A/N: Harhar, Thank you again, YukuTiszuki, NetusVersatus, Tekirai-chan, Lea, Pure-White-Angel22, Orkidee, and Sashie for the nice reviews on the last chapter X3 And thank you, mOOnCanDY, for the very thoughtful funny review! X3 It made me feel fuzzy inside! XDD
And as well, thank you to everyone that still reads my fiction and enjoys it, I love you all. XP
Well anyways, this chapter is kind of a transition in a way. It was kind of hard at first to decide what to do with this, so I did this chapter as best as I could! 8O I hope it turned out alright X3 But like always, critique is welcome, and if you see any errors, please let me know. 83
So we're finally reaching that certain special moment of the game. X3 I'm pretty excited I've actually gotten this far with this fic XD
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
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I was late Friday afternoon, and I was fried, both physically and mentally. A lot of people didn't understand how I could handle it; me constantly working hard, while some of the others made fun of me for it. Nonetheless I always snapped whenever anyone mentioned my father, but I guess that was why most of them bugged me so much. It was different that day however, when they mentioned my mother. I snarled, and had actually thrown my fist across their face. They still laughed, though their nose drained the blood from their dim witted head. Let's just say that I was awarded with overtime with Maxwell after school.
"Jeff, Jeff, this needs to stop. By the time the school year ends, everyone will have a label on their forehead saying 'I got punched in the face by Jeff Andonuts'," Maxwell told me as I sat in the back desk, cross armed and glaring out in the distance though the window. I responded with a snort. Maxwell sighed.
"I know it must be hard for you to handle; none of us really know what really happened between you and your father, but the more you pout about him, the more people are going to notice, and it's only going to fuel the fire." He paused for me to speak, but I didn't say anything until he resumed what he was doing.
"I don't really know why... I just can't stand people... praising him..." I cringed as I spoke. Maxwell was the only other one that had any sort of idea what I was talking about; for I never dared to talk to Tony about it.
"Tony doesn't, if there's anyone he praises, it's you," He replied with a chuckle. I curved my mouth down slightly.
"You should go back to your dorm now... get some rest, and clear out that thick skull of yours for a little bit." He told me with a crooked smile. I couldn't respond with anything else than a nod, and left him. He knew I told him thanks just by doing so.
---
"Jeff, that's the third time this week that you've snapped at someone, nonetheless today you punched someone in the nose?!" Tony ranted at me with a raised voice; like a wife complaining to her husband. I rolled my eyes.
"Off the subject, Tony," I replied dropping my things and plopping on my bed.
"No, I'm not going off the subject! If this keeps happening, they might decide to kick you out of school!" He exclaimed. I grumbled with my face smothered in my pillow; my glasses pinching my freckled face.
"If they do, then so be it, it'll be my time to finally leave. I'm pretty sure I can live by myself," I replied, though I wasn't sure if my words were clear enough. Tony sighed.
"You're hopeless..." I shouldn't have, but I became angry at his choice of words. I shot up, feeling my glasses fall out of line.
"So you're going to be like everyone else now? You going to tell me how pathetic I am, and how 'great' that bastard is?!" I raised my voice. Tony frowned at me.
"I never mentioned your father, alright?! Maybe if you realized that the entire world doesn't revolve around your father, than you'd be a lot more calm, and people would learn to appreciate you more!" Tony argued back.
"You don't understand how tough it is for me, I work my ass off on a daily basis, a lot of people, even teachers come to me whenever they need any help, yet all they can say to me are questions and compliments about... him..." I ran out of breath, and I could feel my chest becoming heavy. "It doesn't matter what I do, what kind of face I put on, instead of thanking me, they'll always thank that bastard. Instead of thanking me for helping them, they'll thank him for creating me..." I felt like breaking down then and there. There was quite a bit of silence between us throughout the night after I said that. It was around the time when we were laying in bed, the topic still hot on our minds that he finally said something.
"Maybe if you just be yourself... then people will finally see the real side of you... the side I love to see after all."
---
"Where are you going so early on a Saturday morning?" Tony asked me as I straightened my tie.
"Mm' gonna go visit Maxwell for a little bit... that's all," I replied smiling softly back at him. I think he knew that I appreciated what he told me the previous night. Tony brushed a red curly lock out of his eyes, and looked into my own while sitting on his bed. The way he did so, made my cheeks feel warm. Tony sighed hopelessly.
"Lemme see those glasses..." He smiled, standing up, and seizing them without my permission. I became dumbfounded temporarily by the blurry sight before me. After a moment, Tony had slipped them back on passed my ears. He smiled at me cheekily. I felt bashful when I left.
"Thank you," I told him.
---
"Why you here so early? Did you clear out your head a bit?" He asked me. I flashed him a semi smile.
"Sort of," I replied. Maxwell sighed.
"Well that's a start. Did you want to talk a little bit?" He asked; rummaging through his desk drawers as some of his mousy brown bangs fell into his hazel eyes.
"Well... I guess so," I replied. Now that I was there, I wasn't sure why I had even come in the first place. Maxwell pulled out what looked like to be photos and walked over to me.
"Wanna see my girlfriend?" He snickered tossing me the small bundle of photos. I nearly blushed at the time, but I decided to take a look at them; it was rare for the boys of SnowWood to get a glimpse of any kind of girl, besides the ones that attended the girls boarding school, and it was like candy if you did.
"Isn't she like someone you'd like to meet someday?" He said as he worked on other things. The girl in the photos was pretty, not as pretty as my mother was, but she was definitely enough to make me flush. She was Asian, flawless smooth looking skin and long black hair and she wore glasses. Nonetheless, her chest was a decent size. When I looked at the next picture, I instantly dropped the pictures, feeling the blood rush to my nose. It had been a picture of her in nothing but her panties; her chest was completely exposed. I covered my nose with my hands. Oh god... Maxwell laughed.
"Oh my, I thought I took that one out. Don't tell anyone you saw that, they'd definitely kick me out if they knew I was letting my students check out my girl," He snickered, picking up the pictures, and handing me a tissue, so I could wipe my nose.
"Besides the fact that she's pretty, her personality is amazing; very down to earth. I'm sure someday, you'll meet someone like her with all of those contributes," he smiled at me. "Because you'll prove to the world someday that you're not just some infamous son," He told me. It was true; I wanted the world to see me when they saw me and not just my so called father. But for some reason that morning, it didn't matter to me.
"I already have though," I told him.
"Huh? You been sneaking off campus to go meet up with a girl, you bad boy you?" He grinned. I chuckled. I would have been interesting, and possibly exciting if that were true.
"Afraid not," I told him, smiling to myself as I stuffed more tissue up my nose. Maxwell gave me a skeptical look. I was finally able to confuse him.
It was true, judging by my reaction to those photos, there was no way that I was gay.
"Lemme see those glasses," Tony chuckled in my memories before sliding them passed my ears, an encouraging smile spread across his cheery face.
I looked optimistically out the window. For once, the sun shown, and I somewhat smiled. It was strange... I was strange.
Which was why I didn't think I was very straight either...
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The Universe Will Die Without You
Chapter 13 edisnooM
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I slowly opened my eyes to the blurry word covered bunk bed above me. I enjoyed the very few seconds of my life then when my mind was completely blank. It was a matter of moments until my head became cluttered again, and I closed my eyes in hope to hide away. But instead, my hand grazed the edge of my bed for my glasses. When I slipped them on, the first words that appeared to my sight were 'fuck you.' I checked my watch, which read 6:47 am. I was only asleep for a few hours. Yet I still couldn't fall back asleep.
The process of flipping over on my side was pungent, as my muscles and joints protested the movement. When I rested there on my side, I looked across the room to the boy that looked comfortably nuzzled underneath the covers. It had been only around a month now... so much stress and pain already.
And he still looked very peaceful as he slept...
My mind started swimming from all of the events that had happened the previous day. So much had happened... too much had happened; from me confessing my past the first time, the flowers, my visit with Pokey, finding Ness while nearly becoming road kill, Maxwell's call, Demerti's freak appearance...
Then that...
I felt the heat rise to my cheeks again.
Burying my nose underneath the covers, but still spying on the lump across the room, my thoughts trailed to last night. It had been an accident, but even so, the small incident had left me lost mentally. I could remember and picture everything as if it was happening all over again, from touch, taste, smell sight and sound. Was it normal for me to remember all of the details like this? The more I thought about it, the more my stomach started to turn.
The fact that Pokey's words and threats were still present like a broken record didn't help me either; they should have, but they really didn't. Just what exactly did he do to Ness? Ness turned to face me in bed, eyes still closed, and lips apart enough to where his tongue could poke out slightly.
I changed my mind... I didn't want to know...
My eyes downcast away in shame. If I would have known back then... maybe I wouldn't have gone to say the things I said to him.
"… You'll have no idea how happy Ness will be if you help us," Paula said again in my memories.
Was he really grateful of me to tag along? Or was I wearing him down?
"... I'm really sorry... this is all my fault..." He repeated in my mind as I remembered the look in his indecipherable eyes. I buried my head. The scenario kept repeating...
Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup... I muttered silently to myself. But still, they kept on coming.
... What have I gotten myself into? I looked across the room at Ness's peaceful face. I let off a strangled sigh. I didn't want to admit it, but I was sure that I was trying to avoid this ever since I lay my eyes on him...
We tangled ourselves into a dangerous web. One where we only had each other...
My muscles protested as I slowly rose from bed; keeping as quiet as I could possibly manage. I thought maybe a shower could clear my mind, just slightly. But boy was I in some physical pain. I winced, slightly hissing as I stood up. How was I going to go anywhere in this condition? I limped my way to the bathroom; carrying my things along with me. I didn't look back to Ness.
---
At first the hot water burned my skin. So be it, I thought, there were worse things. I focused my hearing on the bustling outside, and the hot faucet, running water against my bruised cut skin. I hissed as I grazed the bar of soap along a cut on my left shoulder. I would have screamed my lungs out from the sheer stinging sensation if the soap had gotten deeper under my skin. How didn't Ness scream when he received that huge gash on the side of his abdominal area?
There were a lot of things to suspect, but nothing was absolute. There was so much more I needed to know about Ness, Paula, Pokey... the world...
"What I don't know is the real question. There are many things I know, many more than you, or your brilliant father could ever know in your entire lives. Maybe I could never build my own rocket ship, but I know something that humanity has yet to discover." He said, as he started to slowly walk around the room. "But I'm sure you're grasping a little bit of that knowledge yourself, aren't you?" Pokey asked. "Besides, for a smart young man like you, it should be easy."
"The end of the world?" I asked. Pokey chuckled.
"See? You have a sharp eye; have you put it to any good use yet?"
He still hadn't given away exactly what he knew, and what the world didn't know, but I was pretty sure that at least Ness had a better idea than me... considering that Ness and Paula didn't qualify as disgusting human beings... at least that was what Pokey stated in his own words. So what was this almighty secret? ...
... Did it have to do with that Giygas that Ness had spoken about earlier during our travels? It had to of... Who or what was Giygas? I questioned myself all this time; Pokey even asked it... why was I involved in all of this? I ran the soap though my now dirty blond hair, and felt the hot water burn my scalp. I started to think about his eyes again.
What was it about those eyes? There was an unsettling feeling whenever I looked into them. Part of me wanted to run and cower away from them. Sometimes, I'd think back, and I feel like my soul has been invaded, and my thoughts and feelings have been read by them. But part of me also wanted to keep gazing into them... maybe because I hoped to find something new if I did. The more I thought about his eyes, the more I thought about our previous experiences with each other, and what the future had in store for us. I shook my head.
It started to make my head spin, and the hot steam wasn't helping all that much. I turned the nob to the coldest temperature, and I rubbed my eyes. Soon enough, I turned the water off, and stepped out to dry myself off. I slipped my boxers and pants on, and looked at the steam covered mirror above the sink. I couldn't see very well at the time without my glasses, but I ran my towel over it, to reveal myself beneath the thin coat of steam. I squinted at my reflection, and examined my own eyes.
They were dull, like they always seemed to be, though this time it was to a certain stronger degree. They were once determined, according to Pokey, but that morning, they seemed to reflect what I felt deep inside quite successfully; confusion, loss, and a certain amount of despair. Over the years, I could have predicted my green eyes to slowly shift to gray. I was ruining my mother's gift to me. And for once, I didn't care...
I sighed, and drifted my poor sight to the glasses that lay on the edge of the sink. I cleared them as best as I could with my towel, and put them past my still damp hair. I blinked a couple of times, feeling my glasses become out of line again. Tending to my own glasses was going to be a pain in the future. It was too bad... I was going to start missing Tony even more now. I looked at myself more clearly in the mirror.
I looked nothing like I did when I left, I was sure of that. My once tense shoulders were now slouched, and dragged, and my chest was covered in red glowing scrapes and cuts that I had received over the weeks. The bruise on my stomach had turned into a deep purple, and as I brushed my fingers along the section of my abdomen; wincing as the spot screamed from the contact. Nonetheless, the bags under my eyes seemed to only emphasize that I was physically exhausted. I didn't know how long this body would last me, maybe a couple more months if we didn't run into anything obscure. I slipped my white button up shirt, and walked out of that stuffy room.
Cold air clashed with warm damp skin, as I started to shiver. I looked to the bunk bed, where Ness was surprisingly still nestled underneath the covers. I guess I would have to wait for him to wake up on his own, I thought to myself. I sighed, and was about to toss my towel towards the door...
It was then when my eyes spotted a small, white envelope on the floor in front of the door. I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. It looked as if someone had slipped the letter into our room under the door overnight. But who? I picked up the letter with caution; in fancy cursive it read, "Jeff & Ness."
Keeping quiet, I limped my way back, sat down slowly, and opened the letter, my eyes continuously glancing back over to Ness's bunk.
Dear Jeff and Ness,
You're probably wondering who would be writing to you two so formally. I can assure you that we've met before, but before you go checking the bottom of this letter to see who really is writing to you, please hear me out.
I promise you this; I am not Pokey Minch, nor Monotolli.
Jeff, I have my suspicions that you will be the first to claim this parchment in your hands, so I'll address my writing mainly to you. You either already know, or Ness has told you. But everything I have discovered over these past few years of my life has been freighting and true.
Something horrible is happening to this world...
Though I'm still trying to figure out where you two, including the young girl that usually accompanies you stand in all this, I stand on the outskirts; and I know my role is nearing to its end. We will most likely meet again someday, though I'm not sure if you will even recognize me when we do. But before I keep rambling on about unnecessary details, let me tell you all the important secrets that I'm sure will aid you in your journeys somehow.
Monotolli is alive. And he is the one responsible for the oddity in the city of Fourside. Though the condition of this city isn't important to me, his control could spread to wider lengths and it would become a difficult thing to manage. Though he is still alive, I cannot tell you where he resides, for I'm not even sure. However, I'm sure you already know this, but the girl that you lost is with him, wherever he is. So where does this leave Pokey Minch?
Guessing to the best of my knowledge, I'm sure that you've encountered him at least once, and I know Ness and Pokey share a shady past together. So maybe you'll understand what I mean when I say this;
I honestly believe that he is the most tainted and scarred human being that ever walked this earth; at least out of everyone I have met so far. The vibe he gives is enough to control the temperature of the air around him. I'm sure he has a bigger role, but I'm too afraid to dig deeper. You see, he promised me something, but instead, gave me what I am now. It is so grotesque, that I am ashamed to show myself to the sunlight. So I'm going to return to where I belong; my home. Maybe we'll meet there someday. So where do I live?
I live in an alternate detention that mirrors this one. Sometimes I wonder which world is either real, or which one will be the first to disappear. I'm sure if you keep walking the same path that you two are on, you'll meet its gates. So until you do, I'll be waiting for you there.
Before I say my last few words, let me add this. While you are out searching for the girl that you have lost, please keep Ness safe from everyone. When I say this, keep him safe, even from yourself. Do you know what I mean?
So here are my last words. I'm hoping you read this before you depart the hostel you two reside in, because once you step outside, you'll be greeted by a different light. Please, do yourselves a favor, and look at the walls around you. I'm sure you'll be shocked. When you look at the people, no one will smile. This includes myself; though I've been broken years before your existence.
So take care of each other; you two only have each other right now. I wish you luck and success; my time is almost up.
With all consideration, and sincerity,
The Invisible Man
"The... Invisible Man?" I mumbled out loud in confusion. It wasn't...
I was nearly startled from the nearby grumbling across the room. I looked up from the parchment to see Ness stir in bed. Sighing as he let off a casual yawn, he pulled the covers over, and pulled his pajama shirt halfway up, exposing his cut abdominal area. When he started to run his hand over his gash, I immediately looked away for some reason. When I looked back at him, the skin he revealed when he moved his hand was smooth, and whole again. He must have healed himself without even getting out of bed. How convenient, I thought. His eyes opened half mass to meet mine.
"Morning, Jeff..." He spoke closing his eyes again. I slightly frowned for some reason.
"Hey..." I spoke somewhat quietly. Ness blew air out of his nose as he brought a hand to his head.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"About eight..." I replied. Ness sighed.
"I should get ready... we need to get to Jackie's Cafe around 9:30..." He said sitting up, rubbing his eyes. It seemed like everything that happened yesterday and last night was pushed to the back of his mind.
"Ness, you need to look at this," I said. Ness looked up to me as I handed out the letter. Ness nodded, and got up to reach for it. I took a moment to let read it through. I took note on his facial expressions that he showed.
"Do you know what this means?" Ness asked me out of the blue. I raised my eyebrow.
"...Maybe?" I replied. Ness folded up the paper.
"It means that we were on the right track this entire time," He replied looking me in the eye. I seemed to nod sheepishly as I looked down to my hands. It seemed silent between us.
"Is something the matter?" He said in a soft tone. I flinched slightly.
"Just... a lot of things are on my mind right now, that's all," I replied faking a smile. Ness saw past it.
"Like what?" He asked. I sighed out of my nose.
"Just everything that happened yesterday," I replied. Ness nodded.
"Oh... yeah," Ness replied sadly. I nodded.
"Are you hurt?" Ness asked. I shrugged.
"Not horribly. Just stiff," I said. Ness's mouth curved down.
"Lemme see..." Ness said standing up. I flushed.
"No no, you'd don't need to do that! I'll be-" However, Ness ignored me, and strode across the room to place his hands on my shoulders. I flinched when he did; casting my eyes up to him, he smirked to me before closing his eyes. There was a soft glow around us both, as I started to feel looser in what felt like moments. It always mesmerized me how he could heal wounds, just by his touch, and his mind. Nonetheless, it felt really good afterward as my bruise was nothing but untainted flesh again. The soft glow faded as I let of an awkward sigh.
"How's that?" He asked me. I looked at my arms, and felt my stomach and the side of my ribs.
"It's... all gone... Thank you..." I seemed speechless still. Ness snickered.
"You look like you were just in a trance."
"Well yeah... it's just amazing... " I said. Ness raised an eyebrow.
"Amazing? No; it isn't that amazing..."
"Yes it is!" I emphasized. "Since when did you see someone else pull off something like that?" I asked smiling, trying to sound grateful. Ness shook his head.
"Please Jeff... it's not amazing to me. It's frightening..." He said quieter. My smile disappeared from the deep meaning behind his words. Frightening? It was quiet.
"I didn't realize..." I spoke. Ness nodded.
"You didn't know... it's alright," Ness said grabbing his arm. I grunted in reply.
"I..." Ness started.
"Yes?"
"... Never mind..." Ness said turning away to pick up his stuff.
"No really Ness... what's wrong?" I spoke more sympathetically than I planned. Ness shook his head.
"It's nothing really. I was just going to say something that was already said. Let me get ready, and we'll go head down to Jackie's cafe whenever you're ready," He said as he walked into the bathroom. So I sat there in silence. I sighed.
What did he plan to tell me now?
---
We were silent with each other while we gathered our things, and walked out of the hostel. Ness at first was tempted as I turned in our room key; his hand hovered over the phone. But then he retreated slowly.
"Let's get going," He told me. I frowned, but nodded, keeping note of the letter as we stepped outside. The sun was shining that day, but of course that didn't mean anything big. It was so much easier to walk, now that I was healed. I tried glancing over to Ness, who kept his eyes straight ahead; as if he was trying to avoid anything between us. I tried looking at the people around us. No one seemed raging mad, or sad, but no one particularly smiled either. Something started to turn my stomach slightly.
"Which way was it again?" Ness spoke out loud as we approached the end of the block. I looked around us.
"Didn't he say something about a central park of some kind?" I replied. Ness sighed as he spotted a man walking across the street.
"Hey... may I ask the directions to Jackie's Cafe?" Ness asked the man. What was odd was that he seemed to observe us for a second.
"Is there..." Ness started until the man's eyes grew wide as he ran off. Both of us looked at the man.
"... Is he in a hurry?" Ness asked. I shrugged.
"Ness, did you finish reading that letter?" I asked.
"I glanced though it, yeah," Ness replied. I looked at the building walls.
"Take a close look around you... something's not right," I said. Ness seemed a little goggled at my suggestion at first, but complied. We crossed the street; eyes peered all around us. We saw a woman and her child walking towards us, and Ness looked as if he was about to ask them for directions. I stopped him with a hand to the shoulder that he nearly flinched from. The lady held her kid close, and glared at us as we passed each other.
"What's going on?" Ness questioned out of the blue.
"I'm not sure..." I said as we made our way to the next block.
"Well there's the museum there... I think central park should be down this street, so we should run into..." I looked over to Ness, whose eyes were wide. He was pointing at the wall behind us. I looked in his direction, and when I spotted the thing he gawked at, my breath caught.
WANTED ALIVE: Boy with black hair, blue eyes. Is 5'4; usually wears a blue and yellow stripped tee with a red and blue cap. He carries a base ball bat as well as a yellow back pack.
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: Boy with blond hair, freckled skin, green eyes, glasses, is around 5'6, usually wears a green uniform.
Wanted for the blackout in the Fourside Department store, the kidnapping of Mayor Monottoli, and possibly murder.
REWARD: $50,000
... The poster had very identical sketches of us... my mind flashed back to the police officer in the hospital.
"Do you recognize the sketch of this young man?" He asked holding up a well drawn picture of Ness. I tried my best to keep a straight face.
"No... I'm sorry, I don't recognize him." Ness rested his palms on the brick wall, and lowered his head. It looked as if the world had crashed down on his head.
"Oh... my... god... what can we do...?" Ness uttered. My eyes were glued to the poster.
"For... crimes we didn't commit?" I managed to say. I clenched my fists.
"This is... Pokey's doing, I know it is... there's no other way," Ness commented. "It could be possible that if we do get caught, we'll run into him, and maybe we'll find Paula that way..."
"But we don't know where Monotolli is... nonetheless where we'd go for sure if the police did manage to find us..." I replied.
"Because Paula's with..." Ness growled.
"Yeah..." I said. We kept staring at the poster until Ness turned away.
"We'll just have to keep out of everyone's sight till we find her... destroy the Mani Mani statue... reach that sanctuary... then we can get the hell out of here," Ness told me. I nodded, walking with him as I kept looking back at the poster. I kept thinking about Pokey's haunting words still.
He really meant business...
---
It felt like an hour had passed by before we finally reached it, though in reality, it was only a half. Jackie's cafe was somewhat on the outskirts of the city, but it gave off a classier vibe. But the shoppe itself gave me mixed feelings as I read the orange letters above the building. I spotted another one of our wanted posters. However, when Ness spotted it, he ripped the flier down, and tore it to shreds.
"Maybe the less that are up, the less people will care..." Ness said, though by the sound of his tone, he must have thought it was a ridiculous idea. I was silent as Ness threw the flier into the trash.
"What if someone recognizes us in here...?" I asked peering through the window. Ness stood silently.
"Wanna exchange clothes?" Ness asked me. I speculated with his question.
"What's that going to do?"
"Well... I dunno, but people would have to look twice in order to recognize us..." Ness replied fiddling with his fingers.
"You honestly believe that exchanging clothes will make them avoid us?" I asked. Ness curved the corner of his mouth down. I sighed while shrugging.
"It's worth a try at least," I said. "We can just find the bathroom in here," I said. So that was the plan apparently as Ness nodded in response. We would exchange clothes, I'd wear his while he wore mine...
---
We were lucky that this bathroom had at least two stalls so none of us were stuck waiting outside. As I took off my coat, Ness tossed his stripped shirt under the stall gap as well as his black tee.
"Should we even wear the clothes that were described on the flier?" I asked.
"Probably not," Ness replied as I heard him struggling with his belt on his jeans. I sighed as I unbuttoned my white shirt.
"Should you even wear your glasses?" Ness asked me as he tossed his jeans under.
"How do you even expect me to get around without them?" I asked.
"Oh..." Ness replied. I sighed as I tossed over my white shirt. I fumbled a bit with my belt a bit. After exchanging what we had, we got dressed. This was stupid... I thought as I pulled on his black shirt, and struggled with his jeans. When I was finally able to get them on, I could barely button them.
"What the hell do you wear Ness, a size zero or something?" I asked.
"No..." Ness replied. I walked out of the stall, feeling the jeans constricting the lower half of my body. When Ness walked out, he decided not to wear the green jacket, but he wore my white undershirt with the other white shirt over it, but unbuttoned. He left the black tie around his neck loose. My green pants looked a little long, and a bit big for his size. He snorted when he looked at me. I blushed.
"Shut up..." I told him. However he only snorted again.
"Those jeans look like they're about to rip... fatty," He chuckled.
"I'm not fat, you're just a stick!" I remarked. He laughed.
"Okay then... let's trade pants again," He snorted. I rolled my eyes. After exchanging again, I could finally breathe normally. We walked out of the stalls, him wearing his jeans, and me wearing my green pants.
"There..." I said. Ness kept chuckling to himself.
"God damn it Ness, what's so funny?!" I asked. However he shook his head.
"Nothing... it's nothing," He replied.
---
Overall, Jackie's Cafe seemed to be a hangout for middle class citizens. The lighting was dim, and the jazz music from the background filled and drunken the air. The bar looked pretty deserted, but there were a few people sitting around the tables; each and every one of them looked drowsy as they watched the game on the TV. We claimed a table, and we sat there in silence. I checked my watch; it was already ten minutes past 9:30. Everdred was nowhere in sight. No one had even bothered to come and wait on us. Ness let off a hefty sigh and rested his chin on the table.
"He couldn't have forgotten, could he?" I asked. Ness grumbled, but formed no words. I drifted my eyes around the store. I wondered what Everdred wanted to tell us? Demetri even said himself that something strange was happening... and it had to do with this cafe as well. He also stated a rumor that...
Both of our heads turned towards the door when it opened with a ring of the bell. However, Everdred wasn't the one to enter; instead it was a strange man in a dark gray jacket and a hat. The jacket looked a bit too heavy for the weather outside, I thought to myself. He went to sit at the bar behind us, though neither one of us paid no mind.
"I wonder who the Invisible Man is..." Ness spoke to me out of the blue. I raised an eyebrow.
"Do you think it may be Demetri or something?" He asked me. I seemed surprised at his suggestion, though I thought about it myself. They seemed to have some similarities in my opinion.
"It could be possible. He did vanish from us last night in the kitchen. But why didn't he just address himself as so?" I mentioned.
"Yeah..." Ness replied. "I'm just surprised that no one in here has even really noticed us..." Ness seemed to drift his eyes behind us when the bar tender spoke to the man at the counter almost irately, but in a low tone. The man at the counter had his elbows up, and he rested his clasping hands underneath his chin, and he tilted his head lower. I could see the side of his cheek move, as if he was chanting something to himself. That was odd...
"I don't want to sound rude, but you need to order something if you want to sit at the bar..." The bar tender spoke as he rubbed a wine glass. However, the man at prayer didn't pay any mind. We both turned around slightly.
"I come here everyday... to pray. Let me stay for just a moment," The man spoke in a low tone. I watched the bar tender react to the response he received. His eyes seemed to light up. I wasn't sure what he said, but I could have sworn he said something suspicious. The man kept chanting to himself.
"Alright... Monotolli." Heart stopping words; that were barely an utter from the bar tender. Ness immediately stood up.
"Excuse me sir?" The bar tender asked Ness. Ness's expression was bitter, as his eyes were wide, blood shot, and his face went red.
"Ness..." I said standing with him. However he ignored me. His voice shook, but it was filled with venom.
"Where is Paula Polestar, Monotolli?!" The man at the counter froze as well as the bar tender. The entire store was completely still, excluding the jazz from the back ground. My heart started to pound. The man chuckled to himself.
"So... you're him, I presume..." Ness blew hot air out of his nostrils.
"Yeah... I'm him..." Ness replied. The man was silent at first.
"You're the boy that apparently is destined to save them all..." He said. There was a pause. When Ness was about to make a move, the man twirled around swiftly, and held up a gun to his head; his face was pale, and tears streaked down his face. Our eyes widened. The atmosphere around us changed; just like that.
"Well then... I can't allow you to ruin me... not yet... I need her right now... besides you two are wanted men, and I have full control of the police here... they'll fine you before you can do anything about it," He snarled at us as he backed up towards the door, still pointing the gun at both of us. Monotolli was insane...
"Well you'll never find me, or your friend Paula!" He yelled before he dashed out of the door. Ness broke into a sprint after him.
"Ness!!" I shouted, chasing after them. Oh jeez.
I had no idea where we were heading, but Ness was too fast for me to catch up, nonetheless I was carrying my crap with me. The chase lasted for what felt like forever as my chest started to swell up from the lack of oxygen. We looped though alleyways, parks, even through on-coming traffic, and when I saw what was ahead of Monotolli in the distance, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks, especially when Monotolli stopped in his. I panted as I watched the senario, though Ness was still charging forward.
Monotolli ran into Everdred, who seemed to look enraged at Monotolli himself.
"There you are! Look, I-" Ness froze in his tracks while I trembled.
A gunshot roared in the air...
Everdred's black glasses fell off his face, and his black eyes were wide in horror, pain, and shock. Monotolli was trembling, and I could hear his whimpers as he looked at the man he had just shot through the chest. I could see something dark expand though his clothing. Oh my god... If this guy was willing to shoot any random person on the street... then there was no wonder what he would do around Paula...
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" He shouted as he dashed off. Everdred was frozen, until he fell to his knees with a gasp; a choke.
"Everdred!!" Ness panicked dashing towards him. I dashed myself as a crowd had started to form around us. Everdred fell down on the ground on his side now.
"Everdred... please say something..." Ness begged him as he tried bringing his trembling hands to make physical contact with him. Everdred kept shifting his eyes around, almost groggily between Ness and I. The blood that seeped through his shirt started to stain the pavement.
"Ne... Ness... is that you? I'll... I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time..." Everdred uttered barely. I could see Ness red face, as tears rolled down them.
"No Everdred, no no no no no no!" He panicked as he tried healing him with his PSI. But it was no use... the blood just kept on coming.
"You're not going to die, Everdred, just hold on-" With all the strenght he could muster, Everdred grabbed Ness by the wrist.
"Shh... please stop... don't worry about me..." Everdred said. Ness started sobbing. I felt pathetic; for I wasn't shedding any tears.
"Since... I don't think we'd need to meet there now... I'll just tell you here. Monotolli... he took the Mani Mani statue... from me..." Our eyes widened.
"Wh-What?" Ness spoke. Everdred took in a gasp.
"The Mani Mani statue... I was hoping to sell it... it's a strange doll... that brings out the evil of people... at least that's what I was told. And from the looks of what happened to Happy Happy Village... I can only guarantee this is true... Listen to me Ness... I've been expecting my time to end for a while now... I know his secret... but from the looks of things... you two probably already know..."
"You mean... what's happening to this city, am I correct?" Ness asked. Everdred grunted.
"Head back... to Jackie's cafe... and... look...behind... the counter..." He wheezed as best as he could. Ness and I exchanged glances. I could feel the murmurs around us from the gathering people.
"Behind... the counter?" I asked. Everdred's last few words didn't make much sense to me at the time.
"When on your way out... be sure that you say goodbye... then lock the door tight..."
"Wha- please, excuse me?" Ness asked. Everdred seemed to struggle now. Everyone gasped around us as Everdred struggled to get up to his feet.
"Everdred..."
"When on your way out... be sure that you say goodbye... then... lock the door tight..." He struggled to say at the last part as he started limping way through the crowd.
"Everdred, no!" Ness exclaimed.
"You better hurry kid... time is a ticking bomb if you stand still..." He said as he started to pick up his pace into a jog. How the hell?
"Are those the two boys on the wanted poster?" I heard someone mutter. Our eyes widened, as the crowd started to corner us in. Ness seemed petrified from what had happened, for he probably had no past experiences with someone getting shot. Though I wasn't much better off, but I was the one to grab his wrist.
"We have to go now," I told him as we pushed our way through the crowd.
"Don't let them get away!" Someone shouted behind us. We both broke into a sprint. When we were in fear, our feet seemed to carry ourselves a lot easier.
"We can't get caught -gasp- or else something bad is going to happen!" I told him while we ran.
"But Everdred!" Ness exclaimed. We made a sharp turn.
"Like he said, we can't worry about him now, we need to find Paula... and destroy that thing," I reminded him. We heard sirens in the distance; I assumed that someone called them in. It was an epic chase that we had to win in order to survive.
"This way," Ness said as he dragged me sharply into a different direction. When we eventually made it to Jackie's Cafe again, we shut the doors tight behind us.
---
Both of us panted in the dimly lit building. It was shocking when we looked around the cafe. The music was playing... but there was absolutely no one in sight... as if everyone had evacuated the building. What was even stranger was that there was no police here to investigate... though I guess now it all made sense, considering what happened in the department store, and the fact that we now knew that Monottoli was the one controlling the patrol. So... what were we to do now?
"Jeff... what counter do you think he was talking about?" Ness asked gasping for breath. My heart was racing, so my reply was a bit on the slow side.
"I don't know... just look out for anything that looks suspicious..." We slowly walked into the restaurant; we investigated behind the bar first, as we rummaged through all of the different drinks and supplements. But after pulling out everything that the shelves had to offer, there was no evidence of a weird doll looking statue anywhere. Ness froze, as I could tell by the corner of my eye. He slowly shifter his head towards the shelves behind us, with more drinks we had to go through.
"It's here... I can feel it..." Ness spoke hauntingly as he examined the shelves. He lunged forward to knock everything down, and when he did, he found a knob of some sort.
"A... door knob?" I asked. We looked at each other for a moment until we both finally nodded. Ness took hold of the door nob, and turned it slowly until the entire set of shelves moved back like a door. I flipped on the switch as my heart pounded. We ended up in a long narrow hallway. And as we slowly walked our way down, I couldn't help but feel an unwelcoming presence in the air. There were many doors, but we kept walking down to the cracked doorway at the very end of the hall. It was a good and bad thing that we did as we flipped on the light in the room.
Boxes. Piles and Piles of cardboard boxes and wooden crates. We looked around the room as if we were afraid of some serial killer to pop out of nowhere. We could still faintly hear the music playing in the background. We could have split up in the room, but both of us feared being alone for some reason. I could start to feel my sight becoming blurry.
"I don't... feel too good, Ness..." I told him.
"Me neither..."
We took baby steps around a tower of boxes when we spotted something still, golden and human like. Its eyes were like diamonds, and they pierced through mine. My mind became unclear as my sight became hazy. However, as we saw this, the atmosphere started shifting, as if I was drunk. I started to groan. But so did Ness.
Holly...
It was monstrous, how I felt. I could have thrown up, but I squeezed my eyes shut, and held my forehead. I could hear Ness complaining as well as the color in my sight started to shift into opposites. The atmosphere turned pitch black, while the objects, and the cracks on the walls started to glow bright neon colors.
---
All the sudden, we were back in the main room of the cafe. Except this time, it was different to an extreme. Everything was black, but the bright neon colors that decorated some of the edges kept the room and atmosphere a glow. Nonetheless whenever I saw movement, it was all hazy and lagged momentum. The sounds around us echoed. I turned my head to Ness, who was already facing me, and it took a moment for his frame to come into focus. Ness looked dazed and freaked out all at once.
"...Jeff..."
"What's... happening?" I asked looking around us.
"I..." There were customers again, drinking espresso as well as hard liquor and alcohol of some sort. I started to walk forward; it felt weird doing so. Ness walked beside me, and interrupted a man's conversation.
"Hey... are you imagining this too? He asked the man, who in return gave him a skeptical look.
"What are you talking about?" He replied.
"Fourside... what happened to it?" Ness asked. The man was silent for a moment.
"Fourside? No no, you're mistaken... this is Moonside..." He told us. Moonside? We looked around us. Ness and I looked at each other again, as we tried exiting the building, until I felt someone touch my shoulder. We turned around, feeling almost sick to our stomachs as we did.
"You two seem lost... Yes means No, and No means Yes," She told us. Do you understand what I just said?" She asked me. I raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes means No, and No means Yes, do you understand?" She asked again. I shook my head.
"No... not really..." The lady smiled to me.
"Good, you'll fit in with all of us very well," She said before she was back to her business. Ness and I exchanged awkward glances, as we walked out of the cafe. What a weird lady, I thought.
Though as we left, I couldn't help but feel a presence following us. I was sure that Ness felt the same way.
---
Outside wasn't any better. The same colors surrounded us, and it was strange that the temperature didn't feel any different either. We found another man walking by. Ness tried stopping the man; however, he passed by tilting his hat to us. What he told us didn't make any sense, and it almost sounded robotic.
"Welcome to Moonside. Wecomel to Soonmide. Moonwel ot cosidme." He spoke as he walked off. What the fuck? There was another man that smiled at us.
"Welcome to Moonside. Wel... come... to...moo...nsi...ns...dem...oons...ide" His mouth jumped too fast as he spoke before he was off. We looked around us dizzily, and my eyes spotted a sign that said "!edisnooM oT emocleW" My eyes widened.
The Invisible Man... was this the alternate dimension that he was talking about?
"Did you hear that?" Ness asked me. He still seemed boggled from the whole ordeal, boggled and exhausted from this mind trauma.
"Hear what?"
"Someone was laughing... but I don't know where it came from..." He said. We kept walking; we were shoulder to shoulder as we looked around us.
"Heheheheh..." I heard a cringing familiar voice chuckle as it seemingly echoed all around us. My eyes widened as I saw an image from far away as well as a clock. What was strange was that they gradually got bigger and bigger. Fear started to swell inside of me. I didn't know what to think... this was so bizarre and confusing...
Just like all those years ago... when mom died...
I wasn't thinking at the time, but I grabbed Ness's hand, as if my life depended on it. Ness seemed startled from the gesture, though his eyes were peered at the images that approached us.
"Ness..." I spoke nervously. Ness turned his head towards mine. I felt dizzy as I looked to him, and the fact that his eyes were filled with concern didn't help me one bit. But he must have been as afraid as I was. The weird images and clocks surrounded us as time and abstract art seemed to leer, and tower over both of us. I wondered if we would have been better off if Paula was with us.
It was at this precise moment that time seemed to stop itself, and my consciousness left me.
Ness...
...
...
... My sight went temorarily black when a roaring pain echoed through my body. I seemingly screamed when I heard that cringing laugh again in my mind before I blacked out.