Thirteen (Mono×OC)

Chase

We tried to pull Six through the screen, but she was pulled back with a shriek. I cried in terror as the Thin Man appeared on the screen, walking towards us. Mono grabbed an axe, beginning to chop down the door before I barreled through. My shoulder hurt from the impact, but I scooped up the Nomes and held Mono's hand.

"Mono! Run, damnit!" I yelled. We crawled under floorboards and paused before a gap as the Thin Man searched for us. We climbed into a long hallway that the Thin Man appeared at the end of. We pulled stool over and pulled the boards down, climbing out. We slid down slanted roofs and onto the caboose of a train. The Thin Man appeared behind us and we ran to the front. He glitches rather than running, and just as he appeared beside us we severed the train cars. The car we where on rushed forward, and I clung to Mono until it crashed. The nomes where still in my pockets.

We saw shadow Six usher us up a ladder, on a street in miles front of the building. The city seemed to glitch and the tower got closer. Suddenly the lights flickered and the Thin Man appeared in front of us. I was about to shoot him, but Mono stepped in front of me. He took off the bag and set it down beside him. The rain swept the bag away as Mono glared at the Thin Man. The lights flickered as Mono keeled down. The Thin Man reached forward but Mono copied him.

There was a bright light and the Thin Man momentarily doubled over. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Mono yelled, "I have the same powers as you! I am done running! I have people I care about, people I love! I am stronger than the signal, I am stronger than the corruption! I AM STRONGER THAN YOU!" Mono yelled. The Thin Man fell to his knees, and Mono doubled over.

He had a face of steely determination and the lights flickered. The city shifted and the signal tower got closer and closer. The door opened, revealing a purple light. I grabbed Moon's hand, staring at him. "Mono, you are incredible!" I praised as we walked inside. The halls twisted until we got into an Esher painting. We followed a familiar melody through a door an up cycadelic stairs.

The doors had purple spilling through, in the same hallway over and over. "What?" Mono asked. "I... I think the signal is distorting space. We need to follow the music." I said. We followed the eerie melody past distorted and destroyed doors and up a floating staircase. We pushed open one door, which opened two, and kept appearing in the same room with four doors. We ignored where we had just come from and went into the door where the music was loudest. We went up a set of stairs and through the twisting doors, making my head hurt until we got into a large room with toys and a large music box.

On the opposite of the room, my jaw dropped. Six was a huge creature, her arm's and legs distorted and long, bending at odd angles. Her hair was gangly and covering her eyes. I shuddered as she shambled over, holding the music box. "Six?" Mono and I asked in unison. Six ambled over  carefully and Mono walked past, grabbing a hammer. He looked me in the eyes and I understood what we needed to do. Mono brought the hammer down and Six cowered in the corner. Parts of the building crumbled as Six let out an angry cry and we ran for our young lives.

We hid under a table when six crawled in through a hole in the wall. She searched for a moment before going through a door, dragging the mix behind her. Mono took an axe and chopped a door down. There was a room, and in the middle was Six holding the busted box proactively. Mono and I both yelled and ran through the door. Mono brought the axedown and disappeared. A moment later he reappeared, and each time Six went back to the box I yelled  distracting Six for Mono to land another blow.

The music box looked almost destroyed when Six caught me. I yelled at Mono to hurry the hell up. I pushed away from Six as she tried to eat me, and with one strong blow. The room around us had collapsed and Mono grabbed the axe. He yelled and Six flinched back. The box was destroyed in a second.

Six screamed in agony and shrunk. When I got to her she was unconscious, and I scooped her up. The building began to collapse around us. "Jake! June! Take Six and run! I ordered them. The surprisingly strong Homes ran with Six as the walls turned to flesh and chased us. The Nomes brought Six across a bridge, and I pulled the metal columns down as we ran past.

The building creaked and collapsed.

The bridge began to decay.

I jumped the short distance and turned to Mono.

He missed the ledge, just barely hanging on

I grabbed his hands and tried to pull him up as the bridge kept crumbling. The Nomes went through the door with Six as I hoisted him up. We got through the door.

The world was dark for a minute, and I felt something shake my shoulder. "Een... irteen... Thirteen!" Someone yelled. I opened my eyes to see Mono trying to pull me into an alley. I stood and we crouched in the alley. With a final groan, like the cry of a dying creature, the tower fell. Debris flew past us as Mono and I stared. "We... destroyed the tower." Mono said. "We killed the Thin Man too." Mono and I looked at each other, expressions blank.

Suddenly my face broke into a grin. "We destroyed the signal!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air. "And we rescued Six!" He said, smiling with me. I cheered before squeaking in surprise. Mono had hugged me around the waist and was spinning me around, lifting me up. "We can find somewhere safe to live!" He said, setting me on my feet. We smiled and laughed, staring at each other, panting from the run, the fight, and laughing our heads off.

I stared at his blue eyes, suddenly entranced, and an idea popped into my head. I was about to dismiss it, but victory adrenaline made me excited.

"Ah, screw it." I said, "Wha-" I cut Mono off by cupping his face in my hands and standing on my tippy toes, kissing him. I felt him tense up before relaxing. His arm's wrapped around my waist and I smiled into the kiss. Suddenly a chattering sound made me pull away, and I looked down to see the Nomes clapping at the spectacle.

Mono's greyish skin was red as my hair as I smiled at the pair. "Where did you two put Six, huh?" I asked them, my hands on Mono's chest as he made a weird noise. (The window powering down noise. We all know it.) The Nomes chittered and pointed to Six, sleeping on a bench covered in clothes. I giggled and pecked Mono's lips before going over to her and scooping her up just as she opened her eyes.

She looked scared and tears streamed down her eyes. "Shh... shh.... it's okay now. You're safe." I said, kissing her forehead. "We're safe."