Riddle Middle

Chapter 12: Threat

(3rd person)

"Ugh..." future Smiley groaned. "Zack, C'mon! Just open the door," Smiley said. "A-Are you gonna hurt me again?..." asked the voice. "No Zack, I won't hurt you," Smiley answered. "What'd you do to him?" young Phred asked. "That doesn't matter, balun," Smiley said to Phred. "I-I don't believe you! Just leave m-me alone!" the voice said. "Alright Zack, I'll go," she said. The voice sighed, then there were footsteps away from the door. Smiley didn't move, then pulled out her sword and thrust it through the door. She held it there for a minute, then yanked it out. "W-what are you doing?" asked the voice. Smiley reached her hand through the hole she had made in the door and felt for the doorknob. "ZACK! What's wrong with the doorknob?!" she called. "I put gasoline on it so you couldn't come in!" he said. Smiley tried to yank her arm out but stopped and winced. "Aw crankshaft! Not again!" she groaned. "Do you need help?" Young Phil asked. "No! I just...What would you do anyway?!" she shouted. She put her leg onto the door and yanked backwards. "Oh hubcap that hurts..." she mumbled. "I told you to go away, but for some reason you tried to come in anyway," the voice from inside said.

"Why'd it have to be my leg? If it was my arm, this would've been so much easier..." Smiley grumbled. "What do you mean?" asked young Zack. "None of your business," she said. "Geez, Smiley turned into a real jerk," young Zack said. Future Smiley sighed, then reached for her sword. She rammed it into the door, holding it there for a while. "ZACK, WHERE'S MY SWORD?!" she shouted. "It's in my hand," the voice behind the door said. "Are you sure you don't need help?" Human Phil asked. Smiley hesitated. "Hey guys!" said the text-to-speech voice. "The young Smiley is awake! Oh my, what happened here?" it asked. "She was going to show me my variant, but he wouldn't open the door. She made a hole in the door with her sword and got her arm stuck in it. My variant put gasoline on the doorknob so she can't open it," Zack explained. The robot crawled over to the door and examined the door. Young Smiley emerged from the other room, looking exhausted. "Hey Smiley!" Phil called, rushing over to her. Phil and Smiley hugged tightly. "How much do you know of what happened?" Phil asked. "Well, let's see...We went into a portal, now we're in the future, and our future variants brought us to their base," she said. "Sounds like you know about as much as me," Phil said. "Come see your variant," Phil said, walking down the hallway.

Smiley followed excitedly. Future Smiley now had a circular piece of wood attached to her forearm, and she looked embarrassed. Future Smiley pulled the wood off her arm and winced. Future Smiley then yanked a long piece of wood out of her arm. The tip on the wooden fragment was red. The robot used 3 claw like hands to wrap gauze around her arm. "That should be fine, just refrain from putting any weight or strain on it," the robot said. "Thanks," she said. Smiley already disliked her variant and was a bit frightened by her. The robot crawled over to young Smiley. "If you feel nauseous or have a headache, you should lay down," the robot said. "Yeah, I probably should," Smiley said, following the robot back into the room that seemed to be its office. Young Phil went over and joined his friends. Future Smiley had gone back to the bar area. The robot leaned out of his office and said, "The rest of you can sleep in the room next to Zack's, when you're ready,". He disappeared back into his office. The friends all walked into the room, which had sleeping bags sprawled on the floor. They all climbed into sleeping bags, and within minutes, everyone was asleep. Except for Zack, who couldn't stop thinking about his variant. He got up and snuck out of the room and into the dark hallway. He walked down the hallway and to the halls end, where his variants room was. He knocked on the door. Zack's variant cracked it open. "Y-yes?" he asked, looking down at his younger self. "Oh, it's just you." he said, opening the door fully.

"What's with you and Smiley?" Younger Zack asked himself. "The older one?" He asked, Zack nodded. "She hurt me; therefore, I'm scared of her. She also won't leave me alone,". "What'd she do?" Younger Zack asked. Older Zack shivered. "You should come inside in case she hears," he said. Younger Zack followed him into his room. They looked identical, besides the fact that older Zack was taller and had hair. "S-she lost her temper and almost cut my arm off!" he stammered. He yanked up his sleeve, revealing a large burn mark. "Woah...Can her sword melt things or something?" Younger Zack asked. "Yeah, it can heat up If she wants it to. I don't see why Phred gave her the option to," older Zack replied. "And what about her leg?" he asked. "I don't know why, but Phred had to give her a mechanical one. It looks cool, but I think she's embarrassed by it," older Zack answered. "Phreds the robot, right? Does he make everything?" Younger Zack questioned. "Yes, he's the robot. On top of making stuff, he's also like a medic," Older Zack said. "Okay, that's helpful. Thanks," Younger Zack said, leaving the room.