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.

1. The Skating Life (Remastered)

March 28, 2021

A forty seven year old writer named T.K. was sitting down in his house, ready to get to work on his next novel. But not sure what in the world he was going to pick, he was thinking about all the possible options. All the things he wanted to fucking do. Before he was coming to the worst realization of them all. The fact that he was running out of material.

As he was coming to accept this truth, although he did not like it, he was starting to realize that the one thing he had written about yet, was probably going to have to become the subject of his new book. That being the life that he had lived when he was much younger, and much less certain of the world, and their truly messed up facts.

He was then pulling up a new document, feeling like it was finally time to stop running from past demons, and accept the fact that this was fucking true, and he was just hoping that the people he grew up with at the time. The ones who were still alive to begin with, were going to be able to fucking forgive him for the things he was going to bring back to the fucking world once again.

T.K. simply sent a text to one of his former allies, and one of his best friends, Joe, hoping that by explaining it in the text, Joe would be able to let this go. And he was hoping that if there was ever a issue with not knowing every detail, that his extra five years or so of age would be enough to piece together the other loose memories he had.

"Hey Joe, I know this might sound a bit sudden, and kind of worrisome for you, but I am finally going to be writing the truth of what happened in the late eighties to early nineties. I have nothing left to write." He sent, and then sent another text after that.

"Besides, I think it's time, and I feel like I need your fucking help." T.K. finally finished, and he was hoping that Joe was going to accept the offer, even if he clearly did not fucking like it. But he was truly feeling like there was no fucking choice now.

Joe sent another text almost immediately. "T.K., are you sure that this is going to be a great idea? Considering the fact that I can fucking guarantee that doing this is going to be placing a fucking target on your back?" When T.K. read the text, he was sighing, and had no idea what to say.

"Yeah, well, I feel like it is either that, or let the business continue to run forever, and have little to no god damn fucking accountability. At least with this, there is a small chance that something will be done." T.K. sent, hoping that this would get Joe to at least consider.

"Would you believe it if I told you that I would really not want to do this? But I guess that you are going to do this, sooner or later… So I might as well just fucking let it go, and work with you." He said, and T.K. smiled, feeling like his reluctance was a sign that he still had to let go.

"Just read the documents as I send them, you know so I could have another permanent place of archive. And perhaps when I need some help clearly some things up, I could go on and ask you what I need to know." T.K. said, and he was hoping that Joe was going to actually accept this idea, and not be fucking fighting this at all.

"I guess that I can do that. And everything related to me, I might be able to fucking help you out on." He said, and then T.K. was glad that in the relative grand scheme of things, he was willing to not be a fucking asshole about what he was thinking.

"Thanks. I really do not want to do this. But I feel like the longer that I hide this shit, and keep pretending like nothing is going on, the worse that things are going to fucking get." After T.K. sent this final text, he was now thinking of the supplies he was going to need.

Before he was heading out to the grocery store, to get his needed supplies, he was staring at a picture of his wife and son. Already almost eight years old, which was just something that T.K. would never fucking get used to. And he was wondering when it was going to finally be time for him to tell the truth to his wife of ten years.

Due to being some years younger than him, she was never able to fully understand everything that happened in Wayside all that time ago, and to be honest, he was dreading the day when he was going to have to fucking come clean, and no longer be hiding the things that he was forced to do all this time ago.

He went to the grocery store after sending his wife a text saying "I'm going to be working on a new project." And once at the store, he saw he had a couple hundred dollars on his person, so he went around, and grabbed a pack of Rockstar and another one of Monsters. He went over to the office section, and grabbed a entire box of composition books. Last but not least, but he grabbed his carton of cigarettes that he always had with him when he started a new book.

"Starting another one of your books?" The cashier asked, somebody who had worked there since 2013, so by this point, he knew the generic cycle of how this writer had done his stuff. T.K. nodded, and explained how the guy had no fucking idea what he was going to get himself into.

The entire drive home, he was counting down the amount of ways that he hated this project, and that he wanted to run away forever. But he knew it was not possible, and he was surprised he lasted thirty five years after the initial incidents, and twenty nine after the end of the series of events.

When he got home, his wife texted back. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll try to keep Lucas out of the room for a while, so you can work." She said, and then T.K. sighed in relief as he read this, feeling like her working with him here was what he really fucking needed,

When he was finally feeling like he got everything he needed, he opened the first can of Rockstar, and took out some empty note pads that he would use as reference for when he was needing to make sure he didn't cross too much information together, and with his carton of Marlboro Silvers, he was ready to get to work.

---

Chapter 1 – Wayside's Reprisal

Episode 1 – The Skating Life

Scene 1: First Day of Summer

June 10, 1986

It was the first day of summer break, and my friends Davis, Yolei, and I, were hanging out at the park, trying to decide what we were going to be doing now. "So guys, what the hell do you think we should be doing during summer break?" After I asked them this, both Davis and Yolei looked like they were kind of shocked at me suddenly bringing this up.

"Well, you always seem interested watching those people skating in the park. Maybe you should go on and give it a fucking try." Davis said, and I was mildly annoyed with him suddenly making me feel like the bad guy for saying this. I simply shrugged at this idea.

"I really don't think that would be a good idea, to be honest. I think that if I give it a try, after a couple of days, I would just completely fucking screw up, and everybody would be making fun of me like the fucking town idiot." I was trying to tell him, and he was shaking his head.

"Guys, I mean, what do you guys want to do in summer though? I mean, I am sure that you guys have other plans for what to do in summer as well." I said, trying to make this conversation about them. "To be honest, this is my first summer break that I am going to be spending at Wayside. I am much more excited about that than anything else."

Yolei sighed, and then simply shook her head. "Well, to be honest, I can't hang out too much today, since I have a baby sitting session with Cody to take care of. So you guys are going to have to do most of the hang out with Davis." Yolei sounded like she was kind of feeling sad about that. I shrugged, not sure what to tell them.

"That sucks. Are you sure that you need to be keep doing those? I am sure that Cody would understand if you decided to just skip one fucking hang out." After Davis was telling her this, and then Yolei was shaking her head, thinking this whole thing was too much to handle.

"Well, his parents were really helpful for my parents growing up. So they probably feel like watching Sheldon's son is a good way to try and make up for it. Besides, my parents have made it very clear that they want me to be doing something with my summer." Yolei shrugged, and I had no idea what to even do now.

"Your parents are fucking assholes." As Davis said this, he was shaking his head. Then he looked right at me. "Come on. Just one day. I think it would be hilarious to watch you at the skating park, and see if you can be able to pull it off." After Davis said this, I was shrugging, and I was feeling like he would not take no for a answer.

"Well, since I have a feeling that you guys are not going to be giving me much of a choice on the issue, I guess that I might as well just go along with it. Better to just not fight after a certain point." I said, and then I was shaking my head, not sure what in the world I could have said.

I was starting to walk towards the skate park, and took like fifteen or twenty steps, and then turned towards Davis and Yolei, feeling like I needed them to see the reality here. "Guys, I don't even have a skateboard. This is fucking ridiculous. Have you guys thought about that at all?" I asked, and I was seeing both of them looking kind of upset with the way that I was talking about this.

"Oh yeah, let's go ahead and actually fucking buy one first." Davis was saying, and laughed at this, kind of finding the moment to be funny. So with that, Yolei was laughing at us, as she was finding the two of us completely fucking ignoring that situation to be totally worth everything.

"Did you guys seriously not consider that at all when you were having this discussion?" Yolei asked, and I was looking at her, and I was feeling like she needed to just shut the fuck up, and stop harassing me so fucking much.

"Hey, you weren't saying anything earlier. So you just need to stop the judgmental shit." I said, and then with that, Yolei was looking down on the ground, and felt like I kind of struck her a little too fucking closely, and that she was just needing to accept what was happening. So with that, we were starting to head towards the skating park.

As we were starting to head towards the skating park, I was just trying to decide what in the world I was going to be doing now. "So guys, have you ever considered getting into skating as well?" I asked, feeling like a small part of what they were saying, beyond the fact that it was technically true, was them kind of projecting their opinion of the matter onto me right now.

"Well, I have just been focusing on my exercising in my spare time." Davis said, and I was looking at him, and slowly nodded, considering the fact that I knew that he had started to build up a bit of muscle in the last couple of months, and that virtually all the fat in him was basically gone by now.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that lately. I bet that if you got into a fight with anybody in our grade, you would probably win." Yolei said, and I was seeing Davis smiling at the fact that she had noticed this, and I was wondering if he was proud of the fact that she was telling him this.

Eventually, we were at the skating shop, and I was shaking my head, wondering what in the world I was even going to be doing. I went inside, wondering if this idea was even going to be worth it at all. But I was willing to take the risk.

Once in the skating shop, I was looking around at the options. As the man at the counter was watching up, he was smiling, and clearly looked like he was excited to see that somebody was finally fucking here, and that he would take this chance to help.

"Which board are you looking for?' He asked, and then I looked at him, aware of the fact that I was going to be sounding fucking stupid as I asked him. I was rubbing my eyes, not really in the mood to have this conversation in all honesty.

"Just something that would be easy to ride. I never done this before, but my classmates like skating around a lot, so I want to see how well I would do." I said, and then after I was telling him this, the guy was not too sure what to say to this.

"So you're doing it to get popular? I can respect the honesty about that. As for easy ones to get used to, I think you should try to use this one." After he was saying this, he was walking to the left wall. I slowly nodded, feeling like there was no need to brush this idea off, since it was something new at least.

It was a medium sized blue one, and the wheels looked like they were decently tightly placed on, probably as a way to make sure that they would not fall apart. I smiled as I said this, and I was then looking at the guy, who seemed to be worried about what I would be saying now.

"You can have that. Say twenty dollars. It's not the best one around, but it will be good enough to get you started." He said, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling like I would take the offer. I looked at Davis and Yolei, wondering what they were going to be saying to this. They smiled at the fact that I was this excited.

"Sure." I said, and then I was pulling my money out, and saw that I only had sixteen dollars. I sighed, and then shook my head, and then felt like there was no point in doing this anyways. "Not enough fucking money anyways. Sorry about that." As I was starting to walk off, that was Yolei called out to me.

"I got the last four dollars. Just make sure you pay me back when you have the chance." She said, and I laughed at that, thinking it was something ridiculous. But in all honesty, given what would later happened, I ended up always having the four dollars with me, just in case if I would ever have the chance to pay her back. But I ended up paying, and getting the board.

We eventually left the skating shop, and I was looking at the board. "Wow, you guys are really want me to get into the skating. You didn't need to spend that money on me." After I said that to Yolei, she shrugged, and she was smiling for a second.

I was having a feeling that she might kind of like me or something. I was not really sure how women's emotions really were, but that was my best fucking bet. I was starting to head towards the skating park, not having a single god damn idea what to be doing here.

"Well, I just know that you can do a great job if you work on it again." Yolei said, and I was seeing that Davis was trying to hide his jealousy here. I was clearly aware that he liked her a lot, and that I needed to try and respect the fact that this was a lot for him to be taking in, given the moment.

"Okay. If you fucking say so." I said, and then I was starting to slowly skate my way to the skating park, really taking it as slowly as fucking possible, since I had not wanted to completely fucking ruin it when I had just started. I was seeing that Davis and Yolei were both kind of wanting to laugh at my carefulness of it, but it was not meant to be fucking funny at all.

"So Davis, is there any reason why you have been working out so much lately? It seems like in the last two to three months, you really started to crank it up." I said, and then I was seeing Davis looking like he was upset at what I said.

"Well, to be honest, there is a reason for it. But to be honest, I don't really want to talk about it right now. I want to wait some real progress is made." Davis said, and I was rather confused at what he was saying. It was sounding relatively random, and I was feeling like he just needed to be honest with us, since that would be easier for us all.

"Okay. If you fucking say so. You know, I don't think anybody would judge you on what is happening. I think people might judge you more for not telling us." I said, and I was really not in the mood to go any further with the conversation at all.

"Come on, give him a break." Yolei said, and I was nodding slowly, and I already knew at the moment I was being a asshole, and I kind of regretted what I said, but choose to not say much else about it.

Eventually, we had made it to the skating park, and I was starting to just get really fucking paralyzed over what was happening. To be honest, I was wondering if I was going to be finding that one Tobias guy there. He was somebody whose cousin went missing just under a month ago, and ever since then, he has been spending all day every day hanging out at the skating park.

---

Scene 2: The Park

June 10, 1986, 3-4 pm

After about half an hour of me fialimg miserably at the skating, to my lack of surprise, that was when I was seeing Tobias just sitting down at the bench, looking utterly miserable.

I saw Yolei and Davis glance at each other, and I was wondering what angle they were going to be playing. They started walking to him, and I grabbed my board, and followed along in a rather haphazard walk.

"Hey Tobias, we were wondering if you just needed to talk for a while." After Yolei said this, Tobias looked at her, and I was seeing him looking like he hardly fucking cared.

"Nobody will fucking care. My cousin is missing, and everybody is acting like everything is all hunky doory. I feel like people only care about these issues when they are directly affected." Tobias said, and stood up brushing teh crumbs off his legs.

"Hey Tobias, will you maybe want us to be helping you out? You know, figuring where your cousin went anyways?" He asked, and then Tobias was shaking his head, feeling like that was a miserable joke.

"Honestly, it would be a wasted effort. Nobody will even fucking find her anyways. I'm smart enough to see that it's a waste of time." He said, and then I was Tobias looking like he was trying to hide his disgust at this whole thing.

"Come on dude, you never know for sure unless if you give it a fucking try." I said, and I was wanting to see how he would react to what I was saying. Tobias looked at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was just not in the mood to argue with me.

"Look, my father has told me that he has been working his ass off on trying to find the answers. And if he insists that he hasn't found anything, then who the fucking hell am I to fucking argue with him?" After Tobias asked me this, I looked down, pissed off that he was taking it so fucking easily.

"Has your father even found anything?" Davis asked, and I was wondering why he was refusing to take no for a answer. I mean, Tobias was very clear about his stance, and I was in no mood to piss him off over this.

"No, I don't think my father has. I mean, I did try and ask him. And Rachel doesn't want to go down without a fight. She has been getting into so man arguments with my father about it lately." Tobias shrugged, and sounded like he was unable to belive this discussion.

"Plus, she has been getting into so many fucking fights with our mother. Mainly because mom doesn't really seem too worried about it, in comparison to everybody else. I think one time, when she was asked about it, her response was that at least it wasn't Rachel." Tobias said, and then he shrugged, and I saw him looking super uncomfortable.

"Yolei, I know that this is a bit of a morbid question, but when that grinding noise goes off, have you ever thought that maybe it would be you one of these days? Andrea never once thought she would be in danger." As Tobias said this, I could tell he was too upset to even be disgusted.

"Well, I mean, I never really thought on it too much until the last year or so. I mean, it's just so engrained into our society, that I hardly even fucking think about it too much anymore." Yolei said, and I was shocked that this was her answer, and I was wondering if she simply didn't care.

"Anyways, sorry for pestering you. I just thought that I would see how you were doing. Has anybody else tried to talk to you?" Davis asked, and then Tobias looked at him, and I was seeing that he was trying to hide the annoyance a bit now, and that this was beyond anything he wished to disucss.

"Well, Gumball was trying to talk to me the day after Andrea went missing. But I never bought that shit for a second. I always knew that he was trying to just find a way to one up me." Tobias said, and I always wondered what his issue with Gumball was in the first place.

"Maybe this time was different, and he was sincerely trying to help you." I said, hoping to maybe get Tobias to calm down, and see that not everybody was doing this for a ulterior motive.

"No. That is not how it is at all. If that was the case, then that would mean that he is the most easily forgiving person ever, with all our fueds." Tobias said, and shook his head.

"Besides, I know he is always trying to get Penny to like him, and that is the main thing that drives him along most days, beyond nay form of regular good will." When Tobias finished his thought, I shook my head.

I knew he was not going to be budging on this idea at all, and to be honest, I wasn't really in the mood to deal with their fued or whatever. He made his mind on the matter rather clear, and I hardly fucking cared anymore.

"What did you and Gumball even get into a fight about anyways?" Yolei asked, and I was sighing in annoyance, since that was none of our fucking business, and I was feeling like she was trudging on thin ice here.

"Well, a lot of it is the fact that he is extremely loyal to his mother, and her business practices. Which I wouldn't mind, but he always just rubs it in my face that she is this fucking saint or something." After Tobias was telling me this, I was shrugging, since I had nothing to say here.

"So you feel like he is just kind of blind to the truth, or something like that?" I asked, and then Tobias nodded, as if feeling like that was a fair way to put it.

"I'm note exactly sure about blind to the truth, as much as I feel like he is just not seeing that there is more to if somebody is good or not then who their biological parents are. And I think that he is just simply not fucking seeing that." After Tobias said this, I was shrugging, not sure what to say.

"Look, if you want to hang out with me, that is fine. I mean, I might not get it, but I would be dumb to turn it down. That being said, I am not going to be going down this fucking path of dealing with my cousin. I care about my well being too much to go down this path." After Tobias was telling us this, I was sighing, and felt like he was already making his mind up here.

"Besides, what are you even doing here anyways? I never thought to be taking any of you guys for the skating type. Not too shocking, considering the fact that you weren't really that great while you were practicing just now. No offense." Tobias said, and then I was shaking my head, feeling like he was just kind of being a fucking asshole.

"Well, Davis and Yolei kind of pressured me into it, and said that I shoudl be trying something out for once. I kind of know that they never take no for a fucking answer." I said, and shrugged as I said this. Tobias was laughing as I said that. Then with that, I wondered if he was starting to finally budge.

"Well, I think that you really need to work with that Rob guy if you want to get good at skating. He's friends with my older sister. Maybe I can hit you up with a couple of practice sessions." After Tobias was telling me this, I honestly had no idea who the fucking hell that guy was. I looked over at Yolei and Davis, wondering if they had any idea who he was talking about.

"You guys seriously don't fucking know who he is? There was a major accident with him a while ago. Wore a bunch of bandages for a while. Anyways, so he went to the most recent labyrinth party with Andrea and Ocho." Tobias said, and then I looked at Davis and Yolei, wondering what the hell he was going on about.

"What the fuck are labyrinth parties?" I asked, not wanting to let this chance fucking slide. Tobias had this look of 'god damn it' on his face, and then he sighed, and shrugged, feeling like there was way to fucking hide it now.

"To be honest, they're this party that the high school students usually throw every time the grinding noise comes off. Most people find it really fucking cool. So Rob, Andrea, and Ocho went to it. Rachel came later too, since she always went to those." Tobias said that, and Yolei was looking like she was kind of interested in something else.

"I always been kind of interested in why people would technically celebrate people going missing." Yolei said, and then Tobias looked at her, as if thinking that she had cracked the million dollar caseon whay exactly this whole thing was so fucked up.

"Well, I don't think many people look at things like that. And to be honest, I hardly fucking care anymore. I have no interest in going to any of those fucking parties, and people who are just need to find something else to do with their fucking time." Tobias said, and I was clearly able to tell that he was very upset with the way he was talking, and I wondered what the issue was.

"Regardless, I have talked about this for too long. I genuinely get upset every time I even think about this now. The fact that people just clearly don't seem to fucking care anymore what is happening." As he was saying this, he was starting to walk off.

Yolei called out to him once more as he was starting to slowly leave. "If you ever change your mind on the matter, just go on and fucking talk to us. We'll be there for you no matter what." After said this, Tobias shook his head, as if just on auto pilot.

"I will think about it. Would not want to fucking ruin your summer. But thanks for the offer." Tobias said, and I was able to hear that he was actually sounding kind of happy, despite trying to deny it.

As Tobias was leaving, Yolei looked at us, and sighed. "Well, I have to go to Cody now. Make sure you guys stay safe." She said, and then she was starting to head off, leaving us utterly bewildered at how things were going.

Davis then looked at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was kind of thinking about something else. "When we head home tonight, you got to tell me the story about Onett. Why you even moved here anyways." After Davis said this, I was sighing, since I didn't want to.

But he had been pestering me about it for months now, and i felt like I had no choice. "Sure. After another hour or two." I said, and we continued my practicing, and trying to have a good time, and pretending like nothing happened.

---

Scene 3: The Green Meteor

May 20, 1985

So relatively near the end of the previous school year, and a couple of months before mom and dad decided that it was time to be moving to Wayside, I was sitting at home one day. Where we had previously lived was in Onett Indiana, and at the time, I felt it was extremely unfair to move several states away.

At the time I blamed myself and all the things that happened with me for the move. But looking back at it now, my father was going to move anyways, due to his change of jobs, he just used what happened as a excuse to cover up.

But the truth was that I heard the stories too. He did something extremely awful to the young women in town, and he got caught, and as a way to avoid back lash and potential criminal charges, his department decided to bring him to Wayside.

Anyways, getting back to point. I was heading to bed, when I was seeing a meteor coming down to town, and I instantly got myself up, wondering what in the world was even going on here. I put my shoes on quicker than I ever had before.

I did a quick scout around, to make sure that my parents weren't watching me and what I was doing, and then with that, I left the house, and started to walk right over to where the meteor was.

To be honest, in hindsight, I see that I was being ridiculous. But at the moment, I wanted to see what was there. I wanted to see what that looked like in real time for once in my life.

It took about twenty five minutes or so to get all the way there, in the mean time, passing the school, and leaving me with a sinking suspicion with each passing minute that I was going to be getting caught, and forced back home.

When I was eventually at the meteor, the steam was still coming out, although mostly subdued. When I was watching though, I was shocked at the fact that there were a bunch of green crystals in the meteor. I couldn't help but wonder why that was the case, and I was feeling like I was about to see some really big fucking scientific discovery or something like that.

I looked around, wondering how people were going to react if they saw what I was about to do. But I was also wondering to myself if I really cared what they were going to say. And when I saw that there was virtually nobody around, I slowly walked down the meteor, ready to see if I could snatch one of those crystals.

It took a while when I was there, to really grip my hand on one that I was feeling was relatively loose, and I closed my eyes, and ripped it out with all of my might, and I was looking at the shard. I took a long and deep breath, wondering what in the world I was going to do here.

I went home right afterwards, scared of what it was going to be like if I was gone for too long, and when I was finally home, I went right to bed, after I put the meteor in the drawer. Although I could see that my older brother Matt clearly noticed what I was doing before I went to bed.

School the next day went by normally, until I was about to head home. By that point, while I hadn't forgotten about the meteor, how fucking could I when everybody human being alive it felt like was discussing it, I was indeed able to put it mostly behind me, and i was feeling like I was in the clear.

Before I was able to head home, that was when one of my classmates called out to me. I turned over to see who it was, and I was seeing that it was one of my classmates,a slightly chubby (but not really overweight) guy named Ness, who was rather into baseball.

"I saw that you were down by the meteor yesterday. What did you end up finding down there?" He asked, and I was looking right at him, unsure what to even fucking tell him.

"I grabbed like a crystal. Some green one." I said, feeling like at this point, there was no need to hide what I had found. Nobody reasonable was going to really give a fucking shit what I found there, and I was beyond the point of caring.

"Can you show me?" He asked, and I nodded, happy to hear somebody even remotely willing to spend time with me, so we started to head towards my house.

The entire time I was heading over to my house, I was wondering when Matt was going to eventually confront me about what I had found. I knew sooner or later, he was going to be getting on my case about this, since he felt like it was his business to ruin everything.

"Just don't go around taking credit for what I fucking found." I said, and then we went inside, as I saw Ness having a smile on his face. We went right over to my bedroom, where sure enough, the crystal was still there, so Matt at least didn't steal it.

"There you go. Nothing too special, now that I think about it. But it was so cool when I saw it the first time, that I couldn't help but just snatch a part of it." I said, and then I was seeing Ness get some ideas in his head, and I wondered what the fucking plan was.

"I think it would be extremely cool if I could grab one for myself. Would you be willing to take me there?" He asked, and I was wondering why he wouldn't do it himself, since he was living in the area anyways.

But I choose to keep my comments to myself, as I was slowly nodding, mainly because I wanted to have a excuse to still hang out with somebody for once.

We left my house, while my mother was looking over, and I placed the crystal in my pocket just in case. My mother was clearly wanting to get to know more about my friend, but I was not in the mood to be dealing with her right now.

"You seem to be rather on edge about this whole thing? Are you worried that something is going to fucking happen?" Ness asked, and I was sighing, not really in the mood to be talking about this too much.

"I don't want to get in trouble with my parents. God, they can be complete assholes at times, and I have no fucking desire to deal with this." I said, not wanting to really beat around the bush on how much they annoyed me.

"I just felt like I needed to ask, considering the way you were acting. But if you insist that everything is fine, then I suppose that I will leave it alone." After he was telling me this, I shrugged, not sure what in the world I would say to this.

Eventually, we made it to the meteor, and by now all the steam had worn off, and I was seeing Ness looking like he was being blinded by the magesty of a fucking meteor. I was laughing as I had seen this, knowing that this was exactly what I was kind of expecting to fucking happen.

As we saw the Lazarus logo on the truck, I remember at the time thinking that the name was rather strange. What I did not realize at the time was that this company was going to esentially follow me for the rest of my fucking life, and everything that I did.

There were a few employees getting right out of the car, and carrying a tent that they placed around the meteor, and started to create a base of operations there. Ness and I looked at each other, confused as all hell why they were treating this like some fucking medical emergency.

One of the employees started to walk up to us. "This area is off limits. There is some rather dangerous material coming from this meteor, that we are meant to be extracting, and returning to our home base." As the guy gave us this lecture, I was seeing Ness looking like he was not wanting to hear any of it.

"We were here first, and we have a fucking right to see what is going on here. I wanted to check it out for myself." While I agreed with his general point, I was feeling like Ness was kind of stroking the fire with the way he had been acting here.

"Look, I understand your frustration. But I think you would soon understand that this is dangerous material. And when all the data is extracted, you guys can live life normally, and forget this ever even fucking happened." After he was telling me this, I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to deal with this.

"What happened? Why is this stuff dangerous?" Ness asked, and then the man was shaking his head, and started to return to his area. I was starting to get a bit annoyed with this as well. I felt like he was completely just throwing away everything we were doing, and I felt like I deserved some answer.

"Let me see what my father might know about this. He has been working with the mayor for a while now, so perhaps they got something." I said, mainly just trying to keep my spirits up. I knew that Ness was probably beyond thinking something like this could even work out.

"Really? You were just acting like he was the biggest thing you were scared about right now. And now you're suggesting that we go on and speak with him?" Ness asked, and I was slowly nodding, thinking that he got the general idea well enough.

"Well, I mean, I was more worried about my fucking brother than my father. Regardless, I feel like just simply asking him a question wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." I said, smiling as I said this. Ness sighed, and simply looked like he thought this would be a total waste of time.

"If you think this will work, then I guess that I willing to let you do whatever you want. Anyways, well, I think that we might just be drawing attention to ourselves if we stay here any longer." Ness said, and then we left, and went to the park afterwards.

"Thanks T.K. for doing this for me. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, and that guy was a total fucking dick, but it's the thought that counts. Tomorrow we should meet up, and try and speak to your father." Ness said, and we were coming to a agreement. I held my hand out, and Ness seemed excited to take it.

Ness and I shook hands, as I smiled at him, and I was feeling like the two of us were finally going to become friends, and to be honest, I was feeling like I would no longer have to worry about fitting in. We had a common interest, I could tell that he was going to follow through.

Ness Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 4: Secret Confession

June 10, 1986, Late Evening

As Davis and I were at his house, after I told him some of the story with Ness, Davis sighed, and took a deep breath. "You do know that the people who work here will come at you the second they realize that you are the one behind everything. And when that happens, I will have no choice but to fucking go along." Davis said, and I sighed as he said this.

"It's okay. Not like anything really fucking happened. I think that since I have been here for a while, and nothing came up on it, shows that maybe we just over thought it." I said, and I was seeing Davis looking like he was not buying that shit for a fucking second.

As we were talking, that was when the grinding noise had gone off. Davis looked down on the ground, and balled his fist as he heard this again. I was wondering why he was taking it so much worse than the other times we heard it. "Only twenty seven fucking days this time. It never went off that quickly." Davis said, and I was not sure what to even tell him in all honesty.

"That's it. I don't care if Tobias doesn't like it, I am going to be looking into this with you, and we are going to find out what is really happening." He said, and I could hear from the tone of his voice, that he was not playing around at all. And when I heard this, I slowly nodded.

"Why the fucking hell are you wanting to do this? Do you want to be dead before the end of summer vacation?" I asked, and then Davis was laughing as he heard my reaction. Probably thinking that the fact that I did not get it was showing that I had a long way to go.

"I was going to tell you guys later, but I might as well tell you know, and maybe you can see why I care so much now. But my parents told me that they were expecting a second child. A daughter this time." After Davis said this, I was taking a second to think about what he had just said.

"Oh shit. So this is for her, more than anything else?" I asked, feeling like I was finally able to get why he was acting this way. Davis nodded, glad to see that I was finally seeing the truth, and not just acting like a fucking asshole this whole time.

"Yeah. I thought that it was every numerous months, then I wouldn't mind too much. But if it's not even going to be a full month each time, then I have no choice but to pay attention to this now." He was saying, and I slowly nodded, feeling like that was fair enough.

"Just don't tell Yolei or Tobias. I don't need them laughing at me, or making fun of me over this. It is already bad enough dealing with their shit as it is." After he was telling me this, I had no idea what he would even want me to say.

"I am sure that Yolei would be very supportive of you and your issues." After I was telling him this, I was seeing Davis looking like he was not wanting to really fucking hear this at all. Probably thinking that I was simply not getting his wishes. "But I understand, no telling."

"I mean, after seeing how Tobias was today as well, and really seeing the emptiness on his face, was another sign that I wanted to just step up, and see what in the world he might need. I just think that it would be a fucking crime to not want to work on this as well." As Davis said this, I was sighing, and tried my best to understand him.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean, I will try and speak to Tobias. He might be more willing to speak to me than he is with you. Something even you acknowledge." I said, and then Davis was nodding as I had said that, not wanting to argue with this.

"And I will try and just make sure that nothing happens to Yolei. After all, if anything were to happen to her, then I would never be able to forgive myself." After Davis was telling me this, I was sort of seeing where he was coming from, and the seriousness on his face.

"Davis, do you think that your parents would want you to be doing this, even if it was for your little sister?" I asked, as Davis sighed, and shook his head, but then he laughed as I asked him this, seeming to not think about it too much.

"I will do whatever I must, and if that means that I am doing something that mom and dad hate, then I will be perfectly content with them hating me. After all, sometimes decisions have to be made that are against the best interest of the general population." Davis said, and I wondered why he was already speaking like this when he was in seventh fucking grade.

"Well, I hope that you know what you are doing." I said, sighing, and then I was smiling as I said that, knowing that deep down, I was probably the last person in the entire world that was able to really judge him for this stuff.

"But then again, after the shit you were telling me about Ness, I think you are probably the last person to tell me how I should be doing." Davis said, and I slowly nodded, trying to understand his perspective. But despite not wanting to admit it, I knew deep down he was right.

"I guess that you might be right. After all, I think that Matt still has not forgiven me for everything that happened there. Not that I can even fucking blame him." I said, and I was smiling as I said that, knowing full well that whatever I would say would just probably get denied by Matt if he were to hear this.

"Don't listen to Matt. Just because you are fucking doing something right when he is going around trying to fuck girls all the time probably shows that he is the one that really needs to sort out his priorities here." As Davis was telling me this, I wondered what in the world I could have said.

"But Matt is not a bad guy. Not really. I mean, I can't help but wonder how much of this is completely my fault." I said, and I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to talk about this too much longer. I was already driving myself insane by having this discussion.

"Anyways, just fucking help me find out what is happening. Even if we can't find Andrea, or stop anything, I just want some answers, so I can make sure that my sister is ready when she is older." Davis said, and I was slowly nodding, not sure what I was really wanting to say.

"Okay dude. I never even fucking said no in the first place. Give me a fucking moment to talk." I said, not even trying to hide my annoyance as I was saying this. Davis laughed as I was saying this, thinking that my anger on this issue was something that he could appreciate.

"Look, after all, you went crazy over a fucking meteor. I think you will see that you should be going crazy over something that is a much bigger deal." After Davis said that to me, I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to listen to him say shit like this at all.

"Fair enough. The worst part is that despite how much I want to argue with you, I fucking can't. Just promise me that you will not judge me if I can't fucking find things." I said, and I really had no idea what I was even going to accomplish when I said this.

"Well, see you tomorrow. We're going to get Tobias to talk to us, regardless of if he likes it or not." Davis said, and I was feeling like his response was something that I would not enjoy. But I was in no mood to argue with him, and I was feeling like the best thing to do would just accept it.

When I was home that day, I was glad to know that Davis did truly care for the people around him, and that I did not do a bad job picking my fucking friends. Maybe when we would pull this off, all of us could laugh about it, and just pretend like we weren't scared out of our fucking minds.

I popped open a can of Mountain Dew, as I turned on the news, feeling like I just needed to relax, and not be making a big issue for myself. Davis was going to do most of the work, and I knew that, so I just needed to let him do what he wanted, and I would just simply be along for the ride.

Davis Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 5: Business Transaction

June 10 1986, Evening

After the grinding noise, and trying to rest, I knew I couldn't fucking relax, and I knew that I needed to see just to be sure, that Yolei was fine. So I grabbed my board, and left my house without permission, and skated down to her house.

I was glad to have this board because a half hour trip walking turned into a third of that when I was just completely disregarding everything, and if people got upset, I would just tell them that it was a emergency, which it technically was.

Once at her house, she answered my knock instantly, and I was seeing her looking like she was confused what the issue was. I calmed down, feeling like I just needed to calm down, now that I knew she was safe for another night.

"Hey Yolei, I just wanted to make sure you were safe, given the grinding noise. I would never forgive myself if I didn't do anything." I said, and I was seeing Yolei sighing, as she let me in.

"We can't do too much here, since my parents are going to be meeting with Kenta Kitgawa today. Some form of sale." Yolei said, and I could hear from her voice that she was worried, but not wanting to make it too obvious.

"Want to just go to your room?" I asked, and I was seeing Yolei looking shocked that I actually suggested something like that in the first place. She sighed, and slowly nodded, and we did just that.

Once inside her room, I was shaking my head, wanting to tell her of Davis's plan. "Davis and I are going to give Tobias another try tomorrow. See if he will budge this time." I said, trying to not make it sound forced, since he deserved better too.

"And you want me to come? Sure. Better to do that than have you two fuck it all up." Yolei said, and I was shocked at how easy it was to convince her.

"But T.K., I am going to be honest. I think that doing this might be a really bad choice. What is Tobias ends up hating us for getting him involved in some promise that we can never be able to uphold?" She asked me, and I was looking down on the ground, wondering what to even tell her.

"I think he would probably appreciate us trying more than anything else. After all, he said himself nobody wanted to do this with him." I said, and I was shaking my head, wishing that I wouldn't have to be forced to have this discussion at all.

"If you say so. To be honest though, I am more interested in getting to know what the fucking hell my parents are doing. You know, with the fucking business deal they are having with Kenta. I never thought that Kenta was into that sort of thing." Yolei said, and to be honest, as she mentioned that, I was kind of interested as well.

"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of curious about that as well. Are your parents having a really hard time keeping the shop afloat?" I asked, and I knew that saying that was treading on dangerous water.

"I don't want to fucking talk about that. I have no idea how my parents would feel me telling you guys about what's happening." She said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like this was the exact opposite of what she needed to say.

"So they are... And they are trying to find a way to dig themselves out of it. Look Yolei, I'm so fucking sorry." I said, and then I was seeing her looking like she hardly believed a fucking word of what I was saying.

"Look, I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to figure out what the fucking hell was going on here. You know, you guys give me nothing to work with, and you expect me to solve the crime of the fucking century here." I said, and I was seeing Yolei looking like she was thinking that this was my own damn fault, and that I just needed to back off before I pissed her off here.

"Well, you were the one that wanted to go through with this crazy ass idea of helping Tobias out. To be fair though, I was wanting to help as well." She said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like she was kind of taking a bit of a low blow trying to make me the bad guy with this.

"I mean, in all fairness, the whole thing was kind of Davis's fault. He was the one that was insisting that the two of us needed to check out every single area this town had to fucking offer." I sighed, feeling like I needed to try and give myself at least some fucking leverage on what I was discussing.

"Well, Davis always seems like that type of guy that once he makes his mind up about something, he fucking refuses to take no for a answer, which is something that I both admire, and get annoyed by, to be honest, with him." Yolei said, and I laughed at this, thinking she hit the nail on the head.

"Well, I will try to do most of the convincing with Tobias. For some reason, I feel like he would most likely listen to me." I said, and I was shaking my head, not sure if this idea would really work, but I hardly cared.

"Go ahead and fucking try, if you want." She said, and I wondered why she said it in such a uncertain tone. I wondered if she was just simply not trusting me with taking care of this, or if there was something else on her mind.

As we were talking, we heard him come inside the house, and that was both our cues to shut the fucking hell up, and just listen to what he is saying. After all, that was half the reason we went upstairs in the first place. I looked right at Yolei, wondering what she would be saying here.

"Hello, sorry to make you wait. Just had to finish setting up the remaining details of the transaction that we had been discussing earlier. If you guys wanted to change your mind, I am going to give you one more chance to turn back, and leave this whole thing behind." Kenta started, and I could hear the flicker of his cigarette.

"It's okay. We have been thinking rather deeply about the deal, and despite all of our best wishes, we have come to realize that there is no other way but to go through with your offer." After the father said that, I could hear a slight crack in his voice, and I was wondering what the issue was. I looked at Yolei, hoping she would give me anything at all.

"Well, to be honest, a lot of people have been wanting to work with you guys for a while. I have been trying to give you guys some fucking time, but you know how bosses are, and how sooner or later, they lose all sense of patience?" Kenta asked, and I was looking at Yolei, wondering if she knew what was going on here.

"Yolei, what the fuck are your parents doing? I thought that they were running things on their own?" I asked, and then Yolei looked at me, as if telling me to shut up, and I decided to take her cue, and not make things much worse.

"So when I was talking to my superiors about the details of the business, he was originally suggesting the usual ten percent of all sales come to you guys. But I was able to do some work with him, and convince him that given the circumstances of your living situation, as well as what exactly we are dealing with, I managed to get him to agree to 15 percent. So you're probably looking at roughly an extra four to six thousand dollars every year because I had to stick out for your asses." Kenta said, and I was seeing the look on Yolei's face grow wider at that.

At the time, four to six thousand dollars extra was huge, and even in 2021, would still be enough to take care of several months worth of rent if you had to backed up enough.

"Thanks. I just wished that we never had to resort to this. But I guess that when you live in a town like Wayside, nearly every family will have to be forced to make this choice at some point." The mother said, and I could see that second that Yolei instantly got a look of utter terror in her face. I wondered what she had known, and I was feeling like I needed to get her down to earth once again.

"Are they seriously going to fucking do it?" Yolei asked, and I was looking at her, confused as all hell what the hell she was going on about. I felt like she needed to fucking back up, and tell me what the hell she was so fucking scared about right now.

"Well, thanks for your patronage. Given how everything is going, I will say that everything will be going through between roughly the 21st and the end of the month." After Kenta said this, he was starting to head home.

At this rate, I couldn't hold back my curiosity anymore. I had to at least try and see what the fucking hell was going on with this man, so I was looking at Yolei, who at this point looked like she was beyond wanting to talk, and I decided to try and leave.

When I was walking downstairs, and getting ready to head home, Kenta saw me from his car. He got out of it, and he started to walk towards me. I had no idea what ulterior motive he was planning, and I looked right at Yolei, wondering what the plan was.

"Hey T.K., I wanted to see you, and give you this. I heard from your father about your personal work, and I wanted to give you a chance to come by, and see my personal work." After he was saying this, I was shaking my head, feeling like we both knew this was bullshit.

It was a calling card, and I wondered why in the world he was thinking I would be interested in working with him, especially since I had no interest in science. But I slowly nodded, wanting to keep it at least slightly professional.

"Talk to you later. I'll consider it." I said, feeling like I needed to keep it strictly professional, despite the fact that I was feeling like this was a terrible idea, and I couldn't accept it. With that, Kenta was gone, and I was looking right at Yolei, thinking I needed to affirm the plan before I left.

"Remember, tomorrow morning, and considering that Davis is probably going to be there already, we need to be ready right away." I said, and I started to skate home, not wanting to cause any ill will towards Yolei's parents, considering the fact that they never liked me much anyways.

I left the house, feeling glad that she agreed to helping me and Davis out with our plans. She was really the rock to our situation, and having her lose sight on the goal, would have been terrible.

---

Scene 6: Tobia's Ultimatum

June 11, 1986, Early Afternoon

Davis and I met up right away that day, and went straight to the Wilson house. I was pissed off beyond all hell that this was happening. To be honest, I was wondering if Yolei was going to be showing up. With the way she was acting earlier, she might just simply hold back, and not fucking bother at all.

Once there, Tobias was playing some basketball, and he looked over at us when he heard our loud walking. He sighed in disbelief that we were doing this right now. Probably thinking that we were just going to be screwing everything up, and to be honest, he would not even be all that far off.

"I thought that I told you guys that I do not want to be doing this. I made it very clear that this whole thing is a terrible fucking idea." After he was telling us this, I was sighing, not really feeling like I can buy what he was saying.

"Look, we know that you don't really feel that way, and you want to know what is going on here too. We are trying to fucking help you here." After Davis was telling Tobias this, he was shaking his head, refusing to listen to what we said.

"Why do you guys even fucking care anyways? I mean, for fucks sake, we barely even know each other, and you are forcing this self righteous bullshit." Tobias said, and then he shook his head. "Look, I know that I am being incredibly rude, that you guys deserve better than that." After Tobias said this, I slowly nodded, thinking he got the bigger picture.

"Well, I don't like seeing people that I know suffer. And in all honesty, I do have a personal reason as well." Davis said, and rubbed the back of his hair. "Look, I think we both know something is going on here, and that we just need to look into this. I understand being scared, but there is nothing we can do to change it."

"Yeah, you're right. And besides, things have been so fucking dark in the house ever since Andrea went missing. I would love to know what bastard did this." He said, and I was feeling like the fire was starting to come forward again.

"But if we do this, I need you to understand that I am keeping my fucking sister out of this. Rachel has dealt with enough, and I am not going to be dealing with her going away too." Tobias said with such sterness that I knew there was no way in hell we would be able to negotiate.

Before we were able to talk longer, that was when Yolei was showing up, and I was seeing her looking like she had run a fucking marathon or something. I saw Davis checking her out, and I was genuinely curious if he would make a move on her at some point.

"Hey guys, sorry for being here so late. I had to deal with my asshole parents just now." She said, and I laughed, feeling like it would be best to just leave the subject alone for now, since I knew that she was clearly not in the mood to be screwing around for the moment.

"Well, with or without your help, I'm going to be looking into this now myself. The stakes have gotten way too personal." Yolei said, and I was looking at her, rather confused what the fucking issue was. I looked at Tobias and Davis, wondering what they thought here.

"Did something fucking happen?" Tobias asked, as he placed the ball down, and put his right foot on the ball, trying to get a read on the woman.

"Her parents were having some form of business sale with Kenta last night. I was there. Wanted to see if she was the next victim of labyrinth first." I said, and then I was seeing Davis get a sudden interest in his face.

"Yeah, there is that party tonight. Maybe we can get a fucking scope on what the hell is happening there." Davis said, and then after he said that, Tobias seemed to consider what he heard. He sighed, suddenly thinking that this was the way things would go, with or without his permission.

"Yeah, I guess that we can go there. But who the hell will tell us anything. It hasn't even been a day." Tobia said, at this point clearly giving up on all arguments on the matter, and just choosing to go with it.

"Better safe than sorry." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like since we had no idea when the next time would be, this would have to be the perfect time to see if we can make this whole thing work.

"Well, as I said, another good person to talk with, if you really want to get some information, is that Rob guy. That guy was talking to her all the time. To be honest, I feel like he might have been a bit jealous of Ocho, and liked her quite a bit." After Tobias said that, I nodded, wondering if everything ever was going to have a love triangle.

"You were also saying that she had a boyfriend, Ocho. Do you think that he would be willing to help us out?" I asked, and I was seeing Tobias actually consider that question. He sighed, seeming to think that doing so would be a waste of fucking time.

"Yeah, I fucking did. But to be honest, I have no idea if talking to him is going to be getting you any fucking answers. He never shows up. Anyways, I think the best first place you might want to check is the high schoo. See if there was anything in her locker that was left behind." I could hear the disgust in Tobias's voice as he was suggetsing this, as it was esentially pillaging her belongings.

"Could we maybe check her room?" Davis asked, and then Tobias seemed to be thinking about that idea. I wondered why he wasn't thinking of this earlier, since it would have only been the natural conclusion.

"Fine. Sure. Let's fucking go." Tobias said, and then we went to the house, where we were seeing that the butler was still working. I smiled, as I realized we had the perfect chance to pull this off, and we went straight to her bedroom.

Once inside, we were seeing the room had been untouched since she had gone missing. All her clothes were still the same way that they were, and the smell had clearly grown a musty feel, and there was some dust gathering in the area. I shook my head, unsure what to think.

"Well, Ocho gave her this before she went missing. He said she felt like she deserved to know his true thoughts." Tobias said, and pulled out a black notebook. "I checked a page or two of it once, and it's just a journal of him relaying the events of the school year. Kind of boring, if you ask me." He said, and I slowly nodded, not wanting to bother him with my questions.

"True thoughts? Really? I wonder how close they really were. Maybe they had a bit of a fight earlier, and he was trying to make up to her." Davis said, and then Tobias was shaking his head, thinking that was just impossible.

"No. They were thick as fucking thieves that school year. I think I only heard them kind of fight like once." Ocho said, and Yolei piqued up as he said that, wondering what she would learn from that.

"What about?" Yolei asked, and Tobias looked at her, as if thinking that getting into that would be a waste of time. But when he was seeing Yolei's face, and seeing that she was not budging, he sighed.

"They were getting into a fight about labyrinth. Andrea never really believed most of those stories. Felt like that was folk lore children used to justify why women in this town hate Wayside, and would leave. Ocho said it probably was real." Tobias said, and I was feeling like every time labyrinth came up, I just needed to get the attention back again.

"He said that there was no other way to justify so many things. Said that if say a person went missing every two to three years, then he might be able to believe the run away, but when it's every few months or something, then the whole fucking thing is bullshit." When he finished that, he sighed.

"Whose side do you fucking believe?" I asked, and Tobias looked at me, as if wondering why I even cared, considering the fact that this was something that was well beyond anything he could fucking handle.

"I have no idea who I even fucking believe anymore. I think that if I were to guess, I think that Ocho's point is probably more true. I mean, like he said, girls hate Wayside, and there is a reason for this. I think Andrea was just thinking on the bright side. I loved my cousin, but I am a realist when I say that she never was the brightest." After Tobias said this, he was shaking his head, and sounded kind of upset at this.

"And what I do know, is that Andrea wouldn't have run away when her life was starting to take off. Either she is dead, and we need to find her body, or if labyrinth is real, which I guess I can't deny, then she will be there." One he said that, I was shaking my head, not sure what to say.

"Oh shit. So we need to go to that party tonight. Regardless if you like it or not." I said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he was despising this idea, but I was seeing that he was totally thinking the same way. Just didn't want to fucking admit it.

"Exactly. I might not like it, but I see no other choice. I hope Rachel can forgive me." He said, and then he was looking at that journal again, wondering if maybe something would be in there after all, and he was just brushing it off earlier.

"See you guys then." Tobias said, sounding like he just wanted to change the subject, and move on. I sighed, feeling like I just needed to respect his wishes, and not be pushing him, considering the fact that we were forcing this out of him, to be honest.

"We will make this work. Even if you might not see it right now." Yolei said, and I was seeing him looking like he was hardly buying a fucking word of what I said.

I was seeing that from the look on Tobias's face, that he was clearly not really thinking that we were going to really pull this whole thing off. But I guess that he was just so desperate for answers, that emotions were now fully beating logic, and he was no longer going to be hiding. And besides, with the labyrinth party tonight, it'll at least be something to go off of.

---

Scene 7: The Labyrinth Party

June 11, 1986, Evening

Tobias, Davis, Yolei, and I met up near the entrance to the forest, as we were looking ahead, and I was then thinking of something else. "Do you have any idea how much longer that tree house is even going to be standing?" I asked, just trying to lighten up the mood at least a smal touch. Tobias looked at me, as if uninterested in that.

We started to head inside, and once there, we were seeing all of the older teenagers hanging out, and having the time of their lives. I was feeling like there wasn't even anything to be getting here.

"So this is basically going to be a waste of fucking time." I said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he wasn't shocked in the slightest that this whole thing turned out to be a fucking wash.

"Well, I wonder what the fucking hell Principal Brown is doing here." Tobias said, and then he started to head over to our principal. Davis, Yolei, and I, looked confused at each other, all wondering the same thing Tobias had been wondering.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing at a labyrinth party?" Tobias asked, as we were watching teenagers drinking alcohol, and I was quickly realizing that we really had no fucking leg to stand on judging him for being here.

"Well, considering the fact that most people here are getting wasted, and aren't even old enough to drink, I would argue I am one of the only ones who really have a right to be here. Anyways, I always come to one of these parties every year, to just see how things are different, and see if there are any students I used to teach that I could recognize." He said, and then Tobias was looking at him, rather confused at this.

"What the fuck do you mean?" Tobias asked, and our principal looked like he wanted to call Tobias out for swearing, but decided against it since it was summer. "Anyways, the point of the matter, is it true that the girls who go missing here often times go to the labyrinth parties first?"

"Aren't you a bit too young to be caring about things like that?" He asked, and then he was seeing the look on Tobia's face, and I was seeing him starting to realize that Tobias was not going to be budging on this subject at all.

"Oh yeah, your cousin. Well, yes, often times they go missing after they attend a party. But nobody really noticed that before. Where did you get that from, Mr. Wilson?" He asked, and then Tobias started to freeze a bit as he heard this.

"Gumball Watterson." Tobias said, and then I was seeing the principal rubbing his eyes with index finger and thumb, clearly beyond the point of wanting to discuss this.

"Drop the fucking subject. This is a rather dangerous thing for kids your age to be getting into." He said, and then Davis took another step forward, feeling like he needed to finally press the subject further.

"Why the fuck is it so dangerous?" Davis asked, and Principal Brown was looking at Davis, regretting every word that he had said, knowing how Davis was going to react.

"Look, about twenty, maybe twenty two, years ago, a high school student was looking for his sister all the time, and all the other missing women in his grade. He was the greatest student this town ever had. Perfect grades, won championships for sports, perfect work record, dating girls every year, a fucking philatrophist helping the town thrive, and was actually not a fucking douche bag and a friend to everybody. He was the beacon of hope this town had." Brown started, and looked around, hoping to not ruin the party.

"But one summer break, he started to get way too interested in this case, looked way too deeply into it, and before long, some of his friends ended up dead. Some even accused him of doing it. Theories go around that he actually found the answer to the town. But then he started falling into hard drugs that year, and within a year completely ruined his entire life. And within five years, he had already become a husk of the man he once was. Even if this doesn't kill you, it will ruin you." He said, and then Yolei looked at us.

"Sheldon Lee. Is that the man you're talking about?" She asked, and then Brown slowly nodded, glad that Yolei at least was able to pick up on who he was talking about.

"Yeah, that's him. Alaywas gave me the impression that he wanted to try and fight for what was best for the town, but didn't know how to do it. Well, either way, I think it's time for me to be heading home. Sorry for the long talk." He said, and then shook his head at this.

As he was starting to leave us alone, Davis looked right at Tobias, trying to decide what to even say here. "I thought that you and Gumball had a massive fucking fight." Davis smiled as he heard this, thinking maybe a connection with Gumball was possible now.

"Well, his parents and my parents still do business meetings every second Friday, and when that happens, they have the two of us hang out. So I still know what is going on with him." Tobias said, and then I thought about what he had just said.

"Maybe on the next meet up, I can try and talk to him, and see what he might know. Seems like he has a bit more knowledge than we might be giving him credit for." I said, as Tobias was shaking his head at this.

"That would be the 20th. If you really want to see him then, I guess I can arrange it." Tobias said, and he sounded like he wanted nothing to do with this meet up. But I nodded, and choose to not think about the way he reacted.

"Cool. I can try and see what he knows about these parties, and if either of his parents have any idea what is happening." I said, and Tobias was starting to trt and mingle in with the area.

"Do you think that Andrea only went missing because she showed up to one of these parties?" I asked, as Tobias seemed to not really have a interest in this topic for the time being.

"I have no fucking idea. That is what I am trying to figure out. If they just pick girls who go here, then I think that it needs to be more public that this is behind it all." Tobias balled his right fist, and I wondered what the issue was going to be now,

"Strange to see Principal Brown here. I wonder what his ulterior motive was." Tobias said, and I nodded in agreement when he said that. I looked at Davis and Yolei, wondering what they might have thought about this.

"I think that maybe he might have something to do with this, and that you might have caught him when he was in the middle of doing something." After Davis said this, I was considering what he had said, although I hated to even think about it.

"If that is the case, then I really wonder what is going on here. To be honest, we got everything that we needed here. If you guys want to go home, then I think now would be a good time to do so." After Tobias was saying this, we were starting to walk off. This was when Yolei came up with a new plan of attack.

"Hey guys, I think a good starting point next time would be us getting some lunch of something. Maybe we can discuss plans or what we have done so far." Yolei said, and then Davis was slowly sighing at this.

"Where would you even want to go?" Tobias asked, and then I looked at Yolei, thinking that since it was her idea, she needed to be the one that picked a spot for us. She sighed, as if annoyed that she was having to do all the fucking work or something.

"Well, I think that maybe we can to go Joyful Burger. I can also try and see what I might be able to get out of Sheldon next time I see him. Maybe he would be willing to see me." After Yolei said this, I sighed, feeling like the Joyful Burger would be the better idea for now.

"Yeah, with how much Larry is out in the public service, he has got to be a hub of information. Yeah, go with that. And maybe when there is no customers around, we might be able to talk to him then." Tobias said, liking this plan of attack. He looked at Davis and I.

"I still need to try and get to know more about you two. I mean, I feel like you guys have your own reasons to be doing this, and I just feel like I need to fucking know." He said, and I was wondering what the hell he was meaning here. Did he seriously think that maybe I wasn't going to be trying to do this job or something?

"Well, that is not something that I am willing to discuss in the open yet. I want to be sure that I am personally ready for that stuff before I get too deep into it." After Davis said this, I knew he was referring to the sister annoucement. But to be honest, I was feeling like he just needed to say it, that way everybody in the group would have a better idea what to be getting into.

"Oh my god, what the fuck? We're supposed to be working together, and this shit is fucking unfair." After Tobias said that, I was seeing Davis looking like he was trying to hide his uncertainty at the attacks that he got. Then he decided to remain silent.

"Well, just because we're working together doesn't mean that we need to talk about every little detail of our lives. That being said, this party turned out to be kind of a wash. Just high school students doing normal party stuff, and a confirmation on what we already suspected." Davis said, and then he shook his head.

"Let me try and talk to Sheldon about the stuff Brown told us. He might have a clue." Yolei said, going back to that, and I was thinking we both knew he wouldn't fucking talk.

"I'm probably not coming to another one of these in a while." Tobias said, and then he looked right at us. "See you guys at Joyful Burger tomorrow." Tobias affirmed the plan, and then I nodded, glad that at least he was willing to work with me. And then with that, I was starting to think it was time to go home.

As I walked in in the middle of the night, I was wondering why I even wasted my time suggesting the idea of going to be a fucking labyrinth party. Nothing was even fucking happening here, and I felt like it was a joke.

---

Scene 8: Joyful Burger

June 12, 1986, Lunch Time

The next day, we were at Joyful Burger, as per Yolei's suggestion, and once there, that was when I was seeing Tobias look like he was much more willing to relax.

"I still feel like Mr. Brown knows something that he is holding back. But regardless, I feel like talking to Rob is the best idea. Would you be willing to help me with that T.K." Tobias asked, and I slowly nodded, feeling like there was no reason to say no.

"Yeah, and in the mean time, Davis and Yolei can try and find something else out. You know, cover more ground by spliting up." Tobias said, and then he winked, as if trying to help Davis have a better chance of getting the girl. Davis looked at him, utterly scared at the idea.

"Where would we go?" Yolei asked, and then Tobias was thinking about that very question. Probably not enjoying the fact that he was having to try and make a plan, despite not really being in the mindset for that.

"Maybe talk to Ocho, or find out where Julian is. You know, her other fucking friend that she was constantly hanging around at the time." Tobias said, and I was seeing both Davis and Yolei looked like this was not going to be good enough to really work with, but would go along for the plan for the time being anyways.

"I mean, it's better than nothing at all. And besides, I think that if we can find Julian, he might have an idea what her other hobbies were." Davis said, and Tobias looked furious that Davis was low key insinuating that he didn't know what his cousin was like.

"Yeah, sure. And I think that maybe if you never find him, then maybe Rob has a fucking clue. After all, Rob seems to be on the total fucking know all when it comes to this place." Tobias said, and I was seeing the look of happiness growing further by the second.

"Hey T.K., before we get to work, can I borrow you for an hour or two? Besides, that can give Davis and Tobias time to plan." She said, and I was sighing, and while confusing as all fuck about this, decided to agree to her proposal.

"Yeah, I guess that you can. Is there anything that you fucking needed?" I asked and I was shaking my head, feeling like Davis and Tobias deserved to know what the issue was here, considering the fact that she was literally trying to tell them away.

"Well, to be honets, it is about that fucking deal that we heard my parents give to Kenta a couple days ago. I feel like I need to try and look further into it. And I want you to be my insurance." She said, and I was looking at her, and I was feeling like what she was saying was fucking egregious.

"You do know that if you try and do that, then your parents are going to fucking ban me from ever fucking speaking to you guys again? That is not going to fucking be worth it at all." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to put my foot down.

"I will take responsibility for it. You do not have to worry about that shit at all. Besides, I think that they are already kind of getting over some of the shit that I have been doing. So maybe I am beyond hiding." Yolei said, and then Tobias was looking rather uncomfortable at what was going on, so he instantly decided to change the fucking subject.

"Well, to be honest, I think we need to get back on topic. Anyways, T.K. and I will reach out to Rob, and you guys do what you need to do in the mean time. Let's say at seven tonight, we meet up again and continue the plan?" Tobias asked, feeling like he just needed to try and get the subject back to normal.

As we were talking, that was when Larry Needlemeyer, the owner of the store, came up to us. He placed our food down, as he smiled when looking at Yolei, and I wondered what the point of his shit eating grin really was.

"Hey Needlemeyer? I heard rumors that you were dating the first ever girl that went missing in Wayside? Is that true? Do you feel like there was anything done to bring her home?" After Tobias asked this, I was wondering why he was even trying to dig this shit up right now.

"To be honest, I do not want to talk about that. Besides, that was nearly fifty years ago. Of course it is all in the past now." Larry said, and I was seeing from the look on his face that he was clearly trying to fucking hide something, and I was feeling like I needed to crack down on that.

"Come on. My friend had his cousin go missing. He is just trying to figure out how to put this all together. Can you give him a fucking helping hand?" Davis asked, and I was seeing Larry looking like he was just really worried about what we were doing now.

"Truth be told, I have tried to place that whole thing behind me. Especially since I run the Needlemeyer business building a couple miles from here." Larry mentioned, and I suddenly remembered that, totally forgetting about that earlier. I looked at Tobias, wondering if he had any plans on what to do now.

"But now that you mention it, I do remember your dad coming here a while ago. He was telling me that Rachel was accusing him of knowing something about your cousins case, and that he was not caring enough to actually do anything about it." Larry said, and Tobias stood up, placing his hands on the table.

"My father is an incredible man who has been working his ass off on bringing the town together. I heard that he was even planning on getting the democratic nomination for mayor of Wayside this time?" Tobias said, and then he looked at Yolei, Davis, and me, hoping that we would take what he was saying seriously.

"I am just telling you what I fucking heard. Well, sorry that I could not be of more fucking help." Larry said, and I was seeing him looking like he was just kind of tired of even having to have this discussion in the first place.

He took the next cigarette of his pack out, and then he forgot to put it in his pocket before he was leaving. When his back was turned, I saw that there were still seventeen left, so I snatched two before he would notice.

I was mainly doing it to have some fun, and to try it out in the first place, since I did not think it was even going to matter. Especially since my father would buy a carton every week, and Matt would always steal a pack at around eight or seven left.

"You're dad is running for fucking mayor?" Davis asked, and I was wondering why that was the main thing that was worth mentioning.

"Yeah. He said that he was going to try and run his business, while working as mayor at the same time, feeling like he would be the best person for the job, given the experience that he has had over the years." Tobias said, and then he was smiling when he was thinking about the stint that I just made with the cigarettes.

"And don't forget that on the 20th, I am going to be with you while you talk to Gumball. I can just simply do most of the talking this time, and that way you do not have to worry about what is happening." I said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he was finding this to be a relatively fucking terrible idea.

"Oh yeah. I just hope that he is going to be less of an asshole around you than he is with me. That guy is a fucking dick to me most of the fucking time." Tobias was saying, and I wondered if he was really feeling this way, or just saying that as a way to try and make himself strong.

"Well, from what you said, it seems like he is more than willing to work with this, if it means helping you with your cousin." Davis said, and Tobias was considering what Davis had said. Probably thinking that Davis was just trying too hard to be charitable.

"To be honest, why are you so fucking scared of what your parents discussed with Kenta?" After Tobias asked Yolei this, she looked at him, thinking he was being fucking stupid for even asking her this in the first place.

"Because I have a feeling that my parents are going to try and sale me," Yolei said, and all three of us guys stopped the jokes right then and there, thinking that she was being fucking crazy for even suggesting something like this.

"There is no reasonable proof to think that though? I mean, do you think that there is a chance that you might be thinking too deeply here?" After Davis asked this, Yolei sighed, clearly sounding like she was not wanting to hear this at all.

"I might be. Who fucking knows. What I do know however is that the money in this town is rolling through, and the town is none the wiser to how people are making bank, when girls are going missing here now." After Yolei was telling us this, I was seeing both Tobias and Davis looking scared out of their mind at this idea.

"Truth of the matter is that it is probably fucking drugs, and that this whole thing that they do is to make sure that they never run out." Yolei said, and then she was looking over at Larry, and while she saw his slight worry, I feel like that was because he was an inherently strange person.

"That guy has been staring at me since I turned eleven. He's a nice guy, but a small part of him gives me the heebee geebees." Yolei said, and then Davis laughed at that, and I was shocked to see his burger and fries were already completely fucking done.

"All the girls say that Larry looks at them. He clearly likes younger women. Doesn't mean anything though. Besides, he's behind the register sixteen hours a day. He probably has gotten so in character on customer service that he just thinks that is part of it." Davis said, and Yolei slowly nodded, feeling like that might be right.

When Tobias finished, he was sighing. "See you guys at seven." He said to Yolei and I, and then he looked at Davis. "Let's get going, and see what we might be able to fucking find."

With that, we went our own way, but as Yolei requested, I decided that I would try and talk to her for a bit, which would give Davis and Tobias an hour or two to try and get to know each other a bit. Which was honestly the most important thing they could do.

---

Scene 9: The Mistress

June 12 1986 Late Afternoon

When Yolei and I were sitting down at the park, I was feeling like I needed to confront Yolei with her really serious accusations. I mean, I wanted to take what she was saying to heart. But she was suggesting something way beyond my fucking league.

"Why do you think your parents would do that to you? And even if they fucking did, they would not be able to get away with it. That type of shit is really easy to fucking find." I said, and I was seeing Yolei looking like she was so fucking pissed that I was not taking her seriously.

"I know what I fucking meant T.K. And you know what they fucking said. You know that we are living in a town where Andrea went missing, and there are fucking stories about labyrinths and what not." After Yolei said that, I sighed, and shook my head.

"To be honest, I need to fucking find out where labyrinth is, or if it is even real to begin with." I said, feeling like if I can find out the truth of the legend, then things might be better. But I knew deep down inside, it was a fucking joke.

"T.K., just trust me when I say that I know that my parents are up to something, and you are somebody who I can trust to make it work." She was telling me, and I could not believe what she said.

"I think that we are all fucking scared. But I know that you made your fucking point. And if there is even a small chance that you are right, then I feel like I need to take it with utter certainty." I said, shaking my head as I had said this. I hated admitting this, but I knew there was no choice.

"Thanks for seeing my side of things. I understand you guys might not fucking see it. But this is really important to me. I just fear that Davis and Tobias are not going to be taking what I say seriously, and make jokes about every word that comes out of my mouth." As Yolei said this, I sighed, not sure what to tell her.

"Well, you said yourself that Sheldon is a good fucking clue." After I was telling her this, she was sighing, feeling like she was going to quickly regret what she said. But I would not let it down at all.

"So fucking talk to him, and see what he thinks about the theories of sales. I mean, just because I do not get it, doesn't mean that it isn't true." I said, and I was shaking my head, disgusted that I was actually agreeing with this.

"Yeah. I will. Hopefully he will fucking get it." After she was telling me this, I slowly smiled, and I was wondering why I was so scared of her theory. Especially since it was seeming like a totally realistic idea.

"I mean, when is the next time you see Cody?" I asked, and then she was considering my question. She shrugged, as if almost forgetting about the fact that she had to do that to begin with.

"Usually every three to four days. So I will probably have to go tomorrow." Yolei said, and I was shaking my head, not sure what the hell I could even accomplish out of all of this anymore.

"Cody. I just hope that he doesn't have to see what I am doing. He will probably never fucking forgive me if he thinks that I am accusing his father again." She said, and then I was sighing, having no idea what to tell him.

"You seem to care an awful lot about what that fucking child is fucking thinking. Is there something you haven't told me?" I asked, and she was looking at me, wondering what the hell I was even trying to get at when I asked her this.

"Of course I care what he thinks. I have to watch him for like 6 hours twice a week, so I better fucking care what he thinks." She said, and I was sighing, feeling like I made a fucking mistake even saying that to her. Clearly, she was pissed off with what I was saying.

"Sorry I pestered you about it." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like she just needed to fucking give me a break, and not think that I was some fucking asshole or something like that.

"Well, I think that I just want to make sure that he knows that no matter what his father might have done, I don't judge him at all, and I see that he is still a nice kid." Yolei said, and I was wondering if she had assumed that Sheldon might have had something to do with it.

"So you do think that Sheldon is probably involved in all of this shit after all? What do you think you will do with that information?" I asked, and I saw Yolei looking like she had no idea how to figure that out on her own.

"I have no fucking idea what I think of him. He seems like a really nice guy on some days, and then on other days, I feel like he is barely keeping himself sane, and I just don't know what to guage anymore." She said, and then I shrugged, honestly not really knowing if I cared.

"But that is more to the question of do you think that he is the one behind this all?" I asked, feeling like I needed her to fucking answer me, and I was hardly caring if she was feeling like I was pressing her too much.

"I don't fucking know what to think of him. I think that he might know what is happening. But with the way that he talks about the past and what not, I think he is totally innocent." After she said that to me, I sighed, feeling really annoyed with the way she was acting.

"See, that is my fucking point. If he is not involved in what is happening, then I think we need to give him a bit of a break." As I said that, I was seeing her looking really out of the fucking distance.

"I never thought that my parents of all fucking people would be allowing for something like this to fucking happen. I mean, I know that I let them down a bit. They even say it to each other when I'm in my room, but I never thought that they hated me." She said, as I decided to keep my thoughts to myself, not wanting to upset her.

When I was thinking of the agreement that I had made with Yolei, I knew that this was a terrible fucking idea. I knew that this was going to get us killed. But I felt like she was suffering enough as it was that I refused to make it worse. I just simply nodded, and chose to leave it alone.

Eventually, we made it to her house, where she wanted to be for a while, before we met up with the other guys again. Once we were there, she was insisting that we go to her fathers office, which I knew from a fucking mile away was a terrible fucking idea.

"Yolei, this is fucking crazy. If your dad sees us in his office, he will never want to speak to us again." I said, hoping to get her to fucking step back a god damn second.

"I don't fucking care." She said, and walked inside, and once inside, we were seeing that there was a picture of Yolei on his desk, and a couple of files. As she opened one up, I was choosing that I would try and keep guard on her, to make sure that she was still fine for the time being.

"Are you finding anything useful?" I asked, trying to make it clear to her that I needed her to just fucking speed it up, and stop fucking taking her sweet ass time with this. She was giving me death daggers, as if telling me to just shut the fucking hell up, and stop pestering her.

"Shut the fucking hell up!" Yolei said, and then I was shocked at her candid response, and I was feeling like I might have really pushed her too far. So I decided to just shut up, and not press the matter any further.

She was reading the file. "All really confusing to be honest. Probably not really anything I can understand. Something about addresses and dollar amounts, and days of the week." Yolei said, and then she closed the folder, feeling like that was a waste of time.

"What fucking address was there?" I asked, and she was looking at me, and I saw that she was shocked that I was even paying attention to something so fucking simple as that.

"I think some warehouse three or four miles down. Look, it's not fucking important, and it gave me nothing to fucking work with." Yolei said, and then she left the office, and I was pissed at her way of dealing with this case. If she wanted me to fucking handle her situation, she needed to work with me a lot more.

"Yolei, you need to take anything you can get. I mean, what if the legends are true, and labyrinth really is true? Then couldn't this be a key to figuring it out?" I asked, and we took a few steps out, to make sure that we were not suspicious of what happened.

"Why is everybody always talking about labyrinth? I mean, this is clearly a story made to fucking scare kids. There is no way that something like a destroyed mine has things in it. Especially since Sheldon himself said all but one of them were completely demolished when his father was mayor." After Yolei said this, I looked at her, wondering what this was.

"Yolei. That could be huge. You need to get that man to tell you." I said, and then I was seeing Yolei looking like she was finding my reaction to be utterly insane. Probably thinking that I was trying to grasp at straws.

Before we could discuss further, her parents were walking in the house. They seemed to be relatively excited to see me, but when they saw Yolei, there was a hint of mild displeasure.

"Hey T.K. Sorry to bother you. I assume you have been making sure our daughter behaves herself?" Her mother asked, and winked at me. I was confused what she was talking about.

"Just in the area, and seeing if Yolei wanted to maybe go out and have some pizza or something for dinner. I'll pay for it of course." I said, really trying hard to not make this more uncomfortable than it was.

"Well, just be careful." Her father said, and Yolei was looking like she wanted to leave. So with that, she pushed them both aside and left the house. I was seeing the look on both their faces.

When she was gone, her mother nodded. "What on earth has happened to her this last year? She's become completely miserable." After they said that, I cleared my throat a bit.

"I better get going. Sorry to keep you from doing your job." I said, and then as I was at the door, before I left, they apologized to me, and I nodded, thinking they were just trying to be nice, as I left the house.

Yolei Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 10: Meeting Rob

June 12 1986 Evening

Tobias and I went over to Rob's house, not really wanting to waste any time on the subject at all. Once Tobias knocked on the door, he was looking right at me. "To be honest, I have a feeling this is going to be a waste of fucking time. I have a feeling he doesn't really care." Tobias said, whiched kind of shocked me.

When Rob answered, he looked like there was instantly a look of pity on his face. "Look, I think you guys should not be here right now. I can't help you with the case." As he said that, Tobias shook his head at this.

"I think we both know that that's bullshit, and I think we both know that you want to help me with finding out more about Andrea." As Tobias said this, Rob seemed to be a bit distant at that.

"Well, what do you think I could even give you?" Rob asked, feeling like he would take the bait at least, since the discussion already started, so he might as well just see where this would go.

"Well, we know that you went to that labyrinth party with her, and we wondered if anything happened to her specifically." Tobias said, and then Rob looked at both of us, shocked that it was this simple.

"Well, she had been talking to Steven Small for a while, before they went outside for a bit, and then she came back in. Totally different demeanor, and when I tried to ask her, she just told me that it was nothing to worry about. No real response at all." He said, and I looked right at Tobias, wondering what to say.

"Want to talk to Steven now?" I asked, feeling like we would try and use the information that Rob gave us. Then Rob was shaking his head, as if trying to make it explicityly clear that this idea was god fucking awful, and we needed to end this right now.

"Look, I think if you try and talk to him, he might do something in return." After Steven said that, Gumball was shaking his head, as if hardly even fucking caring at all over something as simple as this.

"Besides, Rachel made it very clear that she wants you to have nothing to do with this. And as long as I have a say on the fucking matter then I am going to try and hold my promise." As he said this, Tobias was starting to smile for a second.

"I don't fucking care what Rachel wants." Tobias said, and then he was starting to leave. "Although I guess you're going to be no help at all." As he was starting to leave, Rob stopped him to talk again.

"Look. Hold on." Rob said, and then he was shaking his head. "How about at the park, where my mom won't be hearing most of this." He said, and then Tobias slowly nodded, feeling like this would be a lead he would go with.

"Sure. But you better be holding your end of the bargain." He said, and then with that, I wondered what Tobias was going to say to whatever Rob would admit to us. In all honesty, I was scared that he would give us some real fucking bomb shells.

Rob tried to break the discomfort of the walk to the park with a bit of small talk, to help Tobias feel a bit better about the whole thing, but I could tell that neither one of them were really buying any of this, and I wondered what the issue even was now.

Once at the park, Rob sighed, and we all sat down at the bench. "Look, Julian suspects one of the reasons she went missing was because of the fact that Ocho was really fixiated on the legends of this town, and he got super into looking at all the details of the missing cases." Rob said, and I could see the look on Tobias's face grow to become one of utter anger at that.

"Oh shit. Why would Ocho get involved in something like that in the first place? Wouldn't he be able to figure out that with everything going on, this would be a rather big mistake right away?" Tobias asked, both sounding angry, and also just kind of confused, why he would be doing something like this in the first place.

"Well, I think at first, it was just a relatively innocent thing, trying to just see what in the world was even going on here. But then he started to get, how do I put it, borderline obsessed with it?" Rob said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like this was really just giving him a sour opinion on the matter.

"So basically you're saying that Ocho's interest might be the fucking reason that my fucking cousin went missing, and eveyrbody is just kind of letting him get off scot fucking free?" After Tobias asked this, I was seeing Rob looking kind of worried on how Tobias would be taking this.

"Or there really is something going on, and the people behind it might just be wanting to use that a as excuse to hide what they have been doing. That is also a relatistic enough idea." Rob said, and I saw Tobias looking like he could not believe what he had just gotten himself into.

"Obviously that is what fucking happened. I don't want to just throw him under the bus though. So I might have to just talk to him when I get a chance though. Maybe when I hear his side, I could understand." Tobias said, trying to just keep a relatively positive aspect on the whole thing.

"T.K., why are you even involved in this in the first place? I mean, you barely even know Tobias." Rob said, and I was shaking my head, not wanting to hear him basically accuse me just going along for the ride, or what he might be saying.

"My friend Davis wanted to help him, and I decided to go along for the ride. And let's just say that Davis does have a valid enough reason to want to get involved in this." After I said that to him, I saw Rob looking like he hadn't been too sure what to think.

"Sorry for asking. I just felt like I wanted to know." Rob said, and then he shrugged, and simply seemed like he wanted to just drop the subject, for his own personal sake. "I can promise to help you guys, if you just promise me that you don't bother Rachel with any of this? She already has enough to be dealing with without you guys making it worse." After Rob said this, Tobias just simply rolled his eyes.

"Don't fucking tell me that you're falling in love with this girl? That is only going to be making things so much worse." Tobias said, and he sounded fucking annoyed as all hell at this.

Then with that, Tobias was standing up, and then he looked Rob straight in the eyes. "I am going to talk to that piece of shit teacher, and I am going to be forcing him to tell me what he fucking knows." As Tobias said this, in a extremely firm tone, I was seeing Rob looking like he was just hoping that I would try and save this subject.

"Oh yeah, and get fucking expelled in the process? I think you are fucking insane dude. And I can promise you that any remote chance you have of having a normal acedemic life is going to be thrown down the window, on him just trying to prevent you from getting the education you seek." Rob said, and balled his fist, as I could clearly hear the desperation in his voice as he said this.

"Can't be expelled for something that happens during the fucking summer." After Tobias said that, he smiled, as if feeling like what he was saying was still relatively innocent enough, and I was wondering if he was just trying to bait Rob with what he was saying.

"I hope that you fucking see that something like this is going to really fucking hurt you in the long run." Rob said, but I was also hearing from the tone of his voice, that he was sounding like he just kind of gave up on even having this conversation in the first place.

"Well, what other options do you have?" Tobias asked, and then Rob looked down on the ground, and I could see that this idea was going to really fucking piss him off. Probably more than virtually anything Tobias said.

"My mom goes over to Shaun Reichenbach every Friday night. Has been a business partner of his for as long as I can possibly remember. I might try and see what she might fucking know about the subject. After all, she is relatively open about it all." Rob said, and Tobias seemed to be kind of shocked at the fact that Rob's mother of all people had that level of social connection.

"Well, if you can get her to fucking talk, and what not, then please fucking do. Because that could actually be really fucking helpful." Tobias said, and I was seeing that there was a small fucking glimmer of hope on his face. For once, I was glad to be seeing him looking like he actually kind of happier.

"And how would you feel if we did start bringing Rachel into this whole thing? I mean, she is my fucking sister after all. I think that she truly does deserve a right to know what is happening here." As Tobias said this, I was seeing Rob looking scared out of his fucking mind on what Tobias had just said.

"Well, I think that I would have to acknowledge that this is indeed your own choice, while still feeling like I would need to make it clear that I did not respect the choice at all." Rob said, and I was feeling like this entire partnership was going to be rather fucking tense, no matter what would fucking happen.

"I'll try and talk to Julian too. Maybe see if your friend knows more about the Ocho thing than either of us do." Tobias said, and I was wondering why he was trying to pretend liek Rob didn't really know enough.

"Okay. Go ahead. In all honesty, I can see that you are probably going to be doing that, no matter what I fucking say. Just be careful at least." After Rob was saying this, Tobias shook his head, looking like he was not really in the mood to deal with this.

As Tobias and I left, and Rob was heading home, I was suddenly seeing Tobias looking like this was something that was at least giving him something to look forward too. I wondered what the issue was, and why in the world he was even so scared of this in the first place. It seemed like everything was going decently well.

"At least it seems like he is willing to work with me. Better than nothing at all. Well, reluctant is sure as fuck better than nothing at all. I just hope that he knows that I am going to hold him to his fucking word, no matter what." Tobias said, and I was feeling like this was a terrible idea.

---

Scene 11: The Church

June 13, 1986, Morning

Tobias, Davis, Yolei, and I, went over to the church the next morning, to see what in the world we would be able to find there. To be honest, I was having no fucking illusions that this whole thing was going to work out.

"I always found it odd that my cousin was a religious person. I mean, I always thought that she was just trying to appeal to other people by doing so." After Tobias said that, I sighed, and I was not really all that sure what in the world I was even going to be able to tell him.

"Especially when her boyfriend was somebody like fucking Ocho, and always seemed to be getting in trouble with authorities." After Tobias said this, I was wondering if there was some lingering resentment here.

As we were talking, that was when a much older man with red hair and a tuxedo was walking in the church. I was curious to know who the hell this guy was, so I looked over at Yolei, and I was seeing her looking utterly shocked to be seeing this guy here in the first place.

We didn't pay him much attention as we kept talking, thinking that he was just coming in to do a religious service, and to be honest, I was not really even interested in being here to begin with.

"Well, I heard that Ocho would sometimes come in here, trying to just find peace of mind over the things going on around him, and his family. I have no idea how much of that is true. But if it is, I wonder if maybe I should have paid him more fucking mind." Tobias said, and I was seeing that he was clearly having a hard tiem wrapping the whole thing around his head.

"But yeah, regardless, I just sometimes wonder if god really is real, and it would be as simple as coming to his church, and praying for him to give me the answers." Tobias said, as he was walking up to the alter. I had no idea what to even say to this.

At this rate, that was when the man with red hair actually did come up to us, and I saw him looking like he just needed to say something. "You were talking about that girl who went missing relatively recently?" He asked, and then Tobias looked over at him, wondering why this guy was suddenly caring now.

"Yeah, she was my fucking cousin, and I am not going to be giving up on her, no matter what." Tobias said, with such firmness that I was seeing the other guy look like this was the exact response he had been hoping for.

"Well, my name is Brad Carbunkle. I have been hired by Shaun Reichenbach to be looking out for details on the missing girls, as well as to help provide a message of unity to those who are scared." Brad said, and smiled as he said this, just having the most shit eating opinion on the matter possible.

"To be honest, I don't really believe that Shaun is out doing this for any fucking person besides himself. He wants to have a bit of a reputation among the public, and because of that, he has to do this." Tobias said, not even caring how much he was playing with fire here.

"Look, my boss might be a bit of a strict business man, but he understands that people have needs, and that they are going through several things on their own. He is trying to fucking help everybody he fucking can." After Brad said this, he looked at Yolei, and smiled.

"Hey Brad, haven't seen you at the store in over a week. Anything happen?" Yolei asked, and I would later learn from her and her parents that Brad had been one of the most loyal customers to her store, and would drop by every three to four days, usually Wednesdays and Saturdays.

"Yeah, I have been just training on the job lately. I did come by yesterday, but your parents said you left the house after a fight with them. Anyways, I was told that the church was a good place to get some information." Brad said, and I was glad that he was still talking in a relatively cordial way.

As we talked, that was when the attendant, a man in his fifties, walked in on us talking. "Was there something you guys needed?" He asked, and then Brad decided that he would try and take ahold of the conversation, to make it seem like we were still at least on a civil level.

"Yes, we were wanting to talk about the girl who went missing a little less than a month ago. Andrea Wilson, I believe her name was." After Brad said this, the man looked shocked to be seeing Brad here in the first place.

"Yeah, she would come by here for service every couple of Sundays or so. She was saying she just needed a place to think, and just take her mind off of the issues of the world for a couple of weeks. She was rather stressed about school, and was worried about her boyfriends safety." The pastor said, and then Brad nodded.

"Now, if you do not mind me asking, why exactly was she worried about her boyfriends safety?" Brad asked, and I saw the guy looking like he was already regretting talking.

"She said her boyfriend was looking into rather dangerous things. She was scared out of her mind that her boyfriend's theories about run aways and all that were proving true. She said he started to use drugs in the last month and a half of their relationship, as a way to cope with what was going on." As the pastor said this, he was looking right at Tobias, wondering what was going on in the guys mind.

"So it seems like that Ocho guy, even if accidentially, might have had something to do with it." After Tobias was saying this, I saw him looking like the whole thing was just pissing him off greatly.

"Was there anything else that she was saying? This could be rather important for my investigation, and I could use every single detail that I could get." Brad said, and I saw Davis pull out a note pad, and write down the basic gist of everything that had been said so far.

"She also mentioned that she was concerned about the growing connection between Rob and the Lazarus Corporation, specifically the president of the company." As the pastor confirmed what Rob had scraped on, Davis finally opened up and started speaking for the first time since Brad came in.

"Why in the world would Rob be talking with Shaun Reichenbach of all people? He's only a freshmen in high school." Davis said, and then the pastor shrugged, at this, feeling like that was beyond his point of interest.

"I don't know. She was just telling me that about once every month or two, Shaun would stop by the house, and make some small talk with Rob. Although she said that Rob was always insisting that he was rather uncomfortable with the whole thing every time, and felt like he was being attacked." The pastor explained, which was leaving Davis rather confused.

"On top of that, but every week, his mother would go to his company hall, so Andrea was starting to wonder if maybe she had a secret relationship with him and what not." The pastor's comments basically affirmed what Rob had already told us, which was a good sign.

"That lines up exactly with what Rob told us last night." After Tobias said that, I nodded, and then he looked like he was now ready to continue placing himself in. "So she was basically trying to help her friends out, and was putting everything on the fucking line to do so?"

"Yeah, it always felt like she was trying to just do whatever she could for her friends to feel safer around her. I always appreciated that about your cousin. But I was trying to tell her that a large part of that battle is to also look out for yourself." After he said that, he shrugged, and seemed kind of out of it.

"And let me guess, she was refusing to look at that, and said that you were trying too hard to keep her from doing what she knew was right?" Brad asked, giving off the impression that he had been going through this cycle all the damn time.

"Esentially yeah. But to be honest, after a point in time, I just kind of got tired of it, and I told her that this needed to be her choice at the end of the day, and that I could not be the one making the choices for her." After the pastor said this, he looked like he regretted saying that now.

"I will admit, I had wished that I had never fucking said that though. If I had known that she would go missing soon, I would have tried to be more gentle with her. And tried to tell her that she was doing the best she could." The pastor said, and then Brad was slowly nodding.

"Thanks for talking to me. I know that you are a busy person, but I need everything that I can get." After Brad said that, the pastor looked down on the ground, and I was seeing him looking relatively upset at the fact that this even had to be a discussion in the first place.

"I am going to have to go back to helping my wife in a few minutes. If you guys need more, I can give you my contact info." After he said that, he wrote on a piece of paper his number, and handed it to Brad.

When the pastor was done, and left us alone, that was when Brad was looking at the three of us. "Look guys, I appreciate the fact that you guys are so interested in this, but this is rather dangerous water. You need to just drop the fucking subject. Let me take care of it. I promise that it will work out." As Brad said this, he shook his head, totally out of the mood.

"But I want to fucking help." Tobias said, and I was seeing from the look on Brad's face that he was actually looking genuinely upset at this assertion. Probably thinking that Tobias was only going to get under foot.

"Look, I was under strict orders that I was supposed to just be doing this case on my own, and not be letting anybody else involved, no matter what the fucking cause is." After Brad said this, I saw Tobias looking like he wanted to just fight this as long as possible. But he shook his head, looking tired at it all.

Brad left the church, and I was feeling like this whole thing was only getting us marginally closer to the end. "I guess it's better than nothing." Davis said, looking at the notes he made. I was wondering how his parents would react if they saw him with these notes, or if they would even care.

---

Scene 12: Catching Davis Up to Speed

June 13, 1986, Afternoon

As Tobias was forced to talk with his sister Rachel, Davis and Yolei were with me, waiting for things to happen. "Hey Yolei, sorry if I was coming off as non believing earlier. You know, about your parents and what not. That is not my fucking place to fucking decide or anything." Davis said, and he was sounding really upset here.

"It's okay. T.K. and I were in my dads office yesterday, which was that whole fight Brad mentioned. There were things in dads office. Like a bunch of locations and what not." Yolei said, looking at me, wondering if I remembered any of them.

"I think that we might have to talk with the fucking Wattersons to be honest. I remember they were the ones that were mentioned the most in those files." I said, remembering some of the details again.

"Yeah, Tobias is not going to like that at all. Will make every excuse known to man explaining why we can't." After Davis said this, he was shaking his head, refusing to deal with this.

"We don't have to fucking do it with him. He is dealing with Rachel right now anyways. Give us a couple of hours to figure it out with him." Yolei said, and I could see the look on Davis's face grow to one of utter uncertainty, but decided against saying anything.

"Okay. But if this fails, you both take the blame." Davis said, making it clear this was a terrible idea, and I nodded, feeling like that was fair enough for both of us.

After an hour or two, we were at the Watterson house, and Yolei knocked on the door, and before too much of a wait, Gumball's mother answered the door, confused to see us here in the first place.

"Hey, my name is Yolei. I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me about the things you were working with my father on." Yolei said, and I was roling my eyes at the utter lack of smoothness with how she was delivering this line.

"That is something that is between me and your dad. Does he know that you're here right now?" She asked, and I was seeing her looking beyond annoyed at the fact that we were foricng her to have this discussion right now.

"Well, I was also hoping that I would be able to see your son Gumball today." I said, trying to get her to calm down, and then she was looking at me, and I was seeing her looking like she was slightly more willing to budge on the matter.

"He is currently getting ready to go out for a while. So you will only be able to see him for a little bit." After she said that to me, I was smiling, and winked at Davis and Yolei now that we were able to go in. Both of them looked like they were glad I was getting them out of the subject.

Before I was able to head straight over to Gumball's room, that was when I was hearing Yolei talking with his mother a bit more, and I closed my eyes, hoping to just get this over with, since I felt like this was all going to go down hill super fucking fast.

"Well, I know that my dad has been working with you, and I was just wondering if I was going to be able to help you guys out, I know that my father can be a rather strict person. Just tell me what he's doing?" She asked, and then Gumball's mother looked rather tired of the constant questions.

"I am the one that asked him to do this. You need to back off of else I will be telling your father that you are harassing me. Yes, we do deals at times. But what else do you expect when you live in a place like Wayside?" She asked, and Yolei shook her head.

"I think we both know that you're not actually going to do that. My parents were talking with Kenta Kitagawa earlier, and they were setting up some form of business sale. And I have been getting nothing from it. I tried to even talk to Brad Carbunkle about it, but nothing happened. And your name is the first one that showed up on the files in his office." After Yolei said that, I was closing my eyes, really think that this was a complete failure.

"Of course Brad would never want to talk about that stuff. He tries to keep those things under severe wraps. Listen, I am going to tell you nicely this one time, but those people who work in Lazarus, Kenta and what not, have no real desire to communicate with you guys about these issues. They are only just trying to save face." After Gumball's mother said this, I was then feeling like I needed to ask another question.

"Where is Gumball's dad right now?" I asked, and she looked right at me, and I could tell from the look on her face that she was mildly annoyed with me bringing that up in the first place.

"He is working his job right now. You know, he spends nearly fifteen hours a day at his job every single day, and when he is home, he's sleeping for seven to eight hours straight. Only takes a day off once every seven or so weeks, and then goes back the next day again." She said, and I remembered the details of the job I learned from school one time, when I was able to speak to Gumball.

As they were walking, Gumball left his room, and he looked like he was trying to just wrap his mind around what the fucking hell was going on. "I have no idea what you guys are doing here, but I need to leave right now." Gumball said, and then pushed past me, which I didn't mind since we did go into his house without permission.

Once he was out of the house, Gumball's mother looked right at us, and I could see from the look on her face that any positive demeanor was gone. "Don't come into my house about those. I am trying to keep those transactions secret from my kids. Richard is always in his room doing file maintence or at his fucking casino running his business. I have a job to do, and I am simply trying to help my husband keep this family afloat." She said, and then Yolei was shaking her head.

"Don't try and make my father the bad guy here." Yolei said, and I was hearing the tone in her voice drop to one of barely keeping her compucture, and I was wondering why in the world she was even caring so much about this in the first place.

When we left the house, I was sighing, feeling like this reaction was to be expected, and I had no idea why in the world Yolei expected differently. Davis looked at me, and then at her, feeling like he just needed to take this at least moderately careful.

"Yolei, I am going to be honest with you, I think we should have both seen something like this coming. I think that you might be trying a bit too hard to make this whole thing work, and you are kind of grasping at straws." Davis said, and Yolei looked at him, as if tired of constantly hearing that, and feeling like he was just trying to judge her.

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry." After she said this, she looked at me, and shook her head. "Although from her reactions earlier, I think it is esentially confirmed that she did indeed work with my dad, and that she is scared of me finding out what exactly that is." After she was telling me this, I sighed, and wasn't sure if this was worth it.

Gumball was still only a few feet away from the house when he was seeing us talk, so he started to head towards us, to try and talk. "What are you guys trying to do with my mother anyways? I think that you should know by now that she doesn't talk about shit like that."

"She was trying to get her to talk about the work that your mother was doing with her father. But it went nowhere, and turned out to be a complete fucking waste of time." Davis said, and I could hear from the tone of his voice that he was actually more than just a little annoyed with this.

"My mom keeps that stuff under severe wraps. You will literally be getting nothing with her. To be honest, I have wanted to try and see what I could learn myself, but it is a complete fucking waste of time." After Gumball said that, he was walking closer to us, feeling like he would spare a few minutes, and talk to us about what was going on.

"You know Tobias has been trying to find out more about his missing cousin. Do you think you would be able to have some information from that." Yolei asked, and then Gumball sighed, suddenly looking far less interested in talking now.

"Look, I tried to talk to him about this, and I do want to help him here. But he always just tells me that he doesn't really want to talk about it. And to be honest, I feel like I'm starting to bury the hatchet, and I don't want to ruin it." Gumball said, and all three of us were considering what he said.

"And to be honest, I feel like you guys need to do that as well. I have no idea why you guys care so much for this guy, when you never hung out with him before." He said, and this time, he was starting to head away. I was shaking my head, and I was having a hard time really understanding what the plan was going to be going forward.

As I was looking at Yolei, I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to let it go. "Let's just head back to Tobias, and see what he feels now. I think that if we spend any more time here, it'll just be a waste." I said, and I was seeing from the look on Yolei's face that she was still not sure what she was wanting to believe.

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, like you guys keep saying, if Tobias was aware of the time we were spending with Gumball, he would probably be trying to make us the bad guys." Yolei said, and then Davis was looking at the house once again.

"I do admit her reaction does scream strange." Davis said, and then he shrugged, as if not thinking too much into it. Then he smiled, and was seeming to be happy with the fact that he did do his best to help us.

Yolei was looking like she was about to start crying, and I was really feeling horrible for this. I looked over at Davis, and I was wondering what in the world I would even be able to tell him. Davis was placing his hand on her shoulder, not even in a way to win her over, but to make her feel better. But I think we both knew that this was going to be a waste of fucking time.

Yolei Confidant Rank 2

---

Scene 13: Tobias Confidant Starts

June 13 1986 Early Evening

When I met up with Tobias once again, I decided that it was time to try and see how he had been doing. I needed to just make him see that no matter what might be happening with him and my friends, I was in no way trying to just brush him off or anything like that.

"T.K., do you feel like you and your friends will actually fucking help me out here?" After Tobias asked me this, I looked right at him, and I wondered what the fucking hell he was going to try and and accomplish. It was just feeling so fucking wrong here.

"I mean, I can see that they fucking want to help out for the best, and that they aren't going to be making this into a fucking joke and what not." I said, and I was wanting to try and make him feel better, but I could tell that Tobias was not buying a fucking word of what I said.

"Well, yeah, but I just think results won't really fucking come in. Simple as fucking that. I just need to fucking be real here." After he was telling me this, we started to walk around, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and get him to open up.

"In that case, what else would you want me to fucking do?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to try and pressure something from him. I was seeing that Tobias was trying to consider what I was asking him.

"Well, I guess that the two of us can just try and hang out, and see what we could fucking find." After Tobias was telling me this, I sighed, and I was feeling like this was going to be nowhere near what we actually needed to fucking do.

"Sure. I guess that we can give that a go." I said, feeling like there was no need to try and reject this idea at all. To be honest, I felt like we both needed to take a break. So with that, we started to head towards the skating park, just trying to find something else to do.

On our way there, I picked up the board at my house, and we went there before too long. "To be honest, I know that your friends really do fucking mean well, and I want to believe them, but I just guess that I no longer can be one hundred percent sure of what I feel anymore." After he was telling me this, I shook my head, feeling like this was so fucking wrong.

"Were you telling the truth when you were telling me that you feel like Rachel will want nothing to do with this investigation? I mean, I think that if she knows what you're doing, she might just swallow what she personally believes, and will just fucking do this." I said, wondering what he was going to think to this. Tobias shook his head, and I could tell he wanted nothing to do with this at all.

"You do not know my fucking sister as well as I fucking do. Trust me when I fucking say that. She will have nothing to do with this, if she had the fucking choice." Tobias said, and I could hear from the sound of his voice, that he was trying hard to keep himself at least seeming neutral here.

"Okay. If you fucking say so, I will try and fucking leave you alone here." After I said this, I sighed, and I felt like I needed to try and make him feel much better about what was going on here.

"Sorry about the fact that talking to Rob has seemed to just give us fucking nothing at all. To be honest, I thought that we were really on the fucking right track here." I said, feeling like whatever I told Ocho, nothing fucking mattered at all.

"I am not surprised at all, if I am going to be honest. I was feeling like eveyrthing that I could have done was just going to end up nowhere. I guess that I was a bigger idiot for ever thinking for a fucking second that I would be able to actually find anything at all." Tobias said, and I was practicing on the board for a few seconds.

"T.K., if Andrea ends up fucking dead, I want you to help me find the man who killed her. And I want you to help me fucking kill him." After Tobias was telling me this, I was looking at him, feeling shocked as all hell that he was saying this. I was shaking my head, feeling like this was a terrible idea.

"Well, I hve no idea if I feel like this is a good idea or not. But I can clearly tell that you are not going to be changing your fucking mind." I said, and I shook my head, feeling like this was going to be getting us killed. But a part of me was beyond arguing.

"I would never change my mind over something as serious as this. My fucking life has been completely ruined because of this, and I was trying to recover. But deep down, I knew that no matetr how much I tried, I would never truly get beyond this at all." After Tobias told me this, I was wondering why I was even arguing this at all.

"I mean, what if Yolei went fucking missing? Would you just try and fucking pretend like nothing at all? I think that we both know you would never accomplish something like this." As Tobias said this, I thought about what he had said, and I knew that I was in way beyond my head.

"Well, if she went missing, while I would fucking try and fucking fight it, I would also have to accept the fact that maybe this is how fucking fate is, and I would just hope that maybe I could be able to find her eventually." I finished, slowly conceding to the reality that I was in here.

"It is not that fucking easy. If Yolei's theories is fucking true, then I feel like these girls are being sent off to some fucking form of drug empire, and I feel like the people who are involved will need to fucking pay." Tobias said, and as we were talking, this was when a police officer showed up, and I wondered what in the world they were going to tell me.

The officer was leaving the car, and I was looking at Tobias, wondering what the hell he was going to tell me. "I was told that I was to make sure that the two of you were no longer going to be getting involved in the investigation of what happened to Andrea Wilson." After he said that, this was when Tobias shook his fucking head.

"To be honest, I think we both know that I am not going to fucking do that, so how about we just stop fucking wasting time even trying to theorize such a fucking thing." Tobias said, and I saw the officer looking like this was the last thing he wanted to fucking hear.

"We have been able to find clues related to Andrea. We were able to decude that soon after she had gone missing, she was located in the Wayside forest, with one of her favorite pieces of jewlery found hanging on a tree." After the officer said this, this was when Tobias was walking towards the officer, feeling like he needed to make his point as clear as humanly possible.

"Where did you find that in the fucking forest?" After Tobias asked this, he was walking towards the officer, and grabbed the man by his shirt. I was holding my hand out, hoping to get him to stop this fucking madness. But I was seeing the officer looking like he was genuinely almost impressed at what had Tobias was doing, since he was still in middle school at the time.

"Woah man, calm down. It was found a bit behind the church. If you want to check it out for yourself, then go on and see what you might find. To be honest, I never thought that you were actually going to react this way." The officer said, and then Tobias was letting go of the man's shirt, and shaking his head, unsure what the hell he would even say now.

"T.K., we need to go on and try and go to the fucking church again. That is going to be the best fucking starting point." As he said that, I was seeing Tobias and the officer both look at me, as if scared of what we were going to tell each other now.

"Sure. If you fucking say so. I feel like this might be a really fucking bad idea. But the truth of the matter is that I feel like we need to be so much fucking more careful here." After I was telling him this, I was shaking my head, not sure why I even bothering with this.

"Can you make sure that your fucking friend actually keeps himself safe here?" He asked, and I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to tell him at all. But before long, the man was heading to his car, and I could see from the look on his face that he was rather scared here.

"I doubt that will fucking happen." I said, feeling like I would just try and be honest as I said that, and then I was heading to the skateboard, and picked it up, not sure what the fucking hell I would even say now.

"Tobias, are you actually going to be going to the fucking church?" I asked, and Tobias was looking right at me, having no idea what in the world he was even going to accomplish here.

"Of course, I am going to be fucking looking for her. The church. I mean, it is something at least. Thanks for staying here with me, and listening to the bullshit that I fucking say." After Tobias was telling me this, I was shaking my head, feeling like there was a good chance this was all a load of bullshit.

"Well, want to tell Davis and Yolei the fucking update? They might actually want to check things out?" I asked, and I was seeing Tobias considering what I asked, but still seemed unsure.

"Yeah, I will. I mean, they deserve to fucking know, considering everything that has fucking happened. Try and fucking tell them that I need their help, as much as I fucking can get." After he was telling me this, I sighed, and had no interest in hearing this.

We skated around for a bit longer, just trying to have some good time, really having no idea what I could fucking do. "Hopefully the jewelery wasn't a fucking complete load of bullshut." I said, feeling like nothing else mattered.

When I sat down, I felt like no matter how much it might hurt or whatever, I just needed to try and fucking explain to him that I was going to give him everything that I possibly could, no matter how hard things could possibly be.

I was wondering if eveyrthing I could do with Tobias would actually give me a level of closure at all. Or if the entire thing would just fall apart the second that Tobias and I were finally getting somewhere.

Tobias Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 14: Larry's Son

June 13 1986 Late Evening

That night, Yolei, Davis and I were hanging out with Tobias near the entrance of the church. I had no idea what in the world Tobias was actually going to find there. To be honest, I had a feeling it was all going to be a fucking lie.

"T.K. and I found out that one of Andrea's items is at the church. We need to check that out before we get too deep into this." Tobias explained, and I was seeing that Davis and Yolei were both looking kind of unsure what to think here.

"Well, the forest behind the church." I said, feeling like I needed to correct him for Davis and Yolei's sake, mainly because I was certain neither of them wanted to actually go inside those grounds again.

"I am so fucking over the fucking forest. Why do we have to constantly go there every time we want to check something out?" After Yolei asked this, I was looking at her, as if feeling like she just needed to can the complaining.

"Well, I think we all know that we have no fucking choice on the matter." Tobias said in as stern of a voice as possible, and I saw Yolei looking like she would just retract, and not make an issue out of it.

We made it to the forest, and I was seeing the trees in this area looked so much better than anywhere else. It was seeming like this would be the last hold out for the natural environment in this town.

Even Tobias managed to be in awe for a couple of seconds here. The trees looked full of life, and the smell of the area was actually fresh, and not tainted by the towns construction projects, and I wondered if this was why Andrea always loved to come here.

Before too long though, the four of us started to look around more, and after a couple of minutes of looking, the two of us did indeed see something hanging down from one of the tree branches.

Tobias suddenly got excited for once, and he ran over to it, to see what it was. Davis and Yolei also look excited, but mainly at the prospect that this might finally wrap up.

When he was eventually seeing the piece of jewlery, he was able to confirm that this was indeed one of Andrea's, and then he looked right at me, and I was starting to see him lose a lot of his happinesss.

"Why the fuck is there a fucking number on the god damn tree?" Tobias asked, and then he pointed right towards it. As if to finally confirm the rumors about those now.

The number embedded on the tree was 216. "What the fuck did Ocho do? Did he sale my fucking cousin? If I see him, they had come up with a god damn good reason for eveyrthing he did, or I will fucking kill him." Tobias said, barely holding his patience together.

"Be fucking careful about what you are saying. People are going to notice you talking like this, and they are going to be making theories about you." After Yolei was telling him this, I was seeing that Tobias was starting to slowly look like he was just not even fucking caring anymore.

"Yeah, and I don't fucking care. I need to just say what is on my fucking mind, and I am just fucking tired of everybody trying to make this into a fucking joke and what not. 216 people have gone missing, and nothing else even fucking matters now." Tobias said, and I was seeing that Davis was trying to find a way to be the voice of reason, to try and get Tobias to calm the fucking hell down.

"But I don't really think that Ocho is the one behind this. I mean, Rob was saying so several fucking times. He told you guys that he had been with Ocho when Andrea had gone missing." After Davis said this, I was shaking my head, having no idea what in the world I was going to be able to tell her.

"I don't fucking care what Rob fucking says. To be honest, I need him to prove his innocence to me, and I can see what he is really fucking say." After Tobias said this, he was grabbing the necklace, and he was shaking his head.

"We better find a fucking camera, and take a picture to prove this. That way people know that I am not fucking lying about what is going on here." Tobias said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he could not fucking believe what had been happening here.

"So we should go on and fucking buy one, and can come back, and take pictures to prove what is happening here." Yolei said, trying to make it feel like she was still a active part of the conversation, and then she was looking right at me, wondering what in the world I would say to what was going on here.

Once we were leaving the church grounds, this was when we were seeing Larry Needlemeyer in the area. I was confused as hell about what the hell the guy was doing here in the first place. I looked at Tobias, wondering what he thought here.

"Hey, I never thought that I was going to be seeing you guys here." Larry sounded like he was just trying to hide his true feelings with confusion.

"We were looking for a piece of evidence with my fucking cousin." Tobias replied, keeping himself as distant as possible with this. Larry sighed, and I wondered what his fucking point was going to be.

"Well, I have been coming here for some business deals. I have had to start looking into expanding lately." Larry said, taking out a cigarette, seeming to have already lost what little interest he had in the subject.

"Why?" Davis asked, as I was seeing both Tobias and Yolei looking like they could not believe that he was actually asking Larry Needlemeyer this. Probably just thinking he was stroking the fire and what not.

"Because my girlfriend Karen is having a fucking son, and I am the father. I was never ready for something like this. After all, I am sixty nine years old, and I was perfectly content with everything ending with me." After Larry was sayin this, I looked right at him, and I was shocked that he had admitted this in the first place.

"My girlfriend is trying to convince me to back off on the fucking work hours, so I would be helping her with him, and I was telling Karen that if I continued to work, then in case something happened, I would be able to have a decent amount of money ready for the fucking family." Larry said, and he looked right at the church once again, trying to decide what he felt here.

"Why do you think that your cousin will be here in the first place?" Larry asked, and then I was seeing Tobias looking like he was finally willing to fucking talk about what was happening.

"Because I found her fucking mile marker here. 216. That means that 216 girls people have gotten missing here, right? And you guys are hiding it." Tobias said, and then Tobias got really close to Larry. "You have been here since the start. Do you hvae any idea what in the world is happening here?"

"That is not something that you need to be discussing here. I am just a normal guy who had to deal with the fall out of my fathers death, and run an entire gambling business, a pizza place, my fucking burger shop, and a fucking convience store. I am working my ass off every single fucking day to make sure that this town runs properly." Larry said, and he was suddenly feeling like he needed to finally put his fucking foot down.

"What do you plan on naming him?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to try and see what Larry would say. He smiled, and clearly looked like he was beyond the point of worrying too much about it.

"Lars. And when he grows old enough, if everything goes well, I might be able to try and teach him to get into the business I do." Larry said, and I could tell from the look on his face that he was excited about the potential future here.

"Larry, I think that we both fucking know that you are involved in what is going on here. And I think that it is time for you to just tell eveyrbody what is going on here."As Tobias was saying this, I was feeling like he was playing with dangerous water as he said this. I shook my head, feeling like he needed to choose his words carefully.

"Please don't try and fucking dig anything up with this. I think that you would realize soon enough that you could really be making a big mistake here." After Larry was saying this, I could see from the look on Tobia's face that he was actually considering what Larry had said, and if he was taking a massive risk

"Well, either way, I think that it's awesome that you are having a kid Larry. I just hope that he ends up growing up to have as great of a work ethic as you do." Davis said, as if trying to just bring the subject down to a relatively calm level. Mainly as a way to prevent any fights from happening.

Larry looked at all three of us, and i was seeing him looking like he was barely holding his fucking cool as he was seeing us here. Then with that, he shook his head, and then went inside the church, not even giving us anything to go with at all.

When the four of us were finally heading home, I was seeing Davis looking like he was just kind of shocked about this. "I never thought that Larry was going to have a son. Maybe that might convince him to stop looking at people strangely, and what not." Davis said, and Yolei looked at him, as if telling him to not make a joke out of this.

"Do you think that Larry was acting kind of suspicious though? I have a feeling he knows something about the town, and he is just fucking brushing it off, and giving me nothing." After Tobias said this, I wondered what he was going to even try and accomplish by saying this.

"Well, to be fair, you did technically provoke him in a large part of that discussion. I think that him reacting at least somewhat harshly is something that should be expected." Yolei said, mainly as a way to play devils advocate. Tobias shook his head, and he was looking tired at the shit going on here.

"Regardless, let's get that fucking camera, and come back, and take the picture of proof. Maybe people will start actually fucking listening to us." Tobias said, and I was feeling like we both knew that would never happen. But I wanted him to have some level of hope here.

---

Scene 15: Valuing Beauty

June 14 1986, Morning

The next morning, I decided to meet up with Yolei before I did anythig else. For some reason, it was just seeming like the right fucking thing to do. And besides, I was wondering how the progress updat with her parents had been going so far.

Once at the house, she happily opened up when she was seeing me there. I could tell that she was wanting to fucking cry, and I was wondering what had been going on here.

"I managed to get the camera for Tobias, but before they let me buy it, I had a really bad argument with mom and dad. I was telling them that I was helping Tobias, and they told me that I needed to stop making random conspiracies and let Tobias mourn on his own." Yolei said, and I was feeling like that wasn't *god awful* to debate.

"The worst part was when I was yelling at them for working with Kenta, and explained that I was feeling like this was a fucking terrible idea. And then in counter argument, they told me that it was to make up for the things that I did, and they straight up told me to my face that I'm a complete fucking embarassment to them, and they both wished I had never been born." Yolei said, and I suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.

"Wow, they fucking told you that? Wow, that's beyond fucked up. And it does kind of help me think that maybe your theory could be true." I said, shaking my head, unsure what to say to this.

"My parents care more about their store than they care about me, and they are willing to work with Kenta to make sure it keeps afloat, without ever considering my perspective on the fucking matter." After Yolei said this, I was wondering what the hell I could even say to this after all.

"Let's just fucking go to Tobias, and try and help him out. That would be better than just staying around, and thinking about how much of pieces of shit your parents are turning out to be." I said, and I saw Yolei looking like she wasn't too sure, but decided to remain silent here.

"T.K., would you promise me that if I were to eventually go missing, then would you be wiling to tell my parents that they really don't get to be upset, after all the things they done? I am not going to be dealing with them trying to make revisonist history on the fucking matter." After Yolei said that to me, I looked right at her, and I wondered what in the world I would even fucking say here.

"That is a fucking terrible idea. I think that you know that the second you go missing, if you ever did, they would be suddenly making it seem like they were the ultimate victims here." I said, and then Yolei looked right at me for a second.

"Bring me to Sheldon's gas station." She said, and I wondered what the hell she was going to talk to Sheldon about. But I was also feeling that she would not fucking take no for a god damn answer.

I chose to not argue though, and before long, we were eventually at his gas station. "What the fuck are you going to be doing here?" I asked, feeling like i just needed to get her to tell me the plan.

"If the stories are true, he is the only one who actually esentially figured out what the hell was happening in this town." Yolei said, and we walked inside. Before too long, Sheldon looked up, and saw us, and I was seeing him looking like he was actually kind of excited to be seeing us here.

"What do you guys fucking want?" Sheldon asked, and I was seeing Yolei taken back by the way he was talking, and I wondered if this was going exactly as planned, and what not.

"Well, we were wanting to know about the investigation that you did when you were younger. Everybody fucking says that you were the one that figured out the truth of this town? I want to know how you fucking did it." After Yolei said this, Sheldon looked at her, shocked that she was willing to even bring this up.

"I have a son here, and I want to forget about those days as much as possible here. You really do not want me to go down that fucking way of thinking again." Sheldon said, and I was feeling like something like this should have been expected, and I had no idea how Yolei did not see this happening from a fucking mile away.

"But Sheldon, my friend has been wanting to figure out the truth as well, to try and bring his cousin back. You could really be making things so much better for him." After Yolei said this, Sheldon was shaking his head.

"That is how everybody fucking starts. They go into it innocently enough, and then they either end up dead or a part of the issue, and their entire life is fucking ruined. I can fucking tell you that my life was ruined by this as well." Sheldon said, and I saw that the look on his face was one of pure regret.

"But what if your son would want you to be continuing this as well? I mean, he's almost ten years old. Sooner or later, he will eventually learn the truth." After Yolei said this, Davis looked at her, as if feeling like she was playing way too fucking close to the fire.

"Well, I will cross that fucking road when we fucking get there. And I believe that this is something that is beyond your fucking business. You are just simply meant to be watching him, and nothing else." Sheldon said, and I wondered what was going to happen now.

"Yeah, sorry about this. I guess that I didn't realize that you were trying really fucking hard to put that behind you. But Sheldon, I was also wondering how you even got to know my fucking parents." Yolei said and Sheldon looked like he was suddenly about to get run over a fucking car. Sheldon was shaking his head, hoping to never go down this fucking path again.

"Well, that is something that I feel like your parents should be discussing with you. But the long story is, that I fucking saved their lives at one point. I was working with that Todd Robinson guy a lot, and before long, I ended up meeting a lot of people who were still in school with him." Sheldon said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like that was almost nothing.

"You mean that private detective, who has been trying to figure this shit out for years? He hasn't even found anything yet." Yolei said, and Sheldon shook his head, feeling like Yolei did not fucking see the bigger picture after all.

"That private detective has been putting in more effort to the job than ninety fucking nine percent of the people in Wayside. He was one of my best friends growing up, and I will let people know that no matter what happens, I still believe that he is on the side of justice." Sheldon said, and Yolei seemed kind of taken back by this.

"Have you even seen him recently? How can you possibly know about that shit?" After Yolei asked this, that was when Shelon decided to grow silent for a few seconds, as if considering what Yolei had been telling him.

"Yeah, I have. We meet up once every summer, to catch up, and the two of us have been able to really figure out what is going on here by doing that." Sheldon said, and I was seeing him looking like his patience on the discussion esentially done.

"Then fucking tell us what we need to know. Come on, I will even keep Cody away from this. I just want to be able to help my friend Tobias be able to achieve a level of a fucking closure on the subject." Yolei said, and I was seeing Sheldon looking like he was seeing the reality of the situation, which was that no matter how hard he tried to brush off the subject, he was going to have to talk.

"Okay. I do see that no matter what I fucking say, you're still going to be pressuring me into this. Okay. Well, truth of the matter is, your mother almost went missing one time. I was able to save her at the last fucking minute, and ever since then, your parents have started to feel like it is their moral obligation to try and make things up to me at the end of the day." Sheldon said, feeling like nothing else even mattered now.

"And they're still doing this? What the fucking hell? That just fucking screams double standards." Yolei said, and then Sheldon looked at her, confused what she was meaning. Yolei sighed, feeling like she would be honest with him now.

"What the fucking hell do you mean?" Sheldon asked, and Yolei could see from the look on his face that Sheldon was still probably in the clear, and had nothing to do with what had been going on in town.

"I think that my parents are fucking selling me off." Yolei said, and the second she said this, Sheldon instantly got a look of utter discomfort, and I wondered if he had known about what happened.

"if you feel that way at all, then you need to find a way to record allthe proof of your claims, and show people that you know what you're doing." After Sheldon said that, this was when I knew for a fact that Sheldon was now going to barely keep his end of the discussion.

As Yolei and I left the gas station, I looked at Yolei, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be telling her. I felt like nothing I could say would really change the situation.

"I think Sheldon's mannerisms esentially fucking confirmed that what you claim is real. What the fucking hell is going on in this town that they are trying to get away with this shit?" After I asked Yolei this, I saw Yolei looking like she wanted to fucking murder something.

"What the fucking hell did I do to make my parents hate me so fucking much? I wanted to try and be a good daughter to them, but they fucking hate me. I heard them say that they would have been so much happier if they had Davis or you last night. Whatever, we need to go to Tobias's." Yolei said, barely keeping any calm.

We eventually reached Tobia's house, and I was feeling like she was never going to fully get over the shit that her parents had said, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't either.

I also started to wonder if she would run away, or if she would eventually go missing. And if that is the case, part of me would wonder if it would even be worth bringing her home, because then she would have to deal with parents that openly hated her.

Yolei Confidant Rank 3

---

Scene 16: Pizza Party

June 14 1986, Evening

That night, after Tobias took a picture of the jewelery at the church, in order to make sure that no matter what happens, people wouldn't deny the mile marker, we eventually were at the pizza shop, where Larry was pulling a back up on cover shift.

"We need to show this to the fucking police. They will have no choice but to fucking believe us now. I mean, we have everything we fucking need." After Yolei said this, I saw her looking optimistic for once in her life.

"And it can help me learn what my parents are fucking doing here." Yolei said, and I looked at her, feeling like that might not be the best idea, since I think we both knew what would happen if we looked too deeply into this.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to have your parents involved in this in any way. I think that you know the second they realize your plan, you might as well be dead." I said, feeling like I needed to try and be a bit harsh but firm with her here.

"If my theory is true, then I am dead anyways. I might as well at least go out on my own terms, where I am able to help you guys doing what is right." Yolei said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like the confusion was just becoming more and more promenent, and he wondered what I would do to fix this.

Larry was pulling up on our table, and he was looking happy for once in his entire life. I was wondering what was going on. Then I remembered the news, and then decided to tempomarily drop the missing girls talk, to see how he had been doing. "Is he going to be born soon?"

"Yeah, he's actually expected to be born tomorrow morning. I'm taking the entire first week off, so you guys won't be able to go to Joyful Burger for a little while." Larry said, and I was looking down on the pizza, thinking that if Yolei's theory is true, and she might become a labyrinth victim, we did not have a fucking week.

"Well, I hope that you have a great time with your son. But I thought you didn't really want him. When you were talking, you explcitly said yourself that this was not something you were ready for." Tobias said, as Larry pulled out a cigarette, wondering if Tobias would actually take the risk.

"Just because I said I wasn't ready or expecting it doesn't mean that I didn't fucking want it, Mr. Wilson. Just like you weren't ready for your fucking cousin to go missing, but you are doing everything you can." Larry said, as I wondered what he would say if we pressed the issue any further.

"Well, I think we both know that those are two totally different fucking things, and that there is no real connection betweem the two." Tobias said, and I wondered why he was even risking this conversation in the first place.

Larry was leaving, and I was feeling like Tobias needed to fucking stop if he wanted to make this whole thing work out well. He was just fueling the fire worse than he ever needed. "Tobias, I think that you need to give Larry a bit more patience here."

"Maybe you're fucking right. But that doesn't change the fact that I still think I need to try and make my ground firm, so that way people don't fuck with me." Tobias said, and then he was taking the silent route, which I thought was just massively annoying to be honest.

"Regardless, so we have evidence now, and we are going to have to seriously think of how we are going to fucking present this." Davis said, trying to at least get the subject back to normal. Tobias looked kind of annoyed at the subject change, but decided to fucking let it go.

"To be honest, I still think we got to give the evidence to somebody who might actually fucking listen." Tobias said, and he looked at me again.

"Please stop with my dad. I think you truly do not understand him if you constantly refer to him." I said, feeling like the further I stood my ground, the better that things would be.

"Anyways, so you were saying that you were trying to fucking talk with Sheldon earlier. How did that even fucking go?" Tobias asked, and I was seeing him just trying to get the subject back to something we could all agree on.

"Well, he just basically rejected the entire fucking discussion. Not surprised in the fucking least. I was hoping that he of all people would have been willing to break out of his comfort zone." Yolei responded, and I was wondering if she seriously thought that would happen though.

"I mean, to be honest, I think we all knew that was a risk we were going to have to take. Sheldon always seemed to be that type of guy who tries to put his entire past behind him." Davis said, and shrugged, thinking that this was something that Yolei should have fucking expected.

"I don't fucking know. I thought that since I had been working with his son lately, and that he was saying that he trusted me, that he would be willing to talk. But to be honest, I guess that was just false hope. He did mention something interesting though. He talked about my parents, and how he knew them." Yolei said, and then she shook her head, not wanting to really go in depth about it though.

"He said that he literally fucking saved their life when they were younger, and that as a result, they owe their life to him. Prevented my mother from becoming a fucking labyrinth victim. Truth be told, he has done more the virtually everybody in Wayside. So I think that he of all people should have a right if he says he doesn't want to talk about this." Yolei explained, and both Davis and Tobias looked at each other, trying to decide what they felt about what Yolei had been saying.

When the four of us were out of the resturant, Tobias was looking over at me, while Davis and Yolei were already leaving. "I think we both fucking know that the police are not going to listen." Tobias said, and I was slowly nodding in agreement, as much as I hated it.

"Want to show this to your father? You know, since he works at that broadcast station, and what not?" Tobias asked, and I shook my head, feeling like if I did that, then that was certainly going to be placing a target on my back.

"My dad would fucking hate doing that. He would take one look at the evidence, and claim that you were trying to fucking bribe me into something." I said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he just needed me to work with me.

"And that fucking Needlemeyer guy is making me feel like I need to keep everything on a strict watch down. Do you agree?" Tobias asked, and I knew what he was meaning.

"I am going to be there at his side with his son, and maybe see if I can make sure Lars doesn't end up becoming corrupt and shit." After Tobias told me this, I felt like the idea was fucking insane, and I had no idea how he was thinking this would work.

"If you feel like that would work, then I guess that I can try and fucking help you. But I think that we both know that there is no way in hell that Larry will let this happen if he knows what you are planning." I told him, feeling like I just needed to give him one hundred percent real fucking talk as I said this.

"T.K., just fucking promise me that you will try and speak to your fucking father. That is what I need, more than anything else." After Tobias started to plead with me here, I could hear that he was truly trying to hide how desperate he had become here.

"Fine. I guess that I can try and do that. See what my father fucking thinks of this anyways. He might even be willing to fucking deal with our bullshit." I said, and then I kicked the ground, pissed at the fact that I was forcing my father into this after all.

"Look, I think that you know that this is the best idea we have. And I think that your father has no reason to reject helping you out at all." After Tobias said that to me, I could not believe he was trying to tell me this in the first place.

"You have no idea what my father is fucking like. When he doesn't get the way he wants, he will turn it into a massive fucking issue." I said, and I was hoping that I would get Tobias to at least consider backing off.

"Well, I think that he would do something if it meant your safety. Not everybody in this town is this horrible evil businessman." Tobias said, and I was shaking my head, not in the mood to discuss this at all.

"Just try and keep Rachel from learning the truth. I think we both know that the second Rachel gets her hand on this situation, she is going to be turning this into her." I said, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he was actually mildly upset with my rather harsh way of putting it. But it was just honest.

"I already fucking was. I never wanted her to have anything to do with this anyways. That would have just spelled disaster." Tobias said, and I was hearing that he was furstrated that I was even trying to suggest that in the first place.

"Well, I have no idea how you and Rachel are doing things now. For all I know, you could be really into the idea of working with her now." I said, feeling like I just needed to defend my position in this whole thing. Tobias shook his head, and I was feeling like it would be time to just shut up.

"Just make sure that Yolei stays good. I mean, I know you and Davis like her a bit, but with the dark place she is heading, I have a fear that nothing you guys do will be enough. I don't want to see my friend hurt." Tobias said, and I shook my head, unable to believe this subject.

"I'm scared that what we're doing won't even be enough to make her feel better. I wish that I would have more optimism on the subject as you do. But that is just not fucking happening." I said, and I wondered if Tobias was actually going to agree.

Tobias sighed, and I was seeing that despite everything, he wnated to really not stroke the fucking fire.

I started to head home next, and I was thinking of the idea of the broadcast station. I felt like the idea of getting dad to help wasn't a terrible one. It was just one that I had jack fucking shit of a idea if it was actually going to work out or not. Which was what I was trying to explain.

---

Scene 17: Lars Needlemeyer

June 15 1986, Morning

I was on my way over to Joyful Burger, aware that while it was probably going to be closed, I wanted to see if I could be able to sneak on in, and take some information, that I could maybe take photographs of.

Before too long, when I was at the parking lot, Larry locked and left the store. He was looking frantic when he saw that I was here. "Look, she's going into labor right now. I thought I would get at least a few hours in today before I closed shop for a week, but I just opened forty five minutes ago. Didn't have any customers." He got right in the fucking car, and then he looked at me.

"Since you're already here, I might as well let you come along, but promise me that you are not going to be causing any fucking issues here." He said, and I sighed, feeling like he would find some way to make me the bad guy here, knowing my luck.

I got in the car as well, as I was already seeing the note he left for customers. "Just became a father for the first time. Taking a week off. Be back noon on the 22nd. Larry." The whole reality of this was strange enough, and not really one that I was expecting.

"Do you have any idea what things are going to be like? I mean, I know you guys are probably going to be good, money wise, with how much you work. But for the love of god, I mean, you're never going to be getting any rest now." I said, feeling like I needed to show at least some concern for him here.

"I'll just have to fucking accept it." Larry said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like there was no point in arguing with him, since he already knew how he felt.

"And besides, to be honest, I'm getting old, and I need to retire soon. And I'm near the average life expectancy of the United States, and now that I think about it, I do feel a bit better having somebody take the company over for me when I eventually pass away." Larry said, and I sighed, knowing he was just using this for personal gain.

"What if it turns out he doesn't want to continue the job?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to get that out there, at least once, and get him to at least consider the idea. After I said this, he sighed, as if thinking that I was probably just asking that to stroke the fire.

Eventually, we were at the hospital, and Larry was both looking like he was ecstatic, and looking like he was on the brink of having a mental meltdown from the reality that was settling in.

We went inside the hospital, and led to the room immediately, where we saw Karen in the middle of giving birth, and I will admit, that was a sight I never thought I would see in my life, or at least not while I was in middle school, when I just started to get the concept of pregnancy.

After a while, when the baby was born, Larry got to hold him for a couple of minutes, and I was seeing him looking like now that the reality was settled in, he was just ready to fucking tackle the world, and he was glad that now it was over with, so he would now be able to focus on the main thing in his life from now on.

"Well, here we are. I just wish that I had done it sooner, so I would have been able to be around longer. Because at this rate, I would be amazed if I'm alive long enough for them to finish high school." Larry said, and I felt like I just needed to find a way to make him feel better. But I shook my head, and decided that I would just keep my comments to myself, since he was already feeling this way.

Lars Needlemeyer was born at 9:47 am, June 15 1986. I will admit, when I was actually there, witnessing the birth, as somebody who was not even supposed to be there, it was something to behold. Despite our differences, I genuinely was happy for Larry.

"Well, good luck. I will need to see my other friends though. And enjoy your week off. You'll need it." I said, referring to the lack of rest he has been having lately.

"Haven't had more than a day off like once every three weeks or so in forty eight years, ever since I was twenty one." Larry said, and I was shocked at this determination at the job, which that alone demanded respect.

I looked at the new born child, and smiled, glad that Larry was happy for once, as I was leaving the hospital, to go on and do my own thing.

As I was starting to leave, Larry was calling out to me, and I looked right at him. "I think you do need to realize that you are really getting yourself deep into territory you should have never gone down by investigating this whole thing." Larry said and I was shaking my head.

"Look, I am doing the right thing, and both of us fucking know it." I said, and I was seeing Larry looking like this was the last conversation he wanted to have. Probably thinking that I was just trying to just piss him off.

"Then can you please just try and not make me a massive part of that controversy? There is already enough that I am going to have to deal with." Larry said, and I was considering what he said. And to be fair, given everything that happened, I guess he was right.

I slowly nodded, feeling no need to argue with him, and I was feeling that maybe at least for the first few weeks or so, I should let him enjoy being a dad and not have to deal with me at all.

Eventually, I really did leave the hospital, and met up with Tobias, Yolei, and Davis at Mezmer's which I heard from stories was a shadow of the business it used to have, where it used to be packed, but now only had like seven or eight people at once.

"So Larry's officially a dad now? I wonder if he might be more tempted to work with us now. After all, as he himself said, he is getting rather old, and sooner or later, if he was involved in what happened, then it will never even fucking matter anymore since he'll be dead." Davis said, and I was thinking of what to do now.

"Well, I wonder if it might just be best to lay low for a bit, and just let the controversy slide. I mean, things have been getting rather heated up lately, and I am not sure if I want you to deal with this." Tobias said, and then Davis looked right at Tobias, wondering what the issue was now.

"No, I think we all know that we have gotten way too deep into this to quit now. And you also have to fucking remember, that my parents are working with Kenta right now. I want to figure that out." Yolei said, as she glanced out the window for a few seconds.

"So either way, because of my parents, I'm continuing this, with or without your help. I hope that I'm wrong about my theroies. But I need to be sure." After Yolei said that, I slowly nodded, and figured I would let her go.

"I guess that is how things are going to be between us now. Well, let's make a pact that if by the end of summer break, we don't have the answer, let's just drop it. At least until like say next summer." Tobias said, feeling like he needed to try and get us all on the same page here.

To be honest, I couldn't even imagine doing it that long, due to the fact that I had been finding myself incredibly burned out after a fucking few days of this. I was kind of only doing this anymore, due to obligation more than actually fucking wanting to.

"That sounds fine by me." I said, and then I saw Davis agree to it rather quickly. Yolei was looking like she wasn't too sure herself. But then she slowly started to come around as well.

"Well, whatever is going on with Kenta is supposed to be done by the end of the month. So I guess that maybe that is fine enough." She said, and then she shook her head, as if thinking that this was just screaming bad choice making. But I also felt like that realistically she knew there was no way to change it.

"I can't believe that I would be spending my summer this way. Or that I was one of the first people to find out about Larry Needlemeyer becoming a god damn fucking dad. It's fucking crazy." Tobias said, and I nodded to that in complete fucking agreement. To be honest, I felt like this summer, for better or for worse, would be the one that I would remember the most, when it came time.

"What do you think about going into Joyful Burger? Like maybe sneaking a way inside, since it'll be closed for a whole week, and seeing what we can find in there." I said, and all three of them looked like that was quite possibly the worst idea that anybody could have come up with.

"What the fucking hell? Are you seriously trying to suggest that we should totally just fucking break the law, and do this for our own gain? How are people going to let that shit slide?" After Davis asked this, I was shocked to hear him of all people acting this way.

"Well, to be honest, it's not a terrible fucking idea. Who knows what we can find in there. I think it might be worth a fucking shot." Tobias said, and Davis was looking like this was the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear. But then he closed his eyes, and I saw him just considering the truth.

"Well, would you be fine if I was just like somebody outside, chilling, and making sure that nobody catches us? There is no way in hell that I am going in there, and you guys are all fucking insane if you think for a second that I will." After Davis said this, I was seeing that he was clearly scared of what would happen, and I felt like I needed to try and respect his boundries at least a little bit. So I nodded, and decided to not press the issue any further.

So I assured him he didn't actually have to be a part of it, and that just standing watch was well more than enough.

I was feeling like I just needed to try and get ahold of my brother soon as well. I haven't spoken shit to him in nearly a week, and I feel like for better or for worse, he might be the person that would be able to help me out the most with this investigation.

But for now, this was one of the few times, I was feeling like there was a level of hope going forward into this. I felt like the four of us had a fucking goal, and for the time being, we also had a lose dead line, so there wasn't even the risk of this eating our entire lifes away.

---

Scene 18: Burger Heist

June 15 1986 Evening

That night, all four of us were at Joyful Burger, and now that we were here, I was realizing how fucking ridiculous this whole fucking thing was, and I wondered why in the world I even thought for a second that this was a good idea.

"Did you bring the camera?" Tobias asked, and Yolei nodded, holding it up, and I was seeing the shit eating grin on her face the entire time.

"Good. And Davis said he will just stay watch. Okay, we got to look for a window that's open or something." Tobias said, and I will admit, in my mind, a part of me was feeling like maybe we should be taking this all back before we went too deeply into this.

We started to look around the area, looking for anything that could show a open window. "This is going to get us in so much trouble." After Yolei said this, I was shaking my head, thinking she needed to show a bit more optimism here before she started to go down the downer road.

Before long, we did find a window, looking like it was maybe a tenth of a inch opened, leading to Larry's main office. When I realized the perfect placing of this, I instantly got utterly excited. I opened up the window, using all my strength, beofre climbing in the room, and looking around, to see what I could find.

Tobias went inside next, and then he helped Yolei in, and then Yolei was making sure the camera wasn't destroyed. I sat down at Larry's chair, and then Tobias was thinking of what we had just done.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this. It's kind of fucking fun, I'm not going to fucking lie." After Tobias said this, he grew a giant smile. I was seeing one of Larry's packs of cigarettes, and took one out.

"You really shouldn't be fucking smoking T.K." Yolei said, and I looked right at her, feeling like I needed to try and give a witty remark, as a way to get her to leave me alone.

"If you don't like it, there's always Davis outside, and he would probably be chill with talking to you for a while instead." I said, trying to just deflect, and not deal with her giving me a annoying ass lecture about how I should be doing this. Yolei shook her head, and seemed relatively annoyed with the way that I acted.

But I was seeing one of the drawers in his thing was named "One year business files." After I read that, I opened it up, thinking this would be the best thing to go off.

I was seeing fifty two folders that had material in it, and another twelve or so that were blank at the end, and each one was labelled with a week. Ranging from Sunday to Saturday, and the year. For instance, the most recent one was labelled "June 8 to 14 June 1986". Which I found a bit odd how he labelled it both the european and the american way.

Which was even more strange, since it seems all his files were like that. Where the first date was always the American way, and the second date was always the european way. But that's not the point, the point is, I opened that one up first, thinking it was still very recent.

One of the files was going into detail about something he did last Wednesday, June 11. "Three weeks from delivery. Bought by Fitzgerald family. Twenty thousand dollar investment."

I handed the file to Yolei, and Tobias, wondering what they were thinking about that. Yolei took a picture of it, not sure what in the world to think of it, but feeling like it was just for the best, to make sure that we had what we needed.

"Why in the world does Joyful Burger have anything to do with Penny's family? That is beyond fucking strange." After Tobias said that, I was thinking that he just needed to fucking stop with looking too deeply into this.

"Well, to be fair, that is the last week we have. He goes all the way up to this point last year. I wonder what the fuck he does when it runs out of the year. Doe she shred it, or hand it over to somebody else?" I asked, kind of scared of what the idea would be.

"I think I have seen something like that once. My dad has a bunch of storage boxes, each one labbeled with a year. And every time a new year starts, he brings the box over to somebody else. I think like the town library or the high school. Hell, he might even send it over to Shaun, considering the fact that he is technically dad's boss." Tobias said, and he was starting to let the whole thing run through his head. I wondered what he would be able to tell us now.

"Damn it. If he sends it to Shaun, then we have no idea how far back Larry's records go then. What a fucking hassle. Hopefully it is the library or the fucking high school, because those are something we could be able to work with.

"Well, I guess we need to see what we can get out of these other fifty one files." I said, and then I was shaking my head, unsure why in the world Tobias was being such a debbie downer to this.

"Fourth of June 1986. Monthly check in with Shaun Reichenbach. Shauns says it might be wise to retire in next couple of years. Four weeks out from delivery to Fitzgerald family." The first part of that weeks file said, and then there was a second part.

"New assignment assigned to me. Given to me by the Wilson family. Still working on previous assignment, which hasn't given any results after six weeks." The second part said, and Tobias looked like he was having the look of panic on his face with Wilson family.

"Twelve year birthday update on Leslie. Doing well, and having a good time in school. Have a feeling he's going to grow up to be gay though, so he's out of contention for the business. Might score some more success with Loni though, turns eighteen in a few weeks, and seems to be more willing to help." Larry said in the notes, and then I gave those pieces to Yolei, feeling like she just needed to understand that this was real evidence.

"Oh my god. This is proof he knows what is going on here. I just wish that he hadn't had that fucking baby, because now I wonder if this is for the best." Tobias said, and he sounded like he hated himself for even saying that out loud, given what he wanted more than anything else.

I was shocked to hear Tobias admit something like this, when we were literally talking about his cousin at stake here, and I thought that nothing was above that, no matter what.

"Well, there's more. So I think that we will be fine. Let's check one more, and and see if it's going to give us anything at all." I said, and I was seeing that neither of them looked too sure.

Yolei took a picture of the evidence from that weeks file, and I was hating the fact that I was already going to have to quit, because three weeks worth of files, from forty eight years, and from just one person, was nothing. It doesn't matter how old you are, you know that's not enough.

So I took the next file out. "May 29 1986. Current transaction on the list was finished yesterday. Sent on over to a family down in Missouri. Shaun wants to try expanding business even further. Already sent two of mine down to Onett Indiana since last school year started. Five weeks until Fitzgerald delivery." Larry'snote for that week said, and I handed it over to Yolei.

"What would they fucking be doing in Onett anyways? I thought it was just the meteor, but it seems like there is so much more to it." Yolei asked me, and I was looking right at her, and I was wondering why in the world she was asking me, when I clearly had no idea what to say.

"Yolei, I haven't lived there in over a year. I haven't even fucking talked with my friends there since like October. I think that you need to just find something else to talk with me about." I told her, feeling like I just needed to put my foot down on the matter for once.

"Damn it. I was really hoping that you would have had something. Okay. Anyways, so whatever Larry is doing, he is sending stuff to Missouri, and he is sending stuff to Indiana. So whatever is going on here, clearly has reach beyond Wayside." Tobias said, and then Yolei nodded, thinking that was obvious.

"Well, to be fair, I think we already kind of fucking knew that. But I think that just having it actually be confirmed is something that I can take away." Yolei said, and I was feeling like they were both taking this way too casually, and this was some serious fucking business.

"Let's just take a photo of all of these files, and then try to find other informaion later. We don't need to read it right now." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and stream line the whole thing much more." I said, and then I was grabbing the camera from Yolei's hand, not even giving her a chance to react, and then I pulled out the previous weeks file before that.

I went through each weeks file, each one taking about thirty seconds or so to go through, and with each passing one, the more that I was seeing Tobias and Yolei clearly get scared out of their fucking mind what was happening here.

"If we want to actually have enough to go off of, I need to go through every single fucking file. We need everything." I sniped at Tobias and Yolei, when I was seeeing the look on their faces turn a bit sour. After roughly half an hour of non stop taking photos, I finally got one for all fifty two files. It was at least a start.

When we were done looking around, we snuck out the way we came in, and we were showing Davis all the photos that we had taken. "This is serious guys. This shows that Larry has been going to the mines every Wednesday for a undertmined period of time, and there are a lot of records under his name, and transactions with various families in Wayside." Davis said, as he looked up at us.

"Well, next Wednesday would be the 18th. Want to check it out then? See what he is doing?" Davis asked, and I shook my head, thinking about what Larry told me.

"Let's try the 25th. After all, he said he would be taking a week off for Lars. Which means he wouldn't be doing stuff until the 22nd anyways." After I said that, Davis nodded, and I could see he wasn't happy about that but was willing to take it.

---

Scene 19: Gumball Watterson

June 16, 1986, Morning

That next day, I decided to try and see Gumball Watterson, and Tobias was with me. We were both just going to try and see if there was something that Gumball had seen earlier. Although Tobias was making it very clear to me that he was thinking that this would go nowhere.

I knocked on the door and then before long, Gumball answered the door again. This time, he was looking far less worried about seeing me here. Probably thinking that as long as I did not talk with his mother, then everything would be fine.

"Guys, let's not fucking talk here. My mother is keeping a close eye on you guys after what your friend Yolei had pulled here earlier." After Gumball said that, Tobias was looking right at me, wondering what the hell Gumball meant.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tobias then looked at me, as if hoping that I would actually fess up to him. I sighed, and then we started to walk away, feeling like I would need to appease Gumball for now.

We eventually made it to the mall, where there were several people around, and that was going to buy me some fucking time, to be able to tell Gumball in relative quietness.

"So Yolei wanted to check the Watterson house, and you were inside your place doing something, and Yolei got in trouble with Gumball's mother, because Yolei was asking her about work that she was doing with her father, and then it just all went downhill. We didn't tell you because we know you and Gumball have a hard time getting along." I said, feeling now I could just be straight with him.

"Why would Yolei be doing business with your mother anyways? That does seem kind of strange." After Tobias said that, Gumball shrugged at him, and seemed to not really be that interested in it.

"I don't want to think about that stuff at all. To be honest, I'm kind of more interested in what dad might be doing. After all, he's barely at the house at all anymore." Gumball said, and then Tobias seemed to think about what Gumball had just said.

"Do you think that we can be able to find some time to talk to Richard? And do you know if anybody has gone missing after the grinding noise went off on the tenth?" Tobias asked, and then Gumball shook his head. Tobias sighed in annoyance at that, which confused me why somebody not going missing annoyed him.

"No, I have no idea who went missing at all. Which is strange now that you mention it. Since it has been nearly a fucking week. As for my dad, like I said, I don't even know where he is most of the town. I just happen to think he's at the casino. But for all I know, he could be off in an office, doing boring ass work." Gumball said, and then before long, we were seeing Penny walking by the mall, with Carrie talking with her. Gumball was looking at the ground, wanting to head on over to her, and talk, but couldn't get the courage to do so.

"Are you thinking about Penny?" Tobias asked, and Gumball looked right over at Tobias, and nodded. I actually saw a faint glimmer of sympathy for Gumball from Tobias's eyes as he heard that.

"Yeah, I fucking am. I guess that maybe it's because of how much I have had to listen to you guys and what not, but I suppose that I do worry that something might happen to her one of these days." Gumball said, and he was shaking his head, as if unable to believe he just said that.

"It's fucking okay. Well, do you think that you could be able to get your mother to fucking talk? I mean, sooner or later, she might finally be willing to give you something, since you already heard what Yolei did." Tobias said, and Gumball shook his head at that.

"Only if you guys promise me to understand what the fucking hell you guys are actually going to fucking do here?" Gumball said, and then Tobias was thinking about that. Probably aware that given the fact that he was planning on talking to Gumball anyways, it might be okay to just do it now.

"Okay. Well, let's get some fucking lunch of something. And we can fucking talk." Tobias said, and before long, we were sitting down at the malls hot dog shop, and we spent most of the next hour telling the story of the last week to Gumball, so he would at least get the basic gist of what is happening.

"So you found her necklace in the forest, and she is the 216th person to go missing here? That is fucking crazy. And I am also curious as hell about that Carbunkle guy. You know, the one who was talking to you guys, and said he was being hired by Shaun." After Gumball said that, he was thinking deeply about it, and I was seeing Tobias actually looking almost impressed with how much Gumball seemed to be clearly putting in effort to be making this whole thing work.

"Yeah, it's fucking ridiculous, to be honest. And I have no idea what in the world Brad is fucking doing in all this. I wanted to think that Ocho was the one behind this whole thing, and a part of me still wonders if that might be possible. But I really don't know what to think here." After Tobias said that, Gumball then thought of something else.

"If I help you guys, and figure out the truth, do you think that I would be able to get Penny to like me?" Gumball asked, and Tobias sighed, as if thinking that was the least of his fucking worries, and that he really needed to sort his priorities straight here.

"I don't know if those two are going to be fully aligned, as much as you might want to admit. I mean, do you even know if Penny likes you as a friend." Tobias asked, and then I was seeing Gumball looking like he could not believe that Tobias had to actually fucking put it that way.

"But anyways, I guess that I shouldn't be turning down any help, no matter how selfish that I find the reason might be. Especially when one might argue that the reason that I am doing something is totally selfish on its own." Tobias said, and I could see that he hated admitting this.

"What do you think you could do though? Let's fucking start from there." Tobias said, and then Gumball slowly nodded at that.

"Well, even if Penny doesn't like me back, I am sure that she still respects me as a friend, and therefore, I might be able to actually get her to fucking talk with me about this. I will just need to find the time to do so. And you'll need to give me the questions I need to ask." Gumball said, and I was seeing Tobias already looking like he was starting to really regret this whole thing.

"Well, if you are sure that this is something that is going to work, then go ahead, and give it a try. I would be more than willing to let you do your own thing." After I said this, I looked at Tobias and I was mentally pleading with him to let Gumball have a chance. After this, Tobias sighed, and decided to no longer agrue with this at all.

"Okay, sure go ahead. Try and speak to her, and see if you can pull up anything remotely resembling evidence to go off of." After Tobias said this, he was waving his hand, as if just kind of giving up on even worrying about these things anymore. I wondered what the issue was in the first place, to get him so uptight.

Before too long, this was when Carrie and Penny were walking up to us. I wondered if we were speaking way too loudly, and that we were caught. "Hey guys, how are you doing today?" Carrie asked me, and I shrugged, not sure why in the world he fucking cared.

"Was there something you needed" Tobias asked, and I could hear that there was a low level of hostility to this question. As if he was not appreciating the fact that he was being interrupted, and I saw both Carrie and Penny looked like they were actually kind of shocked at his way of speaking.

"I was just wondering why T.K. hadn't shown up to fulfill his promise." Carrie asked, and I looked at her, utterly perplexed, and wondering what the fucking hell she was going off of right now.

"I genuinely have no idea what the fucking hell you're talking about." I said, and I was not even caring if I was sounding like a total asshole as I said that. Carrie looked shocked at my blunt way of stating it. Then I shrugged, feeling like the truth might sometimes hurt.

"You promised me that you would help me with studying during the summer, so I would be ready for next year." Carrie said, which made sense, since she was a grade lower than me. I sighed, feeling like I would be real with her.

"Look, I got side tracked. I have been helping Tobias with his missing cousin, and I just have not had the fucking time to be hanging out with people, and helping them out at all." After I said that to her, I felt like being honest with her was by far the best bet to go off of.

"Oh shit. Have you guys had any luck on that?" Carrie asked, and then Gumball was shaking his head, which was shocking that it seemed like even he was annoyed with them being here, considering the fact that he was originally trying to get them to like him and what not.

"We were discussing our plans. Tobias found something in the forest, and he thinks that he is really close to cracking the case." Gumball said, in a rather stern voice, and Tobias was looking right at him, wondering why in the world he even would openly admit that.

"Well, good luck with that." After Penny said that, she looked at Tobias, and I could see the genuine sympathy in her eyes, as if wishing that this had never happened.

Once the girls left, this was when Gumball slowly sighed. "Look, I have no idea how I will be able to be of great help. But I can try and see if I could talk to my father about his job, and maybe mom would be more willing to talk to me about Yolei's parents." Gumball said, and shrugged, thinking that was sincerely all he could be able to offer.

"Okay. Sure. I guess that will have to fucking count." Tobias said, and then he was looking over at the two girls we talked to. "Yeah, no offense, but I think that your mother might really know what is happening with them. And that might be why she reacted the way that she did with Yolei earlier. Because she was scared that she was exposed.

---

Scene 20: The Kiss

June 16 1986 Evening

After Tobias and I were done catching Yolei and Davis up to the Gumball talk, that was when Davis was rubbing the back of his neck. "So Gumball is wanting to actually help out as well? Never thought that I would hear that, considering the fact that I always just kind of assumed that Gumball never really cared for that stuff." Davis said, thinking that this was one of those cases were preconceptions always proved wrong.

"Well, it does seem like he is mainly doing it for Penny, and what not. But at the same time, any reason is better than nothing, I suppose." After I said that, I shrugged, not sure what in the world I would even say here.

"I just hope that his mother isn't as much of a bitch as she was to me." Yolei said, and then with that, Tobias stood up, as I saw him looking like he was finally feeling like it was time to try and start heading out.

"Well, as much as I like to hang out all night, I think that we aren't going to be getting a whole lot done today. That conversation with Gumball took much longer than I was expecting, to be honest." Tobias said, and then he was shrugging, as if thinking that was the reality of business, when it came down to it.

Before long, Yolei and I were alone for the rest of the day. We went to her house. When I saw the look on her face, I was seeing that she was just looking like she absolutely regretted everything that had been going on here.

"T.K., I am so sorry that you had to deal with everything from me so far. I should have just done this all alone. But I only made it fucking worse." She said, and I looked right at her, wondering what she was trying to do.

Yolei was holding my hand, and she shook her head. "I wished that I could have just done this all alone, and let you all be doing your own thing. I thought that maybe we could have found everything out.

"Yolei, I will find out what is going on here. It might take a really fucking long ass time, especially with everything going on here. But I am not going to be letting this fucking chance go to waste." I said, and I was seeing Yolei looking like she was not really believing what I was saying, and just hoped that I was not lying to her.

"I want to fucking believe you. I really do. But I am scared that Tobias might not want to admit the truth once it is there in front of his eyes. You know, fear of accepting it all." After Yolei said that, I was shaking my head, not sure what I would even tell her in the first place then.

"If you don't believe Tobias, then fucking believe me. I will make sure that despite everything else going on, Tobias will be able to see the truth for what it is, no matter how painful said truth might be. No matter how much he might hate things, he will see the reality eventually." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I said that.

"Truth. That is a complicated subject, and one that I think we need to tread carefully on." After Yolei said that, I was wondering what the issue was, and why she was so fucking scared of what was going on. Maybe she just needed some help with her own confidence here.

"Yolei, are you going to try and fucking make up with your parents here? I mean, I doubt that they are going to be upset at you forever?" I asked, and I was sure that she was going to claim bullshit on what I said. But I needed her to fucking hear what I said.

"I want to do so. But I know that they have a deep seated hatred for me that is beyond everything else that I have seen. I feel like even trying would just probably be a waste of fucking time." Yolei told me, and I was feeling like it might be best to just leave her alone.

"To be honest T.K., I think that they are going to be too busy for me to even talk with them anyways. I heard them talking about something going through tomorrow. So I think that any attempts to talk are going to be a waste of time." Yolei said, and I was shaking my head, wanting her to not worry too much.

"Is it that deal with Kenta you are worried about?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to get that out of the way. She closed her eyes, as if wishing that I had not brought that up again. But then she was slowly nodding, to confirm that this is exactly what she was thinking.

"To be honest, I think that my parents are going to be heading full fucking throttle into that shit with him, and there is nothing that I can fucking do to change it. And now I feel like I need to be ready for everything." She said, and I knew she was still dead set on that theory of hers.

"Oh shit. Sorry if this is indeed true. I never wanted to see you hurting like this." I said, and then Yolei was shaking her head, and I saw her looking like she was just not really in the mood to hear me tell her this at all.

"Honestly, at this point, I hardly even fucking care anymore. What's going to happen is going to happen, no matter what I say or do. I just think that in all honesty, I need to be careful with everything that I do." After Yolei said that to me, I was shaking my head at this, not in the mood to try and hear her talk like that about it.

"If you do not see me tomorrow, you will know that my parents are responsible. If you do, then I will admit that I was the one who was wrong this whole time." Yolei said, and she was saying this as if she was trying to give off a negotiating term.

"And I guess that I will still try and see what I can find at the same time. I know there just has to be something." I said, and I was shaking my head as I said this. The picture was almost there, but not quite.

"Don't fucking force it though. I don't want you to be the one that ends up getting a target on their back because you decided to try and save me." Yolei said, and I looked right at her, and I was having no idea why she said that.

"I don't care about myself. I want to do what is best for you, and nobody else. Even Tobias is something that that is just sort of on my mind." I admitted, and I was feeling like the truth would be something she would fucking love.

"Don't tell anybody that though. I do not want people to be making assumptions about us, like dating or whatever." She said, and I was shrugging, feeling like she was thinking too deeply into this whole thing.

"That's fine. I don't care what people think about us. I mean, we're friends, and so what is people think we're together. It's none of their business anyways." I said, feeling like I just needed to be firm as I said this to her.

"I wish that I could be able to see things the way that you do. I mean, what about Davis, and Tobias, and the fact that all of them are dealing with soem serious shit? Souldn't we focus on that instead?" Yolei asked, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to get back on point, before we totally lost topic.

"I just think that Tobias has made great progress. He's a wonderful guy, and I think that he just needs some fucking time to see that people are still going to respect him, no matter what happens, even if his cousin is gone." I said, and I wondered how likely it would be that Yolei would be listening to what I say.

"Yeah, although I wonder if Rachel will be feeling that way, considering the fact that she always seemed to be rather upset with the fact that he is doing all these things in the first place. Maybe I should try and see what she really thinks about this all." After Yolei said that, I was shocked that she was taking the idea of seeing Rachel seriously.

"I think that talking to Rachel, without letting Tobias know, might be a really fucking bad idea. After all, Tobias tries to make sure that she stays safe as well." I said, and then Yolei shrugged, as if she was thinking that I might be looking too deeply into it.

"Either way, I feel like you are going to be a good friend for him, and that is enough for me to feel like I can leave you alone about it." After she said that to me, I was sighing, and I felt like she was giving me too much credit.

"I think that Tobias will probably stop hanging out with us the second that everything is done. Can't blame him though, since by that point, everything is all completely fucking ruined. He probably already thinks that we might have ruined his summer." I said, feeling like I just needed to remind her that was a very real possibility.

"He might, but I think that you might not really be thinking that. Truth be told, I think that even if you don't see it, Tobias needs you. He needs a friend at his side." Yolei said, and I was wondering what she was feeling here.

"Yolei, is there something you needed to tell me?" I asked, and Yolei looked at me, and I was glad to see that she was taking what I said seriously. Knowing that she was not scared to talk. She took a deep breath, and nodded, and then I thought about what she was going to tell me, before all my thoughts were completely fucking cut off.

Before too long, she decided to give me a kiss on the lips. I was shocked, and I was wondering if this was something she wanted. But it soon turned into a french kiss, and after a point, I was fully in the zone here.

After nearly a minute, Yolei pulled out, and she smiled. "I had wanted to do that for a while. I just wish that we would be able to just find out what happened anyways. But I guess that something like that just isn't fucking happening." She said, and then she shrugged.

"See you. And tell Davis and Tobias that I think you guys should start really reaching out to more extreme conclusions. I have a feeling the truth won't be learned unless if you guys really just throw it all in there." Yolei said, and I was wondering if this was her way of saying that she was done. But before I could ask, she went inside.

What I didn't know at the time was that this was the last time that I, or anybody else, ever saw Yolei alive. And to this day, I still feel like I should have never had that kiss, and that maybe somebody like Davis deserved it much more.

Yolei Confidant Rank 10

---

Scene 21: Apologies and Excuses

June 17 1986, Morning

So I walked up to Davis the next day, and despite the fact that I was sure that if I told him about Yolei's kiss, he would fucking hate me forever, I felt like I just needed to try and be honest with him here.

"Hey Davis. I just wanted to see you. And apologize for how everything has been going lately. You know, with the cases and what not. I know you almost certainly did not want to spend your summer break like this." I said, and I was feeling like saying this was a good start.

"I wish that I knew what to say here. I mean, I can't hate you because a part of it is my fukcing fault. I was the one that wanted to really look at this. You know, with the sister and what not." Davis said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like I needed to acknowledge his take in the matter.

"Do you think that maybe you can still be there for the sister? After all, you said that you just wanted to make sure that nothing happens to her. But if it does, then I think you need to see that you should have just spent time making memories with her during summer." I said, feeling like I just needed to push Davis through this rough spot.

"Don't ever fucking make that suggestion again. That something will happen to her. She deserves to be fucking happy." Davis said, and then he was giving me the death daggers. I knew that I needed to stand my ground.

"I just have to be realistic. I mean, Yolei is going around, talking about how she is surely going to be the one that is going to go missing next. And to be honest, I think she might fucking be right." I said, and I saw Davis looking like he could not believe that I just said that to him, especially given his feelings for her.

"You fucking take that back right now. She is over reacting to this, and you need to make her fucking stop these reactions." Davis said, and he got really close to my face. I was feeling really uncomfortable there for a second.

"I am not fucking over reacting. I think that I am the only one who knows what I am talking about here." I said, and then I was seeing Davis looking like he wanted to just tell me to fuck myself with that comment there.

"Let's just go to Tobias, and see what he knows." Davis said, deciding to just keep the comments to himself. I felt like maybe I should just be careful with him now. After all, Davis was genuinely scared for what was going on, and I should have respected his opinion. And kept the sister comment out.

"Fine. I went too far. I will admit it." I said, and then with that, I started to walk with him all the way towards Tobias's house, and I was wondering what was wrong with me all this time, with the way that I was always acting and such.

Before long, we eventually went to Tobia's house, and I knocked on the door, and before long, Tobias answered, and looked right at us, wondering why we were here so early. Even compared to usual.

"Are you already wanting to get to it today? I mean, I appreciate the tenacity. But I am still not fuly awake yet." Tobias said, and then Davis nodded. Feeling like maybe he needed to give Tobias some time.

"Well, we don't want to waste our chances here." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and make it seem like I was the one planning this whole thing out.

As we went inside, I sat down, and I was smiling for a second. "So did you guys enjoy the time out at pizza last night?" I asked, feeling like I would try and lighten up the mood a bit. Tobias seemed like he was just kind of shocked that I was even bringing that up of all things.

"Yeah, I suppose that I did. I mean, I guess that I was just thinking about other things as well. You know, such as how much time I have been spending this summer worrying about how my family will react. When I just feel like I have been living more lately than I ever had." Tobias said, and then he smiled, as if happy to tell us this.

"And in all honesty, I think that if my family had known how much I have been enjoying my life the last week, just being with friends, and enjoying myself, I feel like they would have loved what I am doing." After he told me this, I really had no idea what to even say.

"Have you told Rachel how you felt?" I asked, feeling like Rachel was probably the one who needed to know the most. After all, she was the one that was pushing him to stop doing this as much as possible. But if she was aware how he was feeling here, then she might think different.

"No I haven't. I don't want to get her to start everything all over again. And to be honest, after what happened with Andrea, and how uptight she had become, I am just thinking that staying silent is for the best." Tobias said, and I wondered what we were going to do now.

"But in all honesty, I think the main person I worry for is Yolei. After all, she seems to have fully bought into the theory that something will happen to her." After Tobias said this, I shook my fukcing head.

"I tried to calm her down earlier. But she doesn't fucking buy it. And to be honest, if she doesn't want to buy into that stuff, for whatever reason, then maybe she is right. Maybe something really is going on here, and we are just being assholes for not noticing." I said, feeling like I just needed to bring up the possibility of that being the case.

"Well, assholes might be a bit of a stretch. As that would insinuate that we are doing something to purposely make her feel worse. Which isn't really the case." Tobias said, and then with that, he was taking a deep breath, sounding like he was no longer caring anymore.

As I was thinking for a second, I wondered what in the world I was even going to do now. "Anyways, I think we might just need to see her later today. After all, regardless of what we think, this is something that has bothered her lately, and I think it is time to just really sit down." I said, and I was aware of how I was sounding with them. As if I was accusing them. But I hardly fucking cared. I just needed to try and get this working again.

As we were talking, this was when Rob walked in, to see Rachel, and he saw the thre eof us here, and I knew from that moment that he was regretting coming here. I wondered what his issue was going to be.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you guys were trying to fucking play hero and what not." He said, and i was shaking my head. I was feeling like he was grossing under lining the work that we were trying to do, and make us seem retroactively worse for it all.

"We are trying to find out what is going on with our friend. You know, Yolei." Tobias said, and I was surprised he wasn't using Andrea this time. I had a feeling it was because he knew there was a very good chance that it would just not go over very well.

As he said this, Rob looked right at him, seeming almost shocked that this was his answer. "Well, if that is the case, then never mind what I said. I thought you guys were doing more of that investigation piece, and I was going to have to try and stop you. As per Rachel's request." Rob said, and then he slowly nodded.

"I am going to see Rachel, and just check up on how is doing. I still fear for her, and I feel like we are making a bunch of mistakes for acting like this right now." Rob said, and then he was shrugging. As if thinking he would be wasting his time for even trying to talk about this now.

"Well, I really do hope you figure out what is going on with your friend. I don't want you to be unhappy." He said, and then with that, he was heading off. Tobias looked right at him, and I saw him looking like he was just trying to buy what he heard, but just simply couldn't really go along with it at all.

"I always feel like he is planning on something. I just can't fucking figure out what that is." Tobias said, as he shook his head, and seemed to be kind of annoyed with what he had to admit.

"Well. Maybe his plans are as innocent as it seems. I mean, I think better utterly filled with doom and gloom isn't going to fucking help anybody." I said, and I looked right at him, hoping that he would at least consider what I was saying for a second.

"If doom and gloom is the only way that I can see people honestly for the way that they act, then I guess that is all that I want to ever be now." He said, and I sighed, feeling like I would just remain silent at this. Not wanting to go down this path. Knowing it was not going to help me out at all.

"I had a feeling you were going to say something along those lines. I have no idea why I even tried to say anything else." I said, and I simply had no more mood to argue or be in his case. If he genuinely felt that way, then that was perfectly fine, and that was his fucking choice.

"But Davis, I am sorry that Yolei doesn't feel the same way about you as you feel about her. I know that this is important to you, and I want to try and make it work out for you." I said, hoping that telling him this would get him to not be upset with me. Since Yolei's feelings were out of my control.

"I just thought that maybe I could have had more luck on it than I did. But I guess that I was wrong. You know, maybe I should just be happy with being her friend." Davis said, and I was slowly nodding, enjoying his way of looking at things.

"It's okay. Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want." After Tobias said that, Davis rolled his eyes at such a vague comment, and I was feeling like this was going to be them just having a civil bickering.

I was then feeling like the idea of getting Yolei and Davis to like each other would be a nice, and funish, goal, after the shit that I had to go through so far. And it would give something new for this summer to make me feel better.

We decided to eat some lunch before we got too deep into it. Since we all wanted to just enjoy ourselves just a little bit more. And I guess that at the end of the day, neither of us were really in the mood to just throw our lives on the line after just such a short period of time of being awake.

---

Scene 22: Yolei Goes Missing

June 17 1986, Afternoon

That next day, Davis, Tobias, and I had hung out or maybe half an hour before we were seeing a news report on the television. It was Mr. Carbunkle talking with the reporter about something. "So what do you think of the most recent missing persons case?"

"The one that showed up today? It is a god damn shame, that everything I did turned out for nothing. I knew her rather well. I would go to her parents shop every Wednesday and Saturday." Brad said, and Davis instantly turned white as a ghost when he heard that.

"What the fucking hell happened?" Davis asked, and looked at Tobias and I. I saw him looking like he was on the verge of getting ready to fucking cry. "Yolei really did go missing? What the fucking hell is happening with this town?"

"Should we try and go over to her parents place?" After Tobias asked this, I shook my head, not wanting to even bother with such a idea. I knew what would happen if we did.

"Truth be told, if we even fucking tried to go there. they would be telling us to not even bother, and that this is something we're looking too deep into. They don't fucking care." I said, feeling like I just needed to be fully honest with them as I said this.

"How utterly disgusting. I have a feeling this town is going to just let everything fucking slide." After Davis said this, he shook his head, and then he rubbed his eyes, having no wish to hear this at all.

"I'm going to go and try to talk to that Kenta asshole. Maybe he knows what happened." I said, and stood up, ready to get going. As I was starting to leave, Tobias and Davis looked like they were both ready to help.

Eventually, we were getting closer to the main Lazarus building, and I was seeing that Davis was finally looking like he was going to drive everything his way, and not hold back whatsoever.

"We were supposed to find Andrea, and now this happened." Davis said, when we were getting closer to the front entrance. He looked right at Tobias, and wondered what else he was going to say.

"It's okay. But we have a head start, and we already know that for better or for worse, Yolei's parents are probably responsible for this." After Tobias told Davis this, I saw Davis looking like he was considering what Tobias said.

"Yeah, I guess that is true." After Davis said that, we went inside the tower, and when we were inside, there were guards all over the place, and it seemed like going here was actually a total fucking waste of time.

We went to the counter lady, and I was taking a deep breath, aware of how stupid I would sound. "I was wondering if I could be able to speak to Kenta Kitagawa?" I asked, hoping that she would give me a real fucking answer. As she looked me up and down, I saw her looking like this was absolutely insane.

"Yeah, you're going to need to make a booking if you want to do that, and the next avalible one is..." She said, and then she looked right at us when she was finished. "The eighth of September."

"That's the first fucking day back to school. No way in hell we are going to be able to actually get that going. And Yolei will be missing for nearly three months by then. We need to act immediately. Tell him there's no other choice." Davis said, and placed his hands down on the counter with such force even she didn't feel the need to argue.

She scrambled for a second, then looked at us. "I can move it up to July 1st. But no earlier, and even that one would be after hours." She said, and Davis sighed, and slowly nodded, clearly not happy with this, but knowing it was the better option. So she wrote all three of our names down, from 11 pm to 1 am.

As we were leaving, I was seeing Davis looking like he was trying so hard to keep his composure, and I was wondering if he was going to start crying before the end of the day.

"Nobody cares that Yolei is fucking gone. It seems like her going missing is just something that people barely even acknowledge." After Davis said this, that was when he looked right at us, and said something I never expected him to say.

"Brad Carbunkle is our best bet. He probably knows what is happening here, and I think it would be a massive mistake to not ask him." After Davis suggested this, I saw Tobias looking like he was really not sure what to feel here.

"Do you think that Brad will actually talk to us about that though? I mean, he seems like he is on his own personal quests, and doesn't really want other people involved." Tobias said, as Davis looked up, and was trying to imagine what he was going to say to Kenta.

"I swear, when I see that man, I am going to have to use all of my will power to make sure that he tells me everything that I want to know. What a miserable fucking asshole." Davis said, and then he shook his head, having nothing else to say to the matter.

"Let's just get out of here. We do not want people out here, listening to us right now." I said, trying to get Davis to calm down at least long enough to where we could be able to leave.

As the three of us were heading out, that was when Tobias started to think for a few seconds. "Maybe we can try and see Rob, and see if he has anything else." Tobias suggested, and Davis was rolling his eyes, as if thinking something like that would just be a waste of time.

But Davis was looking like he wasn't really in the mood to argue, was just more so hoping that any fucking plan would work out at all. So he was slowly nodding.

Eventually, we made it over to Rob's house, where we knocked on his door. Before long, Rob answered the door, and Davis decided to try and take the floor this time. Much to Tobias's annoyance.

"Hey Rob, we were wondering if you found out anything else lately. My friend went missing, and I hoped that you knew something." Davis said, and Rob sighed, as if having no interest in the subject.

"Oh shit. That was who Brad was talking about on the news." Rob said, and I had to remember that I think he literally only talked with her like once or twice ever, so he probably did not remember the way she looked too well. He sighed, and I could tell that he was clearly having pity for us.

"Well, yeah, I don't have anything else. I tried to talk to Julian a couple of times about it, but he told me that I just needed to let it go, and stop making stories about it. She's gone, and it's time to move on." He said, and I saw him looking like he actually thoight that might be true.

"Julian doesn't understand that we could be on our way to making this whole thing work, if he actually was fucking patient for once in his fucking life." After Tobias said that, Rob shook his head, and I felt like we were all on edge.

"Look Tobias, I do have to remind you that Rachel doensn't want you to fucking look into this in the first place, and the fact that you keep doing this is going to put a large ass strain on you." After Rob said this, Tobias shrugged, thinking that Rob was trying way too hard to try and support Rachel's side.

"She feels that way because she knows that sooner or later, she will eventually find out the truth." Tobias said, as Rob looked as if he was just not really in the mood to argue.

"I'm just telling you what I fucking know. Us throwing daggers at each other is not doing anybody favors. Besides, do you know anything about your friend Yolei. What happened with her?" He asked, and I sighed, feeling no need to hide it.

"I think her parents sold her to Kenta." I said, being fully honest, and not regretting the words as soon as I said them, even if they ended up wrong.

"Oh shit, that's a really giant accusation? Do you have anything to show that?" He asked, and I nodded, feeling like if this was true, then Rob might have to look into Andrea's case, the same way.

"Yeah, I think I do know what I am talking about. Yolei and I were having a conversation one day, and her parents were talking to Kenta about a fucking sales transaction, and he said that it would be ready closer to the end of the month. This was literally the day the grinding noise went off." I said, and I was seeing Rob looking like he could not believe that I was actually going with this theory.

"Shit. If that is the case, then does that mean that people are being sold off, like for drugs or whatever? And we are just letting it happen." Rob said, and I was seeing him suddenly letting the reality kick in.

"Yeah, and I think that the most likely culprits are working in Lazarus Corporation. I think that I am going to try and go there, and see what I could find." I said, looking right at both Tobias and Davis, and I was seeing Davis looking like he could not take it any more.

That was the first, but not the last time, I ever saw Davis actually cry. It was at that moment that no matter how much Yolei liked me, Davis cared for her far more than I had. And I was feeling so fucking wrong here.

"Davis, do you need to have somebody to fucking talk to?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to try and make him feel better. Davis was shaking his head, as if embarassed that he was even crying out like this in the first place. Wondering if we were going to judge him.

"Forget that you ever saw that. I know that you guys are going to be making fun of me forever for it." Davis said, and wiped his eyes, as if suddenly feeling better that he was able to finally let it all out. I sighed, and I really had no idea what in the world I would tell him.

"No, we were never going to fucking do that. I have been wanting to cry for some time as well. But it always felt wrong around you." After Tobias said that, Davis started to get his feelings together a bit more, and I was seeing that he was clearly embarassed that he was letting it out that way.

I looked over at the distance, and I was wondering if there was really even a chance I would find her. I knew that if what Yolei theorized is true, then she might not even be in Wayside anymore. And we were all wasting our chances on something that was never going to fucking happen.

---

Scene 23: Fist Fight

June 17, 1986, Evening

That evening, I was just with Davis, and I could see from the look on his face, that he was utterly pissed at what was going on. I couldn't blame him. But I was having no idea how in the world I was going to be able to talk to him, and make him open up. Given everything that had been going on. It just felt so fucking wrong, knowing what we were dealing with.

"T.K., I have to be honest with you, I feel like we are probably at fault for what happened here. I think that we made a grave mistake, and I feel like none of us are really taking the time to own up to the shit we said and did." After Davis said that to me, I was looking right at him, and I was wondering where he was planning on going with this.

"Are you going to tell Tobias what you feel? If you do, the I don't think he will want to talk with us anymore?" I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him, that he was not being nearly careful enough with the stuff that he had said. But he was shaking his head, as if not even caring.

"I have to say what I feel like is right. You know, I think that if it weren't for what we did, Yolei might still be here. She might still be alive." Davis said, and then he looked right at me, as if he was wanting to say something. And I knew that it was going to be ugly, no matter what I said in response.

"But honest with me T.K., Yolei was telling you that she was scared her parents might be having something to do with this. Why did you not stop them when you had the time? You could have done just that, and you fucking didn't." He said, and I looked at him with utter anger. I could not believe that he was trying to throw me under the bus like this.

"I didn't know if we were supposed to take it super seriously. Simple as fucking that. What in the world was I supposed to fucking do?" I asked, feeling like i just needed to be honest with him as I fucking said this. He shook his head, as if feeling like I was only hiding behind the truth of what was going on here.

"And besides, you were the one that was saying that it was probably not true. So I can literally ask you the same god damn question. You were so obsessed with her loving you that you didn't look at the bigger picture." I said, and I was hardly caring how risky what I was saying was. I just felt like I needed to be honest with him the entire time.

"I was seeing how scared she was, and I wanted to give her comfort. I wanted her to feel like she was going to be able to get through this just fine. There was nothing wrong with that. I just thought that maybe she needed to have somebody care for her." After Davis explained this, I shook my head. I felt like he was diverting responsibility, and not letting himself own up to his shit.

"Well, don't fucking blame me at all. I was just trying to help her out. I was also trying to help Tobias out as well. You were the one that wasn't doing much besides just trying to get in her pants." I said, snapping, and feeling I just needed to stand my ground with him, and get him to fucking stop.

As I said this, Davis was looking like he was about to lose his cool for a second. But at the same time, I was almost finding myself not even caring. You know what I say is true. So just own up to what you're doing, and maybe I would be able to give you more sympathy." I said, hoping that by telling him this, he would just get the fucking memo already.

"Why did she have to fucking like you of all people? I mean, I was doing everything that I could to make her happier, and she just brushed me off. She just didn't even fucking think about me at all." After Davis said this, I was wondering where he was going to be going with this. I just needed to make him stop.

"She probably didn't like you because she felt like you weren't the guy for her, and that you were never going to be the suitable fit for her. Maybe you need to look at yourself in the mirror, and see what you have done, and what you could have done to make things different." I said, and I hardly gave a shit anymore. I was going to say what I wanted to say, no matter the results.

"T.K., why do you always have to try and be right about everything? Why can't you just shut up at times, and let me feel a certain way?" He asked, and looked right at me. He was giving me the worst death daggers in the world. I was shaking my head. I had no idea what the hell was wrong with him. I wanted to make him feel better. But he wasn't seeing it.

"Maybe it's not so much that I'm right as you have been horribly wrong. And I am just trying to help you see that. If you loved Yolei, you would have comforted her, and made her see that she was a valuable member of the god damn team!" I said, and I was hardly even caring what the results of what I said would be.

With that, Davis was coming at me, and he hit me across the face. I was shocked at his sudden change in attitude, and I was feeling like he was really making a big mistake. So I pushed him to the ground, feeling that since he drew first blood, all bets were off.

After that, he got up, and then he he lunged at me. I felt myself hit the ground, and my head hit the ground, really hard, and I was honestly just happy that I didn't crack it open or anything horrible like that that. Then I kicked him right in the nuts, and got back up, and then I looked right at him, wondering what the fucking hell his issue was right now.

"T.K., why do you have to be so fucking perfect!?" Davis yelled, when he was getting over the pain of his nuts getting hit. Then he looked at me, as if having daggers on his face.

"Davis, calm down! We do not need to do this right now! We can just talk things out if you would be willing to fucking talk with me." I said, hoping that I would get him to stop doing this shit. He was not seeing reason, and I was feeling like this was going to be making things much worse for us all.

"But with how annoyingly perfect you are, it would just feel great to just get it off my chest for once. I need to get it off my god damn chest!" Davis yelled, and I was feeling like he was being fucking insane. He had no idea how much this was making him seem like he was losing his rocker right now.

Then he hit me in the chest again. "I wanted to make sure that my sister had a perfect world to go to. That she would not have to deal with these things. But I am not able to fucking do this. I want her to be happier than I ever was!" Davis yelled, and I was actually hearing him for once. Knowing that this was something he was so passionate about, made me unsure what to feel.

"Well, fighting each other is not going to be helping us out." I grabbed his back, and then I started to drag him down to the ground, where I was going to try and force him into submission. He had pushed me to the point where I was beyond having any patience with him. And I was beyond the point of being treated like I was the one who was behind everything that happened.

"It will help me feel a lot better. Just being able to get my feelings off my fucking chest!" After Davis said this, he pushed me to the wall when he got off my grip. I kept forgetting that no matter how strong I might have thought I was, this man was somebody who had been training in sports for a super fucking long ass time. He was clearly capable of getting what he wanted, and there was nothing else I could fucking do to stop him.

"I have been sick of the fact that you clearly do not support my wishes to have my sister be a happy woman when she grows up. And I am sick of the fact that everybody seems to be more focused on Andrea than they are on Yolei!" Davis said, and each time he hit me, I was hardly able to feel the desire to fight back. I kept fucking wanting to. But I knew something like that was just not going to be helping me out anymore.

"I wanted her to be happy, but she is not even fucking born yet. Nothing I can do will make somebody happy when they're not even alive!" I yelled, feeling like I just needed to shut him up. He was not seeing that these two things were connected. I needed him to see that unless we just shut the hell up, we were only going to make things worse. I gave my last really good punch of the fight, where he actually went back a second.

Then he looked right at me, and I was seeing for a second, a twinge of regret. As if he had realized the mistake he caused with this fight. Then with that, he was shaking his head. As if feeling like there was no need to be hiding behind pleasantries anymore. He already fucked up enough, and he would continue now.

"But there are going to be issues from the minute she is born. She is going to have to deal with me acting like a fucking broken asshole, because nobody will do shit to help anybody out at all. What type of brother will that make me, when she realizes the type of people that I could be?" Davis asked, and then he just gave up hiding behind being nice, and he just fucking went at me. To the point where there was no way that I would have been able to stop him, no matter how hard I fucking tried.

He toppled me to the ground in less than a second. Then he started to punch me over and over again. He went at my right eye a couple of times, as hard as he could. After a point, I was just trying to make the damage less by by holding my hands up, and getting him to fucking stop.

Then he grabbed my right arm when I was trying to block one of his blows, and in a fit of rage, used both his arms to twist it around, and I heard the cracking noises. "Don't ever tell me I never loved her again!" Davis said, as he was starting to head off, and I stood up, feeling the pain of my broken arm.

When Davis was gone, I was feeling the blood coming down my right eye, and I was aware of the bruises and scratches that he gave me. I knew that there was no way in hell that I could be able to stop him. He was extremely strong for a man of his age. And it was bothering me that this was something that he could do easily.

---

Brad Carbunkle Scene 1: The Contract Has Been Sealed

June 11, 1986, Early Evening

That evening, Brad Carbunkle let up to talk with Shaun, who was his new employer, and wanted to try and build trust with his boss, who he knew was the most powerful man in all of Wayside, and if he didn't get Shaun to like him, then all was fucking screwed. "So you were wanting to talk with me?" Brad asked, and then Shaun laughed.

"The transaction is now official. Which means that soon enough, you will be able to prove yourself to me, and that you are interested in going all the way with helping me out." After he said this, that was when Brad instantly knew what exactly this man was meaning. And he shook his head at this.

"But Yolei is only thirteen years old. Are you sure you wouldn't be able to wait until she got out of high school at least? What about her friends?" Brad asked, hoping that he would be able to give this guy a level of reason to work with. The man laughed at this reaction, finding his sudden fear kind of unique.

"Mr. Carbunkle, one thing you will quickly see when you work here is that the business model has to be first. No matter what. Even if it means that the emotions that we all have to be thrown aside." Shaun said, and then Brad was shocked that Shaun was openly admitting to this right away.

"Every week, you are to update me on how things are with Yolei. I do not want you to make up excuses to justify not doing your job." He said, and then Brad knew what he meant with the 'weekly updates' and this was something that deeply bothered him, to a unbearable degree.

"And there is a young man that I need you to watch over as well. A man named Rob. That is your other weekly task. To check up on him, and see his progress." After he said this, Brad was confused as all hell why Shaun wanted him to check on Rob that often.

"I know what you are almost certainly thinking. The fact of the matter is that I have a personal stake in the progress and development on this man. He's fifteen years old, and lives with his mother. He is also friends with the older Wilson child, so that is another thing to keep your eyes on." He admitted, as Brad slowly nodded. Just trying to decide what to think from there.

"If this is what you want me to do, then I will try my best to make this work." Brad said, as Shaun was going to a cabinet file, and pulled out two folders. One was very large, and the other not too much.

"The first one is related to all the things related to Rob. Through his entire life since the day of birth." He said, pointing to the stacked one that was easily two or three thousand pages. "The second is for Yolei Inoue. Which you will add to every week when you update me." He said, pointing to the one that was only like four or five pages.

"What the hell did Rob do that made him such a big fucking threat?" Brad asked, feeling like he deserved the truth after everything he was going to be forced to deal with. As he said this, Shaun looked at him for a few seconds. As if furious at the way that Brad was trying to talk to him here.

"When you see him, and you get to know him, you will know exactly what it is. And you will no longer need to ask." After Shaun said this, Brad was trying his best to figure out what in the world Shaun was even trying to play at in the first place.

"I hope you know what you're talking about." Brad said, as he was looking at the thousands of pages that were strictly dedicated to this person. And he was wondering what the hell was going on with this. He hoped that the truth would be in the pages.

"And Brad, I also need you to know that you are never to discuss anything you work with to people. I don't mind you telling people you work with me, and you can continue to have your news shows and what not. But the actual work itself must stay away." He said, and Brad was slowly nodding, as if feeling like this was making sense, as much as he hated to admit it.

"I fucking know that. I mean, you guys are literally everywhere, and I think that if I make even one big move that fucks me over, then it is game over." After Brad was telling him this, he was shaking his head, and was just thinking of how tedious the Rob files were going to be to read.

"I hope that this is one question you can actually answer me." Brad said, aware that he was taking a leap of faith here. "But do you have any idea what is going on with the Victoria case? I mean, that was half the reason I even joined this fucking company to begin with." When he finished, he looked right at the man, hoping for once, there would be a genuine response.

"That is something that is not meant to be discussed with employees. And to be honest, I am not sure that I trust you to learn about that yet." He said, and then with that, Brad was taking a few steps closer to Shaun, and Shaun actually started to get mildly scared.

"You know what happened to her, don't you? Were you the one that took her away?" Brad asked, and with that, Shaun took a few deep breaths, and started to think about what was happening. Then with that, he took a deep breath, trying to pretend like he was still in control of this conversation.

"You know how business is in Wayside, and you know what needs to be done to keep things running. I am sure that at the end of the day, you understand the fact taht sometimes we have no fucking choice." After he said that to Brad, he was hoping that Brad would be willing to at least listen to him for a few seconds.

"But Shaun, people are looking up to you. Thinking you are their fucking hero. You are supposed to be the one who figures shit out for them. And then here you are, just lying to people you trust." Brad said, hoping that by saying this, he would get Shaun to open up, and maybe see where Brad was coming from. To a degree at least.

"People look up to me because I manage to get results. Sherman Peabody did the same nearly fifty years ago and everybody supported him, and thought he was the greatest businessman that the world had ever seen. I think that at this point, I deserve the same fucking treatment." Shaun said, with a level of conviction that Brad did consider it for a few seconds. "After all, if it weren't for what many people have done, you would have never had your younger brother Tucker. And you would never be alive."

Brad took a couple of seconds to think about what he was hearing. The words he said sounded true, and it was exactly like the stuff that Sheldon had told him all those years ago. And when he considered that, he was finding himself wondering if maybe what he was being told was actually true.

"Besides, I understand that you loved Victoria. I believe that is great. But Victoria is fucking gone. She will never be fucking coming back. You know this. No woman in Wayside ever returns. Even the ones that come back alive have to be eliminated before too long." Shaun said, and Brad instantly knew what he meant. Every time a woman did come back to Wayside after going missing, within forty eight hours, she was always dead. His friend Sheldon saved four one time over twenty years ago, and by the end of the week, all four of them were deceased.

"How many of those were your doing?" After Brad asked this calmly, this was when the man looked right at him, wondering why he was even willing to take the risk like this in the first place. As Brad was starting to head off, he was hearing Shaun calling out to him once again. This time, despite his best efforts to pretend otherwise, Brad was indeed losing patience with this asshole.

"Well, I was just merely watching things as they happened. I had very little to do with these things happening on their own. But I guess that you will not be able to fucking see that. After all, it seems like you always kind of had it against me, and thinking that I was some evil mastermind." After he said that, Brad was taking a second to carefully plan his words out, for his own sake.

"I am sorry if at any point you felt like I was with holding information for you. The reality is that in general, often times, I feel like there is no fucking choice on the matter." Shaun was telling Brad, hoping that he was able to slowly get Brad to open up, and stop looking at things so harshly.

"I am more worried about you with holding information from the town. I think that one of these days, people are going to realize exactly what is happening. And there is nothing that you can fucking do to change it." After Brad was telling Shaun this, he was wondering if Shaun would listen to him.

"Look with me for a second, and just think calmly. And really put your emotions aside to listen to me." He said, and Brad was hating this comment. But he decided to oblige. He stood beside Shaun, and the two of them were looking at the giant bustling city, that was always under construction to become bigger and better.

As he was watching this during the sun set, he was just trying to get a glimpse of what Shaun was truly fighting for. "I mean, I know that the two of us often times do not see things eye to eye. But at the end of the day, I am fighting for the preservation of this city. And making sure that no matter what happens, everything gos as smoothly as possible. I have nothing but the best for this town in mind." He said, and then looked right at Brad for a second.

"I want Wayside to preserve. And to do that, sometimes I have to do things that will hurt the towns people. Not because I wanted to. But because I literally have no fucking choice but to do this." He said, and the more that he said this, the less Brad was hearing any devious intent in his voice.

"Protection and stability?" Brad asked, thinking about what he heard. Despite the fact that he was not one hundred percent sold on this, he was having a feeling that maybe it was true, and that was something he was willing to accept. Brad wondered if maybe as much as he hated to admit it, what happened to Victoria, was something that needed to be done, as a way to continue the business of this town.