"What the hell happened to you guys!!" Arthur demanded to know what went down at the warehouse. Neither Lukas, nor Ethan can answer because of how swollen their entire faces are.
Arthur and Drew look at the two of them with pity, not knowing what to do. "You think they'll be okay? It looks like they got stomped on by an elephant" Arthur asks. "I don't know, maybe? We should probably get someone over here just in case" Drew gulps down a beer in one go.
"Yo! Braxton! Can you and your mom help take care of these guys while we're gone?" Drew asks Braxton, who is sitting in the corner of the room with his head down, not saying a word to anyone.
"O–kay… anyway, me and Arthur are going to go bring a doctor back. You guys can just do whatever I guess" Drew walks out of the makeshift hospital room, with Arthur following not far behind.
The room has this eerie silence tied to it. Braxton doesn't really know if he should say something or not, since they can't respond at the moment. Just then, his mother comes in with tears in her eyes and says: "Oh thank god you're okay! I almost thought they killed you!" His mom won't let go, choking him out with her signature bear hug.
"Yeah, yeah mom I'm fine! I don't think these two are though" He points to the mangled bodies of Lukas and Ethan. Whish makes her audibly gasp and almost faint out of shock. She points her finger at them and asks: "what happened?!"
"Whelp, they're the ones who saved me. So you should be thankful"
"Oh well, thank you guys so much for saving my son, do you boys need anything?" Lukas gives her a thumbs up with all the strength he's got.
"Ok well, if you need me for anything, I'll be somewhere. Just call out for me. Okay?" she said in a sweet and caring tone, that warmed up Lukas' heart just a little.
Now outside, we find Arthur and Drew, talking about the whole ordeal. "What could've possibly happened out there for the two to be hospitalized?! We go on missions like these all the time but it never ends like this?!" Arthur recites.
"I don't know man, but I've got a friend at another station, that would be a huge help" Drew exclaims.
"Station #52?"
"Yep"
"So we're dragging Melissa back with us?" Arthur hops into the back seat of the car. "Yep, she's the only one that I trust with this" Drew hops into the driver's seat, and revs the engine to make sure it too wasn't destroyed.
"Ok we're good" He reverses out of the parking lot, and steps on the gas. Flooring it to their destination.
Arthur rolls down the window and sticks his head out like a dog. The nice summer breeze was hitting with a bit of warmth on the back of his neck.
"Damn! This is like the PERFECT weather for this!" Arthur's having the time of his life with the summer breeze. Watching as all the cars drive by on the road. "I KNOW! BUT IT'S KINDA HARD TO TALK TO YOU WHEN YOUR HEAD'S STICKING OUT OF THE WINDOW! SO GET BACK INSIDE AND CLOSE IT WILL YA!"
He starts rolling up the window, making sure that Arthur doesn't waste time. "So… what do you want to talk about?" Arthur wondered to him.
"I don't know, what's your thoughts on Lukas so far? You think he's a good member?" Arthur looks down for a second before responding: "I think that he's… alright, I guess. Still seems a bit unstable, but he seems to at least have some good moments" Arthur plays with his seatbelt. "I think he just needs some more support"
"What do you mean more support?" Drew asks.
"Well I mean, whenever I look at his face. There's some sort of hollowness behind those eyes. Almost like there is nothing back there at all" Arthur explains while staring out the window. "Dont get me wrong though, I still think he's weird" Drew gives a weak smile and says: "of course you do.."
Arthur notices something outside the window. "Hey look! Is another one of those B.O.B. things!" Drew turns his head to see what he's talking about. "Oh yeah, aren't those the things roaming around our street sometimes?" Drew wondered to himself out loud.
"Yeah, I think they are. They've always looked so creepy with their yellow… skin? I don't really know what you would call it" Arthur squints his eyes to try to get a better look. "#14 huh? Never seen that one before.. What happened to #5?" Arthur asks.
"I think #5 got crushed by a lamp post" Drew tells. "The thing kinda just fell on it"
"Ah man, that one was my favourite…" Arthur whines. "I'll always remember that big scar on its right eye hole. Gonna miss that thing I guess" Arthur crosses his arm and pouts.
Back at the station, Lukas and Ethan can finally talk again now that they're faces are as swollen as before. Still can't move unfortunately. "Hey, remember when you said there's more of us out there. What exactly did you mean by that?" Lukas asks while trying to move his arms and legs for the 50th time. "I thought we're, the only ones doing stupid shit like this"
"Well yeah, there's around 100 different stations, all across the country. The one that Drew and Arthur are going to is probably #52" Ethan explains.
Lukas looks a little confused. "Why are there so many stations?" He asked with one eyebrow raised.
"So that we can cover all of Canada. Ever since the police force has not been as trustworthy as we want, we've had to step in as a sorta pseudo-police force" Ethan looks out the window, and stares at nothing.
"Damn, that's crazy" Lukas feels super bored, not knowing what to do. Then, he notices Braxton looking at them through a crack in the doorway. Lukas jumps a little, causing a shooting pain to rise and fall throughout his body.
"Do you… need anything?" Braxton asks the both of them, getting Ethan's attention too.
"Oh no,we're fine in here" Ethan reassures him. "But are you and your mom okay?" He tries to get up, but obviously can't.
"yeah she's fine right now, got over it pretty quick to be honest…" Braxton looks the tiniest bit disheartened. "By the way, she said if any one the two of you want anything food wise to just go call her" Braxton leaves after that.
"Welp, at least she's fine" Ethan decides to go back to sleep while Lukas watches.
We see Arthur and Drew, munching on some Non-Copyrighted fast food place. Almost forgetting why they're out and about.
"Goddamn this food is good!" Drew's munching on his Burger and Fries, spitting all over Arthur.
"Yeah I know" he wipes away the spit and crumbs. "Can't believe this was only $30 total, I thought it was gonna be wayyy higher!" he sips on his strawberry milkshake.
"Yo remember the old crackhead right next to the rehabilitation centre?" Arthur starts giggling like a little girl. "He was yelling incoherently at everyone walking by, that shit was so funny" he tries to not spit his milkshake all over the table.
"Oh yeah! And remember how that dumbass kid kept pulling on the push door, even after his friend was telling him it was a push door?" Drew reminisces, making them both burst in laughter.
After wiping up their milkshake mess off the table. They sit there for a Good minute, trying to remember what they came all the way out here for.
"Oh shit!" Drew finally remembers, startling one of the other customers behind him. "Yo we gotta go. Like, now!" He grabs his car keys that were for some reason on the table, and drags Arthur back to the car. The other customers just watch as this all goes down.
"What's going on again?!" Arthur tries to get him off before realising himself.
Back at the station for the second time. Lukas and Ethan have recovered enough to move. They are not though because they don't want to fuck themselves up anymore.
"Hey, Mrs…?!" Lukas tries to call her over but trails on, not knowing her last name.
"Ms Avery. I was never married" she says while walking into the room.
"So, Braxton's a bastard child?"
"Yep" Braxton answers on his own behind Ms. Avery. He was looking like he wanted to strangle and rip Lukas' head clean off right then and there. "Do you guys need anything.." He says in the most monotone voice known to mankind.
"Nah, we go—"
"Do you guys have any.. Pomegranate juice, perchance?" Lukas asks, trying to make a cute face but failing horribly. "I, guess not.." Lukas pouts.
"Well, again, call us if you need anything" Just then, Milo runs into the room and jumps right on top of Ethan's stomach, making him out of breath. "H-hi there Milo!" Ethan says whilst wheezing profusely. Lukas looks over, feeling a nice warmth like the sun just shined directly on his heart.
Milo looks at him, and then decides to waddle over onto his side. (they were on the same bed this entire time). Then he woofs at him: "WOOF! (damn you look like shit right now bro! What happend?)"
"Oh me?! Nah it's nothing, just got some blood on my hands that's all.." Lukas somehow understood him at that moment. Shocking Milo as this has never happened to her before in the 5 years she's lived.
"Ruff? Woof? (wait, what? Nevermind… at least you're okay I guess. Can you tell the other adult that I want treats?)" Milo asks.
"Hey! Ms. Avery!" Lukas calls out.
"Yes?" She came back after clearly not leaving.
"Can you give Milo over here some treats?" Lukas asks. "He looks kinda hungry in my opinion" He points at the dog sitting next to him. The dog was trying to look at her with cuteness in her eyes.
"Aww.. sure thing you cute ball of fur" Ms. Avery picks up Milo and gives her a nice back pet. Making Milo feel so good. "Full! (yeah rub my back bitch!)" Milo barks at her in a 'playful' way as Ms. Avery walks out with Milo in her arms.
Ethan looks over to Lukas and asks: "how did you know that's what Milo wanted?"
"It was a guess.." Lukas didn't elaborate any further after that.
"Hey Mom!" We cut to Braxton, watching his mom make something that you guys want to know about yet. "What are you making?" He doesn't know yet either.
"Oh it's nothing sweetie! Could you go and find some treats for Milo to eat?" Milo's ears perk up.
"U-um, okay.." Braxton says a little nervous about how big this complex is. Milo takes the lead, touring him towards where the treats are.
"Ruff? (you wanna hear a story that I just made up right now?)" Milo ruffs at him, but Braxton doesn't understand dog language, so he says nothing. "Woof! (well then I'll tell you anyway!)" Milo didn't care at all at this moment.
"Ruff. (There once was a cricket, and a dragonfly)" Milo started with. "Woof. (They were both the bestest of friends for a while) she continued. "Woof, woof, ruff. (Until the dragonfly started hanging out with the beaver, and the frog)" Braxton thought to himself: what the hell is Milo barking for?
"Woof. woof. (The cricket felt very hurt and jealous by their friend's betrayal. But they would never voice it out loud)" Milo explained. "Wuff~~ (The cricket would just let their feelings fester, slowly distancing themselves from the dragonfly)" she rounded a corner. Going into a stingy hallway that Braxton thought hadn't been cleaned in years.
"Ruff. Ruff! (The dragonfly confronted the cricket about why he hadn't been hanging out with them recently. The cricket was defensive and emotional, they ended up having a big fight!)" Milo continues with her story. "Woof! (After their big fight, they decided to never speak to each other again. So they went their separate ways for a little bit. Then, a little bit turned into days, then months, and then, years. Soon enough they hadn't seen each other in 3 years!)" Braxton was starting to wonder where these traits could possibly be.
"Woof Woof.. (The dragonfly decided to go back, and reminisce about the memories he had with the cricket. When he got to their favourite spot though, the dragonfly noticed that lying there; was the grave of the cricket..)" Milo somberly barked. "Woof… Ruff? (so… how did you like my story? Was it good?)" She asked with woofs.
Braxton just looked at her, finally relieved that she stopped barking. Milo could only think to herself: of course you fucking didn't.. While finally making it back to the kitchen area that Lukas was in in chapter 2.
He noticed the pile of dog treats that has yet to be swept away. He thought to himself: wow, less work for me! Before leaving the room. Milo was so excited. She rams as quickly as she could towards the mountain of dog treats. Gobbling them up just as quickly as she got to them.
Wow! I truly didn't get a feel on how big this place is! It's like a goddamn maze in here! Braxton thought. I wonder how any of these guys can even find anything here. That's probably why those dog treats were left there.. Braxton turned a corner that was probably the right way. He wasn't keeping track on the way here though. He kept going down different hallways, searching for where he last was. Then, after a little bit, he finally realised… he was lost.
"Fuck! Shit!!" He was pissed. Milo had gotten him lost. Every hallway looked like something out of a horror movie. They were stained, and cobwebs were everywhere. It was a very jarring experience compared to the sorta clean kitchen and bedroom.
He tried to go back to where that dog Milo was, but he would just get himself even more lost. The more turns he would take the more delirious he would become. So enough, he wasn't thinking clearly anymore. Tears were running down his face, he was hyperventilating, and sweating profusely.
He reaches some random room at first. On a whim, he decided to run in and slam the door shut with all his strength. He slumped onto the ground, the back of his head resting on the door. The room was dark, at first he couldn't see what was even two feet in front of him. It was like he was in some sort of void. After a little bit though, his eyes slowly adjusted to the room around him.
There was a maroon coloured rug at the very centre. It looked like some sort of substance was covering said rug in a thick coating. He slowly creeps up to it, getting a little whiff and immediately recoiling because of the putrid smell. He thought to himself: I hope that's just Milo's piss.. While looking around at the other things in the room. There was a sofa at the very far end. It had a brown-ish shade to it. Thankfully though, there were no stains on it. Sitting right next to it, was a console table with a still full cup of coffee on it. Braxton thought that this room was extremely sketchy and creepy.
He went over to the sofa, and plopped down on it. Making sure to let himself rest up a little bit before searching again.
"Goddamn, this place is insane!" Braxton wheezed. "And this room is awful! Do they ever go back here?!" he wondered out loud, making sure that the couch wasn't damp at all. He sat on that sofa for a good 5 minutes. Just staring at the walls, and the stained rug. He didn't know what to do at that moment. The more hallways he went down, the more lost he would end up.
"Ugh, fuck me sideways!" he puts his hands over his face, covering up the scar that was left on his right eye. You can see the eye-bags on his face from the lack of sleep. His feet are both jittering rapidly. His hands are also now shaking violently, and his eyes darting around the room as if he was in R.E.M. sleep.
His mind started to wander off, into some sort of lost memory, buried deep in there.
"Hey! Sleepy head!" A faceless girl with brown hair wakes him up. It was almost like everything that happened before was just some nightmare.
"Hey! I'm awake!!" He retorts.
He gets up, and looks around the area to see a playground. There seemed to be no one else at the park at the moment though.
The girl proceeded to grab him by the arm, and yanked him to the swings. "Push me!" she asked, with a little grin on her face. He was a little hesitant, but agreed anyway out of habit.
"Oh c'mon! Push harder!" She insisted while looking back with an annoyed yet playful expression on her face. "Ok, ok! Hold on for a sec!" He gets ready to push her REALLY hard this time. Winding back his tiny, bruised arms and giving it his all so she won't be upset. Once he makes contact with her back, the swing goes flying upwards.
"WEE!!" she screams with joy as her hair flies through the wind in a very majestic way. Catching the eyes of young Braxton in the process. He watches in awe as the love of his life has such a blissful expression on her face. His eyes start to sparkle just a little bit, as he stands there with a stupid look.
All of a sudden, he watches in slow motion as she begins to fall directly off of the swing. His brain doesn't truly process what just happened, until she hits her head on the wood chips with a loud thud. He runs over, trying to check if she's okay. He sees tears start to well up in her eyes as she looks away embarrassed. "D-don't look at me!" was the only thing she could muster out.
"ARE Y-YOU O-OKAY??" he frantically asked, wiping off all the dust on her face. She pushes his hand away from her face and says: "Yeah yeah, I'm fine I guess.." before pushing him off so she can get off of the wood chips.
She gets up and looks at Braxton for a second, flustering him and making the air awkward around themselves. She starts kicking her feet around, getting some wood chips all over Braxton. In retaliation, he starts lightly throwing some back at her.
"Hey! You meanie!" she chuckles a little bit while picking up the chips and throwing some directly at his head. They both start laughing their asses off and have a little wood chip fight.
The sun's beaming on their delighted faces, as the time flies by from their perspective. What felt like 5 minutes, was around 2 hours.
The sky's colour was an orang-rad shade, before they both realised how long they've been playing for. "Oh no!" Braxton worries. "My mom's gonna kill me when I get home!" He started pacing back and forth a little bit. Hoping his mother isn't too worried about him right now.
"Awh.. you're gonna leave already?" She whines. "We just started playing.." She pouts at him. Braxton thinks that her expression is adorable, even when she's mad. "I-I'll come back tomorrow! Promise!" He starts to run back home.
"YOU BETTER!!" She yells back at him, watching as he disappears into the street. Her face immediately flips into a frown as she now has to figure out what to do.
"Where have you been, young man?!" his mom yells at him for not coming home when she said to. "It's almost dinner time! I was worried sick!" Braxton's eyes start to water a little bit, as he looks at his mother and says: "p-please don't be sad mom!!" as he buries his face into her stomach. His mom comforts him for a little bit so that he can calm down and sit at their tiny dinner table.
Like always, one of the table's legs is still broken. The thing has not been fixed in ten years. There were crooked paintings that his mom made. They were hanging on the wall parallel to him. On the shove in the other room on his left, was some leftover spaghetti from the day before. There were some Legos, scattered all over their stained carpet.
He walks over to their table, and sits down, ready for some food. His mom, after about 10 minutes, brings his bowl out for him. His face lights up as the spaghetti is set on the table gently.
"So… how's playing with your friend today?" his mom asks, getting ready to eat in the process.
"Yeah! It wash prethy thun mom!" He tries to blurt out with spaghetti stuffed in his face. In which he choked a little bit.
"That's great hun…" she takes a small bite. "But don't get too excited about tomorrow" she takes another one.
Braxton looks at her with confusion. "Why mom!" He asked, finishing his bowl in record timing. "Did something happen?" She can tell by that look on his face that he's worried.
"Well… I… may have… found a new job!" she explains. "But it's somewhere not here, so we might have to move…" she shifts in her seat, hoping that her son's reaction isn't too bad. She's heard horror stories from other moms about their kids breaking stuff upon hearing things like that.
"That's cool mom!" Braxton unexpectedly responds with. "Does that mean we won't have to eat leftovers anymore? Will I be able to get more fitting clothes now?" He wonders aloud to her.
"Wow! I.. thought you were gonna be more sad about this? What about your friend that you hang out with everyday?" She asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Well… I mean… you're not going to be able to see them ever again after we move away!" she exclaims.
Braxton's eyes widened a little bit before saying: "So I'm never gonna see her again?" while looking down at his empty bowl. "Who am I gonna play with now?!" He asks while now looking around their somewhat stingy looking house that he might not see ever again. He gets the feeling of nostalgia, even though he hasn't even left yet. He starts tearing up a little bit from the thought of losing his friend. In which his mom notices immediately.
"Hey, hey now, it'll be okay. This is much better for the both of us…" she walks over and gives him another hug. Comforting him just a tiny bit for that particular moment. "We'll finally be able to get you into schooling!" She tells him. Even though that was kind of a lie.
He sniffles and nods his head. Making sure that his mom doesn't feel too bad about the whole thing.
"Why don't we rest up for tomorrow so we can pack up" she guides Braxton from the dinner table, up into his room. There was a Metallica poster, right above his head board. There was also a mini desk beside his bed, stacked up with art supplies. This room felt truly his. He was going to be sad when they left tomorrow.
She sets him into his town sized bed with race car sheets, and kisses him before slowly exiting his room. He sits there for a little while, worrying about if that girl is going to be okay without him. After around 5 minutes though, he's sound asleep, ready for the new day ahead for him.
"Wow… I can't believe that was almost 5 years ago today!" Braxton is finally back at the present time, now feeling a lot better after that memory. He looks over at the now adjacent door, to see Milo poking her head through. "Woof! (Are you good here? I followed your scent to find you!)" Milo Barked. He doesn't even say anything to her back, he just gets up and walks over to her. They both leave in a calming silence.
"Ok! We're here!" We cut to Drew and Arthur again, now finally at what looks to be station two. The building looked to be almost 150 years old from the outside. With it being an abandoned mansion that never got resold. The only thing new on it was the giant "52" just above the main entrance.
"When's the last time that we showed up here?" Arthur asked.
"Like… I think… 2 years ago? Around when Ethan showed up" Drew responded as he moved over to their big ass door. Arthur follows suit.
Ring~~ Ring~~
They ring the doorbell, and wait patiently for someone to open the massive door. Drew taps his feet to the sound of the birds flying directly above their heads. The wind was also blowing their hair in the wind, making them look kind of majestic.
"Hello— oh hey guys!" A black girl the same age as Drew, with wavy hair and glasses. Opens the door, and has a very warming grin on her face. "What brings you here?" she leans on the door frame, just in case a modeling agency is watching.
"Hi Melissa!!!" Arthur has an uncontrollable big smile on his face. He waved intensely at her, with Melissa waving back and saying: "Hi there Arthur!!!!" while smiling as well. Drew watches the whole ordeal, thinking that it's adorable as hell.
"We came here because Ethan and a guy named Lukas, got badly injured while outside on a mission. We're gonna need your help to patch them up" Drew shortly explains to her.
Melissa raises an eyebrow. "Are they with you guys right now?" She hoped that she didn't have to come back with them.
"Nope!" Arthur exclaimed.
"Fuck! … Alright fine. Let me get my stuff and I'll come with you guys I guess" Melissa didn't really let the both of them get a word out before going back into their station.
Drew and Arthur start to feel bored out of their minds for a minute before she comes back. She didn't come back alone though. If her arms were a little girl, probably the same age as Arthur and Braxton. She had long, untamed brown hair. With brown eyes and a dirty shirt on. She looked like she'd been homeless for a couple of years now.
"Who is that?" Drew asked.
"Apparently her name is Maria. The others and I found her on the side of the street. She hasn't woken up yet" Melissa tells the both of them.
"Is that why you look like the only one here?" Drew asked again.
"Yeah, the others are trying to figure out what happened to her in the first place. I wouldn't be that big of a help in this kind of situation. So, I sat this one out today" She says with a somber tone in her voice. The both of them pick up that particular tone almost instantly. They both look at each other.
"You're not useless… not at all" Drew jokingly says while walking back to the car with Arthur.
"Oh you dickhead!" She shouts at them while jobbing to catch up with that homeless girl named Maria, still in her arms.