Mike's body was wearing down, his face grew paler, he was becoming skinnier, and his face, his eyes, his hair, his cheeks...were all starting to wither. He was no longer able to shed tears, all his spiritual energy had vanished. If mal doesn't do something fast mike's body will fade into nothing. "I'm...surprised." D said in a soft tone as the ball lowered closer to the ground. I can't believe this didn't cross my mind, if D really wanted to make this soul fall and break, he would be talking at normal volume. I can't...I just CAN'T AND I WON'T! Mal closed his eyes...but not tightly…,calmly, he had gently shut his eyes as he took a deep breath then they SHOT OPEN making D lose focus for a millisecond. But still even during that millisecond it seemed like time had slowed down for mal as he concentrated more than ever as the ball shot upward about 10ft almost. Mal's facial expression didn't change at all, D was beginning to get lazy as he summoned chairs, neither of the two players lost their focus one bit nor their calm attitudes but, none the less, time was running out and mal was getting worried. When D focused again the orb flew down at a great speed until it was exactly at an eye-to-eye level for the both of them. Mal crossed his legs as D crossed his arms and you could just feel the thick intensity of the silent room. D yawned and started his own conversation with mal.
'Ya know...'ya can't keep this up much longer...I can see the bags. D stated with confidence.
I can as well...but, yes...it's true I can't go on forever...you have power and I have power. Mal told him with a sigh.
Mine is…. "darker" I suppose. But I can see you're wearing down, your face just doesn't show it. It takes a special bond to tell one's energy evaporating...it takes a personality to know a personality. D replied calmly. Mal's face had turned shocked as he thought of his mother again:
"What...did you...tell...him?!" "Just that I won't support his case of denial in the court,...the poor sap was begging me. HA! as if! he was clearly asking the wrong person." "personality...personality, you mean…".…, "NO, NO...I'M NOT...I'M REAL...I'M REAL DAMMIT!"
But you're NOT real, just accept it. You're MY personality NOT his! YOU BELONG TO ME! NOT HIM...ME! D, without removing his focus on the orb pointed at mike. Then the room was in silence again as mal looked down. D thought that when mal brought his head back up to look at orb, he'd see him crying out of frustration and assumed that this would bring out his anger and 'dark' aura. Instead...when mal looked up….his face continued to have no expression, in fact...his eyes were completely normal...not crimson not black not even blank but….his OWN color...his eyes had turned blue as a smile crept up on mal's face. D assumed it was because he was thinking of a new strategy of torture for IF he caught him. Mal raised his hand slightly and created a forcefield around the orb so now he could talk freely. D remained silent in curiosity for what he was doing.
"I get it now." Mal said as his expression changed back to emotionless.
"Get what?"
"Why you're so dark and evil. It's because you're upset and frustrated." Mal told him bluntly, making D get out of his chair and stepped back nervously, mal stood up as well.
"TH-THAT'S NOT…-YOU'RE WRONG!"
"It's because mike never used you. It was never the anger he had toward his father. No matter how much he abused him...he still loved him anyway. All the bullies did was make him sad..but he never felt anger toward any of them. Sure...everybody has anger in them but you, you're different. The reason that all three of us were created was solely because of his fear and we're just for coping...our mere existence is for mike to be able to handle his situations. The others are simply to help mike on the OUTSIDE…-"
"-Sh-shut up…"
"And YOU were created first but were banished to the far corners of his mind….so if mike couldn't see you….he couldn't use you. So you grew frustrated and angry because no one ever kept you company…" Mal explained in a sad and pitying tone as he stood up out of his chair and looked down in depression, angering D more.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Mal looked up, determined to finish.
"I was created out of mike's fear...and bue was created out of your anger and frustration. SHE kept you company and for a while you remained calm and progressively grew attached to her..just as I did to mike."
~Meanwhile~
It's revealed that bue's plan had worked. She had created a massive force field as the darkness shot passed them. But bue was starting to lose her stand as she tried to dig her feet into the ground to hold back the enormous blast but the shield started to fade until svetlana held her by her back and pushed her forward so she wouldn't fall. Vito held her hand and the shield became more powerful, manitoba did the same and the barrier was now strong enough for them to push forward. Bue looked behind her to see the others...no….her friends….
She smiled and tears of joy ran down her face and they sparkled as they fell..possibly because of the brightness of the shield reflecting back on her. *Mal begins to narrate over*
I was just as lonely as you and so I tried to help mike anyway I could..but that ended up hurting him more...I felt endlessly guilty so I tried to cut off the other people mike had a relationship to and hurt THEM as well...I was jealous. Until I found friends...friends who understood me and why I was so frustrated, I felt guilty for that too...feeling like a burden. :
"You...you did it didn't you!" "You tell mike or anyone else and you're DEAD! ...MANNY!" "...Mal…?" "MIKE IS MINE, NOBODY IS GONNA TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME! NOT YOU, NOT ZOEY...NOT ANYBODY!" "Mal, I understa-" "NO YOU DON'T!"
But, but….they STILL forgave me. And that made me happy at least.
~Mal and D's conversation~
"no...no...NO! YOU LIE!" Mal walked up to him slowly...D didn't move an inch with a scared look on his face...and mal hugged him.
"It's okay…" D pushed him away...but the expression on his face had changed...to sad… "HOW DO I KNOW YOU GUYS WON'T LEAVE ME EITHER?!" D ran over to mike's soul, picked it up and was about to throw it to the ground and break it. He had tears running down his face. Mal walked up and grabbed his hand..but not tightly, he didn't twist it either...he just held it and gave him a very serious look. D reluctantly turned his head to face him.
"D...why, why are you doing this to us?"
"If I got rid of mike then…-"
"-all I'd have left is you." Mal finished his sentence. D looked guilty and lowered his arms...he walked over to mike and knelt down to give him his soul back. But then turned around to look at mal…, "I'm not just gonna give it without something in return." D looked evil again and he started to smirk, mal sighed and knew exactly what he wanted. "Fine...I'll gladly give you MY soul if you give back mike's. Fair?" Mal questioned, D smiled and nodded. WAIT! Both mal and D turned to face where they had heard the voice. A mirror appeared from the direction of mike's side. Mal's face had turned to concerned and confused as he saw one of the most stressing sights he had seen and always wished not to see. "Mom?" D was surprised at first for a little while but got over it and his expression turned blank, mal's look remained concerned for what D could do through the mirror. "Yes mal...it's me, you saw me during your 'game' didn't you?" Mal shook his head, "I saw you for a split second before bringing my focus back onto mike's soul...I thought it might of just been the illusion of hopefulness…. Guess not…" Mal looked down and started to shake, D was shocked at this as he began to wonder what was going on precisely. "I don't want you to get hurt." His mother was a little surprised but then remembered what bue had told her before she got hit with the frying pan: if y-you don't do somethin' fast-he's-gonna-get 'ya. HURRY I DON'T WANT SO'M TO HAPPEN TO 'YA...e-especially if I-I have a say i-in the m-matter!" This thought made her smile a little then mal started to walk up to her slowly...still in shock at what he was seeing. Is that really her? or is this another illusion by D? Meanwhile, D was beginning to grow impatient with mal, afraid that he'd go back on his deal. He was still holding the, now, fading soul. Mal was right in front of the mirror and asked wether she thought of him as her son too. "Yes, now I do. When bue told me you became a "goodguy", I was in disbelief. Until...I saw you fighting so hard for mike's soul and decided to believe bue...though I don't approve of the way she gets by a sentence without a punch." Mal looked down….but D snickered. "But I'M the one who stabbed the old bastard in the chest, that YOU call your husband…." "EX-husband." "He signed the papers of divorce." "AND the custody papers, reluctantly though." This news made mal smile happily, he stepped forward once more and began to reach up to touch the mirror, to at least feel a bit closer to his mother but then...He fell to the ground. His mother gasped as she looked down at a fallen body….in a small pool of blood and saw….the knife in his back. D hadn't moved a muscle until he saw mike's mother and he smirked then walked up to a pale, lifeless mike. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" D ignored her as he knelt down to give mike's soul back. About a full minute after, mike's eyes returned to brown and they blinked frantically, he coughed a lot trying to get some air, his body temp progressively got warmer, and he could feel his heartbeat again. He rubbed his head because of a serious headache but got over it as he finally stood up and saw his mother crying with her mouth cupped by her hands. "MOM!" "MIKE!" He began to run over to her until, he just stopped dead in his tracks and looked around in curiousity. When his mother looked behind him and saw D walking calmly behind him with a smirk and his hands behind his back, but not long after mike stopped, he looked down and saw mal with a knife in his back. When mike ran to him D had stopped walking and was standing directly in front of the mirror by 10 feet away and was staring at the frightened woman with a devilish smile and his eyes glowed crimson once more. It seemed as though his hair was beginning to float and flew up higher until it looked like a some sort of strong force was blowing heavy wind at him from below his feet. He began to glow red all over his body then he pulled out a bow and arrow, aimed it at the mirror as the poor woman had no choice but to watch as D shot it. However, it also broke the actual mirror, in the outside world, it shattered completely and his mother suffered severe cuts all over herself. She ran to go check up on her son's body, not caring for all the cuts on her feet and checked his pulse and forehead. His temperature was normal and so was his pulse, she pulled up a chair next to her son's bed and held his hand while she just prayed for his safety and that he'll come back to her soon.
~Mike's side of the brain~
Bue's shield was fading despite the extra boost from her newly found friends. Then, all of a sudden, everyone blinked for a millisecond and then *POOF* the darkness was gone. Everyone looked around anxiously, worried that it's random disappearence was another illusion until bue broke the silence. "What jus' happened?" "Imagination." Chester replied bluntly, everyone turned to face him. "HAH?!" Everyone said in sync, except bue. " Whaddaya' mean ol' man? What ya' talkin' 'bout?" "I told ya' all before! remember...if all this was created from our imagination and D's illusion's….who says we can't imagine them away?" Vito, svetlana, and manitoba all let their heads fall on their shoulder's in confusion, and once again, except bue. She understood instantly….and was NOT happy about it. "We coulda' jus' gotten rid of it...with our F****** MINDS, YA' M************ D*** AND YA' NEVA' TOLD US?!" Chester groaned at the impatience he was getting, this time bue just couldn't control it anymore. "I DID tell you guys, I thought you said that you could hear my-" "SOMEBODY HOLD ME BACK!" Manitoba and vito tackled her and then noticed her eyes turning black and got worried. Bue began to struggle and was starting to squeeze out of their grasp, svetlana pounced on all of them in hopes of stopping bue with the immense weight of all three of them at once. Then it seemed as though bue got struck with something then she screamed when she sensed the energy coming from mal's side. Everybody got off her immediately and she got up faster than the rest of them could fall as she looked around frantically then saw a huge massive ball of darkness, she knew it had been contained but was still worried. BUE! BUE! I NEED YOUR HELP! NOW! Bue looked back at everyone and manitoba asked what's wrong, bue had an upset look on her face but shook it off as she answered. "It's D…. He's calling me...I gotta go." "WHAT?! BUE? WAIT!" But it was too late, bue had already disappeared and ran head first into the darkness, leading to the other side. When the others tried to follow her, when they got to the darkness and attempted to ram into it like she did, instead they bounced off. "I guess only personalities born from mal's side can only return there themselves." Manitoba sighed and everyone just looked down in defeat. Just then, chester whacked manitoba...very hard….with his cane, making him fall back onto the ground only, face first. "OW! what was that for chester?!" "It's 'cause you dumbells haven't realized that we need to get back into the hallway...if we wanna make a ploy that is!" "Aye yo...what's a 'ploy'"? Vito asked, chester hit him with his cane as well, getting frustrated. "It's a strategy! Why, back in MY day, we understood our elders 'big words' that you peabrains can't figure out!" Everyone gave chester a nasty glare, he rolled his eyes and told them how to fix the forcefield since bue's gone. They trudged on while rubbing their heads in pain.