THREADBARE pt. 23

They peered into the next room. It was rather spacious compared to many other rooms they'd seen before. It was still dank, colorless, tattooed up to the ceiling with glyphs and writings, and rather cold, but the sheer size of it made the group stop and stare. They had stepped right into the middle of the room. To their left was a blank wall; all along the far wall there were cracked pillars half-hiding faded lyrics and drawings. But no doors. To their right was a more grand-looking appearance. The floor was raised a bit, and a group of small pillars were encircling what looked to be…well…a monstrosity.

It was huge, black, and spread out like a couple of stiff arms. Whatever it was, it was covered by a black sheet, and impaled by numerous sharp metal objects. On the wall behind it were drawings that seemed to be fitting—drawings depicting crowds of people, all gathering, all with their fists raised…

Sigh…well, it was the last thing in the room. And there were no doors leading to any new areas. Their only other choice would be to head on back down the tunnel…so it came to this.

"This better be something important," Mick muttered. He reached over and felt the handle of a giant tomahawk that was half-buried in the stone floor. "Either that or we take some of these for people-slaying."

"We have a dying man here," Shawn seethed.

"Well, what do you suggest we DO, huh?" Mick hissed. "Paul might be dead, Joey might be dead, JIM might be dead soon—this is just pure dogshit, alright? And whoever built this room should be shot."

Shawn grumbled. "You—so you're giving up, huh? That it? Instead of helping be on the lookout for someone who apparently looks like Corey, since I haven't seen him, you're just going to grab a weapon and tear shit up? What's happened to you?"

Mick shrugged. "Eh…whatever his name is…I doubt he'd be hiding under a stupid tarp. Just look at it! It's a stupid…thing! Might as well help write Jim a eulogy while we're at it…"

Corey slowly turned around. "Okay, now you're back to your piss-everyone-off routine," the pale-masked man said as he grabbed Mick's collar. "Either say something helpful or shut the hell up."

"You shut your great big mouth shut, and maybe we—"

"ALRIGHT YOU WOKE ME UP. WHAT THE HELL."

The black sheet flew off as if a giant hand had grabbed it and hurled it aside. Corey and Mick both stumbled and stepped back as the armed thing stepped out of the stone platform. Hurling aside every one of the steel weapons, it stood up slowly…revealing that it was merely human-sized.

And bore the floppy green dreadlocks and a white jumpsuit.

"I really didn't think anyone would find this room," he muttered with a shrug. "Huh. Oh well. Um…hi, guys?"

"Oh, now it shows up," Mick mumbled.

"The talking monster truck needs to learn his place," the green-haired man sighed. "Honestly, how can you get anywhere down here with a big mouth if you don't even have as much as…a butter knife? I kinda find it funny."

"That's not what we're here for," said Shawn as he stepped forward. "If your name is (sic), then you must know what to do…"

The man nodded. He turned to the clown-masked man and tilted his head to the side. "Got something?"

"Yeah…it's Jim. I'm sure you've met him already before. Too many internal injuries to keep going, but what else are we going to do…I figured you'd be the only one who could do a thing."

He stepped back as Sid and Jim slowly stumbled forward, both clutching each other tightly. The taller man was slumped forward with his hair veiling all of his face, and bore numerous bloodstains all over his jumpsuit. His breaths were deep enough to echo across the room. When they stopped, Jim almost fell forward on his knees.

(sic) stepped closer and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. The green-haired man hummed to himself softly, brushed a lock of hair from the other's face, and licked his lips. Finally he sighed deeply and shook his head.

"You're kinda in a bad scenario, dude," he muttered. "Jimmy boy, you're stuck in a time warp."

"We all know that," said Sid. "I'm in one, too!"

"Well, it means I can't help him!" (sic) shouted back in an equally loud tone. "The man was helped before in this form, but I really can't help him again if he still looks like this. He needs to get back to the now-period…or something."

"B-But…he's gonna die," Sid whimpered as he clutched Jim's arm tightly. "Isn't there anything…?"

"There's the way to get you guys out of the time warp, at least. You guys ready for a long trek?"

"NO," Mick bellowed.

"Well, too BAD," (sic) growled back as he narrowed his gaze. "The only way to get out of said time warp is to travel across the fields to the far end of the Umbra's lands, to the mountain range, climb the tallest mountain, and break the seal. You've probably seen that thing already. Weird pink searchlight that chases people? It's not as active anymore, now that you haven't been on the surface, but it is always at the ready. So…I think an alternate route is the best bet. Long, ugly route underground, but at least it's not the same tunnels you were in before, right?"

The masked man cracked a nervous grin.

"Jimmy's still gonna die," Sid seethed. "That's too long."

"I'm not FINISHED!" (sic) yelled back. "Let me GET THERE first! Okay, okay—I know you guys are really going to be a bit confused by this, but it's the only way it's gonna work. And he'll still be alive after this—sort of, anyway. In a few pieces…but let me do this! It'll work, trust me!"

"You're probably a quack," Mick muttered.

"Is it gonna hurt?" said Sid as he hugged Jim even tighter.

(sic) looked over at Sid and formed a gentle smile on his pale face, shaking his head. "I highly doubt it," he said with a shrug. "Let's try this, shall we?"

The group stepped back as Sid stood in place, still holding Jim. The taller man breathed heavily, still feeling the pain fluctuating between pain and worse pain. More than anything, he just wanted to lie down and sleep, but he knew in his mind that if he did that this very second, he'd end up writhing in place. His legs felt jittery and a bit numb…

Suddenly it felt like he'd been shot again. He could feel his insides leaving him, trailing behind him, in front of him, to his left, in horrid, massive pain…and suddenly…all went numb. He could no longer see. He could no longer feel. He no longer felt like he was standing next to Sid anymore…

…and yet there he was. He knew in his mind he was here. Opening his eyes…he could see.

He could see from three different places.

"Okay, what the HELL?" Mick growled. "What kind of—"

"J-Jimmy…?"

The taller man glanced down at himself. His jumpsuit was no longer blue, but black with a red band around his right arm, and upon his left breast was the emblem of a red goat. His hair was jet-black but the front bangs that hung at either cheek were dyed red. The mask he wore was a darkened silver, and the jester-like markings around his eyes were a deep gray.

Suddenly a second stepped in from Sid's right. His jumpsuit was a blinding vivid red, and his hair was a short and spiky blond. The markings around his eyes were a dark red.

"Hey…"

A third stepped in from behind them. He wore a two-piece black suit with white markings on either arm, very similar to what Sid was wearing. His hair was fluffier and almost shoulder-length, and the front bangs were dyed a pale orange. Whereas his left eye was black and bore a red star around it, his right eye was red and bore a black star. The mask itself was gaunt and heavily wrinkled.

Sid grabbed (sic)'s jumpsuit collar. "Okay, what the HELL did you just do?" he cried. "I see three Jims! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"That's the point," the pale-faced man said with a smirk. "I did say he'd be in three pieces—well, I'll explain, then. All I did was extract what was from his mind and put it out here."

Um…but…what'd you do…with Jim's hurt body, then?"

"I dissolved it into nothin'…what? It was the best thing to do with an empty shell!"

"So those three Jims…those are…his mind?"

"Personalities, I should say…I guess. You expect me to know how the guy thinks?"

Sid felt a tug on his right sleeve. The Jim with the red hair and red band on his arm shrugged and moved in closer, and started fingering the younger man's hair.

"You can call that Jim 1, or something," said (sic). "The red guy can be Jim 2, and that freak show can be Jim 3. Since they're in reality now, there's no real need to worry about Jim's old self dying of a bullet wound. You still need to break that seal, though. Obviously Siddy boy's in danger of the same fate…I mean, Jim will come back as his good ol' self later, since…he'll be back in his now-self again…it's just…for now…"

"Well…" Sid shrugged, "if this is the only thing that was gonna make Jim okay…I guess we're okay? For now?"

"For one, you got three Jims; that's more than enough company!"

"I DUNNO WHICH ONE TO HOLD ONTO, OKAY?!"

"Uhh…all three of them?"

The other two Jims turned to Sid and shrugged.

"I really dunno what to say anymore, but this place reeks of boredom," the Jim in the two-piece suit moaned as he crossed his arms. "We leaving yet?"

(sic) turned and glared at him. "Yeah, hold your horses, you guys," he said with a sigh. "The super-secret tunnel is behind me. The wall behind me is actually a gate, and if I pull this lever…you guys get to go somewhere."

He reached over to his left and grabbed the handle of the steel tomahawk, and pulled it toward him. A giant rumble echoed and vibrated right under their feet. Some dust rained from the far wall as the old drawing of the crowd shifted over to the right, creaking loudly as it traveled slowly. Some of them shut their ears. Behind it all was a darkened passageway, so dark that they couldn't see a single thing beyond the first five feet. The ground looked wet and slimy, and perhaps filled with unspeakable gunk.

"What's…that…smell?!" Corey groaned.

"Well, there's a lot of stuff back down in there that even I'm unsure about," said (sic). "Since that Wednesday fellow showed up and screwed with the surface, I have absolutely no idea what's in there. Heck, you might even find…I dunno…sewer alligators? Aliens? Corpses? Eh, it's a long walk. The sooner you get started, the sooner you'll get there…"

The Jim with the red jumpsuit shifted behind Sid and tried to bend down to the younger man's height, keeping his head directly behind his. Sid could feel warm breathing down his neck.

"…Are you scared?" Sid asked.

All he got as a reply was a simple nod and a shrug.

(sic) looked at the group, from one to the next, and twiddled his thumbs. "You guys obviously need some sort of arsenal," he said nervously as he stared up at the ceiling. "Micky, you need a sword that makes your big mouth irrelevant. Corey, you…yeah. And for the clown, you need something deserving of yourself. All this running around, and you still don't have something to clobber zombies with?"

There was silence, but half the group nodded in response.

"Oh yeah…and you three Jims really need something, too…because having three running targets—"

"GOOD GOD WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT ALREADY," Mick growled.

"Just…be careful in there," (sic) said nervously, his voice quieting to no louder than a near-whisper.

Sid…hide me, okay? The red Jim thought to himself. I swear I'm just the new guy forever…and maybe I'll never get used to this freak circus. I'll always be…well…YOU'LL always be…my shield.

That's pretty pathetic, the Jim in the two-piece jumpsuit shot back. You come all this way, and all you can do is hide? You got SHOT, for fuck's sake! And LIVED!

Loosen up, just shut up, the red-haired Jim thought to the other two. Just think…it's another adventure! Nothing's been too scary to try so far, right? Plus it's not alone…Sid's here. Sid…

Excuse me if I feel like it, thought the different-eyed Jim, but Sid…Sid…when we get back, I'm gonna live with that guy forever. I'm done with how I've lived before. I could write a thousand songs about him…god, I can't stop staring…

…You're…weird…was all the blond Jim could think.