Fifteen - Turn for the Worst -

 

...Given that the creepy mystery author person already explained what happened...
yeah, you..sitting there..being weird and hacky...
I really don't have a reason to explain things twice.

As you can see, readers...things have gotten out of control real fast.
And it all became evident in Coolsville.
There was more conspiracy in everything than I realized.
And uh..yeah..kinda have been aware of this mystery author for a long time now.
I just kept my mouth shut.
Until now, of course.

Friend or foe, it really doesn't matter.
I hold no secrets, other than my identity to the boys.
And you, little man, for sure don't scare me.
This game that you're playing..well..whatever it is..I think it's gonna prove effective for me in the long run. Cuz you've been feeding me all sortsa juicy details.

More on that later, though.

As weird as the mystery surrounding Coolsville has been...
it's about to all go downhill from here.
Trust me.

. . .

We were right outside the school.
It was abandoned, run down and desolate.
Why Coolsville had an abandoned school, idk..but it had a certain stench and that stench gave me chills.
Walking upon the grounds reminded me strongly of sorrow and death.
And it led me to wonder what exactly happened here that caused it to get shut down.
What horrors lied within its history.

My curiosity had to be put off, though. This was clearly the last destination of the adventure.
The end game. The boss level.
The kids were on the other side of those walls, along with all the other missing people.
And keeping them was the big bad I was so itching to confront.
I hadn't had a good fight in some time and that morning was the perfect morning to get such.
Master, J and Bane stood behind me; Bane's fists were ready, J's knife was drawn and Master was rubbing his hands that sparked and pulsed with excited electricity.
We were all getting the same anxious feeling.. a fight was upon us.

That's when a vibration came from my hip and I jolted.
"Eyyyyy, miss lady!"
By golly, it was Bud!
"Hey, pal!" I chirped in reply. "How's things at the home front?"
"Oh they're fine! I just..uh..I'm feeling a bit queasy, that's all...must be something I ate."
"Queasy?" I repeated, my eyebrows crinkling. "Maybe you should sit down, drink some water."
"That's the thing, I am..I feel really off, cricket...like..kinda..here and...not here.."
Mm..maybe Bud was just tired. I was too distracted to pay much attention.
"Bud..remember, if something is happening, call us back, okay?"
"Yeah yeah.." "Well anyway, I think Scully and Mulder are heading your way with the kids, so they can check on you when they get there. Hang in there, old timer. We just met. Dying upon first meeting is a bit rude, wouldn't you say? A very youngster thing to do, if you ask me."
He chuckled from the other end, which made me grin.
"You're not bad, kid..thanks for indulging an old man."
"Thanks for indulging a young gal."

My eyes scanned the school in front of me and I swallowed.
"Bud, I can't tell you outright what I gave the others, but if things go south and y'all have to get inside that special box, you promise me you'll get in, ya hear?"
"Special box??" Bud sounded quite bewildered for two hot seconds.
"OHHH, that box! Yeah..I sure will, cricket! Thanks for looking out for us!"

I bit my lip.
"Bud...things are about to get messy. I think I found the kids..I'll get back to you when I can."
Bud gasped. "..Be careful, kiddo! Whoever's responsible has got a mean spell happening in this town! He might come at ya dirty!" "Heh..he's the one in for a surprise."
"How's that?"
"Cuz he has no idea who he's messing with."

I clicked off and hung my walkie back on the clip.
It was time..me and the boys advanced forward.

. . .

Gavin Takeo was quick to arrive at the haunted house, where Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo sat on the steps, quivering as if exposed to extreme cold.
Upon seeing Gavin, Velma gasped and instantly rose to her feet, pointing right at the house behind her. "Thank goodness you're here! He's in THERE!"
She hurried behind him, nudging him with one hand, while frantically waving the other.
"You've gotta hurry, who knows what's happening to him right now!"
"What EXACTLY happened?" Gavin tried to gather whilst being pushed.
Shaggy shook his head worriedly. "Like, Mokarty tried to get inside and the ghost wouldn't let him in and then the ghost opened the door and like..sucked him in!"
Takeo rose a brow. "..You're sure it was a ghost?"
"Ras rinrisible!"
The young man looked at Scooby with a hint of worry. "Invisible? The one that took Moriarty?"
They all three nodded. His eyes returned to the house with great suspicion.
"Whatta ya gonna do, Mister Ninja Man?" Shaggy questioned.
Gavin smirked a little. "It's Gavin..I'm not a ninja..and well..I have no choice but to go in after him."
Velma threw her hands up. "But we can't! It's not letting us in!"
"It's not letting you in...but it might just do so with me."

Gavin rolled up his sleeves as he stared at the house like it was his next opponent.
Despite not knowing the mysterious young man very well, the three Coolsville sleuths felt a great deal of confidence in him. Gavin had that effect on others.
A sense of security and reassurance was felt upon him walking into the scene.
And given his long range of capabilities, it was a very accurate feeling to have.

The two teenagers and dog watched as Gavin started to go up the steps with not one trace of fear in sight. "You three stay here. If it takes me, too..run for the hotel."
They nodded in compliance. As they watched him approach the door, they huddled closer together. Velma brought a finger to her lips in thought, "Gotta love a man who takes charge."
Shaggy chuckled at this and nudged her with his elbow. "Check it out, Velma, it's like..a ninja versus a ghost!" "Just because he has a sword and a few other tools doesn't mean he's a ninja, Shaggy."
"Yeah, but he sure acts just as cool as one."
That she couldn't argue with.

As Takeo stood in front of the door, looking up and down at the old house before him in silence, the other three watched his every move with the greatest anticipation.
"What are you planning to do?!" Velma called.
He didn't answer.
"Yeah, like..be careful!"
Again, he did not answer...until he abruptly brought a leg up and kicked open the door with so much force, it ripped right from its hinges and crashed to the floor ahead, large splinters of wood scattered everywhere. The three behind him jumped and exclaimed with awe.
Darkness faced him from the other side of the door. He could make no shape out of the inside.
Not one piece of furniture or decor. There didn't even seem to be a hallway. Just darkness.

But Takeo was not deterred. He stood his ground and faced the unknown before him.
With one deep, powerful breath..he spoke to the darkness.
"If you want this to go in a quiet, civil fashion..where no violence has to be practiced..no codes have to be broken.." He extended his arm and carefully, delicately, drew his sword out from his back.
The sound that resonated from the blade pierced the silence of the air as it slid against its scabbard.
And he now held it in front of him, his eyes filling with something that seemed as if were a warning to what stared back at him from the dark. "..I suggest you return my companion to me now."

. . .

My heart raced as we stepped through the thresholds of the school doors, an energy pulsing inside of me that only intensified as I drew my weapons out and pointed them ahead.
The four of us slowly and cautiously proceeded forward, our eyes glued to every bit of our surroundings. We had entered the hallways where rows of decayed lockers stood on either side of us.
Master had pulled out the tracker the second we had entered the desecrated building and was pointing it ahead as we stepped into what surely must have been a trap.
With each step we took, the tracker made a loud, ear piercing beep that echoed down the halls, making me nauseous and breathe even quicker. There was not one living thing in sight.
Not one sound to indicate that anything was staying here.
But the further we got down the hall..the faster the tracker's pace in beeps became.

I took a glance at the other three as we all paused a moment in accordance with the tracker.
All that could be heard was our own unsteady breathing and the increasing noise of the trusty device.
"..This...feels so bloody wrong." Master input.
His eyes rolled over to a set of doors, the tracker following in the same direction.
As the two of them turned, the beeping accelerated.
He gently shook his head. "They're waiting for us."
I made an effort to close my mouth and make a deep, controlled breath. One that cleared up some annoying wooziness in my head. "..Well we don't wanna miss our date, now do we?"

Before any of us could potentially protest to our decision, we made for the doors.
This is it..
The beeping blared in our ears, whirling like crazy. Just as Bane stepped forward and charged through the hunks of wood. We went through.
But what we saw made us screech to a halt. My heart stopped. My mouth fell.
My head spun. All of our gazes widened.
What the *beep* is going on?!

. . .

Mr. Takeo boldly stepped through the now open door frame.
His hair fell softly over his eyes as he rotated in slow, calculated movements
His striking emerald green eyes scanned the darkness as if we were an animal on the hunt.
"Do you know what this is?"
He referred to his blade. Which he held in front of him in a readied fighting stance, turning every second, his breathing controlled and steady.
"..This is Taberu Guuru..this sword has been in my family for decades..passed down on my father's side..given to me by my father himself. It serves the wielder in the protection against dark forces..more particularly..souls from beyond. Quite literally..it devours the souls of spirits."
Something uneasy hung in the air. He stopped moving and pointed the sword forward.
"Don't turn this into what we both know it's coming to.."

His threats rung true..for the being lurking in the darkness did not need much persuasion to reveal the way. A light appeared further off ahead of Gavin. Which pulled him deeper into the house of which held Moriarty captive. He perked as he could finally make out what lied beyond.
Slowly, he stepped forward..

The light ahead guided him a good distance from the entrance of the house..
until it suddenly vanished and he now faced a mirror. His sword pointed at the sheet of glass in front of him, his face teeming with confusion. Beside him, a faint shifting sound could be heard.
And his back straightened upon hearing a familiar voice.
"About bloody time you showed up."
Gavin swerved in the direction of the voice's owner. And he beamed with delight as he saw none other than James Moriarty, sitting on the floor, his arms around his knees, glaring ever so slightly up at the younger man a ways from him. "I need to pee."
Gavin stepped forward, "James, you're alive!"
"Yes, don't act too excited, we all know you want me out of the picture to steal my wife away!"
Takeo did not indulge this. He simply went to help Moriarty to his feet, when...he bunked against something. Something fragile. He bounced back and jerked his head.
Moriarty made a lopsided frown. "Yes, there's a whole wall thing there."
Gavin felt the surfaced of the wall..it was glass. His brows furrowed.
"Glass..another mirror?"

He hesitated a moment before raising his blade up over his head and readied to smash it..but James quickly leapt up, his hands raised in front of him.
"ICKGICKGICKZICKZICKZICKZICK!!"
The young man stared at him for a moment. Jim shook his head, wagging his wrists.
"Don't smash it, you bloody brute, it's not what you think!"
Takeo blinked. "..The glass isn't glass??"
Jim rolled his eyes. "Yes, it IS glass, but--I'm no longer..there."
He rolled his shoulders. "..Not where you are, anyway."
Gavin lowered his arm and looked around. "I don't understand..you're not in the house anymore??"
"Oh I am..just not in the way you are. It's different here."
Moriarty looked around himself, rubbing his obviously cold hands.
"It's still dark, but not as dark as it is there."
"Can you get out?"
"No..there's a door. It's locked."
"Where?"
Moriarty nudged his head in the direction of which Gavin had came. Where Gavin stood, the way was open. "Are you perhaps in another dimension?"
"A parallel version of Scooby land? I don't think so. But it is the same. Seems newer, in fact."
He pointed. "But don't get any ideas, smashing that glass. That could be my only way out of here."
He then went to straightening his coat, shaking his head. "..You lot aren't stranding me in such a overrated cartoon world."
"I need to get you out..Sarah's counting on me."
Moriarty perked at the mention of Sarah's name. "My sweet sent you?!"
Takeo shook his head, shamefully. "You really must cut the act..we all know you're just toying with her." "How else would I amuse myself?"

James stepped closer to the glass, putting his hands against it. "Well don't just stand there gawking like an idiot at me..get me out of this infernal closet."
Gavin shifted to attempt it..when something..a presence..appeared behind him.
And whispered in his ear.. "You don't belong here."
Gavin instantly spun on his heels and pointed the blade at his assailant..who remained unseen.

. . .

My eyes could not believe what they were seeing..or better yet what they were NOT seeing.
The entire room, which looked to be a former gym, was empty.
And the tracker was pointing right at an entire room..indicating that the children were right there.
"Where are they.." Left my mouth by instinct.
I moved closer into the room, as Master followed me and pointed all around..but the tracker was not faulty nor was it lying. We were led right to the children..with no children in sight.
"Master, where are they?!"
"I--I don't--"
I walked in circles, holding my head. "This doesn't make any sense..this doesn't make any sense!"
Master looked in every direction, his own layer of confusion spread upon his face.
"No it bloody doesn't..they should be here!"
"We've been played..we knew this was a trap from the get-go. You idiots never listen!"
"Oh shut up, J!" I held my face, unable to comprehend. "Geez, geez, geez, where are they, what'd they freaking do to them..what'd they do, what'd they do?!"
"Miss Demens..remain calm." "Bane, you don't understand, I need to..the kids are.....this isn't....oh my god..this was a set up. They set us up. They wanted us to be led here and now they've...if they freaking hurt those kids, I swear to God!!" "They didn't hurt them, Demens, the kids are still alive."
I turned to Saxon. Who nodded at the tracker. "This is tracking a live presence. They're here..they're just not..here." "Well where else could they be?!"
He was just as lost as we were. His face eased, silently telling me he had no answers.
I stood in the middle of the room, holding the sides of my face. My mind raced.

I couldn't just stand there for long, though..I grabbed the walkie and brought it up to my mouth.
"Mulder, Scully, we got a problem.."
It took only a few seconds for Mulder to pick up. "Hey, Sarah, what's up?"
"I need you to head straight for the hotel right now and get into the T.A.R.D.I.S.. I think we've been set up." Scully was the next to speak, "Why, what happened?"
"The kids aren't here."
"What?!" The two said in unison. "They're not here..this place has absolutely no one in it, it's as if there's people here and we can't see them, like they're in a..."
I stopped myself. A realization came into my head. A realization that was shared with the Master as we faced on another whilst I held the walkie in my hand.
"--Another time."

My heart jolted as Bud's voice came on. And my breathing intensified.
"Cricket...I need..your help..." Bud's voice cracked and his words began to slur.
"I'm not...feeling....good."

. . .

Takeo held the blade in front of him at the presence hovering in the air that he could not see.
"Who are you?" He demanded. "And why are you doing this?"
James pressed against the glass, scrunching his face to see what was happening.
"What's going on, who's with you?!"
"Not now, James!"
"You are trespassing upon a realm of which you do not belong..."
Takeo swallowed, "What are you talking about?"
"You and your kind..you have entered our home and are destroying our town.."
"What is happeninggggg???!!"
"I must put a stop to your kind.."
"Wait..wait! I don't understand..you're not in league with the ones who came here?"
"They have taken the children..they are tearing our world apart..crossing our barrier of which protects us.." Gavin now knew of what he spoke. His eyes fluttered in a panicked acknowledgment.
"..The barrier..the barrier to your world.. you know about it?"
"It protects our people from the dangers of the outside..you do not belong here."
"We're not affiliated with those monsters..we're here to stop them!"
"You hold as much danger as they do..you attack my house..you threaten me.."
"Please..we've come to stop them. We don't wish you or your people any harm! We're trying to save the children and return peace!" "Peace will not be returned until the wall to our world has been closed!"
"You don't understand..it's not just your world. It's ALL the worlds! The monsters are destroying every world they come across and hurting countless other lives! Believe me, we're your only hope!"
"..Even so, I must keep you here to stop these creatures.."
"Listen to me..if you really, truly want to help your world, you need to release us and let us help you! My companion, Sarah Demens, is doing everything in her power to save this world..if there is only one person who values saving you all most, it is her! You can trust us! I swear to you!"

The voice did not respond, making Gavin feel quite uneasy..and he lowered his weapon, staring into the darkness. "..I no longer threaten you. I come to you as a friend..please..let us help."
Takeo awaited further response..his eyes shifted to every part of his surroundings..
when the presence then migrated..right next to Moriarty's head.
"Very well."
Moriarty screamed as he shot his head upwards and swatted at the invisible force, jumping a far distance away. Gavin perked his body.
The door next to Moriarty suddenly opened. "Come and find me..you will then find your companion..and the answers you need."
James looked towards the invisible force a moment before glaring back at Gavin.
Gavin nodded to him in reassurance, before Jim turned to the door.
"Come and speak with me, boy...you will then be set free."
It took a moment for Moriarty to realize it was him that the voice was referring to and he tightened his face up in disgust as he mouthed 'boy', walking through the doorway.
Takeo swallowed. "..Thank you.."
He bowed at the glass ahead of him..before turning back toward the open hallway and hurrying back to the exit.

. . .

My eyes turned to saucers. "Bud.."
I knew now..I knew how they were taking them.
All the people of Coolsville.
My heart leapt into my throat as I began making for the doorway.
"Bud..listen to me! The people weren't taken from here..they were taken from the past!"
I raced past the hallways as fast as my legs could take me. "You need to hurry and get into the T.A.R.D.I.S. right now! It will protect you!"
"Miss Demens..I need to..I need to lay down.."
"No no no, Bud, please, listen to me!! Get in the T.A.R.D.I.S.! You need to hurry!"
"..That..clown..is inside my head....I've....I've seen him...before......"
"MULDER! SCULLY! Get to the hotel NOW!"
"He's...he's the one that..."
I sped through the roads, running even though my lungs and my ribs were eating me alive.
"BUD!! DON'T YOU DARE!! STAY WITH ME!"
 
"..He's.... 

                                   the one....
                                                                   that......
                                                                                              got me."

Bud's voice disappeared. I went faster.
"BUD!!!"

I charged through the doors of the hotel.
Hoping to see Bud at least crashed on the floor, but still there.
I would have the chance to save him, still, putting him in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and rescuing him from the time trap the monsters had sprung on us.

But..I was too late.
Only Mulder, Scully, Daphne, Fred and the kids remained.
They turned to me as I caught myself, running into the lobby.
Dipper held the walkie in his hand..the walkie that Bud had been given.
And their faces were filled with sorrow.
My eyes teared up as I stared all around, for any trace of the beloved old man.
But no..he was gone...they had taken Bud.

- to be continued -