I flew in silence towards my home. Infinity had just recounted what had happened while I was "unconscious."
So I really attacked X. And Two. And left Microphone in the dust.
Microphone was not a normal person. Infinity couldn't heal him. I tried and couldn't earlier. Microphone had said that he wasn't. I'm confused. I want a cheeseburger.
Was Microphone a spirit, too?
"Four?!"
A small voice jerked me out of my trance. I looked down to see X standing at the doorway of my house. My head started pounding as I landed on the ground, clumsier than I had intended to.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried. Tears blurred my vision, and I didn't try and stop them. X deserved my sorrow and embarrassment.
"No, Four, it's okay! You were possessed." X said hurriedly, "I don't blame you at all."
"Well, you SHOULD!" I shouted, tears falling even faster now. My voice was taking up a weird, hiccupy quality.
"Jeez, Four, you can't force X to hate you," Two's voice came from the doorway.
"Two... I'm so sorry." When I looked at Two, I felt a weird lump in my throat, like a needed to swallow and throw up at the same time.
"It's okay, alright?" Two said, but his voice sounded far away. There was a throb in my head, drowning out his voice. I suppressed a scream so it came out as another weird squeak.
"Four, I know you can heal Microphone," X said, "Earlier you couldn't, probably because you were possessed."
I walked into the house, determined. When I reached the living room, I saw Microphone lying on our couch, seemingly asleep.
I swallowed hard and reached out my palm towards him, fingers trembling.
Nothing.
No effect whatsoever.
"Why isn't this working?" I demanded, recoiling my hand and glancing around the room.
"Four..." Microphone groaned.
I was so surprised that I jumped away from him and landed on the other end of the room, a string of curses already halfway out of my mouth.
"You're alive? I thought you died! And didn't I slap X across the face only after I was sure that you were dead?" I asked.
"You're not possessed?" Microphone slurred.
"I leaned in and whispered: "You knew I was possessed? You're a spirit, aren't you?" I wasn't sure if he wanted other people to know that information.
"Yeah..." Microphone whispered back, his eyes still closed, "but Phantom really did a big deal of damage on me..."
"I thought its name was Shadow the whole time," I said sourly, causing Microphone to wheeze a laugh-worthy wheeze. At least it sounded like a pained laugh.
"My name... is not really Microphone," he whispered.
I shuddered slightly, turning my head to see his eyes wide open, staring into my own. I could see my own eyes reflected in his.
"It is... Shadow."
"Shadow?!" I hissed, startled. "W-what? But didn't my father say Shadow was a different name for Phantom or something?"
"I was joking," Microphone said.
I wanted to slug him. "WHAT THE-"
"Microphone's my cousin," he said, "I'm named Soul."
"Soul..." I said slowly, "doesn't ring a bell."
"I'm dying," Soul said.
"Wait you are? I thought you came back to life! Aren't you talking to me right now?"
"but I can be reborn." he continued. "Flip me around and take off my shirt. You should be able to take out my batteries from the, uh, lid on my back."
"You have batteries?" I gasped.
"Not literal batteries. But I will if you reprogram me."
"Reprogram?" I asked. I was repeating everything he said like an idiot.
"Yeah. I'm from a place where everyone are robots, like how all of you guys are symbols. But since I'm a spirit, I can live another life even with you take out my heart and twist it."
"Twist it?" I repeated, feeling sick. And I had killed many people before.
"You'll get it when you see it." Microphone/Soul said.
I flipped him around and cut a slit in his shirt rather than taking it off. I was worried that I'd accidentally take his arm off along with the shirt if I tried to pry it over his head.
Sure enough, he had some sort of thing on his back, like those things on flashlights and anything that needs batteries in it. I never really thought of what it would be called.
I didn't have a screwdriver, but the flap thing opened up by itself.
Luckily, I didn't get a view of Microphone's innards.
Instead, I was greeted by a sputtering battery thing with a screen on it. There was a switch next to it.
"Flip the switch and then put your hands on the end of the battery," Microphone said, his voice muffled. "When the battery stops glowing... well, you know what will happen."
I did.
I somehow understood.
(Yey)
If I flipped the switch, all of Microphone's memories would disappear. He'd be a new person.
If I didn't, well, he dies.
It's my fault.
If I hadn't gone looking for Shadow, he wouldn't be dying.
If only I had been able to see the consequences...
a!
a could see the future. She had been trying to warn us.
She knew this would happen.
So I flipped the switch.