The Bandito Chronicles

I got a Migraine.

Tyler woke up in his bed, barely remembering how he got there. Josh was sitting there, staring just like the monsters, until he noticed Tyler wake up, and snapped to attention. "You okay Ty? You passed out right when you got to the water.." is... That what happened..? Tylers neck, head, and arms ached, sitting up slowly. He swears he saw the tree house again.. and.. another Josh.

"..yeah... Just.. just a headache." He felt like Josh's gaze was burning into him. "Do you mind leaving me alone a moment? I need to rest my eyes." He gave a small smile to Josh, who nodded with a smile. "Yeah, of course Ty! I'll be in my tent if you need me." Josh spoke happily, exiting the tent. Tyler waited until Josh had left, quickly grabbing his bag and opening his journal. "..I wonder.."

He went to his desk, opening the drawer and pulling out a lighter, flicking it on and staring at the flame for a moment. He could feel the warmth of the tree house throughout his whole body.. so it wasn't a lie. He slowly put the flame to the book, it taking light and slowly crackling, curling up into black ash. "Shit-" that was a stupid idea. He patted out the fire, though hearing whispers as he did so. Clearly and vividly. 'He burnt his journal. Is that normal?' one voice said. A female voice replied with 'i don't know, but when he closes it, fix it.'

Tyler widened his eyes, closing the book and waiting a moment before opening it again, the page completely fine, as if the burn never happened. Maybe.. maybe he could sneak out and find out how to contact the other Josh. He had fully lost all trust in this place, keeping his journal close to his chest. It was his only connection to this other place, within this seemingly simulated world. He felt a chill up his spine, quickly kicking on his boots to sneak away from the camp. Something was telling him to go back to that place.

He peeked out of his tent, making sure Josh wasn't able to see him, keeping his head low as he walked across the camp towards the cave entrance. He could feel himself heat up once more, the static calling him from beyond the boarder of trench. He needed to get to the bottom of this, no matter the cost. At least none of the banditos seemed to notice his exit, as he followed the gravel path underneath his feet. Once he was far enough into the cave he straightened, glancing behind him from time to time to make sure he wasn't being followed. Down the hill towards the bank, the static wall became more apparent since his last entry. Tyler sighed, worry building up in his chest as he went towards it. He pushed his body against the wall, passing through a little easier this time and catching himself on his feet in the black void, the tree house in perfect condition this time. He went towards it, hesitantly touching the tree and looking up to find a small ladder up into it. Maybe.. it's safer up there..? He stepped back, jumping and grabbing the end of the ladder to drag it down, adjusting it so it felt stable for him to climb.

He soon did so, though carefully, pulling himself up with a little grunt. The inside of the tree house weirdly enough looked like his old room in Dema, Tyler confused as ever. "you made it again. you remembered. good." Josh's voice echoed, scaring Tyler again. He put his fists up, ready to fight in case it was the wrong Josh. "Ty, calm down, you're gonna cause your body to go into shock." Josh mumbled, Tyler forcing himself to calm down. "The bishops fucked up my connection, so i can't really see or hear you, but I can see what your brains going through. Your cerebellum is lighting up so i know you're in the tree house." Tyler wasn't sure what to think. Though, he had an idea. He pulled out his journal, writing out 'can you see this?' inside it. It was a full two minutes before Josh responded "yeah, i can see your journal. nice thinking, Ty, but you'll have to erase everything so the bishops can't see once you get out of here." Tyler sighed, writing 'ok' and 'did you control fake Josh to get me here?' before sitting down on the bed and curling up on top of it. Josh sighed, replying "yeah.. it was hard to get into the files to be able to do that, y'know. You've been there for almost ten months, and it took me four months." Tyler's brain felt like it was on fire. Ten months...? It.. didn't feel like ten months.. "Ty, do you remember anything before this?" Josh's voice echoed, Tyler taking a few moments of silence. A stab in the back of his head, as per usual, but all he could remember was flashing lights, and very few voices. 'it's fragments, i don't remember at all.' was all he wrote. "well.. I need you to remember. You need to remember to be able to break the bishops hold on you, and then i can come save you. I've been waiting in the caves and camping there just to make sure i could keep you safe. But, you have to be able to save yourself as well." Tyler could feel as if the real Josh was sitting next to him, sharing that soft smile he always wore. 'I miss the real you.' Tyler wrote, looking up at his surroundings. "I miss you too dude." Josh chuckled, before giving a very soft sigh.

The windows seemed to show a vivid outline of the outside of Dema, which was pouring black snow from the dark clouds. It must be raining, Tyler thought. Or maybe that's why this place is always so cold. 'how long do you think I'll take?' Tyler wrote, hoping his surroundings jogged his memories somehow. "I'm not sure, but I'll try my best to help you with what I have out here. It's hard when you don't have all the hardware the bishops have." he laughed softly, before it sounded like he was typing. "I think i can plant a picture of what the real me looks like in there on the wall. 'okay. Anything else you can add?' Tyler replied, getting up to look at the photos on the wall. "Not much, but again, I'll see what I can do. You shouldn't be here much longer anyways, they might realize you're gone and drag you back forcefully and make you forget again." As Josh typed, the walls of the tree house flickered and changed, pictures of random points in time, Tyler taking note of each of them. They seemed to be part of his memories.. but when..?

"alright, I grabbed as many as I could fill up. go ahead and take a look Ty." Josh sighed, before the line cut for the moment. Tyler was already looking, pictures of him and Josh with scratched out faces lining a few of the walls. There was one that fully caught his eye though. A pure white table with a machine next to it, and cuff straps. This caused an intense shock to his brain, dropping his journal and crying out in pain as he held his head, sinking to the floor. "Ty? you okay? your whole head lit up!" Josh asked in a worried tone, Tyler weakly opening his eyes. 'H U R T' was the only thing he could crudely write, crying out in pain again as he curled up on the floor. This was the most intense migraine he's had since he's been here, and he felt like he was either going to puke or pass out. The room felt like it was spinning, and Josh's voice was fading out. He was calling for Tyler and asking if he was okay. The tree house felt hot again.

There was one more strong stab in his head before he was out cold.