Sarge had trouble recollecting everything that had happened so far. After waking up, he found he was in front of some random guy and a woman with a spear. They’d stabbed Sarge in the throat, and now he was monstrously big. Was this the Nightshift? Makes sense. Life-threatening injuries would cause that sometimes. Usually, he could control it, but he guessed he couldn’t do it this time.

He smelled lavender and followed the scent over to Xenon. The alien was tied in a chair… for whatever reason. If Sarge wasn’t so groggy, he knew he’d be feeling rage right now. Who tied Xenon up?

Sarge knew he needed to talk with Chomby about this. Surprisingly, Chomby seemed to have trouble remembering him. The poor soundbyte was shaken up, too. Who hurt Chomby?

Someone yelled. Sarge looked toward them. It was the man with robes standing next to the woman with the spear. Sarge asked Chomby about them. Chomby said they were sacrificing Chomby to summon some weird thing called ‘Bear Ethyl’? The heck is a Bear Ethyl?

Sarge felt his rage increasing. He walked over to the two people. They seemed to be admiring him. They said things about becoming a werewolf.

It finally clicked to Sarge. They were doing a sacrifical rite to become werewolves? Were they stupid? That isn’t how it works at all.

Sarge grabbed the two and picked them up. He said a few words of disdain and flavored them to match what Chomby had briefed him on. If they wanted to believe cultist stuff, then they’d get the experience of a life time. The moment people get into hurting others over this cult stuff is where Sarge had to draw the line. That is assault at its best and murder at its worst.

Sarge threw the two to the ground and told them to leave. Once he saw them disappear into the forest, he turned back around and looked toward Xenon. The alien was staring at him now with sheer horror. Why? Oh right. Nightshift.

Sarge started trying to calm his emotions as he walked over to Xenon. Xenon’s movements became more frantic as he approached.

“What did you do to Chomby?!” Xenon spat out. “Deity or not! You won’t get away with killing my friend!”

Sarge was a bit confused, but he didn’t have time for this. He slipped a hand into Xenon’s jacket pocket and rifled around in it for a moment. It was hard to grasp hold of anything, given Xenon was both tied up and flailing around, but once he found the object he was looking for, he pulled it out. It was a radio.

He turned it on and set the channel to two. This was the channel he usually used to communicate with the police force. “Unit SWX reporting. Ten-sixty-six on the run. Male, mid thirties, dark brown hair, red robes, five foot ten. Female, mid thirties, brown hair, red robes, five foot seven.”

“Unit SWX?” A woman asked. “This is Unit two and five. Who’s speaking?”

“Detective Sergeant Wolf and Detective Xenon. Xenon and civilian are tied up and suspects are fleeing into the forest. Cult activity, case file 1231… I think.” Sarge squinted his eyes shut and scratched his head. “My brain’s foggy on lingo, sorry. We just need help. Over.”

“Detective Sergeant Wolf? Sounds familiar… Huh. Stay where you are. Are there any injured?”

Sarge put a hand to his neck. He felt the wound had closed off considerably, but it was still throbbing. “Yes. I have been stabbed in the throat and Xenon and civilian, old woman, grey hair, pink blouse, are worse for wear.”

“Stabbed in the…” The woman trailed off. “Stanford, eleven-fort-” the radio cut off.

“Only minor,” Sarge said. “Will hold at location for your arrival.” Sarge scanned the area for something he could use as a beacon. He saw a lantern sitting in the middle of the circle and picked it up. He turned it to its brightest setting. “Using a lantern as a beacon. Over.”

“Copy that, detective. Over.”

Sarge took a deep breath and sighed. He placed the lantern on the ground and looked over to Xenon. The alien was staring at him, fake mouth agape. He looked terribly confused.

“Can’t wait to hear your side of this, Xenon. Must’ve been wild.” Sarge walked over to the old woman and started to untie her.

“S-sarge? You’re Sarge? Aren’t you Berithal? The werewolf deity thing?”

“Again with Berithal?” Sarge groaned. “First it was Chomby, and then that stupid guy, and now you? Xenon! It’s me, Sarge!”

Sarge looked at himself. He swore he was out of Nightshift. His fur patterns looked mostly normal. Maybe there were a few strands of fur that were still jet black, sure, but he thought he’d be recognizable. “I thought you already knew about my Nightshift. Happens when I’m stressed… or dying.”

Sarge finished untying the woman. She immediately slumped over in the chair. She must have still been weak from whatever happened to her. Sarge did his best to support her. He asked her a few quick questions to see if she was cognitive. She answered them all normally. He learned her name was Heather and she had been kidnapped by some weird man.

After she and Sarge were done talking, Xenon spoke up. “I don’t remember much about you, Sarge. Sorry. I just know Chomby’s been obsessing over you. He’s been trying to find you for over a month now.”

“A month?” Sarge gasped. “I’ve been gone for a month?”

“If memory serves, which I’m doubtful of at this point, it’s been more like a year? Mainframe says certain things you did just stopped happening around a year ago.” Xenon tilted his head to the side as he stared at Sarge. “Something tells me that you aren’t an actual deity… you’re just a guy?”

“Same as you.” Sarge rolled his eyes. He sat Heather back up in the chair and made sure she could stay properly seated before he went to untie Xenon.

It took several minutes of untying before Xenon was finally free. The alien, much like Heather, seemed to have trouble keeping himself upright.

“Were you guys drugged?” Sarge asked as he gently helped Xenon sit up right.

“Probably. Think so.” Xenon nodded. “Definitely.”

Sarge heard a blip on the radio. “Detective Sergeant Wolf, lantern light spotted. Confirm by shaking the lantern?”

“One second,” Sarge said as he released Xenon. Once he knew Xenon could sit up right, he went to the lantern and started to shake it around. He spoke into the radio. “Xenon and old woman, named Heather, have been drugged. Uh what was the code again? Eleven-forty-one… I think? Uh… Requesting an ambulance now.”

“Copy that.”

Sarge could see people walk into the clearing. He sighed with relief and then looked back at Xenon. “So, long day, then?”

Xenon looked away.

“Not in a joking mood? My apologies. I’m being facetious,” Sarge said as he folded his arms.

“What about Chomby?” Xenon asked. He looked back up at Sarge. “I saw him get stabbed in the neck, and then you came out.”

“Talking with him right now… kinda.” Sarge closed one of his eyes. He saw Chomby was still sitting on the ground in the mindscape. He wanted so desperately to talk with Chomby right now, but he needed to get everything cleared up first. They were not in a safe location, and both Xenon and Heather probably needed medical aid. He knew that Heather would be okay in an ambulance, but Xenon was an alien, so that wouldn’t bode well. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath again to keep himself from freaking out.

“He’s okay, then?” Xenon asked.

“Stabbed in the neck, if you classify that as okay.” Sarge frowned. “When he’d get hurt before, if he unzipped, I’d end up being the one that was hurt. He’d just be a jacket again. No holes, no blemishes. None of that. Once I heal up, he should be okay again.”

“So you really do zip up to become him?” Xenon asked.

“Yeah.” Sarge scratched the back of his head. He bit his tongue to try and keep himself grounded. “Unfortunately, it seems the cat’s out of the bag. It was our little secret, but… ahh well.”

“Mainframe told me that was the case,” Xenon said. He looked down at his hands. “Sorry.”

“The mainframe knows…?” Sarge closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Eh. We’ll just not mention it for now. If people ask, I’ll think of something to say. I’m sure the mainframe understands it’s a secret.”

Xenon took a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad he’s okay, then. It hurt me so much to see him go through so much turmoil. All because he wanted you back.”

Sarge felt his heart lurch even more. Chomby was going through a lot because Sarge was gone? What sort of nightmares did he have to endure? Once Sarge saw that the police had arrived and were now taking care of Xenon and Heather, he closed his eyes and fully entered the mindscape. He pulled all his attention to Chomby now.

“You’ve been through a lot, I take it? You afraid to tell me what happened?” Sarge asked. He scooted himself closer to Chomby and placed a hand on the soundbyte’s shoulder.

“I just want to know Xenon and Heather are okay.” Chomby looked down at Sarge’s hand. “They’re hurt because they tried to help me. It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Chomby,” Sarge said. He leaned in closer and wrapped his hands around the soundbyte. “That just shows how much people care about you. They wanted to help you.”

“But it’s because of me they both got captured. It’s because of me that I enacted some twisted fantasy of a cultist lunatic who… who thought you were a deity! How does that even work? How did his descriptions match you so perfectly?”

Sarge hugged around Chomby even tighter. Since Chomby didn’t react, Sarge assumed he was doing a good job at hiding his panic. “I dunno, big guy. I really don’t. Could be coincidence. When you grasp at straws, you try and find anything to connect to. Just so happened he found you – a one-of-a-kind individual.”

“A jacket,” Chomby mumbled.

“Does that matter?” Sarge asked. He heard his voice waver for a moment. He released Chomby and sat back up. “Doesn’t matter how you came to be. What matters is that you are.”

“I’m not a real person,” Chomby folded his legs under his belly and leaned forward. He seemed to begin crying. “I’m just your jacket. I’m just a tool for you to use.”

Yet again, Sarge felt his heart lurch. Chomby was truly in turmoil right now. Sarge wanted so desperately to properly comfort the soundbyte, but he knew he’d lose his composure if he did. He was supposed to help Chomby feel better. If Chomby knew how panicked Sarge was, it’d only make things worse. He needed to stay strong.

“If you’re a tool, then so am I.”

“I’ve been using your body, Sarge… haven’t I? This past year I’ve just used it to make music. Never even thought about it until recently. I used your body. You lost an entire year of your life because of me!”

Sarge thought hard about what to say. He wanted to try and play it off as nothing big, but he knew this wasn’t the time for that. “A year is very long, isn’t it? Guess I just gotta catch up on stuff. Maybe I can plan it out when you’re at your next concert? I’m sure we won’t go over the limit this time and cause… all this… to happen again.”

“How did it even happen in the first place?” Chomby asked. “I can’t remember it at all.”

Sarge closed his eyes to think back to the fateful moment. “Would you believe me if I told you we were investigating case file 1231? We made it to the forest, I tried to talk to some weird, robed guy, but he didn’t seem to trust me. So, we went back in as you. He warmed up easily. Became very chatty. Couldn’t get away in time and… yeah.”

“Robed guy? You mean Bark?” Chomby asked.

“Maybe. Dunno,” Sarge said. “Though it’d make sense that he’s been stalking you if you were related to me. Seems he’s obsessed with werewolves. Though, if he got amnesia like you and Xenon, then it’s possible he only had weird thoughts and intuitions about you… perhaps also explaining why he was aware of who you were.”

Chomby put a hand to his head and groaned. “Ugh. This is too much, Sarge. All I’m learning is that I can’t keep using your body just so I can be alive. That isn’t fair to you.”

“We’ve discussed it before, but I’ll say it again. We’ll figure something out.” Sarge forced a smile. “But for now, I don’t mind. We at least know what happens when we go over the limit.”

“Mass amnesia?” Chomby asked. “But how do we get back to normal if it happens again?”

“Well, it’s only an assumption. I really don’t know.” Sarge bit his lip and took a deep, staggered breath. “Seems your body experiencing an almost-fatal trauma initiated the change back. So, we just have to almost die… again. Maybe.”

Chomby’s lip quivered. He shook his head rapidly. “N-no! I just got you back! I can’t do all that again!” Chomby widened his eyes in terror. “I just wanted to be happy again. Even if I’d get a body again, I can’t stand the thought of losing you! It’s already been a horrible nightmare.”

Sarge nodded slowly. He felt his eyes water. He was about to say something, but his breath came out in a sputter. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I’m so sorry, Chomby! I don’t think I could, either!” His strong desire to comfort Chomby finally fully took over. He threw himself onto Chomby and wrapped the soundbyte in a tight hug. “You’ve been going through so much, Chomby! But, I’m back! Please, let yourself be happy!”

~~~~~

Sarge/Xenon/Chomby/Story/Art (C)  Juntarhenogu Me