The Future, the Past and the Ugly (Untrusted Love: Electric Boogaloo)

Ch 1. Drop

Mono's body hurt. Bruised from all the blows that had been dealt to him. None of that meant much to him as none of the hits were directly to hurt him. Mono was aware that this monster before him, that was before him, was innocent. Six. His best, and frankly only, friend. She had been taken and transformed into a monster. He had saved her, in doing so destroyed her beloved music box. Now he lay. The concrete beneath him was cold, smooth but rumbling slightly. The little boy slowly sat up. Arms sore from dragging the axe, legs throbbing from the running, back aching from hiding. Mono's vision cleared and he saw Six, back to normal, sit up as well. She first spotted the music box and the boy witnessed her visibly tense. Turning away from it, she finally noticed him. Not fully remembering what happened, she rushed to her injured friend.

"Mono? Mono what happened?!" She demanded, red eyes glowing. He attempted to sit up fully but his little body gave out, needing Six to help him up. Her eyes softened as she took in just how pained he was.

"You're okay," he smiled weakly. The girl gave him a look that could kill.

"Of course I am! What happened?" She asked again, normal stubborn attitude returning. Mono could tell she was worried; Six often spoke the most when she was. That and hurting him was also common. Mono was about to answer her but another loud rumble broke the silence. He took her hand and the two made a dash for the exit.

A large, long hallway stretched on but the two could barely make out a white light further ahead. Pushing the previous pains down for now, the exhausted boy watched as Six tore away. Mono ran. He ran as fast as he could but he had no chance of being as fast as Six. She was already ahead but when he tripped, he had to run twice as fast. The bridge began to crumble, much worse than before. Chancing a look behind him, Mono's heart froze. The base of the bridge the two were running on had just crumbled down into the abyss. Glancing back at Six, she was safely on the other side, already turning to Mono. She stood in front of a glowing static filled screen-like door. The path in front of Mono fell, too. He was now running on a falling length of concrete. Mono jumped, mind and heart racing. Six's hand caught him, barely. Mono's body hit the concrete from the momentum but he soon came to a halt, dangling freely. Daring to look down, all Mono could see was a dark, all consuming void below him. Returning his gaze to Six, Mono felt his body become completely still. Her face was scrunched in pain, evidently holding Mono was tiring. Both their hands were coated in sweat from the anxiety and stress, further worsening her grip. Mono slid a bit further down to the darkness.

"Six!" Mono warned, reflexively attempting to pull himself closer to her. Six grunted as she struggled to keep him from falling. Suddenly, Mono got the awful sense of free-fall, of dread, of impending doom and death.

Mono and Six felt another rumble shake the bridge.

Time seemed to slow, even freeze.

Six lost her balance, free arm shot out to steady herself.

Mono felt his body rattle, his fingernails digging into Six's hand on instinct.

Six froze in place, eyes wide and focused on one thing.

Mono screamed as he suddenly felt the full force of gravity.

She let go.

Six watched as the form of the boy got smaller until he disappeared into the abyss.

Six dropped him.

/ / / 

Six stared in horror. She'd dropped him. How could she?

"H-he just slipped out of my h-hand" she muttered to herself, terror evident in her voice. She was beginning to feel ill from guilt. The hum of the TV behind her started to die down as her head filled with thoughts. How.. how dare she! Six closed her eyes tight as tears began to well up.

"No, no, no, no!" She said out loud. "This isn't happening!". Six wanted to smack herself. Six knew finding someone to trust in this world was impossible. She was so lucky to have Mono by her side. Six was half tempted to jump in after her best friend but her body refused. Six let a half choke, half sob escape her mouth as she remembered all the things the two did together. Her mind told her to just move on, forget him, escape but her cold, little heart disagreed.

Finally, Six managed to stand up on weak legs. She dared to look over the ledge, praying to see Mono holding on still or laying on his back just below her, trying to give her a heart attack with a stupid joke. She could almost hear the sounds of his amused laugh. Mono is dead. Six didn't like to think Mono died, laying at the bottom of the void. Body mangled, neck snapped, alone. Six trembled heavily at the thought of him being scared, of Mono dying alone. She didn't want Mono to die alone. A sickening thought crossed her mind. I hope it was quick, so he wasn't in any pain. Six gagged at the tragic idea, it was true but it still felt horrible to think. She looked down into the darkness.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mono" she whispered, knowing she had to leave before the bridge fell with her still on it.

With that thought, Six turned and stumbled to the doorway. She was able to reach out and touch it. The screen sucked her in as Six remembered her Mono.

She didn't mean to.

———

Just to clarify, in this loop, Six accidentally drops Mono