GUSY AUGH THIS CHAPTER IS SO BORING BUT LIKE

OHHHH

I HAVE WRITETN SO MUCH IN ADVANCE AND I JUST

IM A TAD OVERLY PROUD OF IT XD

BUT LIKE I TRIED WRITING A HORROR CHAPTER AND JUST *throws hands up* "TRIED" IS THE KEY WORD THERE XD

ALSO MY FRIEND WROTE IN A LITTLE INTRO TO THIS CHAPTER ABOUT FLOWEY

CALLING EVERYONE AN IDIOT

AS ALWAYS XD

BUT I LEFT THAT OUT, YOURE WELCOME XD

Believe Me

Ch 20: Ding, Ding, Ding, We Have a Winner!

Ty's POV

"Ty, hey, Ty. We'll give you the cure. But you have to capture Sky for us."

"That seems just a tad counterproductive," I reply, rolling my eyes.

"No. Not really. Capture Sky, and the entire rest of the city gets cured."

"I don't think it's worth it."

"Well. If you don't agree, Sky dies anyway."

"Point, but if you have Sky, Sky's not safe at all."

"Does it matter? Ty. Think. You've tried so hard to protect that boy. But what has it gotten you? You've been betrayed, Ty. By your best friends. They trust a near-stranger more than they trust you. And they've known you for years!"

"Well..." I swallow. "Yeah, but..."

"Your word means nothing to them."

"Maybe so, but..."

"Remember how they kicked you out of the lab?"

"How do you even..."

"They'd kick you of the city if they could."

"W-Why can't they?"

"Sky. Sky likes playing with your emotions. Is it as fun for you as it is for him?"

"N-No. I- No, he... Please stop..."

"He hates you, you know."

"No, he doesn't."

"He loves Tyler."

"N-No, he- Well..."

"Tyler is better than you."

"He wants to kill Sky!"

"And that's something you have already accomplished. Maybe you are better, in some ways."

"I didn't want to kill Sky!" I choke out. "Please, won't someone believe me?"

"We will believe you."

"I-"

"We will trust you."

"It doesn't-"

"All you have to do is help us capture Sky."

"But-"

"Ty. You've protected him long enough." The squid looks me up and down. "Don't you think it's high time you start protecting yourself?"

I swallow hard. I blink fast. I tell myself Sky is worth it. Sky cares about me.

Right?

A series of coughs wracks my body.

"I'll do it," I say quietly. "But I'll still need the cure – not for Sky, but for myself."

Sky's POV

"'Dawn and Alesa – were the first – but not the – last. Watch out – for the pains – of having power. – Not everyone is – really your friend.' And then it starts over."

I win! Ding ding, points for me, I solved it! I think. Now what does it mean?

Doesn't matter, my actual dream is a bit more pressing. Is this one of the prophetic ones? Is Ty okay? Where is Ty? Is he already at the squid base?

Notch, I told him I'd do anything if he stayed my best friend, if he stayed alive, and... I didn't do anything at all. I just... stood there. And, geez, he looked so crushed, so disappointed and broken and just- let down.

I let him down.

Big time.

I'm sure he has a reason for attacking Tyler. Maybe Tyler killed me in one of Ty's dreams, so Ty freaked out and was trying to protect me or something. Augh, and we basically banished him from the lab until further notice. We're terrible friends, we should have at least tried to understand! Ty wouldn't just attack someone for no reason.

But does the rest of the Team still believe that?

Screw it, I'm going alone. Ty needs me, and- and it's about time I start actually being there for him.

Notch, Ty, I'm sorry.

I will save you.

Sighing in regret, I print out my dream and shut down Seto's weird dream machine. How much time do I have? I don't know when the dream takes place, but I don't want that to happen to Ty. He was gone all day yesterday...

Why was he even at the squids base in my nightmare? Was he captured? Did he go willingly? Why, why?

It's a little past midnight now. I'd wait or wake up the others, but I don't have time and I'm really afraid they won't want to help me – won't want to help Ty.

So I will help Ty now, on my own.

Jason's POV

"I'd love to hang out longer, seriously," Tyler replies, and my heart sinks in advance. "But I have plans with Sky."

Right. Right, right, Sky, I almost forgot.

I cannot fall in love with Tyler.

"All right, that's fine!" I say with my best fake cheerfulness. Tyler frowns.

"I'm so sorry, Jason," he says quietly as though I have the right to be mad. I don't. It's not like we had plans beforehand or anything. I'm not his problem.

"Yeah, no, it's fine! Totally fine, Tyler." I force a smile. "Have fun with Sky."

"Jason, I'm not-" He bites his lip. "Sky and I aren't- He's not really my-" Tyler pauses, sighs, smiles weakly. "Thanks, Jason. Sorry, again. I... missed you."

"I missed you, too," I whisper, and then I cough and force my voice back to normal. "You're staying now, right? Not moving away again."

"Yeah, I'm not going to-" He frowns. "I don't think so."

"See you," I say, because at this rate, he's going to be past late. I don't wanna be the downfall of whatever he's got going with Sky. The facts that I'm both the biggest Skylox shipper ever as well as in love with Tyler – no, I'm not – need to be kept quiet.

"See you," he echoes hollowly, and I sigh as I turn away.

Tyler's POV

I'm going to lose Jason again.

No, augh, I can't! Jason is- but I can't tell him, if I tell him, I'll be arrested in a heartbeat. Jason is Sky's best friend. The knowledge that I am totally playing Sky for a fool would not rest well on Jason's ears.

"Ready, Sky?" I call as I burst into the lab, because Sky is a rebel who wants to do dangerous things like skydiving even though the Respawn Mechanism is off and Ty basically demanded that he be kept safe, in bed, and out of my presence.

Where is Ty, anyways? Don't get me wrong, I love not getting set back by him every five seconds, but I'm kind of a little concerned, if we're being honest.

"Sky?" I call again, peeking into one of the rooms. Hmph, he's not here. Where did he go? He said he'd be here. Heck, I might as well have stayed with Jason.

I pull out my phone and dial Sky's number only to be faced with his weird squid voicemail. Next, I call Jason, smiling when he answers. "Uh, hey, so, have you seen Sky?"

"Um, no, sorry. Have... Are you okay?" Jason asks. "What's wrong?" Notch, he's so sweet.

"Ah, I'm fine, but... Have you seen Ty?"

"I- No, actually, I haven't seen him since the whole lab incident. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Eh, not your fault." Mine, but let's not talk about that.

"Hmph. So, what about Ty?"

"Where is he?"

"Uh- I don't know. Oh, crap. Crap, I don't know. I hope he's okay, oh, Notch-"

"Shh, calm down. Sky's on it, I think."

"Sky's – what? Where are they?"

"Hey, it's just a guess. I mean, Ty's been gone for a day or two, and I haven't seen Sky all day. Those two are practically attached at the hip – I assume that Sky went looking for Ty." Ugh, this makes my life so much harder. If Sky does find Ty, who knows how much damage Ty could do. A couple of well-chosen, out-with-it words from Ty, and Sky no longer trusts me. He's already got his suspicions, but I'm still thanking Notch that Ty's fit a day or two ago didn't send me straight to the city jail.

"Oh, no, what if one of them gets hurt?" Jason panics, and I shake my head despite realizing he can't see me.

"Hey, no, they'll be fine." Unfortunately. "Shh, it's okay, Jason."

"Oh, geez, it's not okay, my best friends are going to die-"

"Shush, they might not even be in danger. They could be having a nice chat in a meadow, or-"

"Are you kidding? A nice chat? In a meadow? This is Sky and Ty we're talking about! At the very least, something will blow up!"

Hmm. Point. "Don't worry, they'll be okay."

"You don't know that," Jason says, voice cracking slightly. "They've both come so close to dying before, I just... Augh."

"I know, I know." I know about the Dawn incident – clearly I know about that, about how close she was, and yet how far... About how heartlessly Sky drove the sword through her heart, about... about...

Why'd he have to kill her?

I can finish Sky, I will. No more fooling around, no more half-hearted attempts.

"Uh... Tyler?"

Jason! Right. "Sorry, I, uh, zoned out, sorry. Why don't you call a few friends, and I'll get Annie and Brice to help us out? We'll go look for Sky and Ty. Sound good?" I ask. "We'll find them."

"Yeah, I guess... Thank you, Tyler."

"No problem. Bye, Jason."

"Bye."