Felixentric

Scene 37

Felix woke up, with his body pinned to the ground.

But he felt pinned... His cold-bloodedness had kept him frozen in the cold laboratory. Being put outside was like being thawed out of the freezer, but it was still too cold. He sat up and looked around. Nothing was really holding him down, but his body just felt so heavy. He felt so achingly tired. It had to have been midnight by how dark it was.

"Felix..." Janette looked frozen too. She was lying on the ground, gripping it with both hands and a pained face. "What's happened?"

He looked at her hands as they pushed her body up. They were green and rugged. She noticed them in the same moment Felix did and her hands began to shake. "Why did..."

His blood rushed and then she groaned.

Why didn't you tell me you were...?"

"Come on," Felix said, standing up. "We have to get you out of here."

"No." She pushed him back and he saw the blueness in her eyes. "I have a loyalty to fulfill." Her voice had changed and she stood up. She looked more confident, even as the colors took over her skin.

"You can't go with him." He grabbed at her, but she slipped away.

She ran away, green skin and the power to Fade. And was gone. Felix began to run after her, but knew for a fact that he wouldn't find her again without first finding Hen.

Somehow, Hen found him first, only it wasn't Hen himself.

People came rushing into the forest, hundreds of them. They circled around Felix, with blue and windmilling irises.

"It's already happened." One said. Weren't they supposed to attack? The circle tightened, but it didn't seize.

The next, "He has all the representations. Ray's completed the initiation. It's over."

"But, there are two Chemi's and no Art."

"Chemi 1 is gone. Hale killed him, trying to fight back. Ray is the new Chemi."

"What about Art?"

They didn't answer, but he had a hunch. Quixotic?

And then he asked, "Don't you still have to kill me, now that I don't matter? I'll just get in the way of the plan, won't I?"

"The plan is for you, too."

"But he's already won." The citizens were under Hen's control. It was over. What more could he do? There's no story if there's no motive. Why do anything else if there was no use? "I think I'll just go home, then." But what would that do? "Where's Quinn? Is he home? Or has his mind been taken over too?"

"He's been put in place."

"What does that mean? And why hasn't my mind been taken over?"

"Because you have to be put in place, too."

"What?"

"Go to the old factory. He's waiting for you."

"He" Quinn or "he" Hen? "And what if I say no?"

"We'll carry you there."

Goosebumps erupted all over his skin. "Carry" probably wasn't the right diction. They would probably rip him to shreds and force him there like a stuffed pig on a stick, being carried to the fire.

"Fine." He said and took a step forward. The circle moved with him, every person before him taking a step backward and every person behind, a step forward. They were keeping him in the middle. "But only because I don't want to see what that really means."

"You'll go, because it's your destiny."

He didn't ask what that meant. He was done with the whole Jesus undertone.

It was, with fortune, only a fourth mile to the factory. When he reached the muddy parking lot, the circle opened up and followed him in a line. He halted just before the door.

If he made a run for it, would they tackle him? Kill him? Would it be so bad? Would he rather live in a world where no one was themself or not live at all?

But Quinn was inside, right? The only friend he had left.

He had to help Quinn if he could. Maybe they could run away to another town, far away from Jupiter and Hen. They could hide out until they found a way to save these people from Hen's grip. Felix would be a real hero, then, and the humans would be alright. Hale would come out, unscathed, and so would Janette and Ray.

Life would go back to normal and they would get out. America seemed like a good place to go. New York was beautiful in the night and California had inspiring peoples. Or maybe they would find a small town in Ohio. They could live in a tiny neighbourhood with happy neighbours.

Anywhere. Anywhere would be normal outside Jupiter.

He walked forward, because the future was the most hope he'd had in years.

A teenage boy from the crowd came up to him, took off their jacket and mittens and hat and put them all over him. It was like being crowned king. "Put on your other face," he whispered in his ear as he stepped back. "Just do it." Then they stepped back and watched with precision.

He clenched his fists and then did what the boy had said. If he didn't, he knew they'd beat him half to death. He grew the green, thickened it over his features and arms and legs, and sighed. then. He stepped through the doorway. There was no door. It had been ripped off during some point of the building's life.

The crowd didn't follow. They clapped.

The inside was quiet. Without so many people, lining the platforms and stairways, it felt hollow.

At the top of the second level, yet, there were five figures. They were standing in the formation of the tip of a triangle or flock of ibises - in a V shape. Poli and Ray were on the left. Poli had new tendrils and they were flashing around behind her. Janette was in the back of the right and Hale in front of her. And then Quixotic was in the middle, on his knees, breathing hard and holding his chest.