Well, last chapter wasn't exactly all sunshines and rainbows... And uhh, I'll prolly make it up for you, I promise... You trust me? No you shouldn't... >:p
1.8k words enjoy! and sorry for the wait!
Remember, the doge plushie is with you always! It will fight for you!
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Six? Hello? What's going on? Where am I? Why is it so chillingly cold? his eyes squinted open to find himself lying on his back, and directly above him was a flickering light shining down on him. Mono turned his head and waved a hand in front of his face to block the light away.
The moment he began to think, the memories of the past half hour flooded his mind. He saw it unfold again, the ramming against the locker, the shard through the waist, the cut of his throat. He screamed as he leaned up into a sitting position, clutching and rubbing his neck. Then his wails fell silent when he realized that the wound was no longer there.
He took deep breathes and pulled up his clothes to see the other wound on his waist. But instead of a nasty gash, he found a scar. His fingers moved to trace it, he bristled at the prickly feeling. He soon noticed the one on his neck too, and the more he felt it, the more uneasy he got. It's a whole lot uglier than the other one, that's for sure. It's a good thing he couldn't see it.
As his eyes adjusted to the light, the contents of the room became clearer. Dread filled him as he realized what room he was in. He was back here...
"No..." His voice came out in a whisper, he stood up and rushed towards the mountain of TVs in the middle of the room, each screen displaying a different cycle. "No, no. This can't be it... It can't be over yet..." There was no way around it, this place only meant one thing. He had failed again.
Things were going too well, better than the previous cycles. He thought that this time would've been different, that it would be the cycle to end it all. But it was not to be... perhaps it never was. All of this was just pointless. Mono should have realized it from the beginning, all of this suffering is worth nothing. It always ends the same way. There never was a happily ever after, it's all just a sick joke people tell themselves to keep moving forward.
"I knew this would happen, why do I even bother anymore. I'm tired, I'm so tired... to hell with all of this..." Mono muttered, turning away from the mountain of TVs ambling through the room with no true destination in mind. For the first time, he had no idea what to do.
That's until the door in the back swung open on rusty hinges, a glitching figure stepped through, one he recognized immediately, Bart.
He looked around the room for a moment, his head glitching from one face to the next. Then as he saw Mono, he settled on a face that belongs to a girl with ginger pigtails, blood seemed to be smeared on her upper lip. "OH! Mono! You're finally awake! Welcome back to the land of the living." Bart cried, "How're you feeling, boy?"
Mono said nothing, he just glanced up and stared at those cold empty eyes of his, then tore his gaze away from them away and looked at his feet instead. I failed, I failed again...
Bart tilted his head, "Mono?"
"I'm sorry." Mono's voice was low and forlorn, "I can't do it... I can't. It's just too much, Bart. It doesn't matter how many times or how hard I try. In the end... it's always the same. I'm just sick of it... I'm sorry, you placed all your trust in me, you believed that one day I might free us from this place. But in the end, I was just useless. All I ever did was fail over and over again. If only you had someone stronger... If only it wasn't me... If only..." Mono sighed and sat on the floor, "What good is a wingless bird, Bart? It won't fly no matter how high you toss it... it's all just pointless."
Bart narrowed his eyes and frowned, "What the hell are you on about!? Someone stronger? Have you gone mental!"
"For pity's sake, Bart! Save it!" he said through gritted teeth, he even had the nerve to say those things now of all times. "For once just spare me the insults. I'm not in the mood for this."
Bart tilted his head, "I didn't say anything! I came here to see how you're feeling, then you started spitting all that nonsense."
Mono's face turned red with anger, "I DIED, BART! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT!"
"You died yes... for a while," Bart said. And with that Mono slowly looked up at him, narrowing his eyes. "You thought it was over? If it really were, we wouldn't be having this conversation-" Bart was suddenly horrified, his face glitching to something featureless, making his expression harder to read. "I shouldn't have told you that..." he muttered inaudibly.
Mono could hear a thing from that last part, "Wh-what? But I..." I'm still alive? "But, if I'm not dead? then how-?"
"How you got here?" Bart finished it for him, he reached with his hand and rummaged inside his pockets, then pulled out the remote with a red button in the middle. He clicked it, and the Tv that stood there in the corner of the room separated from the mountain flashed bright white. The cycle was still going... or perhaps frozen in time, Mono saw. He also saw her, sitting there in the corner of the room hands all bloodied with her legs to her chest and her face dug in her knees, she is crying...
in front of her was a TV, its screen displaying a 'please stand by' signal. Beneath the TV, there was a trail of blood that came all the way from the hallway on the right. "Six carried you all the way through and brought you to me. You could say I guided her, in a way..." Bart grabbed a mirror off a small table and made his way next to Mono "I spent the last damn hour fixing your cracked skull, your broken ribs, the gash in your waist, and the cut on your throat." He then placed the mirror in front of Mono for him to see, "So? Is it still you?"
In a way, Mono still recognized the boy in the mirror. Only now there was this nasty scar across his neck, which looked almost like a red smile. Mono rubbed his neck as if to cover it, and he thought the moment he'd let go the scar wouldn't be there anymore... Nope, still there. "Can't you do anything about that?" Mono asked.
"No. I'm letting you keep it just so you know that you're not immortal." He said. Moments later Bart pulled the mirror away. "What you did back there was brave... but stupid. That power should never be used lightly."
"But she could've been-!"
"Killed?! Unlikely... None of this would have happened if you'd just used your head to get around it. That power did a high number on your body... Damaging it beyond my abilities to repair." Bart scolded, "I've done all I can, but you'll still feel weak after you go back. Find an infirmary in the school... Take the door on the left, then go down the stairs until you find a door painted in black with the sign infirmary hanging from it. Rest, dress the wounds, take whatever you need. Do that and you both might live..."
As Bart went back to the table to return the mirror, Mono eyes followed him, "Hey uhh, Bart..." After placing the mirror, Bart turned and faced him. "I don't know why you are doing this but... Thank you."
"Yeah..." Bart said, his voice was thick with... Sadness...? Mono realized something was amiss, especially now because that door Bart came from used to be locked at all times, Mono was always curious as to what was behind it. Wouldn't hurt to check, would it? "Right, I'll return in a few... You should be ready to go back once I return." Bart said and glitched out of existence.
Inquisitiveness got the better of him, Mono hopped to his feet and made for the door. Bart forgot to lock it... In the back of his mind, something was telling him to turn back, maybe things are kept locked away for a reason, and it was best for them to stay that way...
Mono grabbed the edges of the door and started pulling on it, it creaked on rusty hinges as it swung open. It took more effort than it should, and soon the air became thicker, like the smell of cotton and rotten wood. And to his surprise music started playing, an all too familiar tune, a soothing melody... Just like the one Six had been playing back at the basement... hmmm hmmm hmm. Mono started humming along with it. Mono stayed beside the door, the room was mostly dark, and in the middle, sparks flew out of what seemed to be a destroyed TV.
He didn't understand what it meant, it was just an ordinary TV just like the rest that were stacked in the mountain behind mono. But what's so special about this? The music suddenly started playing backward, the soothing melody becoming slightly eerie now. Mono brooded, there's something wrong here... He looked back at the stack of TVs behind him and saw that some had tumbled over and crashed onto the floor, some TVs had smashed screens too while others were split in half. Was it always like that? Mono couldn't tell, but it does look like there was a brawl here... a nasty one too.
"What are you doing!?" The sharp voice of Bart shuddered through the room and echoed off the walls. He suddenly came into being and towered over Mono. Bart pushed the door closed and grabbed Mono off the floor.
"Wh-what?! what did I do?" Mono said, his tiny form squirming in Bart's grip.
"You shouldn't have gone in there..." Bart said, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Why? it's just a smashed TV!"
"That's none of your concern."
"Bart... What happened? Tell me, please... I can help! Anyone could see that there was a fight here... who's-"
"Enough!" Bart yelled, startling Mono. "Stop asking questions... It's time for you to go back."
Mono sighed in annoyance. Honestly, everything would be much easier if someone would actually talk to him... Then realization struck him like a hammer. He remembered Bart's words 'if it really were, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place' Back there... when he was lost in the school and had no way of getting out of the room, Bart guided him and gave him an axe... Bart interfered with the cycle...
dread filled Mono as sweat trickled down his neck. "Bart..." Mono was voice was quivering, "You interfered..."
Bart made a sound in his throat, his grip tightening on Mono's body. "Ow, ow, OW! Bart, you're hurting me!" Bart gasped and loosened his grip, his reaction to those words confirmed it. Mono looked into his eyes, no matter what face he changed to, he couldn't hide the tears trickling down from his eyes. Bart... is crying?!
"What have you done...?" Mono said. What else could he have possibly done!?
"Forgive me, Mono." Bart breathed and shoved Mono back into the TV screen.
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Ah! done! It was harder than I thought. took longer than usual.
Tell of any mistakes or missing words. I would appreciate it!
See you in the next chapter! GOODBYE! stay safe. Love ya all.