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

Ch 2. Fall

Mono cried out again as he continued to fall. It felt like he'd been falling for hours.

He fell.

He fell.

Mono panicked, knowing the impact would surely kill him. He didn't want to die. Mono didn't know how long he had left. The abyss was too dark to see the ground coming. Mono wasn't sure if he wanted to know when he was approaching the ground, when he was going to die. He had given up flailing his arms and legs for something to grab onto, to save himself. Mono wondered what death was like. It couldn't be worse than his life so far. He hoped Six was okay, that she got out alive. I could look after her after I'm dead, Mono thought, ever optimistic.

Another feeling. Another strange sense of inescapable doom filled the boy. Mono knew. He knew this was it. He'd had his last thoughts, now it was time. Mono was about to die. Mono closed his eyes. He even smiled a little. He was scared to die, but he was ready for his death.

But it never came. Instead Mono hit the ground hard. His spine crunched violently as it recoiled from the impact. His jaw painfully cracked against his top teeth, narrowly avoiding biting his own tongue clean off. His head snapped back in the ground and his arms and legs flopped like rag dolls.

But he was alive.

Everything hurt, if the fall didn't kill him, the pain should have. Mono took a minute to even register he was crying. His eyes didn't open, his body didn't move. Anyone would have thought he was dead.

But he was alive.

Mono's teeth clenched together, trying to stop him from crying out further. His tiny broken body shook in pain. His eyes closed tighter. It hurt! It hurt so much. All Mono could do was stay still, waiting for the pain to die down and nerves to settle. Mono half wished he had died instead because this felt so much worse.

But he hadn't.

Mono didn't care how long he lay unmoving. After a while, however, feeling returned to his body. Slowly. First his fingers, then his hands, then arms. The ground he lay on was warm and yet cold in a strange way. It was moving, more like pulsing, and it stuck to him like raw flesh. Daring to move a finger, Mono could feel the ground react. It moved away but immediately came back, touching him once more. Mono didn't like it.

It took a few seconds to fully open his eyes and for them to adjust. Mono recognised the flesh around him as the same he found when travelling through the TV's and chased them previously. Mono eventually got his body to respond and sit up. He was in more pain than when the train crashed. Mono thought about it. Why hadn't he died? By all calculations, he should have never stayed conscious. Maybe he was dead and now a ghost? A glitched remain like he saw throughout the Pale City? The boy worked up the strength to stand. His body held its shape and colours, unlike the glitched remains. Mono surprised himself with the fact that he could still walk, he'd thought for sure all bones in his body would be broken and be unable to hold his weight. Yet, he continued to walk across the flesh. He didn't really have a goal in mind, his mind was probably the most damaged, most likely frazzled beyond repair. That didn't stop him.

Mono walked along the flesh, careful to avoid the eyes that opened to stare expectantly at him. Not that he cared if he hurt the creature, Mono just didn't want it to retaliate. He wasn't sure how well he'd fare in a fight or run situation. So the boy kept going until he reached a mountain of sorts. Gazing up at the top, Mono saw a chair. It was wooden and much bigger than him, like everything else. His curiosity and still present bodily pains told him to investigate.

Mono made his way up, nearly stepping onto an exposed iris but a pink eyelid closed before he did. The chair itself lacked any interesting details, aside from a basic engraving. Mono traced his fingers along the chair, careful as to not get any splinters. His body began to shut down a little but Mono couldn't fight the feeling of déjà vu. Sleep suddenly gnawed at his skull, demanding rest. Mono's eyes started to close, no matter how many times he tried to reopen them. Climbing slowly and painfully up on top of the chair, Mono stood on it. The flesh surrounding him began to throb, gross noises bothered the boy but he couldn't manage to bring his hands up to cover his ears. The mass then crept closer.

And closer.

And closer until it was nearly touching him. Mono stood still, suffocating in the scent of moist skin and raw meat. Finally bringing his hands to his head, he desperately tried to drown out the terrible noises. A throbbing pain flared, growing worse and worse until Mono swore he almost imploded.

Then, silence. Mono felt the pull of exhaustion so he sat down on the chair, legs dangling down over the front. He was alone. Completely alone. Fat tears welled up as Mono was finally hit with the crashing realisation. His breathing hitched and heart stopped. The little boy's body was racked with sobs as he cried. His tiny, weak frame trembled as his lungs forced him to cough violently.

There he sat. He sat for a while. Until he fell asleep. He was just so tired and sore.