WTTU Chapter 6

Chapter 06: Spectrum

I know what you're expecting; Me to suddenly wake up and it's the next day, everything is hunky-dory and everybody seems pretty copacetic. This is not what happened. Instead, what I felt was an extremely heavy push against my body as I fell, as if a wave had begun to come full crescent just above my body, rip-curl just gently pulling me in as if I were a leaf swept up in the breeze. I was completely vulnerable to whatever my brain would've conjured up in this dream which was seeming much more like a recurring nightmare as it progressed. The poster had been torn to shreds from the pressure that was holding me down, the wall became about as useful as I was, because I could still focus on objects, I caught the ends of the wall as it tore up like paper, though much slower than any explosion could muster. It was almost as if the threads of the building were being pulled apart piece by piece, but if clumps got stuck to one another, the invisible monster that was my mind hadn't cared, but wanted me to watch as things became nothing as they were torn from their rooted positions in my mind.

-To this day I'm not certain I lost any memories in the creation and destruction of this place, my 'safe zone's birth and exodus in what felt like minutes would always be remembered as the last time I could have a safe zone in my sleep.  If you asked me how this happened, or why, I wouldn't be able to answer you. Now, much like my memories I might not have lost, though wouldn't be able to tell you I lost if I had lost them, if you asked me if I would turn anything that happened from here on in back and never go to the school that day- well, I'll have to answer that later after you know everything.  It's safe to say that I'll ask you the same question, but you'll forget, so I'll remind you later. I assure you, you will forget. –

There was no sound while things had erupted aside from my own freaking out, yelling, questioning God or myself, I guess. I'm not saying I'm God, because I'm not, obviously, but I did create this place, and I destroyed it, but why? Was I listening to that boy, Future Shizero because I was interested in what he was talking about? Did I believe him in my subconscious mind? Apparently so, and like many things in life I had done mentally, I took a leap, but this time I was in the middle of my leap, and something much larger than myself. After the ground below me turned into quick sand and imploded in a small ball just feet in front of me, I entered freefall. This would've been normal if there was ground in sight, you know how the dreams work, you are falling from a building- let's say the Empire State Building- you're flailing, no doubt, but you also see the ground. Your mind recognizes that there is something there to cushion your fall and just before you slap against the ground like a hand clapping until it explodes, you wake up in cold sweats and with a scream that isn't quite a scream, but more a confused mutter. It's a common misconception that when you fall and land in your dreams you die in real life, since normally your body is so sure that you're dead that it gives up on your sleeping self. This is a fabrication of the truth completely, and as you will see, something entirely different happens that will blow your mind, well at least it did to me.

I landed in something I didn't know what exactly it was, but I could feel it, the pressure let off of me and I was left floating in what felt like water, but for all purposes of assuring you a safe fall in your dream when you have it, it was grape Jell-o, which we do still have in the future. So, I was sitting in this grape Jell-o and began to think 'What exactly is my mind trying to tell me?' . As if God himself wanted me to be answered, I looked towards my toes, since I was falling horizontally after all, -a boring fall now that I think of it- I noticed a red orb floating at my toes, the toes of my nifty metal boots, rather, and as if it saw me even without eyes, the orb completely forgot that it was focused on my feet with its odd little fetish (that I do not have, mind you) and shot me in the throat. The little bastard flew right into the middle of my jaw and thought it was a good idea to not only follow through with the uppercut I couldn't possibly have known of, and went through me. After the initial shock it didn't feel like a bullet, which I had thought it was going to feel like since my eyes couldn't follow it up until this point where it was inside of my head, but it flowed through me. It was the only very thin hole in my cheese, and this thin strip had just flew right through, it scared me to death, but the feeling it gave me after it had come out of my head, only to float in front of my face before it erupted into a blinding light was comfort. I felt okay with my Jell-O fall, as well as what I saw when I opened my eyes, free from the darkness of the falls original destination and into the same hospital I was in before.

Staring at the bandicoot's stupid ass grin I was livid. Standing, nothing had happened to me, I was going to punch that bastard again too because I believed there was no choice at this very moment but to destroy this poster- yes I pick on the weak, do not judge me. I felt my fingers curling into a nicely balled fist, and that I could raise it behind my head, which was great. But before I could lock in that extended hit to the wall, my arm was held back. Not by some strange tentacle monster my mind made up, but by a small woman. I looked back to not see her initially, since I was much taller than her, but to see her frail tan arm holding me back, curled around my wrist, which actually made me kneel down to look at her. No taller than five feet tall she was staring at me with a smile on her face, dark brown eyes wide, perfectly plucked eyebrows to give her an arch of the most-polite woman on this fabricated planet, and rosy cheeks. She was smiling AND she was as strong as a fucking ox. Quite possibly the scariest woman I've ever met aside from Dorothy when she gets angry. The woman and I locked eyes, hers wide with appreciation and excitement for something new, as if the very air it looked like she was breathing was worth it, and mine, wide because I was confused as hell, with an eyebrow arched in such vexation that I thought I was going to vomit. Maybe that was from the feeling of randomly falling, then not, but either way we were staring one another down, until I noticed a lot more hustle around the room than previously.

''Hello!'' Her voice was peppy, upbeat, and ready for anything. She wore a white nurses outfit, broken into two parts, the upper looking more like a zipped biker jacket with the rod of Asclepius twisting from the back of the neck, around the bust of the outfit, and down to her left hip, she wore white gloves also, though fingers were exposed from the knuckle to where the tip of the finger was, everything else was perfectly obscured. Her pants were very much that, long white pants with the hospital's trademark 'Plus Sign of Health' on her left leg. The right didn't have anything side from a stream of pockets that would make even the most advanced of military pant technology jealous. As if confusing me more, from what it looked like she was wearing small white high-heel shoes too, which made me contemplate spilling something on the ground, to see if she would fall and break a nail or something. "Ugh…What's up?" Small-talk, I'm a pro at it. While I began speaking with the woman I watched as other nurses moved about with similar clothing on, though the colors varied, as well as skin-tones, hairstyles, lack of glasses. They all looked so very real, and different, but their outfits were so cool.

Biker nurses were everywhere, and instead of the room being barren as it had previously been, it had grown, became carpeted, and had chairs on both sides of the entrance, which was still a sliding glass door. "Not much! I would appreciate it if you didn't hit the wall though, it scares the younger children." I didn't know what she was talking about initially, but it all started showing up, children were in all of the chairs in the 'lobby' of this place, playing with toys, playing with each other and just being small children. Not quite sure why I wanted to oblige the nurse, I did without any snarky remark for fear of a baby flurry coming my way about as strong as this nurse. Each chair was accounted for with a small child, and a few nurses coming by to give them toys, books, and what looked like game consoles, but something stood out greatly amongst all of the crazy baby flooding. An older man was sitting amongst the children, smack in the middle of the left side of the room when you walked in, he had to have been seven feet tall. Making airplane noses as he held a small child up into the air, making that little girl fly, he smiled to the nurse that had let go of my arm and began to dance in place from joy. "What's with that guy over there?" I pointed, the tip of my index finger clawed, as if ready to slice an orange down the middle, or perfectly point to things on a map. "And ugh, where am I?" The nurse expected these questions, I could tell by the smile on her damn face. She shrugged, spinning around on one heel that was remarkably more sturdy than I had thought initially, and said in the most animated way possible "Weelllllll you are here at the hospital. An' that man, that's Barong. The kids call him 'Old Man Barong' since he looks kind of old, huh? The kids love him."

Barong? Future-Shi told me about him, and I had focus immediately. He was muscular, no doubt, apparently he was some sort of bald body builder, who only wanted to wear a dark green leather vest and those flower shorts your parents get you to swim in that lose style after you're sixteen, and some running shoes. He was dressed simply, and it was beginning to piss me off that  I was the only one dressed up in a Medieval carnival outfit while everybody else got their wardrobe picked beforehand. I waved off the nurse, who happily kissed my arm and walked to the child beside me who was having a hard time not throwing this big red block against the wall. How did I not notice that? I began to walk, since it seemed safe, and called the man out. "Barong!" I didn't know what else to say aside from the accusatory yell, which made the children get quiet, and this man stop looking up to the child he was holding and gently bring her down for 'landing'. There was a pause between us as we sized one another up, he obviously having a height, and weight advantage on me if we did do something, but I had this nifty armor that was still broken up, and my anger. Oh this frustration of mine could cut the silence in the most bleak of scenarios. " Well hello there, I'm assuming you're Jason from the way you look. Zero told me you would be kind of angry when you got here, and I'm sure you have lost of questi-" I was about to cut him off with one of the best lines I had thought of in the history of cutting people off, but instead I had my moment blocked by Future-Shi, who tackled my legs in a big hug. "Jayshon! I knew yu'd make it quick-lee. Old man Bwong here wants'ta take you for a walk. Hetoldme he'd answer things for ya'!"

I couldn't help but feel a massive amount of comfort in seeing Shizero here safe, still wearing his large shirt, and still alive. I bent over as best I could, much like before and hugged him. "I'll take your word for it, little bud." He smiled his baby-fatty cheeks up to me, his eyes squinting from the large smile he had. We let go, and the 'Old man' was standing tall, and not like an old man at all. He held his bear claw of a hand out to me, smiling wide, everybody was smiling! "Hey there, man. How are ya'?" I shook his hand, but regretted doing so almost immediately, since I felt my hand becoming utterly destroyed from the grip this old man had. Those fucking children were liars, this guy was retarded strong too. Even in his weird clothing he could've taken me, wouldn't have stopped me from kicking his ass though, or at least lying to you guys and saying I did. Before I could realize what was going on, I felt his hand let go, and the two of us begin walking together until we had exited the hospital through those doors, to a living world with people speaking with one another, some people floating in place, others running towards a destination unknown. This all felt so new, but so old at the same time.

In that heavy bass of a voice he had, Barong looked at me with his big bald head glinting in the purple sky, and said something so simple, but something that crushed me, maybe because he was so calm when he said it? Either way it shook me, and I felt inclined to try and mock his voice with this next part, so bear with me.

"Well, young man. You're not dead yet, but you'll wish you'd be when you're done with all of this. Let's get to it."