Wednesday, July 23rd 2008:
Before I tell you what happened today, it may be best if I explain the situation a little. The bus that I mentioned yesterday is, in fact, headed to San Francisco, which is not on my itinerary, but I suppose it's thé way to get as close to Los Angeles as possible. But until it gets there, it will make a few pit-stops. One of which was in Neptune. But that wasn't where we stopped first.
The first place we arrived was a city known as Angel Grove. I don't quite know why, but that name sounded familiar for some reason. When I asked the guide, she told me that the town did get some fame, as at some point in the mid-nineties mystical people came from outer space, trying to take over the world. I think I've heard of that before, though I don't remember all the details, as I was only 10 years old when that happened. Still, I don't think that's the reason why that name sounded familiar.
Since the bus-driver gave us an hour to have breakfast, use the bathroom whatever else we'd find necessary, I used that time to, again, check my e-mails. Somewhere between me buying a sandwich and looking for an internet-café, I saw a notice on a lamp-post. It was one of those "Missing" notices. In this case, it was about somebody I know, namely that guy I met in New Jersey, Jason Lee Scott. That's why the name of this city sounded familiar, he mentioned that this is where he's from. That's when I panicked. I was the last one who saw him alive. And although I wasn't the one who killed him, I didn't do anything to apprehend the guy who did, nor did I report anything to anybody. If I stayed here in Angel Grove much longer, it would only be a matter of time before somebody finds me. Then what do I do? Tell everyone I didn't do anything because I pitied the killer? I might as well go back to Crystal Lake and let Jason Voorhees kill me.
In my moment of panic, two people approached me. I don't know who they were, some black guy and some Asian girl, but clearly they were interested to know why I kept staring at Scott's picture. They wanted to know whether I knew him. I denied, of course, and they believed it. That's when they, much like Scott would, started to rave on on their history together, in which the black guy felt it necessary to show off some of his... moves, which I can only describe as that of a hip-hop artist who tries to be a martial artist. I soon enough lost my interest, that or I just wanted to get away from them as soon as possible. Luckily, when the guy did his moves, the girl was distracted. I then tried to sneak away, but that's when both of their attentions came back to me. I tried to tell them I need to go somewhere, but they wouldn't listen. They are, if possible, even more obnoxious than their friend was.
Luckily, I spotted a duck across the street. A duck, much like those three other ones I mentioned before. When I pointed that out to those two, they believed it was some kind of monster they had to kill.
I need to ask: what's up with those three and their monster issues?
In any event, those two ran to that duck, who could only just dodge their attacks, or even sweep the floor with them. In any case, while they had their hands full on that guy, I could finally sneak away. Also, it's probably nothing, but I would swear that this duck had this vague look on his face, almost as if he recognized me.
Unfortunately, since they held me up, I was only just too late to get back on the bus. I'd be lucky to find myself another ride. Unless of course, if that Hana somehow knew where I was and who to contact at what time, I hope she somehow knows that I'm not on my way to Neptune right now. I can only hide from those two i mentioned for so long, in a container mind you, quickly writing all this down before it slips my mind.
Later, a pay-phone rang. Remembering my adventure in Indianapolis, I'd rather not answer it. But then, again, somebody else was called, but whoever owned the phone, the call wasn't for him but for me. As I guessed, it was Hana, again. She indeed knew that I missed the bus, but for some reason wasn't aware of why I'm afraid of walking around in this city. But she told me neither one of us has the time to answer all questions, including the ones that I have for her. She told me that I should find a way to get into a place called Placid Pines, which is a few miles South of this city, and I have to get there before the morning, where another bus will arrive that will stop in Pan, but from there I should be able to find my way to Neptune quite easily. Also, she told me to be very selective as to what I write in my journal. Which means that I shouldn't write too many names, or no names if possible. It's a little late for that, as I already mentioned hers, this Mars person I have to find in Neptune. I suppose I should not mention any names from anyone else I met in connection with all this. Question still is, why is this Hana helping me? For that matter, what is she helping me with?
If she's such a helpful person, I wish she'd show herself in person more often, especially when I turned into this one alley. There, six other people awaited me. How they knew where to find me, I don't know, but all six of them were just as obstinate as that black guy and that Asian girl, so I therefor assumed they were in some shape or form connected to them. They're not what you'd call quite the friendly bunch. I mean, not only did they just call me evil, for no good reason (that I'm aware of anyway), but also... well, did they really need to be with six, four of which appear to know some kind of fighting sports, just to get to someone like me, who hardly even has the physical strength to carry a gun? In a sense I was lucky when... that other guy appeared. This other guy appeared out of smoke, babbling about being a threat that flaps through the night (while it was still daytime), saying something else that was completely non-sensical, before he finally said something, of which I can only assume that that was his name: Darkwing Duck.
Funny, I saw another duck earlier, and then this one. Would this be the same one, just wearing a cape and a mask? If so, it would explain why he recognized me before. He somehow knew that the government is looking for me, and that is why he tried to take me away. He even thanked those six for helping him catch me, but he'd take it from here. Unfortunately for him, they wouldn't let him get away with me, so they attacked him. I must say, this Duck-guy's ego surpasses Freaknoid's idiocy, if you remember him from Washington D.C. But since that is what appeared to keep him standing up, who am I to argue his ego. Seriously, when the six took some... things from behind their backs (which was funny, as the two females in the group either wore a skirt or pocket-less pants, or some of the males didn't even have back-pockets, so where did they get those things from), they used those things to change their clothes into... what I can only describe as ridiculously heavily armored suits.
It should be noted that these suits, though I never saw them before, they looked kind of familiar. Each one had it's own color, each one appeared to represent some animal or other... I'm sure I've seen that before, I just can't remember where. All I can remember, for some reason, is that it has nothing to do with what I heard about this city before, it's something from a much more distant past.
But I digress again. Despite their heavy armor, or rather because of it, the six of them were hardly any match for that duck. The only reason their fight lasted that long is because... well, if it were just one-on-one, the fight would've ended sooner, but here it's one-on-six, so with one down that makes still five to go. For the duck's sake, I hoped he'd survive them. Though he tried to deliver me to the authorities, I don't particularly blame him for doing so. Besides, with him fighting all six of them by himself, he's even braver than I am, or much braver than those six put together. I'd say he earns a lot more respect from me than those six.
Anyway, I managed to hitch a ride that would take me as far as Placid Pines. The drivers in question were tourists, like me, who were on their way to L.A. When they told me, I cursed to myself, as that's where I was originally headed. The right people at the wrong time, can you understand how frustrating that is? But then, they were quite the funny couple. Everything the one or the other said, especially when one of them uses the word "normal", it was a reason for the other to be angry. When they were angry, the guy started to call the girl "Mozart", while the girl called the guy "Whale". In many ways they reminded me of that Ben I mentioned before, from back home. Speaking of which, there are these books which Ben loves to read, all written by the same guy, Steve something... anyway, he wrote about the importance of toilets in men's life, and the disadvantages of living with your girlfriend, among other things. Normally, I wouldn't know about this guy, but Ben doesn't talk about anything else. If I could remember that writer's full name, I could recommend it to this couple, see how much his work would (not) change their lives.