TRIPPLE ON

Four Stacks

"You can try to fight them alone. I doubt you'll survive but you're full of surprises, aren't you?" Zacharie beckons with a thin, wide smile. To The Batter's amazement, Zacharie looks more human than anybody has ever seen. Either too human, or not human at all. Just what exactly are humans supposed to look like? Is it that diverse of a species? But Zacharie was all too different. There is no distortion to his image, he is proportional. That face he hid all this time was an intimidating one.

"I can fight them."

"On your own?"

"Yes."

"No. You can't. And you won't. Let me pitch a curve ball at you," Zacharie insists, taking two steps closer to The Batter. "if you do come out of there alive, I'll buy you a drink and admit I was wrong. But if you come back crying with your butt handed back to you, I'll keep you here to keep me company. What do you say?"

"No," The Batter responds. "if you strongly insist that I don't fight alone, join me. The Judge can come with us too." He surprises Zacharie with his answer.

"That was easier than I thought. Well, I'll accept that, but Pablo's paying for something else. He can't crawl in without buying something, so we agreed on a little service for you."

"This agreement wasn't even in the story. Did you two make some secret code of eye contact?"

"Maybe, and hey, the fourth wall breaking is my role. And the questions. Are you indirectly mocking me?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, that's good enough." Zacharie leaps forward and jumps onto The Batter, tipping the chair over along with him. Black strand of hair dangle about as the unmasked man looks down at the purifier. He smiles at first, rolling his hips against The Batter's thighs. He leans down and kisses his neck.

"What the hell are you doing." The Batter says, untouched by Zacharie's advances. The unmasked man stops and stares at him wide eyed. He tries to kiss him more. On the cheek, on his lips. He even presses his knee against The Batter's lower section, obtaining no response.

"You... Don't feel anything?"

"Yes, I feel you touching me all over and it's uncomfortable. Please stop."

"You almost scared me there. Are you tense? Calm down for once. This is supposed to feel warm and nice."

"I don't see what's warm and nice about you rubbing your body against mine."

"... You're tearing me apart here." Zacharie sighs loudly and lies down on top of The Batter. The two are still for a long time, unaware of the flying time. The Batter's not bothered by Zacharie resting on him, but it looks bizarre in his perspective. Isn't Zacharie a man? Not a woman? Or is love a concept without boundaries? He just recently met him, and knows nothing about him at all. It must be this service. His role as a host. It rises more questions. Would Zacharie actually 'serve' the three guardians? They hardly look human enough to receive it. But this Zacharie. This almost perfect looking human. This is not a place for him. He is too perfect looking for this. Anything but here. He'll be free as well. Maybe he'll go with The Batter back to Gershom so they can enjoy eternal sunshine and french toast with The Judge and his family. That sounds like a happy ending. An ending The Batter would choose for the end of this mission. Jerusha is no place for a perfect looking human, because it'll distort his image, and make him a different 'thing'. The Batter looks at the forest of black hair in front of him and raises a hand, stroking the hair aside. It's soft.

-ON ON ON-

There are no clocks, so time is not told. One can only trust his instinct to tell time. The Judge is on standby, licking his paws with his rough tongue. Zacharie and The Batter are sound asleep, laying down on the room floor. "They didn't do anything, that almost surprises me." The Judge purrs, finishing up on his grooming. The Batter hears the cat's meows and sits up, holding Zacharie along with him. "Had fun?"

"Is it morning time yet."

"It is, indeed. Did Zacharie tell you how to get in?"

"No."

"Seems like he was impatient to lose our bet." The Judge snickers.

"You even made a bet out of context." The Batter snaps monotonically. The Judge only smiles his eerie smile and meows plainly. But the savior looks down at his sleeping acquaintance, thinking deeply. Staring deeply down.

"Charming, isn't he?" The Judge taunts, smiling widely. "Too bad he's just as lost as the rest of us in Jerusha. You're like the knight in shining armor with a white horse, only without the horse, and a shining bat instead."

"If he's Prince Charming why won't he feel affection correctly," Zacharie laughs as he leans his head on The Batter's chest. "go hand me my cat mask, Pablo. I hope you're well aware that you're fighting alongside us when we reach the Grand Factory."

"I'm... What?"

"Don't worry, I have to help too. The Batter insisted that we all worked together to fight the three guardians."

"You wouldn't have it any other way." The Batter retorts.

"I don't want you to die," Zacharie grins as The Judge hands him his mask. "I sorta like you." He quickly puts on the mask and meows.

"Humans," The Judge purrs. "your sentiment is your own embarrassment. So tell us, Zacharie. How do we get to the Grand Factory."

"With this key. It unlocks the back entrance, which is poorly guarded by the Burnt. With that bat of yours, I'm sure you can get past them with ease. We'll arrive at the cleaning facilities and from there, we can find a staircase leading to the lower floors. The last floor down is where the switches are kept. The guardians, however, are scattered around the lower floors. If luck is on our side, we wouldn't have to encounter any of them. But that would be too easy and boring. So all in all, we storm in and turn the cleansing switches on." He tosses a silver key at The Batter, who catches it. "Another set back is the smoke stacks. We have to enter when the smoke is a light grey. Entering while its pitch black is a zero percent survival rate. Why? Black smoke indicates the 'Night Shift'. Aside from their normal, boring employers, they test these man made creatures to defend the factory for twelve hours. It's like some experiment they like to hold every now and then. I would watch the smoke if I were you. If we enter while it's grey and it changes on us, you better have a good reason as to why we shouldn't get the hell out before it's too late."

"The Sun can help me, we don't need to worry about the smoke."

"Well, if that's the case, then we're set. I need to return home to tell Valerie I'll be joining you. Can you two come with me?"

"Of course, Pablo! Anything for a good old cat friend." Zacharie stands up and offers The Batter a hand. He accepts it and is lifted up from the floor. The three now enter the elevator for the last time. For they will be leaving this building forever. As they reach the ground floor, the music doesn't match their heartbeats. They are nervous. They are excited. But most of all, they are scared and bent, wondering what is ahead of them once they embark on their final mission.