Jake Addams April 23rd, 20XX

As we prepared to leave the first store Finn suddenly crumpled onto the floor, clearly unconscious. I tapped his shoulder a few times and clapped in his face but there was no response and he stayed unconscious.

I clapped loudly a few more times to see if the sound wouldn't pull him out of it but seeing that it didn't I first checked his breathing to make sure it was still regular before rolling him onto his side. I quickly pulled out my phone, intending to call the hospital but was stopped short by a gunshot fired at the ceiling.

Around the store a relatively large group of men wearing dark face masks brought out guns then started to round up all of the customers.

One of them pulled a gun on the store attendant and me as we both had our phones out.

“ Put the phone down and slide them towards us”

I quickly did as they said then put my arms up. It may not have been heroic but they had a gun and I had no intention of throwing my life away to act cool. As well Finn couldn't stay on the cold ground while he was unconscious. The only way to get them to let me transfer him to a more suitable place was if they believed they had my full cooperation.

The one at the front, a tall but slender man began to throw orders around.

“ Are the security cameras off?”

“ Yes, sir!”

“And the phones?”

“All are collected”

As they were distracted with their roll call I snapped an arm out to the nearest person to me, wrapping a strong arm around his neck and locking him in a choke hold. I then grabbed the gun out of his holster and pointed it at the group, stabilizing the arm carrying the gun with my other hand simultaneously strengthening the choke hold.

In a synchronized motion they all drew their guns at me and we stood in a standoff.

This wasn't a matter of pride, so I broke it first speaking as calmly as I could and completely ignoring the hopeful looks of the other customers around me. As long as they cooperated I doubted they would be hurt, and like I said, I had no intention of playing the hero.

“ Before you guys open fire, you should know that I have no intention of hurting your friend.”

The leader walked forward and made what would be calming motions with his hands if not for the gun he held tightly.

“ Just put the gun down and we can talk...like civilized people”

Because I had the man locked in a choke hold my range of movement was limited and I could only point the gun outwards, and more so straight ahead of me. I was well aware that I couldn't be considered as much of a threat.

“ I can’t lower the gun because my arm is stuck like this and I can't drop the gun because that would leave me vulnerable.”

He chuckled,

“ Fair enough. what do you want? I'm afraid I can't let you go in case you call the police on us, but whatever else you want i’m sure we can negotiate.”

I nodded towards the unconscious Finley on the floor who had somehow rolled from his side onto his back. Since he was showing signs of movement he would probably awaken soon.

“My friend passed out not too long ago…. I don't suppose you would take my word that i wouldntg call the police and let me take him to the hospital.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“ I’m afraid not. Can’t take the risk”

“ Then let me take him to the staffroom at the back. You can send a few guys back with us if you want. ”

He thought about it for a few moments before nodding and made a hand motion. Seven of their thirty guys made towards Finn but I quickly stopped them.

“ Stop! Don't touch him!”

The men froze and looked back at the leader who had a frustrated but admiring smile on his face.

He threw his hands up in a mocking manner and jokingly said,

“ Okay you got me. We won't touch your friend”

I didn't appreciate the infliction that he put on the word but I didn't pursue it.

“ Well I’m hardly going to give you guys a hostage. Get some of the employees of the store to do it.”

He looked into the crowd and pointed at two of the male employees to carry Finn to the back room, he wasn't a heavy guy but he was pretty tall and so needed more than one person to carry him.

I released the man and shoved him over towards his group but kept the gun. It wouldn't hurt to have a little insurance even if I had no intention of using it.

“ This time I’m going to play fair but you shouldn't get cocky. We could have taken your friend before you even had time to shoot our own. and used your despair to take care of you as well”

I shrugged,

“ I made a bet on the integrity of your leadership. as well If you guys came here to kill you would have done so already. And you wouldn't have come here with naked guns.”

I said, indicating the lack of silencers on their weapons and went after Finn, once again ignored the expressions on the other customers faces.

They would be fine as long as they cooperated and didn't do anythign stupid so I didn't see a reason to risk myself like that.

I walked into the employees restroom and moved towards where Finn was draped over a small couch. I was followed by five guys to stand guard over me, which was kind of overkill to me but I didn't say anything and instead tried to get Finley as comfortable as possible so he wouldn't wake up with any muscle cramps. As it was I had to situate myself on the edge of the couch so he wouldn't roll off.

There were already three other employees in the room, two women and a man.

The man was quite obviously on the edge of a nervous breakdown but was being calmed down by one of the women. The other was discreetly attempting to call the police when we came in.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

One of the thugs in black strode towards her and I couldn't help but wince as the phone was ripped from her hands and she was shoved onto the ground. The man raised a foot to kick her but was stopped by the leader I had stood off with at the front.

The reason I did not stand up to help was because I suddenly felt Finn stir but tapped his shoulder and whispered,

“Pretend to be asleep. they’re armed.”

The leader shoved the thug who had pushed the lady and kicked him down a few times. obviously angry. He roared at him as he did so, extending the lesson to the others.

“ Stop! we- don't- use -violence- on -bystanders.!”

“ But she was trying to call the police! what if she had succeeded”

One of the guys stuttered out, trying to speak up for his friend. The leader stopped kicking the man on the ground and faced the one that spoke up with a grim expression that was somehow visible through the mask that covered half his face.

“ Then we would have fled and tried a different store. We don't use violence”

The irony of that statement as he stood over his comrade who laid groaning on the ground was not missed.

He directed his comrades out of the room to finish what they had come here to do and stayed behind with me. he stared at finn who was still sprawled out on the couch for a few seconds before turning to me and began to speak in a moderately friendly voice.

“ You’re a good guy, standing up to us for your friends behalf...I really hope you don't do anything stupid. I mean you’re a Military brat right? What is it? Troops? Marines? ”

He guessed as he looked me over in a familiar manner that made me uncomfortable. I wasn't a fan of being profiled so openly.

“ I'm an athlete. Track. I do track and a bit of Taekwondo.”

He laughed in a sardonic manner that implied he could see past my words and dismissed the undertone of a threat that they carried.

“ Whatever you say. But you must have quite the mean kick then?”

He looked me over once again, this time taking in my physical strength and continued to monologue.

“ Yeah. See, I figure you could take out a solid five of us, maybe seven if not for the deadweight you got beside you, but know what? don't fight. Even when pretty boy here wakes up, just do what we say and you’ll be able to talk about this like a bad memory. I know you been thinking about it but this ain't the time for heroics. this the time to listen and get out with your life. these here-”

He indicated to the gun in his holster

“ Ain’t just for show and unlike you, we can actually use them.”

I silently glared at him, not wanting to entertain the words of a criminal to figured he knew me and my thoughts better than I knew them myself.

“ If I wanted to play the hero I would have gone at you the second your playmates left. I just want my friends to be safe and like you said, just think of all this as a bad memory after this is over.”

Slightly offended and slightly amused by my brusque tone He chuckled but since he had confirmed that I had no intention of playing the hero and he already had my and Finn’s phone he left to finish up uhis robbery. He stood up and began to walk out but suddenly turned around to say,

“ The name’s Arax.”

I snorted at the name used at hospitals for unknown persons and couldn’t help but retort.

“Like Arax Neo?”

He gave a crafty smile but didn't grace it with a response and continued on his way out. The second the door slammed shut Finley arose like one of the undead in a singular motion and turned to me. He was still seated but unusually aggressive, like he was ready to attack at any moment.

“ I don’t get it.”

His voice was ice cold and stiff but was colored with the muddy yellow of genuine confusion. I got up now that I didn't have to prevent him from falling off and began to brush myself off.

“ What? Who that guy was?”

I prepared to explain what had happened, thinking that he was confused about why he woke up in the middle of a robbery.

“No. I don't particularly care about who that person was. What I don't get is why I have to be scared of such an inferior creature.”

I finally looked at him and was taken aback by what I saw. His usual bright blue eyes had taken on a distinctive red tint, making them appear purple.

He stood up from the couch in a single graceful motion and as he moved his long black hair revealed silver streaks that were definitely not there in the past.

“ Finn?”

He opened his mouth as if to say something but then stopped half way and instead said,

“ You must be Jake right?”

I paused and began to speak slowly. really disliking how many surprises I had had to face in a single day.

“ I am...but who are you?”

Although the facial features were exactly the same it was pretty obvious from the tone of voice to the way of speaking that he was a completely different person.

Instead of responding to me he simply looked at me with an odd expression, sort of a mix between a smile and a frown and began to rant.

“ Finn’s gonna be mad at me… or maybe not, after all he doesn't even know I can come out yet. But don't you think it's unfair? He lets Cai out all the time but I have to stay inside his head! and he even made the rule that we can’t forcibly take over so it’s doubly unfair! it’s only because he passed out I was even able to come out and I had to fight with that Fairy prick to actually come out.”

I tried to piece together all he was saying into a format that somewhat made sense.

“ ..So you live inside my friends head. And it's not only you but another guy who is a ..fairy?”

He suddenly stopped ranting and spun around to face me. holding his hands to his mouth with an expression that clearly showed that he’d said something he wasn't supposed to.

“ AHH! This was why he said he didn't want us to come out in the human world..At this rate he’ll never let me out again! ...That can't happen

He suddenly began to walk towards me with outstretched hands, clearly aimed at my neck. His surprisingly large hands wrapped around my throat and began to squeeze, clearly intending on ending my life,

“ Wh-What Are you do-”

He cut me off with a sort of sorrowful tone as he began to monologue,

“ Oh, it's really too bad. First I got to hear his only friend call him a friend before him and now I'm taking his friends life. Oh well, he still has us so it should be fine.”

His grip tightened and I could feel my vision going white as oxygen was cut off from my lungs, I tried to struggle against it but by the time I got over the shock of being choked to death by my friend… or someone in my friends body, I couldn’t gather enough strength to do so.

Finn’s muscles, which were usually hidden by his slightly oversized clothing and lean figure suddenly bulged out of his arm and showed how healthy he actually was.

I was slowly losing consciousness when suddenly his grip released and his arms went to his head. he began to scream in an agonizing manner.

“ AAAARG! I'll stop... I’ve stopped! You fairy ( Indiscernible word). I stopped! Geez. This guy is a nuisance anyways because he already knows about us! Don't even pretend like you fairy pricks don't do the same things in getting rid of nuisances! I don't care if he’s Finley’s friend! he can make a new one if he has to. NO! WAIT!”

Like a kaleidoscope his tone once again changed and he suddenly began to beg in a pitiful vice,

“ I’ll be better, I swear! You don't get how hard it is to be trapped in there! You really don't! Now I‘m finally out and-”

He suddenly crumpled to the ground and I watched in horrid fascination as the white streaks slowly dyed themselves back to black.

I stayed crumpled on the floor, trying to catch my breath when Finn or Finn’s body sat up again. I immediately moved into a defensive position and stayed like that but Finn stayed seated and turned to face me.

Once again his eyes had changed, this time to a bright green, and his hair was slowly growing lighter. he held up two arms in a sign of peace but had an patronizingly serious expression on his face.

“ Worry not, Friend of Finn. I'm not gonna attack you. I just came to apologize for what just happened and I really hope you don't hold it against the Finn that you know.”

In a daze I nodded but still didn't relax my stance,

“ I won’t, but what's going on? Who was that? Who are you?”

“ I am Finn as was the previous psycho, even if we go by different names…..Friend of Finn.. If you value Finn at all then I will leave you with this piece of advice.”

His eyes suddenly dulled and he spoke in a light but still incredibly threatening tone,

“ While I'm not as crass as Aies, who you met before, I also have no qualms with ending your life in order to keep Finn safe. Realize that as long as Finn is around so I am and if I hear you mention anything about what happened here to Finn or any other person…”

He chuckled in a bone chilling manner.

“ I am not locked into Finley's mind and do occasionally have the opportunity to come out. I can and will end you if I need too.”