V & V - Rageous Rageon Rise

Good And Gone

Fred POV:

I try not to jump as a loud thump hits from my room. 

Dom: "Who's in there?"

I look at him as he struggles to get around all of the items in my store. 

Kid Ritz: "We had to lock our friend Carlos in Fred's bedroom. He... mutated because of you."

Dom: "Bedroom?"

Fred: "Yeah, what."

Dom: "This is a store? How can it be your bedroom."

I turn, putting my hand on my counter.

Fred: "Dude, I don't know if you know this, but I didn't live with Rollie before all this happened. I'm poor; my Dad died and left me to live here alone and keep the shop in his honor. I don't have money to spend on food. Orchid, who you also hurt by letting her get frozen in the Rage Dome with Dixie all alone in the dark of the tunnel, would be kind enough to help me out and give me food. If I was really desperate, I'd stay over at Ritz's, who's just as poor as me, or her parent's place. Maybe stop and think that not everyone has it the same."

I roll my eyes, feeling a bit sassy. This guy's apparently never seen a poor living space. What am I saying? This isn't poor; it's a cool ass shop. Just... is hard to sleep here sometimes, is all.

I go to my bedroom, staring in through the office at Carlos. He looks terrible, just as mutated as when we left him.

Kid Ritz: "Look at him; he looks like an animal. You need to fix him right now."

We look at Dom, who's eyes widen.

Dom: "I... I can't fix him. I don't know how to."

Fred: "What? That's ridiculous, and trust me, I know ridiculous."

I grab one of the party poppers behind me, popping it in Dom's face annoyedly. He bats the confetti away with a scowl, yet it just makes me want to laugh in his face.

Dom: "I have no idea how to turn them back."

Roman: "Well, how'd you turn them in the first place?"

Dom: "When I had the trolls under my power, they sang a Siren song for me in an amplified way to infect everyone who heard it. I had imagined the Rageons in the Rage Dome freezing over, and it worked. I also imagined an army of monsters attacking anyone who opposed me. I quickly realized those manifestations while the trolls sang should not have been created, as I've been chased down by several of my monsters. I have no idea how to stop the mutation or how far it can go. I imagined Phat Sammy, for instance, becoming bloated. He turned into... well, what you last saw of him. I used the trolls and willed them to sing, and Phat Sammy became what he was as a result of what I envisioned."

Kid Ritz: "So you created monsters from your mind with no way of turning them back?"

Dom: "I... hadn't figured I'd need a way to turn them back."

Roman: "Dude... you're crazy."

Fred: "Well, I guess it's up to us to make a cure."

Kid Ritz: "How? I know you're the smartest out of all of us, Freddy, but you were going to go to college for business, not science."

Dom looks confused, so I go behind my counter and pull out my valedictorian award. His mouth drops, his expression changing to shock.

Fred: "I don't know what I can do, but maybe with Rollie's help, we can find Rageons who know how to create solutions in a lab. If he can fund it, we can get a cure. Plus, we have Carlos to use for samples."