Jimmy
November 28th, 2007. 8:31 a.m. Super Secret Sublime Hideout.
I’m chilling on the couch with Oliver to my left and Sejong to my right. Junko’s sitting on my lap whispering all the juicy details about my magnificent prank. “Pffft HAHAHA!!!” I roll my head back laughing.
“What else did Will do?” Sejong rolls his eyes.
“He starts saying stuff like ‘Perish!’ and ‘You lack the strength to fight me!” I slap my knee. “God, what a nerd!”
“That is rather humorous.” Oliver chuckles before biting into a piece of nan bread the size of my torso. “He sounds like a really tragic character that young man. It reminds me of a parable my grandfather used to tell me.”
“Thanks again for taking a nap, buddy.” I pat Oliver on the shoulder. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It is the least I can do.” Oliver swallows a huge chunk of bread. “As far as captors go, you lot have been rather gracious.”
“Oh come now.” Sejong takes a swig of warm milk. “We aren’t your captors. You told us to steal you.”
“You are my captors to my previous captors.” Oliver offers Sejong a piece of bread.
Sejong takes the bread and begins to chew. “True…”
Doc
November 28th, 2007. 8:32 a.m. Safe House. Once again at the kitchen table getting through all the gifts and goodies I’ve received. I must have eaten at least two full boxes of chocolate today. Don’t you dare judge me. I earned those delicious caramel bites… if it wasn’t for my Tech, I am certain I would have become diabetic by now.
Jimmy pulls up a chair, sits down, and sets the box atop the table. Poor kid has to spread his legs just to fit near the table. “Don’t you worry. I got the bad boy all nice and safe.” He opens the box and unwraps the blanket inside. Sure enough, the Adad is still there. As dark as ever. I pick up the sword and examine it. No aura. No glow. Not even so much as a scratch. “So, Jimmy. What did Will do with this?”
“He killed a bunch of people in an airport along with some Alumni. Nothing too spectacular.”
“Nothing too spectacular?” I narrow my eyes. “Jimmy, innocent people died.”
“Well, yeah…” He shrinks a bit and points back at Oliver. “They got better though…”
“Still… That is bizarre.” I can’t seem to escape the blade’s luster. “The Adad usually doesn’t make people go berserk like that.”
“Really?” Jimmy asks. “What’s it supposed to do?”
“It used to just multiply its wielder’s strength.” I run my thumb over the blade. “What happened to you, big guy?”
The blade doesn’t respond.
“Come now. Don’t give me the silent treatment.” I talk to the blade some more. “You’re supposed to be the mature one.”
No matter how long I wait for a reply, I never get one.
“Uh… Boss?” Jimmy waves his hand in front of my face. “You okay there?”
I blink and shake my head. “My apologies… I just wish I knew how to help my brother.”
“I get that.” Jimmy pats my shoulder. “Don’t you worry, we’ll find a way to help your siblings.”
“Thank you, Jimmy.” I hold his hand. “And thank you for coming up with your ‘prank’ idea. It was a good way to test the Adad’s effect on others.”
“Always happy to oblige.” Jimmy pats my shoulder before letting go and leaning back in his chair.
“Was there any effect on that Headmaster?” I ask.
“Junko says the Headmaster couldn’t move Will when he had the sword.”
I can’t help but smile. “Most intriguing.” I put the Adad back in the box and wrap it back up in the blanket. “If you have any other ‘prank’ ideas like this in mind, please tell me.”
“Will do, boss.” Jimmy nods.
“How are your knees doing? Do you need another checkup?”
“Ah, naw.” Jimmy rubs his knee. “I’m still good since last time. Thanks again.”
“Don’t mention it, darling. I take care of my allies.”
“Sick. Am I excused?”
“Not yet. One more thing. What airport was this Conductor person at?”
“Think it was Long Beach. Will caught him around 4:40 PM tomorrow.”
“Hmmm…” I tap my finger against the table. “That leaves us with 32 hours to intercept him…” Just who is that Conductor person? Who is he working for and what does he want? Is he another escaped experiment from that Headmaster? Is he a government agent? A lone wolf? I could just leave him to that Headmaster… It would give me more time to heal the survivors of his incident, but he may have some information on her.
Jimmy clears his throat. “Ma’am?”
“Pardon me. You’re excused.”
Jimmy smiles before getting out of his chair and stumbling back to the sofa.
I have so many more letters… but I really need to catch up on my M.A.S.H. reruns. I slouch onto the table and rub my temple. One more couldn’t hurt. I pry a letter open with a butter knife, unfold the paper within, and begin reading. Everything about this letter is so adorable… I can tell they put a lot of effort into it. The paper is proper stationary, the envelope was sealed with a wax seal, and the letter is written in intricate calligraphy. I miss it when all letters were like this.
“Thank you so much for healing me back in that city. I never thought I’d live to get to see the aliens in person. I am not sure whether to call myself lucky or unlucky. Regardless, you’re a lifesaver. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Ninisina.”
Without trying or thinking, I tear the letter in two. For once in my life, my arms won’t listen to me. It takes a while before I can take a deep breath and put the papers back together to try and read the rest.
“I can feel our brethren returning. Surely you feel it too… I welcome you to join us at the Crescent. We cannot wait to see you again. Warm regards, Nergal”
This… is bad. Dealing with that Headmaster will have to wait.
“Yo, Doc!” Jimmy calls. “Me and the boys are going to get ice cream. Wanna come?”
“You’re getting ice cream at 8:30 in the morning? Won’t that upset your stomach?”
“Eh, probably.” Jimmy shrugs. “So do you want to come or not? They have a new ketchup flavor that Sejong is definitely trying.”
“If you force me to try it, you will die.” Sejong glares daggers up at Jimmy.
“Aw you always say that.” Jimmy pats Sejong on the head.
“Sure. I shall accompany you. I need to get out of the house.”
Will
November 28th, 2007. 8:47 a.m. Just lying in bed. Maybe if I lie absolutely still, I’ll just forget everything that happened.
The door handle begins to twist. The door opens. A.D. walks in stretching and absolutely drenched in sweat. I can feel the humidity of the room increase just by his presence. I want to face him, but I can’t. I just roll over and face the wall.
“Yo, Will.” I hear his shirt get tossed into the hamper. “Sorry about what happened with the Conductor yesterday… I really should’ve tried to restrain him better. I promise I won’t let anything like that happen ever again. I’ll keep growing stronger. I promise…” A.D. sounds like he’s about to choke.
“Don’t worry about it.” I somehow find the courage to speak. “We did our best… Not every mission can be a win.”
“That’s how it is.” A.D. yawns. “Do you want to go for a run tonight? It’ll help you clear your head.”
I roll around to face him. “What on Earth is wrong with you? How can you talk to me?”
“What do you mean?” A.D. tilts his head and scratches his beard.
“Don’t play coy.”
“Will. Dude. Buddy. They’re just words. We were in a heated situation. I get it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh… Um.” I feel my heart sink. “Thank you, A.D… You’re a good man.”
“You’re not so bad either when you try.” A.D. chuckles a little. “Though you should probably comfort Janelle.”
“Yeah…” I sigh and sit up. “You’re right.” I lift my head and look at A.D. “Um… any idea what she likes?”
“Come on, man. You’re her boyfriend and you don’t even know that?”
“Oh come now. We’ve been dating a month at most.”
“At most?” A.D. raises an eyebrow.
“A.D. Please… help me.”
“Make her something homemade and a card. She’ll love it.”
“Thank you, A.D. I owe you one.”
“Just spar with me later and we’ll call it even, alright? I haven’t gotten a chance to fight you for real yet.”
bzzzt
The intercom buzzes and Headmaster’s voice violates the room. “William. Lloyd. Cruz. You have five minutes to get to my office before I chuck your ass back to El Paso.”
“What’d you do now?” A.D. chuckles.
“You don’t wanna know.” I sigh, get out of bed, and book it past A.D. “Wish me luck, partner.”
I sprint down the hall, out of the dorm, through the park, and arrive at Headmaster’s office in four minutes and thirty-four seconds. I’m getting good at this. I open the door to see Josh and Angela placing a large, thick black bag next to Headmaster’s desk. It looks big and heavy enough to fit a human body. This is none of my business. Just ignore it. I’ve lost any and all claims to any moral high ground.
Headmaster opens the bag a little and nods. “Yep. That looks like him.” She takes a whiff. “Jesus CHRIST! He smells like rotten watermelon and sweaty cola.”
“Yeup.” Angela nods and holds out her hand. “Can I have my money now?”
“I promise you’ll get it by the end of the year. There’s quite a backlog I have to get to.”
“Got it.” Angela grumbles. “Need me for anything else?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Nope. You can leave.”
“Is that cabin offer still valid?” She asks.
“Absolutely, thank you for reminding me.” Headmaster digs through her drawer and tosses a key to Angela.
“Thank you.” Angela catches the key and swears under her breath. “Can’t believe I had to do that twice…”
Josh pats my shoulder as he walks past me. “Good luck, buddy.”
The doors close behind me and I’m left alone with Headmaster.
She dunks her hand in a pot of hot coffee and slurps it from her palm. “Don’t be shy. Have a seat.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I do as she says.
“I remember what happened. Do you remember what happened?” Her eyes are locked onto me like lasers. I fear I’ll explode if I look away.
“Yes.”
“Do you still have that sword?”
“No ma’am. The package it came in previously didn’t have it this time.”
“What did you receive this time?”
“A letter from El Oso. Said that Junko was watching everything and that I had been pranked.”
Headmaster laughs. “Well, lucky for you, everyone you slaughtered is alive and doesn’t remember anything either, so no charges are coming after you.”
I want to say something, but I’ve run out of things to say.
“Did Oso say anything else?”
“Yeah. He told me to tell you that Patricia misses you.”
Headmaster stops laughing. Her expression sours. For the first time, I desire death. “Did he now? How kind. Is this the first package you’ve received from him?”
“Yes.” I nearly pull a muscle from nodding so fast. “I promise.”
“I see.” Headmaster’s eyes narrow and she lies back in her chair. “Would’ve been nice to have that sword… Could’ve learned a lot from it. I’m going to start checking all the mail your and Angela’s team receives from now on. Capiche?”
“That’s completely reasonable, ma’am. If I were you, I’d do the same thing.”
“Quit calling me ma’am.”
“Yes, ma-miss.”
“Ugh…” Headmaster rubs her temple. “At least this further confirms my theory about Doc being behind the time rewinding… Oso’s ‘prank’ only makes sense if he possessed the means to rewind time… Hmmm…” She closes her eyes and scratches her chest.
“Am I free to go?”
“Not yet.” Headmaster takes a sip of coffee. “Where and when did you find the Conductor?”
“Long Beach Airport around 4:30 PM tomorrow.”
“Good to know.” She smiles. “I’ll keep you updated when my employees apprehend him.”
“Understood.” I nod. “Thank you. Am I in trouble?
“No. Not this time. You got lucky.” Headmaster shoos me away with her leg. “Just get out and don’t cause any more trouble. Got it? You’re on thin ice as it is.”
“Thank you, Headmaster.” I bow, carefully close the door behind me, and book it out of there faster than I thought possible.
A.D.
November 28th, 2007. 4:21 p.m. Got back from class, did my homework, and now I’m just chilling in the dorm room. Vivian’s playing some Japanese game on the TV. Yuko’s painting her toenails on the kitchen counter. It’s so… peaceful. No missions. No yelling. It’s… nice. Feels good to not be doing anything. Hard to believe it’s only been three months. Seems like only yesterday I was hopping out of that helicopter with Yuko in my arms. Now that I think about it, I haven’t spent a lot of time with any of the Familia members. Gotta fix that… but I don’t want to skip training. Oh! Maybe I could train with Janelle.
I’m stirring myself a protein shake when Will enters the dorm with a cardboard box roughly as tall and thick as his torso.
“Sup, Billiam.” Vivian pauses her game and tilts her head back to greet him. “What’s that you got?”
“Oh, just a chunk of glass.” Will places the box down on the kitchen counter next to Yuko and runs his finger along the sides. The walls of the box fall off and reveal a large slab of glass.
“The hell are you doing with a chunk of glass?” Yuko twists the cap back on her nail polish. “Where the hell do you even get a chunk of glass like that?”
“One of my classmates in Villain Psych can secrete glass objects from his chest. Slipped him a 20 and he made this for me.”
“What’s it for?” I get a good look at it. This is some good quality glass… I think. I don’t spend much time looking at glass.
“I’m going to cut a sculpture out of this.” Will rubs the top of the block. “Wish me luck.” He pulls a stool up next to Yuko, sharpens his finger, and gets cutting.
“This your first time sculpting?” I ask.
“Yep.” Will replies without looking back at me.
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“As my father says, ‘being bad at something is the first step to being good at something’.”
“Why’re you making a sculpture anyway?” Vivian turns off the TV and watches Will sculpt. “You don’t really seem like the artist type.”
“It’s an apology gift… for Janelle.”
Yuko lets out just about the ugliest cackle I’ve ever heard. “Pfft… you sure that’ll work? You kinda screwed the pooch on that one.”
“No.” Will grimaces, but continues sculpting nonetheless. “But I gotta try, right?”
“Good luck with that, buddy.” Vivian heads for the door. “Have fun with that. I gotta go plan a beach trip with Familia. You all are welcome to join me.”
“Beach trip?” Yuko asks. “In this weather?”
“It’s supposed to be hot this weekend.” Vivian opens the door and looks back at us. “You guys wanna come or nah?”
“I’m good.” Yuko yawns. “I don’t really wanna do anything this weekend.”
“Headmaster’s letting us use her cabin.” Vivian flashes a key.
“A cabin you say?” I feel a smile widen. “Mind if I join?”
“Please do.” Vivian continues playing with the key. “C’mon, Yuko. It’ll be fun. Josh says he has the stuff.”
A crude, disgusting, absolutely degenerate smile creeps across Yuko’s lips. “What kind of stuff?”
“I dunno.” Vivian turns around and starts heading out the door. “You’ll have to ask him to find out.”
“Hell yeah I’m going.” Yuko hops off the stool and runs past Vivian into Familia’s dorm across the hall.
“You coming too, Will?” Vivian asks.
“Give me time to think it over.” Will still has his eyes locked on the glass block. “I will not move from here until I finish.”
I look at Will, then to Vivian, then to Will again. “Want some company?”
“Only if you do.” Will replies.
“I’ll be back.” I head to the exit. “Good luck, man.”
Will
November 28th, 2007. 11:29 p.m. My dorm’s kitchen. Almost… there. Just a little more. I have the wings down, the tail looks… like a tail. Hopefully. The claws are nice and sharp and the chest plume looks nice. Hopefully. Just as I’m about to carve the beak, the dorm door opens behind me.
“Wooo!” A.D. comes storming in yelling at the top of his lungs and clutching a fifty in his hands.
“A.D.!” I turn around and dull my arms. “What the hell are you doing!?”
“Wha? Oh. Sorry.” He rubs the back of his head and lowers his voice. “Just won $50 from Yuko in a bet.”
“What kind of bet?”
“She said she would kill me if I told anyone.” A.D. slid the money into his back pocket. “So I won’t.” he approaches the counter. “How’s the sculpting going?”
“It’s… going.” I turn back around and point to various parts of the sculpture. “The wings took some work and got me a migraine, but it was well worth it. The tail was simple enough and the talons were easy as pie. All that’s left is the beak and I’ll have me a glass phoenix.”
A.D.’s face tightens. He looks like he’s holding a frog inside his mouth. An unearthly noise escapes his pursed lips. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was possessed. “That… that’s supposed to be a phoenix?”
“Yeah… does it not look like a phoenix?”
“No…” A.D. starts to giggle. “I thought it was supposed to be some abstract art piece…”
“Gosh darnit…” I plant my elbows on the table and lean forward. “I think it looks okay.”
“Look at it from my angle.” A.D. beckons me towards him.
I stand up next to A.D. and look at the sculpture. “Oh… Oh no…” I feel the last bit of hope leave me.
“Now you see it?”
“I see it…” The wings look like abused pancakes. The legs look like crumpled up pieces of paper. The chest looks like the poor thing just ate five steaks and a golf club. The head is completely asymmetrical and that’s the least egregious part. The left eye bulged out of its skull like an insane tumor and its right eye was just nonexistent. I completely forgot to carve a right eye. If this animal existed, I would have shot it to put it out of its misery. I pick up the sculpture and move over to the trash can.
“Whoa whoa!” A.D. grabs my arm. “Don’t just throw that puppy away.”
“Why not? I cannot give Janelle this. This is an abomination! Just look at it!” I present it to A.D. again.
He nearly bursts out laughing. “You totally can! It doesn’t look that bad. Besides, gifts like this are super endearing.”
“Don’t patronize me. This is hideous. What woman could love a monstrosity like this?”
“It’s the thought that counts, man.” A.D. pats my shoulder. “It’s like when you give your mom a card for her birthday when you were little. Every word was misspelled and the drawings were god-awful, but she knows you worked hard on it, so she loves it.”
“Janelle’s not my mom and I’m not little.”
“Do you have any better ideas?”
“No…” I sigh and put the abomination back on the counter. “You sure she’ll like it?”
“No.” A.D. smiles and stretches his arms above his head. “But it’s worth a shot.”
“That’s not encouraging.” I lean back against the fridge and bang the back of my head against it.
“Why’re you all worked up about Janelle anyway?” A.D. sits on the counter. “You don’t seem like the kind to get all worked up over girls like this.”
“What do you mean by that?” I look away from A.D. and towards the dishwasher.
“It just seems like you’re not really that into Janelle.”
Feels like something just punched me in the gut. “What makes you say that?”
“I dunno. Body language, lack of mutual interests. Nothing concrete. Just kind of a vibe I get.”
“Well… regardless of what you think, I still need to apologize.”
“Yo.” A.D. moves into my line of sight. “Why aren’t you looking at me? You’re usually all about eye contact when you talk. Something wrong?”
“No. A.D. Everything’s fine. You’re just imagining things.”
“Are you sure? You sound like something happened.”
“I…” I feel something hold my tongue and compress my chest. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You sure buddy? Talking will help ya.” A.D. puts his hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye.
“Not here it won’t. Trust me.”
“If you say so.” A.D. shrugs and lets go of me. “How about this? You get some sleep and come with us to the beach tomorrow, and I won’t pry any further, alright?”
For some reason, “Are you sure they’ll want me?” escapes my lips. I’m not sure if it was a moment of weakness or divine intervention. I can only hope it was the latter.
A.D. smiles. “Of course they’ll want you. Why wouldn’t they? We’re a team. Teammates always need each other, no matter what.” A.D. turns around and heads over to our room. “Now come on. Go to bed. You’ve been at this for too long.”
I wrap the statue in brown paper, stick it in a box, and write a simple card for Janelle. Nothing comes to mind, so I just force some words onto a page, sign my name, and stuff it into a nice envelope.
I really am garbage. Why am I doing this?
Janelle
November 29th, 2007. 6:31 a.m. Dorm room. I can’t believe I woke up so early… but I guess I had to eventually after sleeping for twenty hours. Hopefully the beach will be fun. I got everything packed… even that dumb small swimsuit. Is Will even the jealous type? Would it even work on him? I mean it looks cute… but it's so uncomfortable.
knock knock knock
Who on earth is knocking at this hour? Maybe it’s A.D.? No no.. he’s running. Maybe Yuko forgot something? Maybe… I don’t care. I throw my head under my pillow and try to go back to sleep. Someone else can get it.
knock knock knock
Fine. Guess I have to do everything around here. I get out of bed, get some sweatpants on, and trudge over to the door. This better be good. I open it and see Will with his hands behind his back. Clean shaven. Clean jeans. Red and black lumberjack shirt… the buttons are barely keeping the shirt on him… Good lord. And that cologne… it smells just like my dad’s. Play it cool. You can’t show too much interest. “Good morning, Will. What do you want?”
Will presents a box to me with a card taped to the top of it. “I wanted to formally apologize for cutting you. I don’t know if you can forgive me bu-”
I interrupt him with a swift, tight hug. I bury my face in his chest and run my hands along his back. “You’re already forgiven.” I let go and start opening the box.
“Just like that?” Will looks down at me and tilts his head a little.
“Of course.” I open the box and look back at him. “Why wouldn’t I forgive you? You went through all the trouble to get me…” I look into the box and pull out a statue. “This… Will…” My heart feels ready to burst. I’m going to cry. It’s too late. I’ve already started crying. “Did you make this?”
“Yeah.” he chuckles and looks off to the side. God, he looks so cute when he’s embarrassed. “Took me all night. Do you like it? It’s my first time sculpting.”
“I love it… The three eyes, the shredded wings, the hot dog feet, it’s all so abstract, but beautiful. Clear, but shrouded in mystery. Sharp, but warm…” I hug it to my chest and feel it poke my stomach. “What’s it supposed to be?”
“A…” Will sighs and covers his eyes. “phoenix.”
“You’re too thoughtful.” I set the sculpture down, open the letter, and begin reading it.
“Dear Janelle. Sorry. I messed up. You have so much potential. You’re stronger than you and I both know. You deserve better. I probably don’t deserve it, but I hope you can forgive me. - William Lloyd Cruz”
“Will…” I clutch the letter close to my chest and hold Will’s hand. “I’ve already forgiven you. Please don’t beat yourself up over this little scratch.”
“If you say so…” Will nods and shakes my hand. He sounds so vulnerable… I just want to keep him wrapped up in a blanket and feed him soup. “So… are we okay? Is everything in order?”
“Absolutely. We’re going to have just the best beach date… just you wait.” I grin.