XLIV: High School Dropout

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I apologize for another long wait! I kind of had writer's block so finishing this chapter was difficult at first, but for some reason I get more creativity at like, 1 AM. "^^

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Jimmy Casket (possessing Johnny's body as the parasite he is) spun in front of Light and the siblings after the security guard hesitantly gave the word for him to lead them to a portal home. There was a devilish smile spread across his face as he said, "Follow me, my scruffy underdogs!"

The name-calling earned him a few glares.

"And quit wasting time!" He jumped ahead, picking up the pace and basically hovering for a few seconds before smashing the weak wood planks on the floor.

Light's foot went through the hole and became stuck.

"Watch out for that." Jimmy said a bit too late. "It's not my fault if you get left behind!"

Billy and Sally waited for Light to pull his foot out of the wood, but when they went to look for Johnny, he was already way ahead of them.

Suddenly, he appeared hanging from a loose wood plank in the ceiling by his shoes, staring Light directly in the eyes and almost causing him to fall back into the hole. "Are you coming? You're very slow." He unintentionally let out a giggle.

After gaining the ability to breathe again following that shenanigan, Billy said with a little discomfort, "Of course... We're not going to leave anyone who doesn't belong here behind!"

"...Doesn't belong here?" Technically, Jimmy did, but not really. "Anyway, let's get a move on!" He ran forward, a lot faster than before.

As the group went up the steps, Johnny/Jimmy had slowed down enough for them to catch up and kicked up a wooden floorboard under whoever was behind him.

Sally's let out a small yelp as her head went up through the second floor like a backwards ostrich trying to hide itself.

Billy gasped, and with his hands shaking, began to pull his sister out of the first floor ceiling.

"Johnny, what the heck are you doing?!" Light started.

"Oh, goodness me. I must've slipped." Jimmy said with a shrug before blatantly running off again.

"Where are you going? Get back here!" Zeron yelled at Johnny like the security guard he was. He began to sprint towards the crazed paranormal investigator.

On the top floor, he passed the shoulder-up stuck Sally who asked, "Hey, where are you going?" That was followed by an "Ow!" as she was being pulled back down to the first floor.

Quickly thinking of an answer, Light had replied "I'm bringing back the insane one before he ditches us here!"

The siblings tumbled down the stairs in the complete opposite direction of the other two. They glanced at each other with confusion before running off towards them.

(Continuing with Light Zeron's POV) Johnny disappeared into a random door near the end of the hallway and slammed it shut behind him.

Light went up and opened it, but ended up meeting the cartoon gag of a brick wall.

He stopped himself from banging his head, but Billy and Sally unintentionally knocked into him from behind and they all clashed. All three of their heads were spinning by now.

Sally rubbed her forehead. "Holy waffles, I wish I had one--" She hadn't said what she intended at first, but she wasn't lying about her craving. "I mean, I feel like my skull is on the verge of exploding!"

"Uh, I don't think that's how they work." Billy pointed out quietly enough that his sister didn't really acknowledge it.

"Did you find Johnny?" Sally asked Light, continuing the conversation.

"Well..." Zeron held his hand over the darkening bruise on his head "I could've sworn he just went through this door, but when I went to go inside..." He pointed at the strange wall. "I can't fathom how it happened... It's like he evaporated through this!"

As if on cue, the sound of another door shutting pierced the silence of the school hallway.

"That came from behind us!" Billy said.

Being the closest, Billy opened the door directly behind them.

There was a bright glow throughout the room, but Johnny's black shadow could be seen climbing the wall to the ceiling. A little wooden exit shut behind it.

"Look, there's an escape hatch leading to the roof!" Billy pointed out the obvious.

Light moved ahead and tried to open the door, but it seemed to be locked from the inside. "That's odd... It won't open." Light thought aloud. He stared at the others for help, and soon they were all pulling the door with all their strength.

It finally came loose and from within it was the glow of a portal.

"This must be the portal Johnny was talking about! Let's go!" Light said, leading the siblings in the opening first.

When Light finally made his way through it as well, the trap door that they had broken and thrown to the floor repositioned itself to its locked state and the portal inside closed once again.

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There was an extremely blinding flash of light in the Acachalla Family Household, putting Johnny Toast's recent conversation to a halt. A violent shaking like an earthquake went off at the same time. Everyone inside was forced to shut and cover their eyes to avoid burning them out.

When the intenseness subsided, Papa Acachalla slowly opened his eyes. "What the heck was that?! Did somebody break the fabric of time again?" He said in a hushed but attempt-at-yelling-voice. He glanced at Gertrude and Johnny for a moment. He quickly placed them in his hand with the bottle cap of water and ran out to the steps where he could see downstairs.

Spencer followed silently out of curiosity.

"Who's makin' a ruckus in my house?!" He yelled down the stairs (a bit too loudly for the smaller people).

The little British man leaned forward to see the bottom of the steps from the palm of Papa's hand.

A lean figure with brown hair and a familiar gray hoodie with what seemed like a few bloodstains was in a bit of a crumpled position, perhaps from falling.

Toast's eyes widened at his realization. "Johnny?"

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AND THUS THEY'RE FINALLY IN THE SAME PLACE AGAIN

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