Ethan Mars drove out of the black hole and dived through the window. He hurried into the building before him and ran through the red hallway. The GPS on the table had a video to show this time,
Ethan pressed the play button on the "GPS" screen and watched as the video started. A man in a bulky coat with his face covered stood in a room. Behind him was a man slumped in a chair. Ethan watched carefully and listened in.
The man hid behind some curtains near the door, and shortly after the door opened, and in walked Norman Jayden. Jayden looked over at the man in the chair and slowly turned the chair around, revealing that the man was dead with a bullet wound in between his eyes.
Ethan watched as the disguised person moved out from the curtains, sneaking up on Jayden from behind.
'No...'
The person attacked Jayden with the katana from the wall, getting Jayden across the stomach before the two of them disappeared from the camera. Ethan could still hear Jayden struggling, though. Jayden was soon thrown across the camera and he slammed into the fish tank, being forced down by the water. The man tried to walk away, but Jayden jolted his arm up and grabbed his hand.
Ethan heard him plea for the attacker's identity before getting brutally denied with a harsh backhand slap that made him drop back to the floor. As Ethan watched, he shed a single tear.
Jayden forced himself to his feet and ran out, at which point the video skipped to Jayden entering the room again. Jayden searched his chest pocket for something before sighing loudly in frustration. He then looked startled as he stared at something that Ethan couldn't see. He rubbed his eyes, then his hands fluttered to his neck and he started to cackle like a madman. His hands moved up to his hair, which he tugged at, but then there was a knock on the door and he looked at the source of the noise.
The playback ended there, yet Ethan continued to stare at the screen.
"How far are you willing to go to save the people you love?" The GPS asked in its monotone female voice. "You now have a choice to make. Who do you care for most?"
Ethan's heart started to race and his jaw dropped. "No... No, you can't... You can't make me choose!"
"You must smack this fried turkey to get brain cancer. Then you must decide: will you save your son, or will you save Norman Jayden?"
Ethan smacked the turkey and derped for just a second. 'Shaun. There's no choice, I have to save Shaun. But what about Norman? What will happen to Norman if I save Shaun instead of him? Will he go mad... or worse?'
Ethan hurried outside and jumped back into his car. "... Fuck!" He slammed his fists against the steering wheel a few times before he started driving as fast as he could.
Norman Jayden sat at his desk in his office. He'd begged to be alone for a while, and Blake eventually gave in. Jayden sat now in the rolling chair, inspecting his ARI glasses for any damage; Blake hadn't noticed that he'd snatched them back off of his desk.
'Doesn't look like the'e's any damage... Good.' With just a little bit of hesitance, Jayden slipped the glasses on. The ARI forest was presented to him in all its sentimental glory, and he brought up his evidence. It only took him a second to see that the useless origami goose and orchid were gone. 'What the...? Wh'e'd those two pieces of evidence I collected go...?'
Curious, Jayden threw the evidence aside and opened his files; all that remained was the truly important information and the profile that Jayden had slaved to put together.
'I... I guess that's okay. Still curious whe'e this info went, but as long as the ARI doesn't purge any important info...'Jayden started to look through his evidence again. 'I need to work fast. Shaun Mars doesn't have much time, and I haven't a single suspect to go on yet...!'
The FBI agent started to work. He noted the fact that the ARI pointed out the most important information for him, as if it had a mind of its own and wanted to help. Though it should have made him freak out, he instead smiled.
'Doesn't look like I'm alone enehmo'e...' He thought happily, not noticing that his right eye had started to bleed again.
Soon, Jayden came to a conclusion that surprised him. "The killah is a cop! A cop... Cahtah Blake." His other eye started to bleed as he frowned intensely. It made sense - so much sense. "It has t'be him. Who else could it be? All of the evidence points to him!"
Jayden found himself dropping his ARI onto the desk, not bothering to take off the glove, and getting up from his chair. He left his office and walked over to Blake's desk; there, he slammed his palms down on said desk.
"Show me yet left wrist."
"What? Oh, for fuck's sakes, Jayden, your eyes are bleeding!"
"Yer left wrist. Show me it." Jayden ignored Blake's concern.
Slowly, Blake revealed his left wrist to Jayden.
"The killah has the same gold watch..."
"Your point, Norman?"
Jayden tilted his head, still staring at him with this shocked yet accusing look in his pale seafoam green eyes. "It's a pretty odd coincidence..."
"Christ, Jayden, are you trying to say that you think I'm the Origehmi Killer?" Blake asked this calmly; this certainly wasn't the first time that Jayden had come to this crazed conclusion.
Jayden nodded. "Yeah." He pulled out his handgun and aimed it at Blake before announcing for all to hear, "Lieutenant Cahtah Blake, yer undah arrest. Y'have the right to remain silent; enehthin' y'say can and will be used against ya."
"You're making the worst mistake of your life, Norman."
"Hands on yer goddahmn head!"
"You know what, Norm? I should have locked you in that cell when I had the chance, because you're the one that deserves to be locked up! You're a fucking lunatic!"
Jayden let out a hearty laugh, even as Perry rushed out of his office. "Oh, Cahtah..."
Blake froze. 'My God! It's him! It's that demented alter-ego guy! What's he doing out?! I thought he only appeared after Jayden... over-... -dosed...' Blake's eyes widened.
Perry had an officer grab Jayden and force his arms down to handcuff him.
"Uhn!" Jayden struggled against the officer before throwing his head back, hitting the officer in the nose. "Let me go! I have to arrest the Origami Killah and rescue Shaun Mars!"
"Norman, snap out of it!" Perry barked as his single officer turned into a whole crowd. "Get some handcuffs on him and take him to my office!" He ordered his officers.
Jayden put up a big fight to try to escape, but he ended up being pushed into Perry's office with handcuffs on his wrists.
"What the hell's the matter with you, Jayden?! Accusing lieutenant Blake of being the Origami Killer?!" Perry raged as he paced behind his desk, on which lay the handcuffs that had been on Jayden; the agent seemed to have relaxed a little, despite still seeming on edge.
Jayden sat timidly in the chair in front of Perry's desk, staring into space, bobbing his knee, and tapping his fingers together. He slowly tilted his head in Perry's direction, but he refused to make eye contact. "... I have proof..." He mumbled in the most broken voice Perry felt he had ever heard.
"Your 'proof' is a load of bull! Start packing your bags, Norman. You're off the case. Your superiors will hear about all of this, you can be sure of that!"
Jayden looked down at the floor. He looked ashamed, but at the same time, he seemed to believe that what he had almost done was justified.
Perry sighed as he stared at Jayden. 'This case has driven him mad! Not to mention, he's bleeding from the eyes, probably because of those strange glasses. Maybe I should cut him a little slack...' He scowled at he thought this.
Jayden put his hand on the chair, as if he were about to stand.
"Jayden, wait."
Jayden looked at him, making eye contact for but a second.
"Go wait in the interrogation room."
The agent's eyes narrowed, taking that the wrong way.
"No, you're not under arrest. Not yet, at least. I'm going to call a shrink to talk to you."
"So yer sayin' that you think I'm crazy, is that it?"
Perry sighed again. "Jayden... Listen to yourself and think about what you've done since you arrived here."
Jayden stood suddenly, leaning over the desk. "Ya wanna know what I've done since I've arrived he'e?! I've ran! Ran and ran and ran, from who?! Cahtah Blake!"
"Nor-"
"HE FUCKIN' RAPED ME, PERRY! YA HAPPY?! WHILE Y'TURNED YER GODDAHMNED BACK ON US, HE TRAPPED ME IN MY OFFICE AND ABUSED ME!"
Perry fell silent, not sure if he could believe what came out of Jayden's mouth at this point despite it sounding somewhat sincere.
"Ethan Mars is not the Origami Killah. I met with him myself while I was exploring the town! The Origami Killah gives the fathas of his victims trials so that only they can save their son! Don't ask me why, but that's pretty much what Ethan showed me!
"All of the evidence I have; all of it! It all points to Blake! The killah has the same gold watch and has a gun that's police property! Blake also fits the profile just right, Perry! Cahtah Blake is the Origami Killah! I'm not crazy!"
"Sit down. I'm sick of your delusional fairy tales, Norman."
Jayden's eye twitched, but other than that he didn't move.
"... Fine, if you won't sit here, go sit in the interrogation room. I'll call for someone to come assess your sanity."
"I'm not crazy. If y'can look at Blake and still call me crazy, yer the one who needs a psychologist!"
"I don't think you're crazy, Jayden. I think you're batshit crazy."
Jayden practically shoved the desk aside to threateningly approach Perry and nearly tower over him. "Captain, I sweah to God, I will k-"
Both of them stopped thinking when they heard a car smash through the front doors of the station.
"NORMAN!" cried out a voice that Jayden recognized.
Perry watched as Jayden's facial expression transformed from rage, to shock, and then to pleasure mixed with immense relief in a matter of seconds.
"Ethan...?" He whipped around to rush out. "E-"
Perry slammed Jayden across the back of the head with the printer, knocking the agent out cold. "You're a fugitive now too, Jayden, and not just because you're a drug addict. You're not getting away like Mars did." He snarled at Jayden's unconscious body.
Blake stormed over to Ethan Mars, who had smashed into the station and just got out of his car. "Well, look what the cat brought back."
"Where is Norman?!"
"Why do you want him?"
"I have to save him from madness!"
Blake couldn't help but laugh. "If that's the only reason you're here, then you're already too late, Mars."
Ethan seemed crushed, but disbelieving. "Wh-what...? No, he's... I'm not too late."
"Why not stick around and wait for the ambulance to come with the strait-jacket? He's lost it, Mars."
"I bet that's your fault, isn't it?! You just couldn't leave him alone, am I right?!"
"I doubt that it's my fault, Mars. I think it's yours!"
"My fault?! I'm doing my best to save him!"
"You're corrupting him!"
Before Ethan could respond, a crowd of officers ran towards him, all swinging nightsticks and handcuffs.
"Catch him!" ordered Perry from the door to his office.
Ethan ran out.
"Where's Jayden?" Blake asked.
Perry gestured him into his office, where he revealed that Jayden was unconscious. "Blake, I think we need to discuss something."
"What, sir?"
"He told me that you..." Perry continued quietly.
"He asked for it! He seemed all for it!"
"I'll believe you. I need you to get him into the interrogation room while I call for a psychologist to visit him."
"You're not locking him up?"
"Handcuff him to the table."
Blake picked Jayden up and took some handcuffs with him. He walked into the interrogation room and sat Jayden down on the chair and handcuffed him to the table as he'd been told.
He then stopped and sighed. He left the room and came back with a handful of damp tissues, which he used to wipe the blood off of Jayden's face. "I'm sorry, Norm..." He said under his breath.
He pulled out his handgun and placed the barrel of the gun against Jayden's temple. The lieutenant stood there, trying to figure out why he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.
'I have to do this.' He tried to convince himself. 'If I don't, he'll thank me by shooting me.'
Blake tightened his grip on his gun... only to get hit in the back of the head by something so hard that he was forced to the floor.
Ethan stepped into the room and took Blake's gun, using it to shoot off Jayden's handcuffs. "Stay down, lieutenant Blake, unless you want to be put out of your misery." He warned as he lift Jayden.
"Both of you are fucking lunatics!"
"I guess maybe that's why we seem to click together." Ethan quickly ran out with Jayden in his arms. Once outside, he shook Jayden awake. "Norman! Norman, wake up!"
"Huh...?" Jayden moaned weakly.
"We're going to go save Shaun, alright? Together!"
A smile appeared on Jayden's face and he slowly nodded. "I-... I-I'd like that..."
"Just hang in there, Norman!" Ethan looked around frantically before putting Jayden in the passenger seat and rushing around to get into the driver's seat. 'He's not looking so good... Should I take him to a hospital instead? Goddammit, I don't have time!' Ethan forced his thoughts of abandoning Shaun away and started to drive as fast as the car would go.
Scott Sheppard ran with his brother John through the 'empty' construction site.
"Come on! You ain't nothin' but a slowpoke!" John laughed as he ran far ahead. Scott tried his best to follow, but he wasn't nearly as quick as his brother.
"John, wait up!" He cried out.
"Move your ASS! I'm WAITING!"
When John slowed to a stop, Scott hurried over. John turned around with a giggle and a smile, high-and-low-tenning Scott.
"Let's play hide-and-seek! You close your eyes and count to twenty, and I'll hide." John forced Scott to turn around so he was facing one of the construction vehicles before running off.
Scott counted one, two, three, seven, four, twenty, and then he pulled away from the vehicle and looked for John. He was alarmed when he heard John weakly moaning for help. He followed the source of the pleas and soon found John trapped in a hole in the unfinished concrete sidewalk with water being forced into his face.
"Help..." He cried.
Scott ran over and grabbed his hand. "John! Hang on, I'll help you!" He started tugging to free his brother's foot from whatever it had been caught on, but it was no use. "John, please! Please don't die, John!"
"G-get help! Hurry!"
Scott ran to their father, who punted him right back to John. "He wouldn't even let me try, John! I'm so sorry!"
John sputtered weakly as he stared up at Scott with a glazed look. Breathlessly, he said his last words. "Don't forget about me, Scottie..."
Scott held John's hand as the boy died and he cried. He felt empty inside; the only person he loved and trusted was dead because of his own father's selfishness.
Scott Shelby shed some tears as he looked at a picture of himself and John, taken shortly before John's death.
He then looked at a picture of Norman Jayden that he kept and he sighed. 'This time, John... This time, I've made sure that you'll be able to see me for yourself. Those two fools that are lovestruck by Jayden better say goodbye right now, or else they'll never have the chance.'
Madison Paige slowly opened Scott Shelby's door. She stepped inside quietly and looked around. Only after a second did Scott hit her over the head.
"Fuck!" She fell over and backed up. "Scott, please! According to Ethan, something's up with that Jayden guy!" She begged to be let go, not bringing Shaun into the conversation mainly because she knew that Scott didn't care.
"I know. I've already ensured that he'll be fixed, though."
"What?"
"He's going to get better."
Madison sighed in relief. "That's great, Scott! I was really worried about him there!"
"DUMB BITCH, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO ASK ME WHAT I MEAN BY THAT." Scott roared.
"Why bother?"
"FUUUUUUCK." Scott kicked her in the nose. "I'M A PRIVATE INVESTIMAGATORRATOR, AND I AM GOING TO KILL ETHAN'S PRECIOUS NORMAN JAYDEN. TA-TA!" Scott then dived out of one of his windows.
Madison sat there with a long frown on her face. But it wasn't her frown.
"Ew, gross. How could Scott forget his mouth?"
