Note: Ah, yes, Reala is a smartass. Thank you for noticing.
I don't own NiGHTS, but I own my brain, which is just as good. I hope.
Chapter Nine: The Boys Are Back in Town
With Selph near to them, things became more amiable, if slightly awkward, around the ol' campfire, despite Jackle's complaining.
"Que je ne donnerais pas pour de la viande... Peut-être un peu de lait ... les aliments comme cela me gaspille loin..." He complained, whining from his spot in Reala's lap.
"Well, we don't have any of those things, so learn to live with what we've got. We're wanted men." Reala said back tiredly.
"So you guys never told me how you're so sure the cops won't find you under here." Selph said through a gold-lipped mouth full of mussels.
"This place is totally unsafe for construction and stuff, so the police won't go anywhere near it. Totally unsafe. Like, been rotting for years unsafe. Wobbly and stuff." NiGHTS replied.
"Ain't you afraid it's gonna collapse on you?" Selph asked.
"Well, there is always that possibility but I'm sure it won't happen. Not yet anyway." NiGHTS said cheerfully.
"You never bloody mentioned that! Great! Now we're trapped beneath a pier in southern California, we're humans, we're hungry, we're homeless, we've no way to get home, we're fugitives from the law, and we have the potential to be crushed underneath an unsafe pier! Thanks for increasing my guilt, NiGHTS, now I'll never sleep again." Reala snapped, albeit slightly in humor.
"Sorry! I was going to tell you but I forgot." NiGHTS said.
"Vous bâtard! Je vous tuerai!" Jackle shrieked, jumping from his spot and tackling NiGHTS to the ground. "Comment pourriez-vous juste oublier de mentionner quelque chose si importante ?!" He finished, shaking NiGHTS by the throat.
Reala jumped into action and pried Jackle's claws off of NiGHTS' throat before the latter's neck looked like his arms. "Jackle, no! It isn't worth it! It's not a big deal and you'll only attract attention!" Finally, Reala managed to get his arms around Jackle's chest and abdomen and pull him back kicking and screaming. "Jackle, calm down, now!" Jackle still raged on. "Jackle in the Field! Je vous ordonne de cesser votre rage cet instant! Are you listening to me? I order you to cease and desist! Now!" Finally, Jackle calmed down, breathing heavily. He went limp in Reala's arms. "Now, do you promise to stop this foolishness?" Reala spoke softly.
"Az you weesh." Jackle replied darkly before wrenching himself out of Reala's grasp and sitting back at the fire.
Selph burst out in raucous laughter. "Dude, that was awesome! It looked like I was watching a cartoon!"
Jackle glared at him darkly, and Selph suddenly grimaced and inched away a little bit, a little disturbed at the image of one green eye and one deep empty eye socket glaring at him.
NiGHTS got up and coughed. "Are you freaking nuts? You could have killed--"
"NiGHTS, let it go. It's over now." Reala said, holding up a hand.
"Don't take his side! He tried to kill me! You're only agreeing with him because you're sleeping with him!"
"That's not true, NiGHTS, and you know it. I'm not agreeing with either one of you! I'm telling you to let it go, because it was both of your faults! You for setting Jackle off in the first place, and Jackle for snapping into a blind rage about it! Now either we make up and be friends, or I separate you two and trust me, that won't be pleasant. Understand? Drop it, NiGHTS. It's a sad, sad day when I have to be the voice of reason around here." Reala finished. He then coughed embarrassedly. "And please, could you not bring up the whole 'sleeping with him' thing? For God's sake, man, be a little more subtle." He mumbled before sitting back down and grabbing a mussel and dropping it on the flames.
"Pourquoi devrait il ? Que, êtes-vous embarrassés de moi, le grand frère ?" Jackle replied jokingly.
"No, I'm not embarrassed of you, Jackle, I'm embarrassed because our long lost older brother is sitting right there and the first thing he has to sit through is details of our sex lives." Reala said.
"Hey, don't worry about me, dudes. I told you, Brother sees all, dude. I already know all this. Although, honestly, Reala, I would have expected you to end up with NiGHTS for some reason. I don't know."
"Excuse me?!"
"Excusez-moi?!"
"Come again?!"
"I don't know. I just sort of saw it as a thing where Reala would want NiGHTS' compassion and cheerfulness to keep him in line, and NiGHTS would need Reala's strength and ferocity. I don't know. It just seemed right. But Jackle's good, too, man. Honestly, I always got along best with Jackle. Not to say I don't love you guys too, but I always remember spending the most time with the kiddo."
Reala sighed. "Well, listen, we're not getting anywhere just sitting around shooting the breeze. We need to think of a plan."
Selph laughed. "You want a plan? Listen to this."
Selph leaned in close to the other brothers until they all were huddled close around the fire.
"Okay, here's the plan. Once, every, say, I think it's... 650 years or so, there's a comet that flies by this area. This comet's got some crazy juju, man. Crazy-ass juju. Makes portals all over the place; they look like Rings. We find the one that brings us back to the Night Dimension and Boom! We're home. But there's a hitch. Not only can only one of us fly through at a time, but as soon as someone flies through, the portal disappears and reappears somewhere else in the world. It can be anywhere. And they don't last all that long, only about a week each if no one flies through, then they disappear and reappear somewhere else again."
"This sounds like the plot of a bad fanfiction, but go on, go." Reala interjected.
"Whatever, dude, I'm just tellin' you what I know. Anyway, the next time the comet's supposed to come around is in a couple of weeks. It only lasts for the month. Then it's another 650 years until you even have a possible chance of getting home. That'll make the locals suspicious, because according to what I've found, humans are only supposed to live for about 70 or 80 years. We've got to work fast. As soon as we find the first portal, I say NiGHTS goes in first. He's been here the longest, he deserves to get home first. Then, the three of us will find the next portal, and then I say Reala goes in next, because I honestly don't trust Jackle on his own. Sorry, kiddo, but it had to be said. Next portal, Jackle will go in, then I'll go in last. Once we're all safely back home, we'll figure out what to do from there."
"'Ow will we know which portal iz ze right one?"
"It shows a picture, like a crystal ball. Trust me you'll know."
Reala cocked his head. "How do you know all this?"
Selph laughed.
"What do you think I did in limbo those hundreds of years? Sat around on my ass? Let's get ready for some fireworks, boys. We're goin' home."
"But wait. Why were we sent here in the first place?"
"To learn a lesson. What have we all learned here today?" Selph said.
"Well, I learned that sometimes wishing on a star can bring you the hope you always wanted, even if your wish itself doesn't come true." NiGHTS said wistfully.
"I learned not to piss off gang members and cops." Reala said.
"What else, Reala? Really." NiGHTS said.
"Quiet, you. Ugh, alright. I learned that teamwork is sometimes the best way to solve your problems, and that working alone can only get you into trouble."
"J'ai appris que la guerre est partout, que peu importe auquel il ne mettra pas fin, cette histoire se répétera toujours et que je devrais accepter que l'on m'a donné dans la vie, car cela pourrait toujours être tellement plus mauvais. Oh, and zat Nuits iz not a good outlet for my ztress." Jackle added the last part sheepishly.
Selph and NiGHTS looked at Jackle oddly.
"Could you repeat that in English?"
"No. Deal wif'fit." Jackle pouted.
Reala groaned. "He said, 'I learned that war is everywhere, that no matter what it will not end, that history will always repeat itself, and that I should accept what I have been given in life, for it could always be so much worse.'" Reala said.
"Now that I understand." NiGHTS said.
"So now what?" Reala said.
"Now we just sit around and wait until the comet shows up. Freaky fireworks light show in the sky, man. Sit back and watch the fireworks, boys, we're goin' home."
End of Chapter Nine
Ooh, what'll happen? Let's find out!