Saturn's ringtone yanked him out of his sleep while the rising sun shone into the room. With his eyes half-closed, he felt around his pockets to find his vibrating phone. And when his eyes registered Jenny lying next to him, he gasped and realized he'd spent the night in her bed. She was awake, relaxing on her side with her head on her arms as if she'd been watching him like this all night long.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and raised it up to see the caller ID, and Jenny's eyes followed the phone with great curiosity. The caller was Plural.
"Right…"
Saturn picked up the call and held the phone to his ear.
"Where are you!? Are you okay?" she yelled.
Saturn chuckled at how worried she sounded. It was flattering.
"Don't you have a tracker on me?" he said as his eyes went to Jenny.
She still looked at him, laying there in that same relaxed position.
"Why would I use that if you're just gonna pick up the phone? Dumbass. Where'd you go?"
"Jenny's place."
Plural was silent for a second.
"Why?"
Saturn grinned at Jenny.
"Why don't you come over and see?"
Some more silence from the phone.
"Don't play games! Did she wake up?" Plural sounded like she whispered.
"That's right. Middle of the night. She still runs."
Then, it sounded like Plural was running somewhere across the phone, followed by some distant yelling, like she was no longer holding the phone to her ear.
"New girl! Wake up!"
Followed by a moan from Circus in the background.
Saturn pulled the phone away from his own ear and hung up, then dropped it on the bed next to him.
He looked at Jenny, who looked bothered and had her eyes averted towards the pillow.
"Now I have to explain what happened to everyone…"
"Yeah…" said Saturn. "Actually, I forgot to tell you last night…"
Jenny made eye contact and gave him a curious look. Saturn moved on his side to face her and catch her up.
"Something happened while you were gone…"
♦
"Plu!" a sobbing Jenny cried.
"Jen!" an equally sobbing Plural cried back.
The two were doing their thing again, rubbing their tears on each other's cheeks and telling each other they're sorry about something. Saturn sat on the couch, rolled his eyes and let them be. Circus, seated next to him, watched with great intensity, like she was watching a romance movie.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you," Jenny said, leaning her forehead against Plural's, with her eyes closed.
Plural, a bit embarrassed, gave her a sympathetic look.
"Guess he told you everything?"
She looked past Jenny at Saturn, who gave her a grin and a finger gun gesture.
"Uhuh," Jenny replied, opening her eyes and touching Plural's bruised face. "Ughh…"
Jenny cringed as she examined her wounded friend. Plural touched Jenny's hand with her own and chuckled.
"Jen, this is nothing. I got lucky."
Jenny didn't look too pleased with that conclusion.
"Well…" Plural spoke with hesitation, "Tatters saved me."
Jenny nodded.
"I heard…"
Plural examined Jenny's body, on which no traces could be found that anything had happened to her at all while she was out.
"What about you? You were stuck in a dream?"
Jenny rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah… I guess so."
"Is this gonna happen more often in the future?" Plural asked.
"I…" Jenny hesitated, "I think it's because I died, so… hopefully not…"
Plural gave her a skeptic look, and Jenny turned to the other two on the couch for an escape. They looked away, like they agreed with Plural's worry.
"What happened to the hearing?" Jenny asked again after Saturn ignored the topic before. "Did you go without me?"
"No," Plural answered. "We couldn't leave after finding you like that…"
Jenny fidgeted with her fingers, looking guilty.
"It was postponed until you're… better," Plural followed up.
"Yeah," Saturn joined in, "you should probably let them know you're back. You know, before they find out on their own when they see you flying around, and cause even more of a shitstorm."
Jenny nodded, then looked up at him with a floating question mark above her head.
"Don't say that, you idiot!" Plural said.
"She's gonna find out anyway," Saturn shrugged.
"What shitstorm?" Jenny asked the two.
"There's been, uh…. mixed reactions to your involvement in the Dark Jenny incident," Saturn explained.
Plural crossed her arms and looked annoyed.
"They were there that morning, too. I saw them when I drove to your house. Protesters at the courthouse. With signs, all that…"
Jenny sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"I know… I stayed awake all night, browsing the forums…"
Some curious looks went to Saturn on the couch.
"Oh yeah, you spent the night together, huh?" Plural asked with a grin. "Had fun?"
"Yep!" Jenny excitedly replied.
It amused Plural that the implication went over Jenny's head. Saturn seemed to feel the same way when he covered his face with his hand and tried to hold in his laugh.
"So," Jenny continued. "I have to drop by the courthouse, then find Tatters. Don't get hit by eggs on the way."
♦
Minutes later, Jenny had already arrived at the courthouse, and she could see what the others meant by "shitstorm". Some of the aftermath of the protest Plural mentioned was still visible and not completely cleaned up, and Jenny could imagine what the place looked like at the time of the protest.
Jenny looked over at the billboards. These typically featured political advertisements, especially during the election campaigns, which were coming up. And indeed, there were some brand-new posters that weren't there last time.
Jenny was clearly a central theme, as a bunch of local political parties were using her name and face to win brownie points with the general public. That could only mean the people resented her.
"Vote against Jenocide," written over a common photo of Jenny's face, but with red dots painted over her pupils.
"A matter of time?" Subtitled underneath a poster displaying the destructive aftermath of the Dark Jenny incident on the bottom, smoothly transitioning to this very city on the top.
Lastly, there was a poster featuring an extensive list of names, overlayed over another shot of Tatters' hometown. Jenny clenched her teeth in frustration. These politicians never gave a damn about these people, they were just using the victims to further their own agenda.
Angry, Jenny approached the billboard and reached out her hand but stopped at the last moment. The paper posters were stuck to the billboard and easy to rip off, but the act of doing so… Vandalizing other people's property…
Crime…
Annoyed and upset with herself for being such a wuss, Jenny turned around and faced the courthouse, then froze as if she'd just been caught in the act anyway.
At the bottom of the steps stood a woman in business clothing, clutching some documents to her chest and giving Jenny a frightened look.
For what might have been ten seconds, the two froze and stared at each other, each equally frightened of the other—until eventually the other woman awkwardly looked at the ground and walked a wide circle around Jenny until she disappeared into her car.
"Ughh," Jenny groaned with a guilty and disappointed look on her face, wishing she'd talked to the woman instead of whatever that was.
Then, she turned her eyes to the courthouse entrance. If that encounter was anything to go by, nothing pleasant awaited her inside.
♦
When Tatters woke up, she saw two inquisitive, strawberry eyes looking at her from up close. Startled, she instinctively moved her arm in preparation to punch whoever was standing over her, but she stopped when she saw her visitor was an equally startled Jenny, holding up her hands.
"It's okay! It's me!"
Tatters looked at her, then at her surroundings. Woods. Afternoon.
She remembered now, walking all day until she collapsed and fell asleep here.
"It's you…" Tatters said, sounding relieved.
Jenny pointed at her own face and nodded excessively.
"How did you… find me?" Tatters asked.
Jenny looked up at the orange sky through the trees.
"By looking for you. I found your signature here."
Tatters looked surprised at the terminology.
"My s—Whatever!" she pouted and looked away.
Jenny frowned and sat down beside her. She looked at Tatters with great curiosity, while Tatters angrily looked into the distance, like she was ignoring her.
"You know," Jenny started making conversation, "this is where we first met the creature that turned into me."
No reply from Tatters.
"Me, Saturn and Plural. We were going camping," Jenny continued, like a child recounting their holiday to their classmates.
"Is this going somewhere?" An irritated Tatters asked.
Jenny looked hurt, then looked around the ground while fidgeting with her fingers, trying to think of the right words to say.
"I heard about what happened," she changed the subject, "with Plural…"
Tatters' face went from angry to frustrated.
"She wants you back," Jenny added.
Tatters' eyes widened and her face turned into surprise as she looked Jenny in the eyes.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
Jenny looked equally surprised, like she didn't expect that sudden shift in mood. Tatters pulled her face back, like she was resisting some sort of temptation.
"It doesn't work," she muttered.
"What doesn't?"
Tatters grabbed two handfuls of dirt from the ground and crushed them.
"Did she tell you what I did?"
"You mean killed the witch?"
"The witch, her goons, everything alive in that place. I killed everything," Tatters explained while clenching her teeth in frustration. "Even though I promised myself I wouldn't."
Jenny didn't reply but listened intently. She moved her hand towards Tatters' shoulder, but stopped midway, hesitant about whether to touch her or not.
"You couldn't even imagine the things I did in front of her. And she feared me, just like…"
Tatters had to swallow her words.
"I haven't changed. My 'friends' either run, or they die," she said, facing Jenny again. "I was stupid to think this time would be different…"
"It can work," Jenny said with a serious face.
Tatters stood up and yelled. "What do you know?"
Jenny couldn't hide her frustration anymore and stood up too.
"No offense, but you're not that scary!" Jenny said, poking Tatters' chest with considerable power, almost making her fall. "My friends saw the creature lasering people in half and covering Circus with their blood. I can do all that, and more. Hell, people are saying I can destroy the whole world, and they're probably right!"
Tatters angrily listened to Jenny's rant, rubbing the spot on her chest where Jenny's finger impacted her. Indeed, she had some firsthand experience seeing "Jenny" lasering people in half.
Jenny closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, stopping herself from saying any more than she needed to.
"I'm dangerous, too. And they still wanna be my friends. They decided on their own to risk their lives and come with me. You should let them do the same."
Tatters looked at her feet and dropped her attitude. She couldn't exactly find fault with what Jenny was saying.
"Doesn't it bother you that we put them in so much danger? With everything that's happened so far, do you really think they'll still be alive by the end of the year?"
Jenny's face changed from angry to frustrated, and she broke eye contact, cradling her arm to her side.
"It does bother me…"
"You don't even kill people," Tatters continued. "I do. You don't lose control of your powers."
This time, she poked Jenny back hard.
"I do."
Jenny's body hardly noticed the disturbance, and she made eye contact again, unoffended by the physical gesture.
"What do you mean with losing control?" she asked.
"I don't know," a frustrated Tatters turned around and sat down again. "It started after I came here… like I've slowly been losing my mind…"
Then, she heard a beeping sound coming from Jenny's head, and Tatters looked up. It was something she'd seen once before: a piece of hair at the top of her head that stood up and pointed at something behind Tatters, blinking red. Jenny stared at the target with an alarmed look on her face.
Speak of the devil. Could it really be?
"What is it?" Tatters asked.
She didn't look behind her, just in case…
"What do you want?" Jenny asked whatever she was looking at with an angry tone.
Tatters' eyes widened, and she froze. Could Jenny see it?
"What are you talking to?" Tatters asked with a panicked tone.
Jenny looked at Tatters' face, then back at the thing behind her.
"It's a… scary-looking man with no neck. He's looking at you."
Tatters' heart was beating fast.
"I-Is he… tall and pale?"
Jenny nodded.
Tatters sunk her head into her hands, making sure not to accidentally make it disappear.
"I thought I was going crazy…"
Jenny looked at Tatters one more time, then walked towards the thing and did something with her eyes that made them glow green.
"I asked you a question," Jenny threatened the thing.
In response, the thing started laughing again.
"Don't let him take you too…" Tatters muttered.
"He's… a ghost…" Jenny said, followed by the sound of a burst of laser and some ruffling trees.
Tatters just sat there, staring at the ground in front of her with her eyes wide open, hands on her cheeks.
"Have you been haunted by a ghost? Why didn't you tell us?" Jenny asked.
"I thought it wasn't real," Tatters responded. "It goes away every time I look."
Jenny caught the hint and walked back into Tatters' field of view.
"Show me."
Tatters looked up at her in disbelief, swallowed and slowly turned her head. When she turned all the way, there was no pale thing.
She looked back at Jenny, whose alarm had stopped beeping.
"Is he the reason you lost control?" Jenny asked.
"I… don't know… He was there when it happened," Tatters answered. "He's always there."
Then, the flap of hair on Jenny's head relaxed and dropped back down, blending in with the rest of her hair.
"Does he do anything else?" Jenny followed up. "Does he hurt you?"
"No…" Tatters said.
Jenny rubbed her chin and looked deep in thought.
"What's going on? Do you know him?" Tatters asked.
"No, but something about him feels familiar."
Tatters gave Jenny a skeptic look.
Then, Jenny opened her eyes and gave Tatters a confident smile with a thumbs up.
"It's a lead!"
Tatters stood up and looked flustered.
"A lead!? Based on a feeling?"
"C'mon," Jenny said with a sly, provocative smile. "Depend on your friend for once."
She playfully bumped Tatters' shoulder and almost knocked her over, then violently warped away.
♦
It started raining sometime after Jenny left, and Tatters wore her hood over her head. She'd made her way back to the city, still haunted by that pale face in the shadows.
Jenny left without any explanation about what she was going to do, but she seemed to know something about the thing's true nature and didn't say what it was.
With this rain, the streets were relatively empty, even though people were coming home from work. The sun hadn't gone under yet, but the rain clouds made the world dark. Tatters found the sound of the bustling city comforting as she straddled through the deserted plaza.
"Tats!" A familiar voice sounded behind her.
Tatters froze. Even if the texture of her voice didn't give it away, there was only one person who called her by that nickname. Footsteps approached her from behind, and she remained there like statue. She wasn't prepared for this conversation and didn't know what to say. After her argument with Jenny, she didn't know what the right thing to do was anymore.
She felt someone grabbing her hand, prompting her to turn around until she stood face to face with Plural, who wore a yellow poncho. She would ask how she was able to find her, but the answer was on the phone in Plural's hand, displaying an ongoing call with "Jenkins".
"Hey," Plural said.
"Hey," Tatters said back.
A bit of silence, followed by an awkward laugh from Plural.
"H-How are—" Plural tried to ask but then spotted Tatters' hands. "Your nails! You've been biting them?"
Tatters looked away, embarrassed. That was something she unconsciously did whenever she was stressed, and there wasn't much more left for her to bite. Plural took both of her hands and stared at what remained of the nails.
"It's nothing…" Tatters muttered under her breath.
Plural sought eye contact, and Tatters gave it to her. Plural's body language was uneasy, like she wanted to give Tatters a hug but couldn't find the courage to do so.
"Come home with me," Plural said, holding Tatters' ungloved hands.
Tatters didn't know what to say back, so she said nothing. After a moment, Plural continued.
"I'm sorry I ran away from you. I know how it must've looked, and I—"
"No," Tatters looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. "You were right."
Plural looked like she was lost for words.
"You have no idea what I really am…" Tatters continued.
"I'd like to," Plural said with curious eyes.
"I've done awful things to people that I've never told you about"
"I know…"
"Every time you talked about the crazy things you've seen, it made me feel ashamed because I've done worse things than that."
"Tell me."
Tatters gave Plural a frown like she was doubting the girl was even taking this seriously.
"I've killed so many people that I've lost count"
"I don't mind."
"I-I've tortured people, out of revenge," Tatters said with increasing zest, as if trying to scare Plural away.
"Okay."
"I've…"
She had to swallow and take a deep breath to keep her voice from cracking.
"Don't you understand? I might be the villain I was supposed to protect you from!"
Plural looked bothered but didn't speak up.
"I've killed children, Plu…"
"… Okay…" Plural replied.
Tatters took a step back and felt tears forming in her eyes.
"Why? And don't say you don't mind! How could you not mind?"
"I do mind, I just… There's gotta be more to the story. You're a good person, Tats. I know that for sure."
Tatters just stared at Plural like she was trying to figure out an enigma.
"I don't get you," she spoke as she stepped even further back, their arms stretching as their fingers still held onto each other.
Plural took another step forward to close the distance.
"Please don't go. I don't wanna go back to my old life," Plural pleaded. "You're… my familiar…"
Tatters let go of one of her hands to wipe away the tears in her eyes. Plural laughed in relief.
"That's good, right?" she asked.
"I really don't know what you see in me," Tatters said. "I'm a complete mess."
"Maybe that's just what I'm… into," Plural awkwardly replied.
The two stood relatively close to each other after Plural closed the distance. They stared into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds in silence.
"Come home with me?" Plural asked as she tugged on her hands.
Tatters broke eye contact again and looked conflicted.
"You don't want to be with me?" Plural asked worriedly.
"No, I do!" Tatters pleaded with a complete change of tone. "Just… being with me is hazardous to your health, so I…"
Plural tugged again.
"We're both grown-ups, you know? Even if I die tomorrow, it'll be worth it to me."
Tatters looked into Plural's eyes but couldn't quite bring herself to smile.
"Do you really mean that?" she asked.
She felt both happiness and dread, but above all, lots of confusing feelings.
"Come on," Plural said as she turned around and pulled Tatters along. "Let's go home. Tell me everything."
♦
Two days until Crawling Chaos finds Jenny's world.