As soon as I get there, I notice James flying around, watering the flowers. It's actually the first time I've seen him really get a grip on his flying, and honestly I'm really proud of the guy. When teaching him how to do it I felt like some kind of older brother, and I still do.
I make sure to make my presence known silently so James doesn't get spooked and he waves at me.
"Hey, Tinky Winky! Took you long enough to show yourself!"
I don't know what kind of face I'm making but it's enough to make James burst out into laughter.
"I was about to compliment you on your flying splendour but - TINKY WINKY?!"
"Dan misspelled your name in a DM yesterday and it's now our nickname for you. Get used to it." He laughs, flying over to me and patting my head. I roll my eyes and chuckle a little. It is a funny nickname, if a bit stupid. "Either way, what've you been doing as of recently? I haven't seen you around!"
"I'm trying to figure out the cause of all of this...I haven't gotten anywhere, other than it's definitely connected to Kindness somehow." I state, and James nods in agreement.
"Sounds about right."
We make small talk about James' situation. He's learned how to fly properly now, and he's enjoying it, if he has to admit.
"It feels..right, I guess." He shrugs, and I do too, though the fact it feels 'right' concerns me a little. Maybe he's just getting used to it.
We're interrupted from our small talk by a slam of an iron door next to us, and we turn to Dan, slightly disheveled from his night time adventures yesterday.
"Dan!" I wave, trying to push back the events of last night. "How're you?"
Dan seems to take the hint, also just smiling as if there's no tension. "Pretty good. Where's Squiddy boy?"
"Not sure." Making eye contact with him, something starts up again. The ticking.
It's even faster and louder today, and it's angering me so much. It's constant, just a little noise setting off alarm bells in my head.
Tick, tick, tick.
I bite my lip and try to ignore it, turning back to James. He doesn't have any ticking surrounding him, after all.
"Squid? I think he's working in his brewery!" James says, pointing to the tavern beside us.
As if on cue, the now glowing squid pops out, holding a healing potion.
"Morning mateys! The brewery isn't ready yet, if you're asking."
"I wasn't!" I tease, chuckling. As I do, I notice Squid and Dan making eye contact behind me. Plotting something, I think.
Looking at Squid, that ticking noise is back, but it's slower and quieter. It's the same frequency as Dan's from last night. How I am able to distinguish between them now I couldn't tell you, but it annoys me a little less now. I can vaguely hear Dan's in the background though, and so I try to block it out.
It seems to change looking between the two. So it's different per person. Weird.
"Justin, you alright?" Squid asks, mildly concerned.
"Huh? No, I'm alright." I say, pulling myself away from the noises. They're only testing me at this point. Oh, right, I'm supposed to ask about Kindness. "Well, actually I ha-"
"Oh! SB's joining today, right?" James says, interrupting my question. Ah, forgot about that.
"Yep." Squid nods. "We'll have to explain to him about all of this, huh?"
James laughs slightly. "Yep!"
Dan chuckles from behind me. For some reason, my arms start stinging again, this time my neck too. I scratch at them to try and soothe the pain, and it somewhat works, so I nod.
"Yeah, we will. Speaking of th-"
"Get inside! Get inside! He'll be here soon!" Squid motions to the retirement home, and we all run inside to greet SB.
As soon as the door shuts, I feel a lot cooler. Thank god, it was horrid out there.
I attempt talking again.
"As I was sayin-"
<SB373 joined the game.>
It's the universe's way of telling me 'No one cares, Justin. Get over it.'
So I remain silent as Squid spins behind the reception. "There he is~!"
Next thing we know, the penguin hybrid kicks open the door, pulling down his shades and winking. "Sup, Shady Oaks. Guess I'm retired now."
I don't even register his greeting cause that damn ticking is back again. It was always there but I'd tried to block it out. With SB, it's an even slower frequency than Squid's, but it's still enough to distract me.
Tick, tick, tick.
Next thing I know, Squid is in front of me. "Say hello, Justin!" He says, waving in my face.
Oh.
"Ah- oh, right, hello!" I wave. "Welcome to Shady Oaks! Or what we like to call it - hell!"
SB laughs. So does James and Dan. Squid interrupts.
"Okay, we're not that bad. That award goes to the Dream SMP. Whatever they're doin over there."
"Yeah, yeah.." Dan chuckles, before nudging Squid. "Do the receptionist's voice!"
And so Squid does. The tour is now in full force.
The whole time, I'm desperately trying to ignore the ticking and scratching at my arms. I don't know why, but they're itchy. I swear I'm scratching my skin off. Is it a reaction to the ticking? I know I react badly to repeated noises. And by god, is that ticking getting on my nerves.
Tick, tick, tick.
I even start to click with my tongue, but immediately shut myself up.
We go around the area, and as Dan and James go to show SB the bathrooms, Squid stays behind.
"Surprised he hasn't mentioned James being a bee hybrid yet. Maybe it's just him guessing. He does seem the intuitive type."
I nod and turn to him. Now I can talk about it.
"Yeah. Either way, I wanted to ask-"
"Okay, SB!" Dan says, running out. The fast ticking blares in my ears this time, and I have to smack my hip to make sure I don't scream in agony.
Why is it that today I keep getting interrupted? It's like I'm not even here.
We continue with the tour, showing SB around. We get ready to show him the railroad, and I'm reluctant to head outside. It was boiling hot outside, it's so much cooler here! Plus, it's already the afternoon, I do not want to deal with this.
"Hey, am I allowed to-"
"Alright, outside, ya'll!" Dan yells!
It's not much like I have a choice. I slowly get outside and the stinging pain runs across every single bit of exposed skin I have, and I scratch hard at my arms.
This time, both SB and Dan look at me. Dan looks like he purposely interrupted me and SB just looks sympathetic.
Why is the sun burning me today?
I want to speak but Dan's already led SB to the casino, and is letting SB check it out. SB is smart and doesn't bet anything, yet.
Squid looks as if he's short of breath, suddenly, and slam dunks his face into the water, catching a breath and looking up.
"Y-You okay, Squid?" SB asks, mildly unnerved.
"I'm alright. Squids need water to breathe, after all!" Squid chuckles, and SB nods, concerned.
"Yeah...it's a long story bu-" I begin, planning to tell SB the basics of the situation, but Squid cuts me off.
"We don't need to tell SB about that yeeeeet-" He says, laughing a little. It's not that amusing.
"He should know, it's fairly important to." I counter, staying serious.
"I mean he is a penguin, it's not gonna affect him too much, is it?" Squid rolls his eyes.
I don't know what it is that brings it back, but the ticking noise is suddenly blaring in my ears and it hurts, it hurts it won't stop- it causes me to lash out in anger.
Tick, tick, tick.
"WELL IT AFFECTED YOU, NO?! YOU NEARLY DIED AND I HAD TO RESCUE YOU, NO?! IT SURE AS HELL IS AFFECTING ANY PERSON HERE! OR ARE YOU TOO SCARED TO ADMIT THAT THAT LITTLE NETHERITE SWORD THAT YOU HOLD SO DEAR HAS BEEN HURTING US THIS WHOLE TIME CAUSE YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING BUT POWER?!"
Squid and I just glare at each other in a stern way for a second before Dan speaks up.
"Huh, what's caused you to have a mean streak?" What is up with Dan today?! Usually he's such a gullible coward and never this snarky. Either way, it annoys me again.
"What's up with you trying to kill me last night, huh?" I ask, turning to him. The ticking is back and it's at Dan's horrific speed. Tick, tick, tick.
"Says the one hiding the netherite pickaxe from everyone!" He retorts, with a smug look on his face that I'm ready and willing to wipe clean off.
"I hid that for everyone's SAFETY, you dummy! But all you want is power too, huh?" It's not exactly a lie, but it's not exactly the truth either.
"Says you, the one who planned to kill both Dan and James in the first place for it!" Squid says, standing up.
"I'm sorry, you WHAT?!" James says, standing up with indignance.
"H-HEY! We had a deal, Squid!" I yell at him, my arm thrusting back in annoyance.
"And? You broke it off when you didn't bring me to get that pickaxe!"
"You two were just gonna hide that from us the whole time?! What then, huh? Just hide the fact you had a whole other netherite piece?"
"What made you think killing us for it was in any way sane, anyways, if you're so concerned about our safety?"
"Yeah! You're all up on me for wanting power yet you hide the fact that you're the most power hungry of any of us!"
"YOU KILLED DAN OVER THAT SWORD, DIDN'T YOU?!"
"HE CURSED IT! IT WAS ONLY FAIR! HE DESERVED IT!"
"YOU WERE GOING ABSOLUTELY INSANE OVER THAT THING!"
"YEAH, AND?! YOU TRIED TO KILL ME LAST NIGHT, YOU'RE JUST AS BATSH*T INSANE AS SQUID!"
"WHAT IS UP WITH YOU GUYS AND KILLING EACH OTHER?!"
"SQUID STARTED IT!"
"WELL ACTUALLY YOU STARTED IT, DANTDM!:
"YOU GAVE ME THE QUEST! YOU'VE GIVEN ME TWO QUESTS NOW THAT INVOLVE KILLING SOMEONE!"
"SO YOU SENT DAN TO-"
"I'M NOT THE ONE WITH THE WITHER PLAN, AM I?!"
"THE WHAT-"
"SHUT UP!!!"
We're all struck into silence by SB's sudden shout. We were so caught up in arguing about the netherite items that we'd completely forgotten he was there. Everyone is just staring at SB. It's not silent for me - although it should be - cause that damn ticking is always there, slowly driving me insane. Tick, tick, tick.
"Okay, are we done now? You all calmed down?"
Breathe, Justin. In, out, in, out. What came over me there? Why did I get so...angry and vicious all of a sudden? I'm immediately ashamed of myself and my outburst. I'm not calm yet, but at least I'm regretful.
"..Yeah." I get out, and I'm the first to speak.
"Good. Now, I have no idea what the hell just happened, and while I didn't care at first, I feel I should know about this stuff for my own safety."
"Oh, I can explain." James pipes up quietly.
"Tell me after the tour." SB laughs. "Secondly. Think?"
"Yeah, sorry, that was on me-"
"No, nothing to do with your anger. That is fine. I'm more concerned about the fact your arms have slowly turned purple."
I'm sorry, what? I immediately look down at my arms. He's right. My arms look scaly, almost, with dark shadowed patches all over my skin. They seem to glisten a faint green when glossed over.
The transformation. I was so caught up that despite the ticking I completely forgot that was happening. And the argument's likely made it worse. As soon as I realise it my head starts spinning like wildfire.
"Um...that's not good." James says, stating the obvious.
"Ugh...Squid, check Kindness. I'm...gonna try and prevent this. And...rest. I'm dizzy."
"Uhm...okay?" Squid does look concerned, but it's all tense. That argument really brought out the worst in me that I haven't seen in a while. And I want to shove that away.
I quickly begin the trudge back home and it feels horrible. My arms are aching still and so is the back of my neck, and my head is spinning too. I'm sweating oceans and just feel bloated. When I swim up the water it only helps a little.
It's when I get inside that I feel slightly better. It's much cooler under a roof but it doesn't make my headache subside. I decide to flop on my bed to rest, and as soon as I do I immediately fall asleep.