(you all chose: take him with you!)
"screw it." you grumbled, shaking any remaining popcorn puffs out of your grey jacket. "ill take him with me, but you got to promise me one thing."
Death 13 tilted his head. "oh-ho? what might that be?"
"if you know anything, have any important information, or any alternate motives, i need to know. i dont care what they are or how irrelevant it seems. you need to tell me, or else ill boot you and your master off this little trip. capiche?"
the stand nodded, clapping its hands together excitedly. "yes, of course! but now i must ask one thing of you, my friend!"
"no." you answered, not waiting to hear him. "im taking you and your master on my trip. you arent allowed to ask for anything more."
he sighed, snapping his fingers and summoning a canned coffee into his hand. immediately, you began to drool, your fingers weakly reaching out to the caffeinated drink. he pulled it away from your reach, wiggling his finger in denial ."nuh-uh~! you have to hear me out on my condition!"
saliva dribbled out of your mouth as you stared at the coffee can desperately, minutes away from going feral and snatching it from his hands. "wh..what is it..?"
"i only ask that you get my master a new change of clothes. he's practically wearing nothing but stained rags at this point."
"deal! now, gimme-gimme!"
you made a grabbing motion towards the coffee as you stood on your tiptoes in attempt to reach the coffee that Death 13 held right above you, foaming at the mouth from excitement. sighing, it dropped the drink directly into your hands, excited giggles bubbling from your mouth as you popped open the can and downed the drink in one gulp.
the stand stared at you in horror as you crushed the empty can in your hand and threw it towards a trash can, your weight shifting from foot to foot as the sugar high slowly set into your brain. "hee-hee~! thank you, 13!"
Death 13 looked at you with a concerned expression, "should-should i have not done that? was i not supposed to give you coffee?"
"ahah, i can see everything..."
stars flew in front of your face, making your eyes grow wide with wonder, your hands stupidly coming up to grasp something that wasnt there. it was as if you hadn't a brain level higher than a toddler.
the stand flew over to your side, grasping your shoulders firmly to keep you in balance. "are.... you high? do you get high off of coffee?"
"no clue~! heehee!" you snorted, twisting in a circle and out of the clowns grasp, only to fall to the floor laughing. "for some reason, coffee, specifically cheap or canned coffee, always makes me feel super happy and giddy inside!"
"im just- im just going to let you wake up now. im not sure if you'll still be... like this, but at least you'll have time to sober up i guess."
with a snap of his golden fingers, Death 13 launched you back into consciousness, your head snapping up and instantly being met with a wave of water. you coughed and choked, confused and disoriented from the coffee high.
n'doul pulled away from your face, almost laughing at you immediately plunging your head into his as you sat up abruptly. caesar worriedly flew over to you, attempting to clean the water off your face, only to have his hand faze through your head, leaving you to be drenched.
hol horse snorted, covering his mouth with his hands to stifle his laughter. annoyed, caesar gave him the middle finger after pulling his hand out of your head, a spark of electricity snapping towards the cowboy and making him shriek.
you blinked a few times, wiping the water off of your face and staring into caesar with wonder. "did you just do that?"
"oh yeah," hol horse chuckled hopping over to you and crouching to your level, "we found out caesar can make little sparks while you were asleep, and so far he's been using it to torment me."
"you deserve it."
hol horse turned around and gave caesar the finger, only to gain a cheeky shock in the ass as a silent 'fuck you, too'. you rolled off of your satchel in the opposite direction of n'doul, groaning as a massive headache began to throb in your skull, pulsating waves of pain through your veins over and over again.
"mmmngh, my head.."
while you were busy cursing at yourself, little, excited footsteps ran down the nearby streets of Egypt, thundering toward your position once more. in a mere moment, the same boy from earlier made his presence known again, a goofy smile stretching his chapped face. "miss! are you the one that likes coffee?"
jolting, you scrambled to the edge of the building top you rested on, peeking over it with n'doul, hol horse, and caesar. "uh- yeah?"
it was in this moment you saw what Death 13 was talking about. the poor boy was dressed in nothing but tattered, dirty fabrics held together at the waist by a shoelace. the drapes were stained with dirt, mud, and a little blood, making you frown.
with no regard for your own wellbeing, you slung the satchel over your shoulder and hopped off the building, breaking your legs which instantly healed. "what's your name, kid?"
"i dont- i dont have a name, really..." he stammered, twiddling his thumbs.
sighing, you strutted over to the boy and leaned down to his height, looking as his dusty face with pity. after licking your thumb, you rubbed some dirt off of his cheek that was overly noticeable, squishing his cheek and making the eye above it close. "do you have a name you want to be called?"
the boy remained silent, eyes twinkling for a moment. "youll let me choose my own name?"
"of course. its your name, after all."
you took your other thumb and licked that one, wiping off his opposite cheek and getting rid of the dark earth that stained it. "i wouldn't want to name you something you dont like."
"ok then, i want to be called... mannish!"
ooooh, that is not a good name. you werent going to tell him that, though. "nice idea! i really like mannish! can i call you manny for short?"
"yeah! im manny! my name is manny! i have a name!"
smiling, you brought your hands to your satchel, pulling out the spare shirt that the Speed Wagon Foundation gave you and tossing it over manny. the ghosts continued to watch your interaction from the roof, chatting inaudibly to each other about who knows what.
you pulled mannys head through the hole, being careful as to not mess up his neat headwrap. he looked up at you with bright green eyes, his eyes boring holes into yours with wonder as only the moonlight illuminated your body. an angel in a punishers form, he concluded. a blessing not from heaven, but from hell.
it was obvious you were dangerous. everything about you was cold and calculated, your presence sending shivers down mannys spine. yet, at the same time, you were warm and welcoming, making him feel relaxed around you. there are two types of people on this earth; those who were made to create, and those who were made to destroy. you were both, trapped in the middle with the privilege of deciding who is worthy of heaven and hell.
knocking him out of his thoughts, you pulled out a pair of shorts from your satchel, rolling up the cuffs of the pants and having manny step through them one by one. it would be, without a doubt, too big on him, but with the help of a make-shift belt, you were able to keep the pants hoisted on his little waist. "sorry this isnt your size, i promise to take you shopping tomorrow so we can get you something that fits."
manny stared down at the baggy, oversized, striped shirt he wore with puffed cheeks, pulling at the fabric with his dirtied fingers. "i actually... like it. if i have to change my clothes and get new ones, can i get a shirt like yours?"
"you want a striped shirt like mine?" you asked, rather surprised.
"yeah, i think it looks cool."
shrugging your shoulders, you stood up to your full height again, pulling out a spare hat from your bag and plopping it onto mannys head. "there, now we can match."
he stared at you in awe, eyes shining and reflecting the stars in the night sky. with one hand holding yours and the other gripping the hat, manny and you wandered off into the distance, n'doul, hol horse, and caesar following behind without a choice.
you and manny, along with the ghosts, walked to the edge of the Egyptian town, finding nothing but desert in your way again. squeezing mannys little hand lightly in reassurance, you wandered forward into the sand dunes, hol horse arguing that you should go back into the town and grab food. he was right, you should go back. and you would, right after you investigated the strange rock you found sitting by itself in the middle of a flat area.
after studying it for a moment, you found the rock had an outlet attached to it. who could possibly need power all the way out here? where did this weird outlet come from?
*PLEASE READ ALL OF THE OPTIONS, THIS WILL AFFECT THE STORY*
-touch the outlet, or plug something into it. lets see if this works.
-dont touch it. have caesar see if he can pull electricity out of it to ensure its real.
-pour water in it. why not?