going on outside. The three heard the man let out a howl as it shambled towards them.
Star could only watch on in horror.
"No!"
The men rushed towards Riley, and sank its teeth into her shoulder. The young girl let out an ear-piercing scream, agony tearing through her. Jill struck the man away from her daughter, and he stumbled into a table. He crashed onto the ground, unconscious.
Bill and Jill ran, half-carrying an injured Riley with them, blood streaming from her bite wound. The emotions watched them run into the woods, and quickly ran after them.
"Bill!" Star shouted. "Jill!" She realized that they couldn't hear her.
She could only watch in horror as another feral man jumped out from the woods, and Bill, Jill, and Yellowjacket were shoved down a hill. The emotions raced down the hill after them, careful not to stumble and fall themselves.
They finally reached the bottom of the hill, just as Bill and Jill had gotten to their feet. Riley, however, was still on her knees, blood still dripping down her shoulder.
"Riley?" Jill whispered, holding out a hand to briefly touch her daughter. However, she pulled her hand away as Riley let out a small growl. Her skin was beginning to pale.
"Oh, no. . ." Star whispered as she watched on. This was it. This was when Riley became Yellowjacket.
It appeared that her parents were thinking the same thing, as they got up and backed away from their daughter as she began to turn. Riley finally looked up at them, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Help me, mom," She choked out, her eyes watery. "Mom, dad, please."
Bill stared at his daughter. He could feel the gun in his hands. It felt heavier than usual, as he soon realized just what was happening. With shaking arms, he raised the gun up to stare at it.
He'd shot zombies before. But this was his daughter. He couldn't-
Jill saw the conflicted look on his face. "Bill, no," She whispered as she realized what he was thinking. "Bill, this is our daughter. We can't-"
Bill breathed heavily. "She's. . . she's changing," He whispered, choking the words out. The gun rattled in his hands, and he clenched it in his fists.
Riley stared up at the two, looking at Jill, then at Bill. She didn't know what was happening.
"Dad?" She whispered, confused. She could see an object in her father's hand, but she didn't know what it was. She felt like she'd known not so long ago, but her memory was drifting...
Confused, she shambled closer to them, and was startled when Bill and Jill moved away from her. Bill suddenly pointed the gun in her direction, and she immediately froze. She stared up at Bill, unmoving, her eyes locked on him.
Sweat was dripping down Bill's head as he wrestled with his decision. If he didn't do this, her daughter would become one of them. She'd become a walking corpse. But if he did do it, he'd have killed one of the most precious things in his life.
No matter what choice he made, his daughter would die.
"Bill, please," Jill begged him. "Don't do this."
Bill stared at his wife, then at his daughter. He shut his eyes, and let a tear drip down his face.
Then, he lowered his gun. Jill let out a breath of relief. She didn't see it, but the emotions did the exact same thing.
"We have to go," Bill told his wife. "Now!"
"Mom?" Riley asked, and reached out to her.
"Now!" Bill repeated, with more force, and he grabbed his wife's arm. The two both spared one last look at their daughter. Then, they ran.
"Mom, dad!" Riley shouted out to them as they ran into the woods, their figures becoming smaller and smaller. She briefly tried to get to her feet, but she was too weak. As she did, she saw that her hands were growing claws.
As her parents vanished into the woods, she realized that she was all alone. She didn't see the emotions, surrounding her from all sides, staring down at her in pity.
"Riley. . ." Star whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.
As they watched on, the memory began to fade away. Riley slowly vanished, and the emotions were back in the Headquarters.
The memory stopped glowing.
Yellowjacket snapped awake. She began breathing heavily as she looked around. She was back in the room. For a moment, she wondered if she was back home, and everything that had happened had merely been a dream.
However, she soon realized that all of this was a reality.
Looking around, she saw Jill, staring at her in shock. Blackjacket was on the ground, half-conscious and rubbing his sore head. As she stared at him, she realized that she remembered who he was.
Jordan. One of her friends. And her mother was her. . . mom.
Jill was her mother. Bill was her dad. Margaret was her childhood friend.
She remembered now. She turned around and stared at the broken mirror, and she stared at her reflection in the mirror, and for a second, she thought that she would look normal.
Her face fell, however, when she realized she still looked like a zombie. She was so very close to being human, but even with so many of her memories back, she wasn't there yet.
She could feel blood on her hands, and she looked down to see she was still holding the glass shard, stained with blood.
Looking down at her feet, she saw the feral man, the one who had been responsible for infecting her and taking her away from her parents. He was lying on his back, unmoving. His mouth hung open, blood streaming down his mouth. She could see a series of bloody stab wounds in his stomach and chest areas.
Blackjacket got up, and limped towards her. Staring down at the man, he whispered, "You. . . you killed him."
Yellowjacket's eyes widened as she realized that, when she had blacked out, she must have stabbed the man over and over and over again until he was dead. As realization set in, she dropped the shard, her hands shaking.
Even though this one zombie had been responsible for so much of her pain, she hadn't wanted to kill him.
"Riley. . ." Jill whispered, and briefly set a hand on her shoulder. However, Yellowjacket tore out of her grasp, causing Jill to jump, startled.
Yellowjacket stared at her mother, breathing heavily. Jill could see in her eyes so many different emotions.
Fear. Sadness. Shock. Anger.
Before she could comprehend what was happening, Yellowjacket tore out of the room, Blackjacket following her.
"Riley, wait!" Jill shouted, and she ran after her.
On the streets, it was pure chaos. The feral zombies had caught the Others completely by surprise, throwing themselves at their less savage counterparts mercilessly. Some Others were grabbed by groups of feral zombies and buried under them. Many Others were covered in bites and scratches.
Many of the Others fought back. They may not have been as feral as they used to be, but they could still fight. They clawed and bit, scratched and tore at limbs. Some feral zombies were ripped apart, others fleeing.
Pale Girl was chased by two feral zombies. She ran towards the building, jumped at it, and used it to catapult herself at her two attackers. Landing on one zombie, she bit into his throat. The feral immediately collapsed onto the ground. Pale Girl then whipped around and slashed the second feral in the chest. He quickly fled, blood streaming down his chest.
Shelley hid under a car, covering her ears. Mary and George were currently beating back a group of larger feral zombies as they lunged at them. Grabbing a small garbage can, George bashed one feral zombie in the head, causing him to stumble and fall onto the ground.
Rob, meanwhile, swatted at two ferals as they lunged at him, sending them flying off into a nearby building. A determined look in his face, he barreled through feral zombies that came at him. He saw that the vast majority of them were coming from one street in particular.
Turning to a member of Bill and Jill's former group, he said, "You got it."
The man quickly nodded, ran off, and returned with a Molotov cocktail. Rob grabbed it in his hand, and stared at the swarm of ferals coming down the street towards the Others.
He narrowed his eyes, furrowed his eyebrows, and whispered one word.
"Zuul."
Then, he threw the cocktail over the Others head. It landed on the ground in front of the swarm of feral zombies, and exploded into a fiery blast. Several ferals were knocked away by the blast, others caught in the fire.
The fire spread out, creating a wall that separated the Others from the feral zombies. The Others ran away to avoid the blazing heat. On the other side, a few feral zombies foolishly ran through the wall of fire to attack the Others, and were promptly set aflame. They collapsed, dead, before they made if far.
Realizing that they were completely separated from the Others, the feral zombies hissed out threats at them. Then, the Others watched as they turned around and ran off in the opposite direction. Soon, they were gone.
Mary, George and Rob ran off to check on any injured Others. Several had been bitten and scratched, but otherwise, they didn't appear to show any other signs of injury.
Shelley got out from under the car. "What were those things?" She asked, rubbing her head. "They were so savage."
"They were just like those three Others that attacked us in the forest," George noted, remembering the violent encounter that had transpired when they left the cabin days before.
Pale Girl stared at Shelley and George, and turned back to the wall of fire. The feral zombies she had seen had acted a lot like how she had acted. She narrowed her eyes as her mind configured an answer.
"The Booosss!" She screeched out, causing all heads to turn to her. "Booosss!"
"Who?" George asked, unfamiliar with who the Boss was.
"He made them!" Pale Girl shouted out, a little surprised that she was speaking so loudly. However, she hadn't truly spoken in a long time, and she wanted that to come to an end.
"Who is the Boss?" George asked, scratching his head. "I don't get it!"
"He-" Pale Girl started, and gestured to the crowd. "Did this. Him and his. . ." She paused, not knowing the name of his father. She just let out an angry shriek and started shaking her head wildly.
The door to a building opened, and Yellowjacket and Blackjacket rushed out. They saw the carnage before them, and Yellowjacket shouted, "What happened?"
"Ferals," One Other said. Pointing to Pale Girl, who was currently ranting, the Other said, "She says 'the Boss' made them."
"Ferals?" Yellowjacket asked, raising an eyebrow. Hadn't she been doing her best to try and cure the city. Even if there were a few feral Others, they would be much too rare.
"The Booosss did this!" Pale Girl shouted out. She didn't know the truth; she earnestly believed in what she was saying.
Yellowjacket closed her eyes. The only feral zombies she could conceive of that could cause such an amount of damage were the ones Sawbones was-
She stopped herself, shoving the thought out of her head. Those zombies were locked away, she knew that. There was no way all of them could get out at once.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Pale Girl shout, "We must attack the Booosss!" She turned to Yellowjacket, and pointed at her.
"You! Lead!" She demanded to her blood sister.
Yellowjacket's eyes widened. "But I don't want-"
"Lead!" Pale Girl demanded to her. "Must attack the Freaks now!"
At the sound of the word 'freaks', the Others were stirred into a frenzy. Turning to Yellowjacket, they all shouted, "Lead! Lead! Lead!"
Yellowjacket shrank down as all eyes turned to her. She turned around, and saw George, Mary, Rob and Shelley staring at her, confused. She figured, in her mind, that she had to do what the Others wanted.
"Okay!" She shouted, and the crowd quieted down. "We'll. . . go to the Boss' headquarters."
"Yeeeaaahhh," Pale Girl said, grinning. She clenched her claws together, and rushed to Yellowjacket. Grabbing Yellowjacket's hands, she pulled her out to the front of the crowd.
"Go!" She shouted. "Attack the Freaks!"
Her legs wobbly, Yellowjacket walked down the street, the crowd of Others racing after her, chanting, "Attack! Attack! Attack!"
Blackjacket picked out the four college-aged Others in the crowd, and ran to them. Confused, they followed the rest of the crowd as the poured down the street, led by Yellowjacket and Pale Girl to the Freaks' hideout.
As they took off down the streets, Jill burst out through the door, shouting, "Riley! Riley?!"
She was shoved and pushed through the crowd of Others, and one of them knocked her onto her back. She rolled out of the way as the crowd ran down through the street, until they were all gone.
Once they were all gone, Jill got up. "Riley!" She shouted out, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"George! Mary!" She shouted out, hoping that there was someone she knew that could help her. But everyone was gone.
As Jill collapsed onto the ground in frustration, she heard the sound of the door opening. Snapping her head up to see who it is, she let out a groan when she saw who it was.
Standing at the door, were Ghoul and Noose.
"Hey, what were Sawbones' lackeys doing here?" Ghoul asked her older companion. "Are't they supposed to be locked up! And where was everyone going?"
"I thought I saw Yellowjacket down there!" Noose pointed out in disbelief.
Noticing Jill, Noose shouted, "Hey you! We're looking for Yellowjacket! Want to help us find her?!"
Jill stared at the two, feeling as if Fate itself was playing a cruel game on her.
"Oh, %#*&!" She shouted out in anger.
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