Seventeen Forever

Conelly Forever

Emily nudged me. I snapped out of my confusion and looked over at her. She looked drained.

"Well, this is what we wanted... we found her." I said to her. Conelly was laying in the rubble with Reggie silently until she heard us speaking.

"I almost wish you hadn't found her." Conelly said.

"It's obvious you were looking, too." Emily said.

"I didn't expect her to turn into a rock monster." Conelly replied softly.

"What if that's what happens when you stay on Endless too long?" James suggested from behind us.

"She did tell me she'd met a kid who came here and turned into a doll."

"Wait. Really!?" I shouted uncontrollably. "Is it safe for us to even be here?"

"No! I've been trying to keep you out since I found out you were looking for Reggie!" Conelly shouted.

"We thought we were the only people who could find her." James said quietly.
"Honestly, I felt like I was doing something right. For the first time in a long time." Emily added.

"I am ride or die with these two." I looked into Emily's eyes and smiled, then down to James and smiled as well.

"Are you sure about that?" The Buttwitch asked with a grin on her face. "Emily doesn't even talk to her old friends anymore, she replaced them with you two."

"Hey! That's not true!" Emily stamped her feet.

"You were better being a bully instead of hanging with these brats." Emily retreated at the Buttwitch's words.

"Reggie and her friends were 'friends forever' too, but look where that got them. They grew up, and grew apart. Well, except for her." Buttwitch pointed at Conelly, who looked back with angry, tear filled eyes.

"They were seventeen! Reggie never got to be an adult!" Conelly yelled.

"If Big Deal is right, she chose to stay here, and abandon you." Buttwitch mused, in her most antagonistic voice.

"You seem to have forgotten who put you in that coma." Conelly stood up and began walking towards the Buttwitch. "Flaps!" The octopus creature appeared and spat a red long sword at Conelly, who caught it with one hand. "You also forgot about Flaps, I think."

"What should we do?" Emily said, looking at me and James.

"Nothing. It's time I did something. Flaps, hit me!" I walked forward and held out a hand to catch a large hammer, fully colored in Reggie's gaudy color-scheme. Conelly looked back, probably shocked that I could lift Reggie's weapons. I sprinted and swung the hammer, the Buttwitch caught it as Conelly took a swing which was also deflected, as the Buttwitch grew another set of arms. The Buttwitch threw my hammer aside and uppercut Conelly off the ground and into the water, with a big splash of the sugary sweet Endless Island sea. As I regained myself, I accidentally flipped a switch on the hammer, causing it to generate a rocket from it's back and launch forward nearly tearing my arms off and embedding itself in the side of Collin's barn.

"That's what you get for trying to stand up to me, child!" Buttwitch turned her back to me and headed in the direction of Conelly. I focused on pulling the hammer out of the wall as I began to hear the sounds of combat and splashing water. Suddenly two hands appeared on the shaft of the hammer. I looked down to see James nod at me, and Emily's hands soon followed suit. We pulled the hammer free and I looked back at them.

"Get her." Emily said and gave me a slap on the back. I turned towards Conelly and the Buttwitch as Conelly took another uppercut to the stomach and sailed further out to sea. I went into a full on sprint as the Buttwitch turned around, but she didn't hear me fast enough and I swung the hammer underhand and pushed the button. The rocket engaged and the hammer flew out of my hands and into the Buttwitch, sending both into the air. Conelly got up and took a swing as the Buttwitch fell. Everything fell silent as the Buttwitch and hammer hit the water. Conelly bent over and reached into the water, pulling up the Buttwitch's decapitated head.

"Cure, now." Conelly said, holding her by the hair.

"No, I told you I don't have it." Buttwitch said. Her body soon emerged from the water, arms out, probably searching for its head.

"Fine. You!" Conelly pointed at Big Deal. "Trade, the cure for her head."

"O... okay!" Big Deal produced a vial from who knows where and walked over to Conelly making the trade.

"Big Deal, you're such a disappointment." Buttwitch said.

"Yes, ma'am." he said, turning to the woods.

"Wait, turn me around, Big Deal." He followed her instructions. "Come on, idiot!" She yelled at her body, which was feeling the side of Collin's barn. It came running and went full force into a tree.

"I'll be back, brats!" She yelled as the three vanished into the woods.

"Yeah, we know!" Emily yelled back sarcastically. Conelly took a drop of the liquid from the vial. Then passed it off to Emily, James, and myself. It was extraordinarily bitter and gave me double vision briefly. I handed it back to Conelly and she took it to the affected islanders, and finally to Reggie, who began reforming immediately. Conelly's katana reformed and she pulled it from its sheath.

"Thank you, kids... and I'm sorry."

"Sorry for w-" I was cut off by Conelly rapidly slashing at all three of us. I looked but none of us were hurt.

"How could you!?" Suddenly Emily was crying, and holding out her hands, which contained bits of her friendship bracelet. I looked down and my necklace was in pieces on the ground.

"Why?" I asked.

"Endless isn't safe. Look what happened to Reggie." she replied. Suddenly, she grouped us up and grabbed James' intact Endless key. We warped from Endless and appeared back in my room. She then shattered James' key in her hand and warped back to Endless with her own.

"What do we do now?" James asked.

"Nothing." Emily said, walking out the door.

To Be Continued In: Alone Forever