Ack, don't kill me, I know I'm late! I'm so sorry! I was trying to think of someone else to use as a bad guy, but... I've come to terms with it. I know it has to be her. Plus, the end of this chapter is totally awesome. Just sayin'. I really hope you Rulers like it as much as I do.

Also, remember how in Chapter 11, I said this story had, like, five chapters left?

Well, I think I lied. :3

EN-JUH-HOY!

Remind Me

Ch 17

Sky's POV

We all wheel around to face the voice's owner.

What? Who's she? The way Jerome and Ian are gasping, it's pretty obvious they knew and trusted this person. And, she's obviously a bad guy, because Mitch, Purple-Sorcerer-Dude, Space Boy, and V-Neck Kid are all trembling in fear.

I like her, though, for some weird reason. She seems nice enough. I feel like I know her. Seriously, though, she looks like a person who's very hard to forget...

"Why do you think I would rather forget?" I ask.

She smiles. "If and when you remember, you're going to be assaulted by emotions, very confusing emotions that will affect your fighting badly."

Well then I don't want to remember. I have to stay strong and do my best to fight well, because apparently I'm these guys' commander. Then again, I don't want to just completely forget them all. That would be bad. "That's not a good enough reason to forget my friends," I say.

"Well, another reason you don't want to remember: You're in a lot of pain, right?" I nod. "Do you want to know why?" I nod again. "It's because those four boys, Ty, Jason, Seto, and Mitch, injected you with poison," she says, pointing to Mitch, Space Boy, V-neck Kid, and Purple-Sorcerer-Dude.

"Only because you forced us to!" V-neck Kid shouts to the girl.

"No one can force you to do anything," I say emotionlessly.

Space Boy winces at my tone. "Well, she didn't force us, but... She gave us two options, and the poison-you option was better."

"What was the other option?" Ian asks.

"She was going to-"

The girl cuts him off. "My point, Sky, is that you don't want to remember the betrayal. You don't want to remember all the other horrible things they've done to you."

"What other horrible things?" V-neck Kid asks angrily. "Sky is our friend! We didn't do anything to him except for the poison thing, and then we had no other choice!"

"Well, what about when Mitch tried to poison Jerome's food? Or when Seto and Jason tried to take and hide Ian's glasses? What about when Ty pinned you to the wall with his sword, Sky, and very nearly killed you?"

Everyone in the room, save for the girl and me, shouts, "WHAT!?"

"Why would you do that?" Jerome asks, voice shaking.

Mitch's eyes widen. "Biggums, I didn't do that, I swear!"

Ian holds his glasses tight against his face. "Guys, you know what happens when my glasses come off! Why would you want to do that to me?" Ian asks, looking hurt.

"I- We- We never did that, Ian!" Space Boy tries to explain.

V-neck Kid stares at me, waiting for my reaction. He looks sad, like he expects me to believe the girl, too.

I frown. Then I pinch myself, and allow myself to yelp a little at the intense pain. My world gets a little clearer, it seems, as I get a big headache. And then I'm no longer looking at V-neck Kid, I'm looking at Ty, and I know for a fact that he's never pinned me to a wall with a weapon unless we were playing a game and we were both sure that the respawn machine was fine. The girl was lying about Ty, and I assume she was lying about the others, too. "Lies," I declare loudly, sending a smile onto Ty's face and a frown onto the girl's. The other three "traitors" breathe a sigh. Ian shrugs an apology, and Jerome pulls Mitch into a hug.

"What!?" the girls yells, enraged. "How can one word from you diffuse all the tension in a room? It was going so well, they were all starting to turn on each other! Why'd you have to mess it up, Sky?" Ugh, the way she says my name... It's just so familiar.

"Because he wants the best for this world, he isn't looking to destroy it," Ty says.

Purple-Sorcerer-Dude nods. "He isn't going to believe everything you say, he's not a complete idiot."

Jerome and Ian blush, and I narrow my eyes at him threateningly. How rude.

"He won't let you win," Jason growls.

So am I supposed to stop her?

Pfft, obviously, Sky. She tried to tell you that your friends were against you. There's obviously something wrong here. And, apparently, she forced your friends to stab you with poison. Yup. She doesn't seem too nice.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she says, glancing at me. "He's always liked me quite a bit, hasn't he? Even loved me. I don't think that's changed."

The others turn to me. "Sky? You can't possibly still love her after all she's done!"

Mm. I think I need to stall, so maybe by the time I absolutely have to answer, I'll remember who she is. "Uh... Erm..." Wow, Sky, great stalling skills. "What all has she done? I mean, how did she force you to... to inject me with the poison?" I ask.

Mitch glares at her. "She gave us two options, as Jason was saying earlier," he begins. "Option one: we give you the poison and turn off the respawn machine. She promised us that, although you would feel the pain, you wouldn't actually get hurt or die. Option two: She would use one of the potions she had with her to glue our feet to the ground, and then make us watch as she turned off the machine herself and blew up the entire city. Even worse, she said she'd pull you guys out of the city before it exploded. Just Jerome, Ian, Quentin, and Sky. And then she was going to send a bunch of those weird mutated squids, you know the ones that suctioned/bit Sky's arm?" We nod. "Yeah, those. She was going to sic them all on you guys, just you four. She had, like, eighty of them. She was going to make us watch you guys die, and we... We couldn't... We're really sorry, but we couldn't do that..."

"It's perfectly okay, Mitch," I say, staring daggers at the girl. "She doesn't seem like someone who deserves to live any longer." I step toward the girl. She stands on a small, slightly raised platform in the back of the room. I walk calmly to the stairs attached to the platform and climb them two at a time, not running, just hopping over every other stair.

The girl looks panicked. "Uh, S-Sky? Y-You aren't actually listening to them, are you?" By now I am standing right in front of her. She panics more and gives up on getting me to help her. Instead, she looks past me at the four not-really-traitors. "Hey! You four! You work for me, or do you not remember? I can still blow up the city, I can still release the mutant squids!" she threatens.

The four only laugh. "I don't think so, Dawn," one of them says smugly.

Dawn?

Why does that sound so familiar?

The girl, Dawn, well I guess she saw the confusion on my face, because now she's looking at me with eyebrows raised. "Sky? Do you not know who I am? Do you seriously not remember me? Is that why you're listening to them?" she asks.

I don't want her to talk me into switching sides, because I know if she tried hard enough, she probably could. I also know that her side is the one I don't want to be on, so I will not let her talk to me. I punch her in the face, and she falls back onto the ground, holding her nose. "Don't talk to me," I growl, pulling out my sword.

She manages to laugh a little. "Oh, Sky. If you only knew who I am, you wouldn't be about to kill me." She laughs again. "Here. I can make you remember." Ha, I doubt it. I raise my sword, hold it above her chest.

She kicks me in the shin.

And it BURNS.

Oh. My. Notch. The poison pain makes everything hurt. It also makes everything way more sensitive. And she had to go and kick me- SERIOUSLY? I screech in pain.

And suddenly everything is clear.

I- I'm about to kill my girlfriend.

"D-Dawn?" I ask quietly. Team Crafted gasps behind me, and Dawn smiles sweetly.

"Now you remember me, don't you?" she asks. I nod slowly. I almost killed her. I almost killed my girlfriend. "You aren't going to kill me now, are you?" I shake my head.

"N-No," I mumble, going to put my sword away.

Then Ty yells, "Sky, no, don't listen to her! Don't you remember why you were going to kill her?"

"Sky, please think this through. I'm your girlfriend, I love you, darling," Dawn whispers. She looks so sincere.

"Use your brain, Sky, she's trying to trick you!" Mitch yells.

"I would never trick you, you're my boyfriend!" Dawn counters.

"Remember what she did!"

"They're the ones who injected you with poison."

"Only because you forced us to, Dawn!"

"Remember, boys? No one can force you to do anything."

"C'mon Sky. You have to choose. Either choice is okay. Except for the wrong one."

"You know you can't kill me, sweetie. I love you, you love me."

"It's us or her, Sky. Choose."

…

She... She's my girlfriend...

But they're my best friends...

They... They're the ones who made me suffer eternal pain...

But she's the one who gave them no other choice...

I...

I can't...

They're my best friends.

But I love her.

…

I used to love her.

I plunge the sword through her body. Blood spills from the wound as she gapes at me. "S-Sky!" she cries out with her last bits of life. "I d-don't understand! Why?"

I shrug. "They're my friends. You threatened them. You threatened us. I chose them over you. What's to understand?"

She glares at me. And then her life fades away. I did that. I killed her.

I'm probably not as sad as I should be.

Someone places a hand on my shoulder. I cry out and move away. "Oh, sorry," I mutter. Darn it, Sky, control it.

"No, Sky, it's okay. You need to let it out. Can't have you forgetting again, can we?" Ty asks, smiling at me. I smile weakly back. He embraces me in the gentlest hug he can manage. "Thank you," he whispers.

I smile legit. WE WON!

Suddenly, a Recruit sprints into the room. "Sir? The squids, they've grown teeth on their suction cups! And, I believe the teeth are coated in poison..."

Aw, snap.

"Also, there are three jumbo squids outside the base."

Double snap.

"And all the Doods have started a rebellion to try to find and save Mitch."

Darn it. Mitch facepalms, sighing in exasperation.

"Plus, I've received reports from the city saying that there seems to be a continuous hissing sound coming from beneath the ground. They say it sounds like a creeper, but there aren't any around."

This is not good.

"One more thing. I'm really sorry for this, Ian, but one of my friends thinks we're all gonna die today, and I think he's probably right. And he said we should take risks, live life to the fullest. And then he dared me to take Ssundee's glasses, so... Again, really sorry," the Recruit says, snatching Ian's glasses and then running down the hall as a murderous grin appears on his face.

"Would anyone like some... CAKE?"