[I'm nervous that I'm gonna mess up my schedule already. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ]

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 5

Reese's POV

It's been a week since that strange incident with that weirdo who came through Hunter's TV. Ever since, I've always been asking my brother if he's experienced anything weird. He tells me nothing is wrong, and I believe him, but I keep getting worried. I haven't played the Majora's Mask game since then, either, and Hunter is wondering why I'm shying away from it. I keep promising him I'll play, but (thankfully) homework has been keeping me from that.

I haven't told anyone about this. Not even Artem, who is usually my go-to guy when it comes to talking about things I can't talk about with Hunter or Mom. I usually vent to him about how bullshit people are at school, and just people in general. He always agrees with me because he thinks the same. This time I can't. I know he'll think I've gone crazy or I've taken drugs, which I would never do. The drugs, that is. Not sure about the crazy part...

Whenever I come across a TV, or any device with a screen, I keep expecting something spooky to happen. It's a good thing I barely use my phone for anything other than music, or else it would be hard to look at. I'll even anticipate that reversed tune to play from somewhere, haunting me.

Under all of this paranoia, I know that my behavior is utterly stupid. I mean, I'm still alive, so that's something to appreciate. But nothing about the experience was remotely scary except for the whole 'crawling-out-of-the-TV' thing. That stranger, Ben, looked like a fucking doof, but it's his eyes that catch me off guard. They've been showing up in my dreams, those eyes, yet strangely enough they don't associate themselves with nightmares. Sometimes I compare what happened last week with what my dad has put me through in my nightmares. Honestly, my dad is far more scarier than a blonde-haired, red-eyed, slipper wearing Link-rip-off who reeks of weed. I'm being an idiot, but it is better to be wary.

"Soplyak," Artem called to me. I looked up from the desk to spot him walking into the office. He was beginning to remove the uniform as he said, "I will have to leave early today to meet with a friend. It's an urgent meeting so I have to go now."

"So, I just lock up for you?" I asked.

"Yes. Make sure all of the equipment is turned off, all lights out, tools put away--."

"I know the procedure, ruski," I interjected and he flashed me a narrow glance.

"Anyway, don't put yourself in any danger, okay? That beast still hasn't been caught yet. Keep an eye out for anything strange, and you know to run to the training room--."

"I've got it, Art. Don't worry."

He sighed as he pulled on a jacket and grabbed his keys from a drawer. When he stood in the doorway, staring at me, I went ahead and saluted him off. All he did was nod and walk out of the office. He left through the garage to his car parked on the side, and from the office I could hear him drive away. It was just me now.

The silence bothered me since I'm so used to having Artem doing work outside in the shop. But the thought of leaving early on a Friday was enough comfort for me and allowed me to finish up my paperwork. After my diagnostic sheets were completed, I put them in appropriate files and left the office.

The shop was quiet, save for the noise of the outside world beyond the garage. I went ahead and double-checked that all of the machines were off and unplugged, organized the tools again, cleaned the worktables, then grabbed a broom to sweep all of the floors. As I swept, my mind trailed off to that stranger, Ben. For a moment, I stopped and stood still, thinking hard. I want to figure out how the hell he came through the damn TV, and why. I doubt I'll have any chance to encounter him again, unless I play Majora's Mask. Summoning him back is a possibility, but what if there are negative consequences next time? Is he the only thing that can come through? Will he actually do something to me? The longer I have that game in the apartment, the more unanswered questions begin to stir up.

Ugh, it's decided. I have to play the game again, and have Ben come back. This time, I'll make sure he answers my questions once and for all.

As soon as I continued sweeping, there was a random thud outside. I shot my head up to look out of the open garage. There was nothing out there. The thud came again, and I realized the noise was coming from the back of the shop. There's a back lot where we usually keep cars that either need full repairs or don't work any more. A dog probably found its way in and is making a mess of something. I groaned and walked out through the open garage door. With the broom resting on my shoulder, I sauntered around the side of the shop to get to the gated lot in the back.

There was another thud in the yard and I frowned. Standing in front of the entrance, I gazed past the chainlink fence to see if I could see anything inside. The lot was filled with a decent amount of dusty, sun-beaten cars that had missing tires, windows, headlights, or whole doors. Artem usually has me work on these cars so eventually I can help him fix customers' cars instead of being his little apprentice. One of the cars I was working on last month sat alone in the dirt, looking almost sad. But it wasn't the frustrating memories I had with it that made me place my attention on it. A figure was behind it. Someone broke into the lot.

"Hey!" I shouted, grabbing onto the gate so I could unlock it with my spare keys. When I looked up, I was surprised to see that the figure was still there. Usually people run away as soon as we shout at them. This isn't the first time this has happened. Random people like to jump the fence or cut through it to steal parts from these old cars. It's not like we need them, but having to repair the chainlink and fix whatever mess they leave behind is annoying. If only Artem were here, he'd tear a new one into the intruder. I'm not as intimidating as him, and probably never will be. Still, I had to scare the guy away.

"Get off this property! Didn't you see the fucking 'No Trespassing' sign?!" I hissed as I finally opened the gate.

The broom was clutched in my hand as I stormed up to the car. The closer I got, I began to raise the broom so I could scare the bastard off. But I was startled when said bastard made an inhuman screech. My steps faltered and I stared ahead, confused yet worried. The figure behind the car began to twitch and throb, setting me on edge. I started to back away, knowing I shouldn't fuck with whatever it was just yet.

In the light of a dusking day, I watched as the figure crawled out from behind the door, its mass undulating and its groans sickly. This figure wasn't human and I immediately recognized it as the creature on the news. It had the same description that the anchorwoman gave: lanky, agile like a feline, with a black, bony exterior, bulbous orbs on its body, and a large maw. The mouth gaped open at a disturbing width, revealing scattered, sharp teeth coated in black slime. The bulbous orbs were actually eyes, and popped out of its skin, twitching their gazes in multiple directions.

As soon as it finally figured out that I was in its presence, all of the eyes darted towards me and I made a sound I never knew I could make. Suddenly, the mutated animal reared up on its skinny back legs, revealing a bony rib cage. But the rib cage tore open and the "bones" moved around, like it was another mouth. There was no way in hell I was sticking around to see if I was correct.

Quickly, I turned back and ran for the gate. The creature shrieked at me and I heard its paws scratching against the dirt. My heart was beating fast as I got to the chainlink gate and shut it. I didn't have enough time to lock it, so all I could do was pull the lever down and hope the damned abomination would be slowed down. As I ran around the side of the shop, I heard a loud bang and glanced back to see that the gate was forced open. Fuck...!

I dashed around the corner to get through one of the open garage doors, and tossed my broom on the floor on the way in. I pressed a button to lower the doors, but knew there wouldn't be enough time. So, I left them alone, and ran into the office, then closed the door, and turned off the light inside. Panicked, I hid under the desk with very little light illuminating my surroundings. As I expected, the creature entered the shop and howled an echoing cry. I heard it rummage and bang into some equipment, maybe to look for me or just to make a mess. Either way, it made a loud enough racket that I was able to grab my phone from off the desk and dial 911.

The moment the operator spoke, I hissed, "Help me! Please! There's a creature here! Th-The black, disgusting ones! P-Please--!"

"Sir, calm down and try to breathe. Speak more clearly and tell me your address," she said in a leveled tone of voice. Such a big contrast compared to mine.

"Um, y-yeah, it's--."

There was a loud crash, followed by glass shards falling in front of me. I heard the creature growl above me and I held my mouth to keep quiet. One of the creature's lanky appendages stepped onto the glass covered floor, then the rest came.

"Hello? Sir?" the 911 operator called out to me. I shook my head, begging her to shut up. Please! Shut up! Shit!

The creature noticed the noise and started turning around to find it. Out of panic, I tossed my phone into the corner of the office. Luckily, my improvised move worked and the beast was distracted, along with all of its eyes. It howled and stared at the device, tilting its deformed head. Taking this chance, I crawled out from under the desk and went for the door. I opened it, then quickly slammed it shut and ran for the door that led to the training room.

Just when I got within two meters of the door, the creature leaped out of the now-broken office window and landed in front of me. I screamed and immediately veered to the left. Two of the cars that Artem was working on were still parked in the garage and I used them to block me away from the monster. It screeched at me and leaped on top of one of the cars. In my adrenalized state, I opened the car nearest to me and hopped into the driver's seat. It's a damn good thing Artem always keeps the keys in the glove compartment. So, I open the compartment, yank out the keys, and practically shove them into the ignition. With one quick turn, the vehicle roars to life and I pull the shift stick into reverse. Just as the car moves, the creature lands on top of it and smashes the passenger side window with a boney claw. It roars but I give it no time to come through. I stomp hard on the gas pedal and am sent backwards with the car. The creature tumbles over the windshield and hood, and lands on the floor in front of me. I think about running it over, but know it's better to escape. With this in mind, I kept reversing out of the auto shop and onto the unattended street.

When I steal a glance back inside the shop, the creature is getting up again. I avert my gaze forward and shove the shift stick into drive. Soon enough, the car is pushing forward and I'm driving. And Hunter didn't want me behind the wheel, that bastard!

Before I can make it halfway down the first block, something slams into the side of the car and then, suddenly, I'm weightless. My hands grip hard onto the steering wheel as my body jerks around and I nearly fly out of the vehicle. I feel glass hit my skin and get stuck in my hair. The sound of metal scraping and bending is loud and harsh in my ears. The roof caves in just a little and I suddenly have less space than I did before.

As soon as my world stops spinning, I find myself curled up on the roof of the car, huddled in its overturned body. Looking at my hands, there's scratches, and blood drips from my forehead. I feel lightheaded, but only for a moment until I hear the bone-chilling, monstrous screech of the black creature again. I look through the shattered window to my left and see the beast on the other side of the empty road. That fucking thing rammed into me...!

Hurriedly, I started crawling out of the car, scraping my arms and knees on glass. As soon as I slip out of the totaled vehicle, the creature dives in through the opposite side, trying to snap at my feet. It was then that I noticed the air bag had half-way deployed (probably something we had to repair). Risking my foot, I reeled my leg back and slammed a kick into the steering wheel. To my luck, the air bag deployed completely and hit the creature in the head, stalling it.

Adrenaline carried me up to my feet and had me racing back to the auto shop. I made it through the garage and rushed for the door to the training room. Arriving to the door, I dug in my pockets for the keys. My body went cold when I didn't feel anything in my pockets. "No. No, no, no!!!" They must have fallen out in the crash. I can't go back to the car anymore. Fuck, fuck...!

I clutched at my hair as my anxiety spiked. The familiar howl didn't comfort me either. Turning around, I could see the monster coming back to the shop, taking its sweet time like it knew I had nowhere to run. That's when I spotted the broom on the floor and my instincts kicked in. I dashed for the cleaning tool and picked it up. I removed the brush end and was just left with a stick. Although it was lighter than what I'm used to, it can work for the time being.

The creature finally came into the shop, snarling at me as all of its eyes gaped at me. It's skin throbbed in the light of the shop and I grimaced at how utterly revolting this thing was. There's no way in hell I'm dying by this. The beast didn't seem to agree with me, though, and lunged for me. My reflexes acted for me and I smacked its head with one end of the broomstick. It squealed and stumbled to the side, momentarily stunned. I went ahead and took the next attack by slamming the stick down onto its back. It groaned again, but I wasn't going to let up.

Backing up for space, I spun my only weapon in my hands and watched the animal with an intent gaze. It reared up onto its back legs again, snapping its second rib-cage-mouth at me. When it charged forward, I dodged and jabbed its side. The end of the broomstick sunk into its gooey flesh and caused the monster to screech. When I yanked the stick to the side, a gash was left. Unfortunately, I watched the gash mend together in a mess of black, thin strings. It regenerates--oh, of course it fucking would!

I landed more attacks on the creature, smacking it at its sides, legs, and across its head. Poking its eyes didn't do much, and they continued to stare at me as they oozed black slime. I tried not to think about them, or about the prospect that I could die today. Yes, I was terrified for my life, but a part of me wanted to fight--needed to fight. I wasn't going to let this abomination kill me or anyone else. Hit to kill, Reese. Hit to kill!!

My swings picked up speed and the broom became a yellow blur in front of my face. I kept pushing the monster back into a wall as it screeched in protest. I was astonished that I was too fast for it to make a move. Good! This is good! Don't let it fight back! Kill it! Kill it!

Just when I was about to corner it, the creature leaped up and latched onto the ceiling beams above. Without enough time for me to react and get a different vantage point, the creature dropped down and got behind me. I turned around at the wrong time just as it swiped its claws and they grazed against my cheek. The pain seared my skin and I felt it spread all over the left side of my face. The creature took my moment of vulnerability to shove me back. I ended up slamming into the brake lathe machine and suddenly heard it turn on. I must have hit the switch by accident. The left over rotor on the axle began to spin slowly at first, and I knew I had to get away soon. The monster lunged on me and tried to bring its main mouth down into my face. At the last second, I lifted the broomstick and shoved it into its mouth. With as much strength as I could muster, I pushed back and got a few good feet away from the brake lathe. To my dismay, the creature broke the broomstick by snapping its teeth and I ducked under its maw. Using the two halves of the broken stick, I shoved the monster off of me and onto the floor.

As the monster uttered distorted groans, I could hear the brake lathe humming behind me. An idea suddenly came to mind and I grinned. A few seconds passed until the beast got back to its feet and roared at me. Like I anticipated, it charged forward and I waited. I waited before dodging to the side at the last second, causing the creature to run into the brake lathe. Just as I had hoped, its head got caught in the now rapidly spinning rotor and it screeched with pain. Before it could pull away, I got up and grabbed ahold of its head. I growled as I kept shoving the monster's face into the machine, listening to it scream and feeling it thrash in my hold. Chunks of black meat and what seemed to be blood flew everywhere; all over the machine, on the walls and floor nearby, on my clothes and face. It was absolutely horrific yet satisfying to watch at the same time.

One of its claws scratched my side and I ended up letting go sooner than I wanted to. I stumbled away while the creature crumpled onto the floor, trying to mend its head together again. I took this chance to grab at the two halves of the broomstick, then I pounced on top of the monster. It flailed for a good moment, but I held it in place by stabbing one broken end of broomstick into its throat. Its hoarse, inhuman wails became more muffled and I raised the other half of the broomstick in the air above its head. With a fury I never knew I could feel, I yelled and stabbed into the head. Over, and over, and over. Again, and again, and again. My hand was getting coated with black liquid and my sleeves were being drenched.

When stabbing its head wasn't enough, I went for its chest. I drove the stick through its rib-cage and watched it twitch wildly again. The screams that came out of its mouth were desperate, and its many eyes almost seemed to plead with me not to hurt it anymore. I grinned, knowing this abomination doesn't deserve an ounce of mercy. Let those fucking eyes watch me rip this thing apart!

The rib-cage started breaking the more I stabbed through it, and more meat showed up on my broomstick-turned-stake. My arm was getting tired but I wouldn't let up. My mind was racing from the adrenaline of the fight, and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Ruthlessly, I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed into the beast's chest, until something happened.

The creature shuddered one last time before going limp. Just when I thought it was dead, the process went a step further and the body began disintegrating. All of those big, pleading eyes turned into black ash, and within seconds I was left sitting on a pile of the stuff. The two broken halves of the broomstick fell from my hands and clattered onto the floor. Confused, I stared down at the ashes on the floor, wondering what just occurred. It was then that I finally realized just how tired and exerted my body felt. I leaned over and placed my hands against the floor for balance.

My head was spinning beyond compare and I knew I had lost a fair amount of blood. Tentatively, I crawled towards a worktable to use it as leverage to stand up. When I got to my feet, I wobbled and fell over. It wasn't that I was exhausted. No, a sharp pain had raced up my side and traveled to everywhere else on my body. My face felt like it was on fire and I couldn't breathe. Simultaneously, as I struggled to breathe, my stomach kept twisting and heaving. These two sensations combined made for an unimaginable discomfort and pain that I couldn't endure any longer. What's wrong with me...?

It wasn't until I glanced down at the burning wound on my side did I notice a black substance spread over my exposed skin. It infected the claw marks and traveled in vein-like patterns across my torso. To my horror, I could feel this substance crawling it's way across my face from the other claw marks, and soon enough my left eye twitched. Desperately, I clawed at my face and noticed more black splotches covering my palm. What the hell is happening to me?!

There was no way for me to contain my panic and I screamed in terror. My body was too weak to let me stand, so all I could do was crawl and writhe on the floor. I slid through the leftover black ashes, trying to get to the office so I could retrieve my phone and call for help again. Not even a minute later do I begin to spit up blood and black slime. My hands claw at the floor but only one is able to pull me further. My body trembles immensely, yet also goes numb. There's an incessant ringing in my ears that won't go away no matter how hard I scream. The black substance continues to slowly make its away across my skin, and I'm not sure how much longer I have until...whatever happens...

Just when I'm able to touch the door to the office, my hand collapses and my body becomes paralyzed. The pain keeps coursing through my veins, burning away at me. My lungs feel as if they've collapsed and I struggle to breathe. Every part of me screams in pain, yet my voice is too thrashed to do the same. As my consciousness begins to fade, a mysterious shadow crosses over me, tall and foreboding.

I pass out before I can plead for help.

...

There's a bright light. Hospital lights.

No. Not a hospital. Their lights are white. This light is a cool blue.

Someone touches my chest with gentle fingers and presses.

I start feeling my body again, but I'm too worn out to fully open my eyes.

I take a deep breath--finally.

Warbled voices come through.

"He what?"

"He killed it. All by himself."

"That's...incredible. No regular, magic-less human can kill those things."

"This one did."

Someone giggles. Sounds like a woman. "Well, he's just about the luckiest person we've come across."

I go unconscious again.

...

Ben's POV

"Ben, I have an urgent assignment for you," Ao announces to me as she finds me in the kitchen.

"What's up?" I ask, Cheetos puffs stuffed in my mouth.

She sets down the Cheetos puff bag on the counter and says sternly, "I just got word of a Corrupted sighting."

"That's almost all of the time..."

"This one might get someone killed," she added, "It was seen in Wriamont, Indiana. Apparently there was a 911 call of a panicked boy asking for help. Other calls went in saying there was a noise disturbance, probably referring to the Corrupted. Judging from the nest of calls, the commotion is somewhere urban, so there should be street-camera feed for you to use. Find the Corrupted and the boy."

"Alright, I'm on it." I handed the bag to her and teleported out of the kitchen to my room to get my weapons. I picked up my bracers from my desk and attached them to my arms. Then I buckled a belt around my hip with a sheath attached to it, holding a dagger. It's not as big of a blade as my sword used to be but it is a hell of a lot easier to move around with it. It's just a backup weapon, though.

I checked to make sure the bracers worked before grabbing my laptop to find the Corrupted sighting. Wriamont, huh? Okay.

It was easy for me to get into the street cameras there and check all areas. I flipped through video feed after video feed, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. There was one video feed of a car reversing in a hurry, and I considered it to be some idiot in a rush. Just as soon as I flipped to another camera, something black rammed into the car and the vehicle was tossed across the street. I went back to the video and watched as a lanky Corrupted prowled towards the car. "Gotcha," I whispered before getting the location of the camera and teleporting.

Soon enough, the cozy surroundings of my room were replaced with the dusk-lit rooftop of a shop building. Next to me was the camera mounted on a metal pole. I walked over to the edge to look for the Corrupted. From my spot, I didn't see it anywhere, but the totaled car was still there, smoking. I began to worry. The area was pretty devoid of pedestrians. The stores around here were either closed at this time or emptied. Surely, a car crash and a monster should call attention to an area like this. Surely I'd be able to see the damn monster.

After scanning the area for a few minutes, the sound of high-pitched, distorted screeching startled me and grabbed my attention. It resonated from the open garage doors of an auto shop across the street. Quickly, I jumped down from the rooftop and to the sidewalk below. The moment I landed on my feet, I raced forward towards the auto shop to intervene in the commotion.

I stopped in my tracks, in the middle of the street, when I saw a boy holding the Corrupted's head into a spinning brake lathe. The beast's cries were loud and piercing as its head was torn apart. The boy hunched over it, practically keeping a death grip on the creature until it ended up clawing at him. As soon as I saw that, I knew he'd be poisoned. Fortunately, the poison didn't work that fast and the boy was able to pin the Corrupted down and stab it with some sort of yellow stick. In a relentless fury, he plunged his only weapon into the Corrupted's flesh, covering himself in more black blood. From the angle he was at, I could see his facial features better, and was shocked. It's that blonde kid from last week, the one who used my game to summon me.

I was in for a bigger surprise when the Corrupted ended up turning to ash underneath him. The area was finally silent and there was a shroud of relief over everything. He just killed it. He killed it. He killed that thing when no other average human could. Christ, that kid is absolutely insane, but holy crap am I impressed.

When I noticed him struggling on the ground and crying out in pain, I knew the Corruption was starting to take its affects. His cries and groans were filled with agony and his body was slowly being overrun by black poison. He was crawling towards a door in the auto shop, but stopped and laid still. I was next to him by then, and leaned down to pick up his unconscious body from the floor. I grimaced when I saw the black, infected claw marks on his face. No good; the poison will get to his brain faster. I don't have a lot of time.

Sirens were sounding in the distance, but they were cut off when I teleported. In the blink of an eye, I was back in the foyer of the mansion, holding the blonde kid against me. "Hey, I need help!" I yelled as loud as I could. Sally came running out of the living room, looking confused until she saw the boy in my arms. Without needing an explanation, she scampered up the stairs to find Ao.

It wasn't long after that Ao was kneeling beside the boy along with me, holding her hands against his chest to Purify the Corruption from him. "You got here just in time," she said to me. "Any longer and he would've turned."

"That's a relief," I murmured, staring down at the kid as the black poison receded from his skin. There would still be three scars on his cheek, but at least he'll live.

"Did you dispose of the Corrupted?" Sheba asked me.

"No," I answered honestly. She shot me a concerned look before I added, "He killed it."

...

"I leave him at the emergency entrance?" I say.

"It would be suspicious if you walked in with him," Ao explained. "I'm sure authorities are looking for him and the Corrupted."

"But, can't I just take him home?"

"You know where he lives?" she questions, giving me a puzzled look.

I haven't told anyone about what happened last week. I knew I shouldn't have let myself get pulled, but I was bored, and the feeling was becoming too annoying for me to ignore. On a whim, I let go and got sucked back to the game--Majora's Mask. What was strange was that I hid that cartridge away years ago so I wouldn't be called back to it when someone played. How the hell someone found it is beyond me, but I knew that I'd have to let it call me back so I could dispose of it again. But then I ran into the kid, and he freaked out, and now he knows I exist. Telling this to anyone would spur up worry since revealing ourselves to anyone outside of our circle would be dangerous. It's bad enough that people are freaking out about more Corrupted getting loose. If they find us, we might have another SCP incident on our hands.

But, I trust Ao. More than anyone. She's a wonderful friend, a good listener, an understanding human being. So when I tell her about what happened last week, I'm relieved that she just nods.

"Was he the only one who saw you?" she questions.

"Yes."

"Okay..." She glances down at the blonde boy and sighs. "He still needs to go to a hospital. We can clean his wounds but that's it. He has to leave while he's unconscious."

I only nodded and looked down at the boy. We had carried him onto one of the couches in the living room to place him on something comfortable. There was a tag on his mechanic uniform with the name 'Reese'. I thought back to when I was hiding in one of his apartment's rooms, when I overheard someone call him 'Reese's puffs'. I couldn't help but chuckle, then thought about how worried his family must be. As much as I wanted to take him straight home, I knew he really did need a hospital.

After Ao and Ms. P helped to clean his wounds, I held onto him to teleport us back to Wriamont.

It was late evening when I got back so I had a better chance of going unnoticed if I drop him off at a hospital. I carried him on my shoulder, and was surprised by how light he was compared to his height. I walked with him through backroads and alleyways, taking as many inconspicuous routes as possible. Eventually, the Wriamont Hospital came into view and I quickened my pace. The emergency entrance was lit up but unattended. I knew security cameras would be set up, so I pulled up my hood to hide my face. It was easy to run to the sidewalk and set the boy down by the doors. As soon as the task was done, I ran off into the dark to teleport out of sight. But I found myself slowing down and hiding in some bushes to watch him. For a few minutes, the kid was just lying there, undisturbed. I wondered if anyone would come across him at all. Someone better bring him in.

It was hard not to think about how he had completely obliterated that Corrupted. I knew he was feisty, but what I saw was on an entirely different level. I glad I didn't get on his bad side last week. There's no way he won't be traumatized by what he's been though, and I can only hope he can cope with his new scars.

Just when I was about to get up to pull some sort of ding-dong-ditch, a custodian ran out of the emergency doors and checked on him. The man ran back inside, and soon enough a team of nurses was helping the boy onto a gurney. They rolled him inside, speaking rapidly to each other about his condition. Then I was back to sitting in silence again. The kid is gone and getting the treatment he needs. The Corrupted is exterminated. Everything is okay here.

So why do I still feel antsy? Maybe it's because the problem of the Majora's Mask cartridge isn't solved yet. I need to go back and hide it again. This time, I'm keeping it with me instead of hiding it away in some random place where I thought no one would discover it. But, the thought of sneaking into that kid's apartment to steal the game felt weird. Things might not go as smoothly as they did last time. After all, I was lucky enough that he had been the only one home. Maybe I'll keep an eye on him, check if he's okay, and then I'll get the game back. Yeah, that sounds good.

When I was sure he would be okay in the hospital, I closed my eyes and teleported back to the mansion.