Dreams of an Absolution

Severing Ideals (Episode 49)

About half an hour had gone by since their odd encounter with Maxwell occurred. Jessica and Timothy had finally arrived at the hospital to visit Brian. Once they got into his room, they had both caught him up on everything that had happened today thus far. As Brian sat on the edge of his bed, Timothy and Jessica explained everything.

"Soooooo, wait, let me get this straight. You mean to tell me Lucas allowed a wanted mass murderer to live with him!? And you guys were alright with that!? What the hell?!? We're becoming heroes! If you know where a highly dangerous criminal is currently hiding out and don't notify the police or heroes, you're just as bad as the criminal himself! That goes for the both of you and Lucas. Especially Lucas in this case. But I never really cared for the guy anyways. It's more of you two that concerns me," Brian scolded, upset at both of them. Jessica looked down at floor, appearing ashamed. Timothy on the other hand, kept a stern expression.

"And once any authority figures get there, they'll kill him. Killing him for the lives he took won't do anything! That cycle of killing from each side isn't what any of us want in our futures! I want to break that cycle! And I believe, no, I know I can break that cycle! But not only me though. Lucas is the first step in achieving that cycle!" shouted Timothy.

Suddenly, Brian stood up and yelled back, "That's enough! Timothy, you saying you can break that cycle is ridiculous! I don't want to be that guy, but I'm your brother, so I'm going to be realistic with you!"

Timothy was beginning to become infuriated, as Jessica stood awkwardly out of the way. With his arms crossed, Brian continued, "You found the wanted villain. You had a chance to have him sent back to prison, but no. You let him go. And for all we know as of now, Lucas is probably dead by now, and Caspian's out killing a bunch more people. Do you really want to live with that on your conscious? Do you understand-"

"Shut the hell up!" Timothy shouted in Brian's face. The room had gone silent. Jessica's jaw dropped instantly, as Brian's eyes had widened, expressing an intense frustration. But, Timothy didn't seem to care. He yelled once more to Brian, "Not everything you say or do is right all the time! You may be slightly older, but that doesn't mean you get to control my emotions! Think about when I told you to stop running towards Slick when he said he captured Jessica. You got shot in the leg just because you didn't listen to me."

Hearing that slightly calmed Brian, as he looked down. He still looked mad, but he knew Timothy was right about that at least. Timothy took a breath, as he said in a calmer manner, "I know you know I'm right. I'm not asking you to agree with me on this, but deep down, this is what I feel is right. Caspian is only our age, but from what I saw, he clearly regrets his actions. Lucas is helping him-"

"What?! Nobody just changes overnight Timothy! I don't give a damn who you are or what you've gone through! That's no excuse to take innocent lives! Are you guys insane?! That's just ridiculous! You, Jessica, and Lucas are all too gullible! I can't believe what I'm hearing. Like I'm actually shocked. I'm sorry man but you sound delusional! Y'know, I was sitting here all excited, finally out of that damn hospital gown and ready to tell you guys I'm cleared to go home. But then, I hear this crazy shit! Did you even think about the families of those innocent lives he took while you were thinking of how to justify your friend harbouring a criminal?! I understand I'm not right all the time, but even the dumbest person can tell you that ideology of yours is flawed man! Listen-"

"No! I'm not listening! I'm leaving!" Timothy yelled as he angrily turned around to storm out of the room. But before he could take more than a step, Brian grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yelled, "No! You're going to stay and listen to what I have to say, Timothy!"

Instantly, Timothy quickly turned back around and swatted Brian's hand off his shirt. Infuriating him, Brian jolted up off the bed and aggressively shoved Timothy to the floor. In immediate retaliation, Timothy dashed up onto his feet and punched Brian in his stomach, sending him stumbling backwards onto the side of his bed. Now enraged, Brian got up once more and swung a left hook into the side of Timothy's jaw. The punch knocked him off balance, but before he could fall, Brian caught him by his shirt and launched Timothy over the hospital bed, sending him crashing into the monitoring equipment on the other side.

"That's enough! Cut it out!" angrily yelled Jessica, sprinting over to stop the fight. She instantly ran over to where Timothy was thrown, noticing he was bruised up and dazed whilst trying to get to his feet. Brian on the other hand, had the face of a serial killer. Furious, he breathed heavily as blood dripped from his lip. At that point, hospital staff ran into the room and saw what all the commotion was.

Suddenly, Brian hopped over the hospital bed, readying to punch Timothy once more. Seeing this, Jessica tossed Timothy to the side and quickly decked Brian in the face. The staff gasped, as Brian was knocked on his ass against his bed.

Brian swiftly glanced up, looking like a rabid animal. But then, his face changed, when we saw Jessica's. She had an expression of pure sadness. She said nothing, as she picked up Timothy and helped him walk out of the room past the hospital staff. Brian then looked down to the floor at his own blood droplets. He immediately felt immense disappointment in himself, as the hospital staff ran over to check up on him.

Eight minutes had gone by since. Jessica had helped the dazed Timothy make his way out of the hospital safely. The sky was now pink, as the sun was beginning to set. Once outside, she had sat him down on a bench stationed out front of the hospital entrance, and sat beside him. Looking saddened, Jessica put her hand on Timothy's shoulder and asked, "Hey. Are you going to be alright?"

Rubbing the back of his dizzy head, Timothy replied with an empty expression, "Yeah, I'm... I'm okay. Thanks Jess." Through her sadness, she smiled and replied, "Always dude. I called my mom. She'll be here to pick us up in a bit."

Looking up at the evening sky above, Timothy's expression shifted. He looked mad. "He just didn't listen. I know what I said sounded crazy, but still, it didn't have to go that far between him and I. I'm sorry."

Looking up to the sky as well, Jessica replied, "It's alright dude. You're boys, brothers even, so stuff like that is bound to happen. Besides, no need to apologize. Especially to me. We all have our different ideals or whatever. I'm never gonna judge your ideals dude, no matter how crazy you or Brian's ideals are sometimes."

Timothy turned to her and smiled. "Well that's good to hear. Say, speaking of, what's your ideals?" Timothy curiously asked her. Jessica then put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes, looking relaxed. She smiled calmly and said, "Don't worry about it my dude. Let's just relax and chill for the rest of the night.

Out of the blue, Jessica softly grabbed Timothy by the head, resting him on her thighs. Instantly, Timothy blushed bright red and he started sweating, not knowing what to do. Still looking relaxed, Jessica chuckled and replied, "Relaaaax duuuude."

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location..
"Ohhhhhhh myyyyyyy," deeply moaned Pokerolli, the number eight hero. Three former black suited criminals who worked for Slick were crying out in pain. They were all wrapped together in cold, black chains on a single chair. They were all unmasked, revealing two guys and one girl. The room they were in was nearly pitch black, illuminated by a single spotlight.

In his deep voice, Pokerolli groaned "Mmmmm. I'll ask once more. Where's the hideout of your boss? Oh yes, keep struggling in my chains, they will only get tighter. Ohhh my, you better talk now. I'm getting turned on."

The faces of struggle swiftly switched to faces of fear, as each of them began to sweat nervously. The seven foot tall monstrosity that was Pokerolli inched closer as the criminals began trembling. "PLEASE! That's enough! We'll tell you everything just please! Have mercy!"

Pokerolli then licked his lips and replied, "Now that's what daddy likes to hear." An officer then appeared from behind Pokerolli. "Have your sickening interrogation methods worked yet?" the officer questioned.

With a devilish grin, Pokerolli turned to the officer and replied, "What terrible timing. I was just about to squeeze the ripe juices out of them before you rudely interrupted." The officer looked disgusted, as he replied, "That won't be necessary. Besides, we have someone here related to the case." Suddenly, Mrs. Rivera appeared from the shadows, dressed in all black with a serious glare on her face.