𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎.
You hid inside a random small shop, the chime in the door ringing as you entered. You took a few quick breaths, feeling very exhausted because of your escape from the cart owner.
But you also felt pride for thinking quickly and causing a distraction, thus letting you take the food you desperately needed. Speaking of which...
You immediately ate the two sticks dango you had in your hands, it wasn't enough to fill you. But it was enough to give you the energy you needed since you escaped the laboratory.
You ignored the stares you received from the people in the store, and just as you were about to leave, someone stopped you by grabbing onto your arm.
"Little boy, do you need help?" That twinge of discomfort again...
The person who grabbed you was an elderly woman, whose expression was filled with concern. "Where are your parents? Do you need me to call the police?" You pull your arm away from the women's grasp.
"No. I'm okay." The woman didn't look convinced, "You don't look okay, dear. You look like you've been sleeping in the trash!" If only she knew you did.
You wanted to get out of the shop already. You knew for a fact that the bad men were still looking for you, and that they had ties with the police as well.
You didn't want to drag innocent people into your situation, so you lied through your teeth as best as you could. "I'm playing. I'm okay." The women was thinking hard if she should believe you, and thankfully, she did.
The woman sighed, "Alright. But next time, don't dirty yourself too much." She said sternly, you nodded in fake acceptance.
"Take care of yourself, boy." She smiled before leaving the store. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding before leaving as well.
You would be lying if you said that you knew what you were doing. The sky had turned into an orange mixed with blue, and the sun was almost set. Meaning that it was the afternoon.
You had no idea where you were, nor know what do to now that you are free. You don't have decent clothes, no yen, and no food. You can't trust anybody to be who they say they are, in fear that they might be bad men. You were so lost. You needed help. You were so scared.
You were too distracted by your thoughts to realize that you had just bumped into something, or more like someone judging by the grunt they let out.
"You little shit! You made me bump into my ride!" You snapped out of your paranoid thoughts when the person you bumped into yelled at you. You didn't like when people yelled at you.
The person in front of you was a man who looked to be a few years older than you. He was wearing a green jacket that had logos and words on it, the words "Spiker Gang" were written on the arms of his jacket.
Behind him were three other men who wore the same jackets as him.
The man suddenly grabbed you by the collar of your shirt and pulled you up to his face, "What are you starin' at, huh? How the hell are you gonna pay back the damages you've done to my motorcycle?" His breath smelled more foul than his looks.
You didn't mean to bump into him, and even though you technically didn't ruin his motorcycle, you still didn't want to cause anymore trouble.
"I-I'm sorry!" You cried out, the man scoffed before pushing you, you let out a pained groan when you roughly landed on the ground.
""Sorry" doesn't cut it, punk. You're gonna make up for this whether you want to or not." The man who pushed you cracked his knuckles as he smiles sadisticly at you.
"So how's about you empty all the change you got?" As you were about to tell him you didn't have any money, his lackey spoke first.
"You honestly believe that this kid has money, boss? He looks like he's been sleeping with the rats!" The lackey boosted out laughing, his boss chuckling with him. You felt utterly humiliated.
"You're right, Kai. This punk doesn't look to have a cent on him. So I guess we'll have to go with the other opinion of repayment." The boss sighs in disappointment, but you knew that he wanted to hurt you since the beginning.
The boss snaps his fingers, and immediately the two men behind him walked towards you. You tried to get up and run away, but they were faster than you.
One of them kicked your back, you let out a loud cry of pain before falling back down. The two men grabbed your arms and held you up towards their leader.
You struggled to get out of their grip, but they were too tight. Memories from the time you were in the lab were filling your head.
Two security guards, who were older than the men right now. Held onto you just like this. You cried out to Papa and begged him to not take you back to the room. The dark, tight, room... But he didn't listen. Nobody listened.
The boss snickered at your torment, and cracked his knuckles once more. "Hehe. Any last words?" You didn't want them to hurt you.
You didn't want them to touch you! You wanted them to leave you alone!
You and the group were too distracted by yourselves to hear tiny feet running towards you. With a deep breath you concentrated, you couldn't wait to snap their bones in half.
"Leave me alo-!" You couldn't finish your sentence when suddenly, a kid kicked the man who was supposed to beat you in his face, and knocked him onto the ground.
The said kid stood on top on the man, with his foot on the side of the man's face.
The lackeys were all just as shell shocked as you were to see their boss knocked out with just one kick. And by a kid who looked younger than them, in fact!
Speaking of the kid, he had short blond hair, black eyes that looked empty, and had a lollipop in his mouth.
The lackey's flinch when the kid looked towards their direction, and then he looks at you up and down. You felt like he was judging you, you wouldn't blame him if he did.
He then took the lollipop out of his mouth and scoffed at the cowering men.
"Four big guys picking on a kid just for bumping into you? How pathetic can you be?" He removes his foot from the unconscious man's head and walked toward you.
"Unless you wanna end up like your boss, I suggest you scram and never come back here." The kid says with a chilling smile. The lackeys holding onto you let you go, went onto their bikes and drove away like the wussies they were.
You held onto your back, as it was still sore from one of the lackeys kicking you.
You felt the kid's emotionless gaze on you.
When you finally had the nerves to stare back at him, he was in front of your face. Seeing those pitch black eyes up close would have frightened someone to their very core.
But for some reason, seeing those eyes made you feel calm and safe. His eyes reminded you of the dark sky that was filled with countless stars back in the forest.
You felt like you could stare into those void less pupils forever.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" You nodded "no". The kid kneeled down to be in your level, and smiled at you, "My name is Mikey, what is your name?" You stayed silent for a while at the question, nobody has asked you what your name was before.
The only name you have been called all your life was Eleven, 011. You even had the number tattooed onto your wrist.
But the thought of somebody calling you by that name, the name that Papa and the bad men used for you, left a bad taste in your mouth.
So you thought further, deep within your memories. And you remembered that one incident involved with Papa, he was going to take you to your next testing session, and when he grabbed your hand, you suddenly had flashbacks that did not belong to you.
And in one flashback, you remember vividly of a piece of paper that had a picture of you and hidden information.
You only had time to see your name and date of birth before Papa let go of your hand when you arrived in the testing room.
You didn't tell Papa or anyone else of what you saw.
But that was how you found out that you could access other people's memories by touching their bare skin.
Your name was...
You felt a hand on your shoulder softly shaking you, the kid "Mikey" was still wearing a smile on his face but his eyebrows were knitted in confusion.
"Hello? I asked what your name was?" You felt embarrassed that you were probably staring at him for too long, so you didn't want to make him wait for your answer.
"(NAME)." You pointed your finger at yourself.
"Well, (NAME), as much as I'm glad you aren't hurt. I gotta say this, you stink. I think you better run back to your home before it gets dark." You hold Mikey's arm and shake your head "no".
Mikey looked at you confused. "You don't want to go to your home? Why not?" You try to come up with an explanation, "I don't have one." You say softly, Mikey now looked concerned more than confused.
"Did your parents kick you out?" You shook your head "no", they would've never let you leave.
"Did you run away? Were they hurting you?" He wasn't exactly wrong when he asked that question, so you nodded "yes".
Mikey felt a strong compassion towards you. he wanted to help this poor kid who had no where else to go. You reminded him of a stray kitten, and he was determined to make sure you were safe and sound.
Mikey stood from his crouched position and lead you up with the hand that was still holding onto his arm. "Why don't you come home with me then? We can get you cleaned and give you food."
You felt unsure if you should trust Mikey. He might have saved you, but you still didn't know him that well.
Mikey seemed to sense your hesitation, and gave you the friendliest grin he could master. "You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you, I promise." You were confused about what a "promise" was.
"Promise?" You asked, confusion painted on your face. "A promise is something that a person makes that can't ever be broken." Mikey patiently explained.
You hummed in appreciation for him explaining what a friend was. You slid your hand from his arm to his hand and clenched onto it.
"You want to go to my house then?" You nodded "yes".
Mikey smiled at you warmly, "Then let's go!"
And that is where your life would have changed forever.
Meanwhile In (NAME)'s Dimension
he six scientists are silent as they enter a room that is filled with suits that are made to protect them from the toxic air and environment they will soon face.
After putting on the suits and grabbing their weapons and flashlights that will protect them physically from the dangers they will face, they leave the small room and enter an elevator that will lead them down to a whole new dangerous world.
The elevator doors open to the sight of parasitic weeds and vines clinging onto the walls and dust like fog filling the air around them that would've caused serious harm to their bodies if they weren't wearing the hazmat suits.
The vines and spots on the walls squelched and moved as if they had life of their own.
The group turned on their flashlights and held their guns up in case something were to attack them.
The lights that once worked perfectly were now flickering on and off menacingly. The group carefully monitored their surroundings and safety walked towards their destination.
As they entered the dark room that seemed to the cause of the entire floor being the way it is, they saw it.
A door that lead to an alternate dimension of their own. The portal was enveloped in vines, slime, and the center of it glowed a faint red as it let out indistinct growls.
The leading scientist, who was an old man with grey hair, stared at the portal with a mix of amazement and horror.
"This is where it came from?" A male scientist beside him asked.
The old scientist confirmed his question by saying "yes".
"And the boy?"
"He can't have gone far." Oh how wrong he was.
𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑
Manjiro Sano (Mikey) - 15% ↴
He was worried for your safety when he saw a group of losers picking on you. But he is glad that you are okay. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pity when seeing you looking dirty and weak. And the fact that you ran away from your home didn't help your case. So he decided that he wanted to take you to his house so that you could take care of yourself. He notices that you aren't that much of a talker, and hopes that after he's helped you that you will talk to him. Hopefully Shinichiro wouldn't mind cooking for two people today.
➤ You've made an ally that will help you finally change into some new clothes and take a bath! But unfortunately your speculations were correct, Papa and The Bad Men were still looking for you. But fortunately for you, you're in another universe, so you have enough time to prepare yourself for their return. Soon, you will create more allies that will help you along your journey. For better, or for worse... Find out in the next chapter!