Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 60: Chapter 60

"It's kinda weird being in here when no one's here . . ." Nick commented, looking around as Richard walked up the steps to the next row, walking the space and checking under each seat.
"We're lucky we didn't have to do this when it was open," Richard commented. "Otherwise, we'd be having a lot more trouble."
"What sucks is that we don't know what we're even looking for," the hyena grumbled, ascending all of the steps to the top row. "Let's split up the work and meet up in the middle."
After about a minute, the two met in the very center of the theater. "Nothing . . ." Nick frowned. "Everything looks completely normal. No runes or magic traps or anything."
Richard nodded, then turned, pointing at the exit. "I saw a door over there I want to inspect behind. Do you know where it leads?"
Nick nodded. "Oh, yeah. It goes to the back of the screen and storage. There might be something back there."
The two made their way to the theater's hallway, and Richard walked to the light gray door, entering the cluttered space full of boxes, decorations, and cardboard standees for the theater. The raccoon turned to the right and walked behind the screen. Nick began rummaging through all of the things back there, trying to find anything unusual.
After a good while of searching, they deemed there was nothing there either, so they left the back area, shutting the door behind them. "Alright," Nick said, sighing. "So nothing back there. Onto the next theater?"
"Yes," Richard nodded. They traveled back out into the main hallway and into the next auditorium, the black corridor very similar here, only the space was entered on the left side at the end. Richard looked at the light door. "We'll cover more ground if we do two things at once. You search the public space, and I'll search back there, then you can join me."
"Sounds good," Nick smiled, and they split off, Nick entering the larger auditorium than the last one. The ceiling was so tall this time that he felt intimidated just looking at it. The hyena began exploring the rows and seats, humming to himself.
Richard was in the white-walled space in the back with the cement floor, on his own little investigation directly behind the screen when a bright light illuminated the masking, and images began flashing rapidly, seeming flipped from where he was standing. The raccoon gasped and began rushing out of the backspace. Please don't, please don't, please don't . . .
When he sprinted out of the gray door and into the grand theater, his breath caught as he found Nick staring at the images, completely frozen in place. Richard sprinted over and grabbed his shoulders. "Nick! Nick, wake up! Nick, snap out of it!" he cried. "Nick!"
Nick stood still, the color of the flashing images filling the reflections of his eyes. ". . ."
Richard felt panic rise within. "Nick! Look away!" He put a hand over the other male's eyes, hoping to be his aegis from the visual terror on the silver screen. "Nick!!!"
Suddenly, the lights around them completely dimmed and went out as they did when a show began. Richard looked around, panting gently as he avoided looking at the screen. "Nick! Can you hear me?! I'm going to take you to Dmitri and Adrian! Come on!" He grabbed his wrist and tugged him, but Nick yanked his hand away violently. "Hey!"
Nick brought his hand back and then launched it into Richard's chest, causing a coughing fit from his partner. The hyena turned and began running toward and up a flat black part of the wall.
"Nick? Nick, what are you doing?!" Richard shouted, his chest aching.
The hyena just continued walking slowly with his head staring at the screen. Richard walked further into the theater, standing between the third and second row and looking up at his partner. "Hey! Nick!"
No answer from the other animal. He ascended the wall entirely to the ceiling and Richard, knowing the potential effects of this movie, sprinted onto the wall after him, trying to keep his eye on Nick, who was lining himself up above a chair below.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" he shouted. "Nick!"
The rapid images on the screen ended, leaving only a white light from the projector. Nick looked away from it and at Richard. "Maybe we should just stop, Richard."
The raccoon, still on the wall, was craning his neck to view the other animal. "Stop what? The investigation?"
"All of this," Nick said, flopping his arms against his sides. "It's pointless."
Richard began scaling the wall as he spoke. "It isn't pointless . . . You said you wanted to put Sandy's Soul to rest." He mounted the ceiling and walked toward the hyena. "That's what we're doing."
"And then what? Keep laying Souls to rest forever for animals that will die and only we'll remember?" Nick asked.
"It isn't like that," Richard argued. "They only alter the memories of the supernatural occurrences."
"And even then, how many animals will die at our hands?" Nick looked at his dark hands. "Why are we responsible for them? I already lost Astrid . . . Does anyone even know or care that she's gone?"
"Nick . . ." Richard stepped closer. "You're not thinking straight. I don't know what's happening, but the speed at which you saw the movie must have accelerated the effects. Stay with me."
Nick shook his head. "I don't want to live in a world this cruel. Even if I found Boris, there's no way I'd be able to save him. I don't know anything about what's happening to him."
"But you would figure it out," Richard told him, reaching the hyena. "We would figure it out."
"What's the point? There will always be something new holding me back. I lost my band, my family, my life . . . It's replaced by something a lot more difficult to deal with. I don't want to live this life."
"Don't say that." Richard put a hand on the side of his neck. "What about the progress we've made together? I used to be shut off from other animals. You helped me find myself again."
"Something will come along again to fuck you up," Nick responded with a cold gaze. "Both of us."
"I even fell in love for the first time." Richard stroked his cheek with a thumb as he always did. "With you."
"There's no point . . . I'll lose you, or you'll lose me somehow," Nick answered. "Or we'll get together and break up over something small."
Richard shook his head. "Whatever comes our way, we'll deal with it together. Just wake up. You aren't yourself right now."
"No!" Nick stomped his foot, causing some dust to snow up from the ceiling, seeming to float around them. "I'm being logical! What's the point of doing this if nothing matters in the end anyway? We all die eventually."
"It's how we choose to live that matters," Richard told him. "And you showed me there are things worth living for. As much as you hate it, we have a chance to save billions of animals together as a team. We can still save Boris! I know it!"
"I'm sorry, Richard." Nick shook his head again. "Absalom is already in his plans. It's just not worth the cruelty and bloodshed."
The raccoon grabbed Nick's head and looked into his emerald eyes. "You saved me before! You're a good animal! You always question the system because you care so much! We need animals like that!"
"No . . . I can't do anything," Nick said, shaking his head. "It's better this way."
"Please, please, please, Nick . . . ." Richard clutched his face. "Don't leave me . . . I don't want to lose the only good thing in my life."
"You have Iwai," Nick answered.
"He's only a friend!" Richard argued. "He doesn't make me smile and laugh as much as you do. He doesn't make me desire to lay in bed all day together. He doesn't sing for me or make my heart stand still. He isn't the prettiest and most caring animal I've ever seen. He doesn't make me want to wake up early every morning just so I can see him. I don't long to see him even when we're apart just for a little while," Richard sniffed. "You do. You do all of those things for me. You're such a bright light in my life, and I need you here. I don't know if I could handle losing you, Nick. I'm not good at pouring out my emotions, but please believe me when I say all this: I truly love you and want to be together."
Nick was silent for a long moment, and Richard had some hope that he was breaking through, until the hyena shattered every ounce of it along with his heart when he said, "I'm sorry, Richard. You'll have to find somebody else."
"Wait, no! You'll break your neck if you—" Richard began, but his partner suddenly brought his hands up to the raccoon's chest and shoved him hard, making him stumble back. Right after he did this, Nick knelt down, then tumbled and pushed himself off the ceiling, attempting to fall on one of the chairs below.
"NO!" Richard yelled, thrusting himself forward with such force that he landed on his stomach, catching Nick by his left wrist. Richard's gravity pulled him toward the ceiling, while Nick's was now normal. It was like holding a very heavy balloon. Caught in the projector's bright light, Nick's hanging shadow was plastered onto the screen at the edge of the theater.
"Let me go!" Nick struggled.
"No!" Richard shouted back. "I won't lose you like this! If King is really behind this, I won't let him hurt me again!"
Nick hissed, then quickly pulled out his Prism Pistol with his free hand, using his strong hyena jaw to cock it and aim it at Richard. They had both loaded their weapons on the way with Normals in case things got ugly.
Richard's eyes widened, and he quickly turned on his side, extended his foot, and bashed his boot against Nick's wrist multiple times, causing him to drop the gun to the floor above. It fell right between the back of a chair and the foldable seat.
Richard fought against the aching of his arm as he struggled to stand up, and he yanked Nick toward the ceiling, wrapping his arms around him until the hyena touched his boots to the surface again.
Nick headbutted Richard's face, and karate chopped his neck, causing the raccoon to fall into a fit of coughs yet again. Nick swiftly reached behind him and took out his curved blade and began bringing it to his neck, digging the edge in before Richard lunged again and grabbed his partner's arm, attempting to pull the knife. Nick pushed back against him.
"Why are you doing this?!" Richard asked. This was different from what he knew about the case so far. The victims all fell from a tall height, which Nick was trying to do, but he didn't know that he would fight to take his own life like this. Would the other victims have done that if someone had tried to stop them?
There was no answer from Nick as he bared his teeth and continued fighting against Richard. The raccoon slid his right hand along Nick's neck, inserting it between the blade and the fur. Richard leaned in and wrapped his maw around Nick's wrist, biting with some force. The hyena let go of the weapon, and it fell upward, slashing Richard's cheek as it dropped to the floor above them.
Before Nick could react, the raccoon pinned him down with his knees and began undoing his belt. Nick wriggled and squirmed as Richard pulled it through the loops, yanking it free as Tålmodighed's sheath joined the knife above, clattering as it hit the floor. Richard kept Nick pinned as he undid his own tie and slid it from his neck. Nick's biggest weakness was fighting without sight, so if they were genuinely going to battle, he needed to make it much harder for the hyena. He pressed his knees into his arms as Nick yelped. Richard brought the tie around and tied it as fast as he could, making sure it wouldn't come loose.
"I don't want to hurt you," Richard told him. "I'm going to take you back to Adrian and Dmitri!" Coming up with another idea, he decided to remove Nick's tie and use it to tie his wrists together. "You aren't yourself, so I understand if you try and fight back." He helped Nick stand up and began leading him along the ceiling toward the wall.
Sure enough, the hyena fought back, spinning around and sending a kick to the side of Richard's head. The raccoon caught him before he connected, causing Nick to slip backward and hit his head against the ceiling. But he was relentless, and he hooked his leg around Richard's, pulling them out from under him.
The hyena jumped onto the raccoon's body, pinning him just the same and putting his hands on Richard's neck, squeezing. Extreme panic filled the raccoon as memories of the alternate timeline ran through his head. The supreme blindness, inability to move, and the way the animals handled him, sometimes choking him to the point of passing out. Richard freaked out, breathing heavily and tossing and turning as Nick squeezed. He grunted loudly, kicking his feet.
Luckily, only Richard's arms were pinned, and he used his flexibility to roll his back up, hooking his knees around Nick's neck and throwing him backward off of him. The raccoon hyperventilated as his mind kept flashing back to that place. He stood up quickly, eyes wide.
Nick groaned at the pain in his neck, rotating on his side. Richard shakily pulled out his Fall Cushion pill and crushed it, letting it fall above them. Immediately, a blue substance began expanding overhead, squirming between chairs and consuming them. Richard rushed forward and grabbed Nick's legs, placing his knee on his head as he removed each of the hyena's gravity boots and let them fall above. The shadows of the shoes whizzed past the screen as they plummeted.
The raccoon looked above them, picking up Nick and then dropping him up to the fall cushion on the floor, the hyena being caught by the squishy surface. Richard launched himself up, switching his gravity and falling to the spongy texture below.
Nick struggled to get out of it, feeling his way along the rows and going to the stairs, touching along the wall as he determined with his socked feet which way was down. He quickly descended the stairs and then slipped, yelping as he tumbled down them. Richard got off of the fall cushion, jumping over folded chairs toward the screen.
Nick got up, groaning and moving to the wall as he placed his back against it, suddenly lifting and slamming the back of his head, again and again. Richard sped over and grabbed him, throwing him away from the wall. "No! Quit it, Nicholas! Snap out of it! You're going crazy!"
"Ragh!" Nick yelled, rolling backward and standing up, turning and running the other way as Richard chased after him down the exit hall. He took a breath, pulling out his Prism Pistol and cocking it quickly, aiming it for the back of Nick's leg. He fired, and the bullet launched straight into its target. Nick fell right into the theater's exit, causing the wooden door to swing open, and the hyena was sent sprawling on the floor as it tried to close again, bumping into the new doorstop. Blood seeped from the wound through his gray pants, and he dragged himself along the ground, a line of dark red staining the carpet.
Richard closed in after him, aiming the gun again. "Nick! Wake up! You have to keep living! You have a long life ahead as my partner! Don't you feel anything in there?!"
The hyena moved out into the hallway and rolled onto his back slowly, panting and looking at Richard, who was aiming the Prism Pistol at him. "Finally . . . Shoot me, Richard. Make it easy on both of us."
From within, Richard felt anger creep up. "Aren't you the Virtue of Patience?! Why are you in such a rush to end your own life?!"
Nick shook his head. "I never asked for that . . . Come on! Shoot me, already!!!"
"NO!" Richard yelled, never having raised his voice at Nick like this. "STOP FUCKING ACTING LIKE THIS! ADRIAN! DMITRI! HELP! HURRY!"
Nick sneered as blood leaked from the wound in his neck and his leg. He brought his claws up, attempting to use them now.
Richard tossed his gun to the side and grabbed Nick's arms, pushing them up above his head. He turned the hyena around and pressed his knee on his back as Nick continued to try and fight against him. Richard took his phone out and immediately called Adrian, who answered quickly.
"Yeah?" Adrian asked as he answered. "What's up, Richard?"
"GET IN THE FUCKING HALLWAY NOW!" Richard yelled. "NICK IS TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF, AND I NEED HELP!"
"Fuck," Adrian spoke, and the phone hung up. A few seconds later, he and Dmitri burst out of a door further down the hall and sprinted to the duo. "Sorry, we didn't hear you before. It's these mostly soundproof walls and thick doors. What happened?"
"Just help me hold him down, one of you!" Richard demanded. "Dmitri, call Medical Sect NOW!"
"Alright," the wolf said, moving to do that.
Adrian helped pin the struggling Nick's arms down and blinked. The hyena continued to growl and groan beneath him. "Again, what happened? Why's he bleeding? Why are you bleeding?"
"That movie turned on in theater eight, but it was showing really fast somehow . . . Fuck! Nick was right! He wasn't ready for this case! Damn it!!!"
"Woah! Calm down, Richard!" Adrian exclaimed. "You said the movie showed really fast? So he started trying to kill himself right after?"
"Yes!" Richard nodded, still in a state of panic. "And we fought, and I used our ties to bind him, but he just kept fighting me! Then, as he was running out, I shot him with my Prism Pistol."
Dmitri hung up. "They'll be here soon."
Adrian looked up. "We should investigate that. If the movie somehow activated by itself and was able to be shown quickly to accelerate the suicide process, there's definitely something wrong here."
"Forget the fucking case!" Richard yelled angrily. "We need to take care of Nick and get him away from here!"
"But we have a job to do," Dmitri reminded him.
"I don't care!" Richard frowned. He had never been this fired up before. "I don't care about the King case, and I don't give a shit about the money! I care about getting Nick as far away from here as possible! Now, help me!"
Adrian glanced up at his gray wolf partner, then looked back at Richard, sighing. "Okay."