Jimena rushed forward as soon as the explosion had settled. In the middle of the pile of rubble that used to be a street was a burnt and battered sheriff toy that didn't move when someone screamed his name. Jimena grabbed Jimmy and tried using her Watcher power to heal him but nothing was working.
Martyn crouched next to her, staring at the toy. "I think... he's dead." He whispered in horror. "No! He's not dead! He can't be!" Jimena shouted and tried again. Nothing happened. "He's not respawning." False said sorrowfully, crouching down next to them and looking down at the sheriff. "They turned off the respawn." Jimena realized. "The Watchers turned off respawn."
"Canary call..." Martyn muttered, his eyes glazed over like he was recalling a past memory. "First to fall. Forever caged in different walls." He looked at Jimmy and a lone tear rolled down his cheek. "Why did they always make you the first to die?" He whispered, as if mostly to himself.
Jimena still kept trying to fix him, but nothing happened. Whatever she tried, nothing happened. "Do something!" She screamed, unsure who she was talking to. I can't. Herodias said softly. I don't know how to revive anyone. Only Qiron knows. He made sure he was the only one who knew. I'm sorry, Jimena.
Jimena just shrieked again and clutched the lifeless toy to her chest, sobbing. False and Martyn cried too. They'd all gotten close to the sheriff, and now he was gone. Then Martyn looked at Jimmy again. "Why is he a toy?" He asked uncertainly. "Did he just reincarnate like this or-?" "It was a prank." Jimena sniffed. "He used to be human."
"Then..." Martyn said slowly, "What if he's not dead?" He asked. False and Jimena whipped around to stare at him. "Toys aren't alive so they don't die." Martyn said. "But he's- he's not moving." Jimena stuttered, hope blooming from somewhere within her. "Who turned him into a toy?" Martyn asked sharply. "If we turn him back, maybe we can heal him or something. Just try anything!"
Martyn was not surprised to find it out that it was Joel who'd I vented the potion in the first place. "Joel!" Martyn shouted as they ran through Stratos. "Martyn? How did you get here?" Joel asked. "Why are you tall- oh, nevermind, Joel, Timmy's dying!" Martyn snarled. Joel paled. "What? What happened?!" False quickly explained the situation and Joel quickly got a strange apple from somewhere.
"Feed it to him and he's human again." Joel instructed. He dropped the apple down and Jimena caught it and instantly forced it down Jimmy's throat. For a few painstakingly slow moments nothing happened.
And then Jimmy started growing. His wooden skin paled and softened until it was flesh again, hair began to sprout from under his hat, and Jimena had to put him on the ground once she realized he'd gotten too heavy for her to carry.
Then the wounds quickly became apparent. Burns from the explosion, scratches from the barbed wire trap. Jimena immediately started healing him again, hoping beyond hope that it would work now that he was human and no longer a toy, and it did. Jimmy went back to normal and then he blinked.
"Sheriff!" False and Jimena shouted at the same time Joel shrieked, "Jimmy!" and Martyn yelled, "Timmy!" Jimmy started and he sat up. "Wha- how'd I get to Stratos?" He mumbled in confusion, but he didn't get a reply as everyone was too busy hugging him in relief to answer his question. "Did I just die?" Jimmy frowned, and then he realized.
He stared at his human hands in disbelief and then touched his face. He ran to the closest gold-covered building among many that Joel had egotistically built all around upper Stratos and examined his reflection. He squealed in delight as he realized. "I'm not a toy anymore!" "Yeah, you're not." Joel said, his voice laced with relief that the sheriff wasn't dead. Apparently even friends who constantly pranked you still cared whether you lived or died.
"I thought you were a goner, Tim." Martyn said, breathing heavily. "I thought the canary curse followed you here too!" "Canary curse?" Jimmy asked. Then he realized. "Wait, I wasn't going to respawn, was I?" He paused, his face slowly paling in horror. "The Watchers turned off respawn." "Welcome to 4th Life." Martyn joked without a laugh. "Where there are no gimmicks and everyone is red with only one life left to live."
"I hate their twisted games." Joel muttered, fists clenching. He turned to look down at the rest of them, who were around half his height. "Let's call a meeting to tell everyone about this." He blinked. "I need to tell Lizzie to not tag anyone!" With that he rushed off.
"Guess he's leaving me to host the meeting." Jimmy muttered, looking incredibly shaken up. He walked a little bit then stopped and stared at Jimena. "Is it just me or have you gotten taller?" He mused. The others moved closer and inspected the sheriff. "You look... shorter..." Jimena said. "You're as short as a hermit!" False exclaimed and then Jimmy made a sound like someone suppressing a curse word.
"Joel!" He shouted in irate frustration and Jimena laughed. It sounded just like it was all back to normal. Then her laughter painfully caught in her throat. No, it was only almost normal. Nothing could be normal again after the Watchers had thrust their meddling hands into this world. Jimena sighed. I wish things were truly back to normal.
Jimmy hosted the meeting at spawn like he said he would but Jimena, False, and Martyn didn't attend. They already knew what it was about, anyhow, and they didn't want to encounter any of their friends. Martyn's borrowed elytra broke after their pell-mell flight to Stratos to save Jimmy and he didn't want to be carried again so they decided to walk back to Cogsmeade instead.
They passed by a music store that sold music discs and jukeboxes and stuff like that. Martyn glanced in through the window and then did a double take. Jimena and False both stopped to see what had caught his attention. Martyn was practically pressed up against the display window, staring at something inside the shop. "Ren?" Martyn breathed.
He rushed inside the shop. Jimena and False glanced at each other and then followed him without another word. The bell atop the door rang a few times as they came in. Jimena looked around at her surroundings. The store was pretty dim and stuffy inside; the walls were shelves stacked with tightly packed boxes of music discs.
Martyn was staring at a hermit that Jimena thought she recognized but wasn't entirely sure. He wore pojted sunglasses and had furry brown dog ears and tail. He was staring at Martyn back. "Martyn, is that you?" He asked in disbelief. Martyn just ran and embraced him. "I missed you, Ren," He said.
Oh, right, he was Martyn's partner in Third Life. Wait, should I call them partners if Ren was the king and Martyn's the hand? Uh, I'm confused. Jimena shook her head and waved at Ren awkwardly. He didn't notice her, though; all of his attention was on Martyn.
"How are you here?" Ren asked him. "The Watchers... remember the shadow? From Last Life? They're the same, Ren." Martyn said breathlessly. Jimena didn't quite understand but it seemed Ren did. "I have to listen to them and their stupid orders and now we're in another game!" Ren said nothing and just hugged him again; dog parts twitching in hidden fury.
Jimena didn't really know quite what to do in this situation, and neither did the Falses. So instead they just tried to sink into the background despite the store having a very tiny interior. It was made even smaller gy the counter in the corner where you actually payed for the discs you bought. A gramophone sat on the table, presumably to test whether or not you liked the music you were buying.
Jimena perused the shelves until she found a set of four discs all grouped together called The Mind Electric. Why are there four in one pack with only one label? They can't be the exact same song. Frowning she approached the cashier and asked about it.
It turned out that the one she held was a cover of ankther song of the same name, but the cover had been split into three separate songs and the fourth disc was the completion. Jimena thought it was kind of fun and bought the set with False's permission.
She turned to see Martyn and Ren in the middle of a very intimate goodbye and hid her face behind the music discs as to say that she didn't see anything. Ren left the shop with his tail between his legs and Martyn had puffy eyes the whole way home.
"I hate the Watchers." He grumbled. Herodias immediately took control and used her telekinetic abilities to make him float dangerously in the air. "Watch your words." She said threateningly. Martyn nodded like a bobblehead doll and False just looked at her with a disgusted expression.
"Why are you like this?" She asked once Martyn had been set down. "None of your business." Herodias said calmly. "Now we're going home and awaiting orders from Qiron. I suggest you start collecting your weapons. Be ready at the end of the week."
They didn't lose the tense ambiance until they were safely back in False's house. Jimena decided to try out her new music and put the compilation disc on False's gramophone. Immediately a weird electronic choir started to play.
Jimena honestly thought that the song was really weird and had a strange deep meaning behind it but she liked the way it sounded so she didn't really complain or anything. Around halfway she started bobbing her head to the music. And then Martyn got up and started dancing.
"What are you doing?" False blinked in confusion as she watched Martyn dance. "It's called dancing; now I dare you girls to join me. Unless you're both chickens." He said cockily, winking. False frowned and got up to start trying to dance but she just looked ridiculous. Jimena stifled a laugh and joined the other two in a weird dance off with Herodias rolling her eyes but enjoying the show.
They didn't stop dancing until they all tuckered out and got tired a long while later. "Well, I think we can tell that I won." Martyn said, breathing in and out as he wiped his forehead. "Hey! I won!" Jimena shot back in a playful argument.
"Now, now, who said this was a competition..." False started, but then her expression changed to something more expressive and she shouted, "What are you talking about?! This was definitely a competition!"
They all laughed. "Okay, I think it's time for dinner." False said, leaving to go to the kitchen. "No eggs or caramelized potatoes!" Jimena said quickly. "Caramelized potatoes?" Martyn asked quizzically, tilting his head at her in a silent question. "You do not want to know." Jimena said.
For some reason False made caramelized potatoes despite being warned alongside mashed beans and cocoa. In some bizarre way Martyn actually enjoyed the meal and ate the leftovers for them. Jimena was pretty glad about that; False's odder cooking tasted even weirder when it was left to sit overnight.
Martyn got assigned the house next to False's and Jimena's just across the street and became their new neighbor. False neglected to mention what had happened to the previous owner of the house, although based on Martyn's scream when he discovered the blood in the bathroom he got a fairly specific enough idea of what happened.
It wasn't until Jimena was in bed and nearly asleep when she realized just how sad she was. Her day had been almost normal, what with the fun and laughter she'd had with friends. Somehow an almost normal day seemed even worse than a completely abnormal day, like fate was taunting her with the prospect of things going back to normal. But things can't ever get normal again after this, Was Jimena's last thought before she dozed off.