A Tragic Creation 3: At Pepperland's End

Chapter 19: Possible Problem

"Uh... i-is it just me... or does it seem that this stuff has r-risen since yesterday?"

The Chief shuddered at Max's question. The blue meanie was silent as he looked out at the ocean of blackness that spanned to the horizon.

Randel stood next to Ringo as he too observed the liquid.

"I... I'm not sure..." The Chief said after a moment.

Randel gulped.

"I h-hope it isn't. If it is... Then..."

He trailed off, not wanting to think about that possibility.

Ringo sighed.

"Well... Can't we place anything here and see how the distance b-between it and the liquid changes overtime?"

"We could Ringo," the Chief stated, turning to look over at the drummer, "but... What do we use? We only have a couple of cleared apples left."

Max shuddered.

"I... I s-still can't b-believe that... T-that we lost that many...."

The Chief patted Max on the head gently.

"One of the... Contaminated apples... Then?" Randel suggested.

"We could. But, we're going to have to be careful placing them here. They're all leaking that goo."

"I just wish that there was a way to stop it..." Randel whispered as he turned to look at the ocean of goo again.

The Chief sighed.

"Well... What ever you do... Don't go with it. Even though it'll bring everyone and everything back... I don't think it's worth it..."

Randel sighed once again.

"Thank you."

"And... Um... How's John doing?"

Ringo rubbed the back of his head.

"Not too good. I went to go see him in the bandstand, and he just told me to get out..."

He shuddered.

"It's not like him to do that... And... W-what he did to Jeremy..."

Max tilted his head as he looked up at the drummer.

"W-wait... What happened?"

"Yer blueness didn't tell you?" Randel asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Chief shrunk back a little as Max's gaze turned to him.

"I... I didn't want you to know about it, since... s-since..."

"Y-yer blueness..." Max said quietly, " I... understand..."

"What?"

"I... I d-don't think I want to k-know what he did..."

The Chief stared at him for a moment.

"Well then... that's okay. I just... don't want you to... be s-scared."

S-so then..." Max stuttered, turning back to Ringo.

"J-Jeremy's... gone?"

Ringo drew in a breath.

"He is..."

Randel placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think that losing Paul may have... m-made John lose his nerves. We should just give him some more time to recover."

"But still," Ringo paused, "I've never seen him like that."

Max sighed heavily.

"So... should I go get-"

"I'll get it Max, " the Chief said, "I don't want you to... have an accident."

"Um... okay, yer blueness."

Without another word, the Chief turned and walked off into the distance, Leaving Ringo, Randel, and Max by themselves.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Max opened his mouth.

"So, J-John... d-did something to Jeremy?"

Before Ringo could respond, Randel did it for him.

"He threw him into Paul's puddle..."

"O-oh... right in front of you?"

"You were still unconscious when he did it..."

Max shivered, the image of Paul being consumed by the black slime briefly flashing in his mind.

"T-to be honest..." He stated, turning his head to look out at the endless sight of blackness, "I'm g-glad that... t-that I did faint..."

The Chief came walking up to them in the distance, walking backwards as he dragged the apple across the ground, the liquid leaking from it leaving a thin line leading to where he found it.

He stopped right beside Max and left the apple a few feet in front of the black liquid.

"There," The Chief stated as he stood up.

"Now we'll know if it is really rising."

"U-um... Yer blueness?" Randel asked, a slight quiver in his distorted voice, "what are we going to do if it is really rising?"

The Chief was silent for a moment, contemplating about what his answer should be.

Eventually, he sighed.

"I... Don't know, Randel. But... let's just hope that it isn't."

Randel's grip on Ringo's shoulder tightened.

"If it is... then..."

Randel thought for a moment.

"With Jeremy g-gone... there's truly no one left who c-can figure out a w-way to stop it."

"He..." Ringo started.

"I mean, he said himself that he knew nothing about it, but... if only he had more t-time to... observe it, study it, anything..."

"So, I think it's time we go back to... the others now..." The Chief stated.

"If it actually is rising, then I don't want to be here to see it."

Motioning Max to follow him, the Chief walked away, the smaller blue meanie following eagerly behind.

Ringo and Randel looked at each other for a moment.

"L-lets not think about the alternative right now," Ringo stated quietly.

Randel nodded in agreement.

Silently, the pair walked away from the area, not looking behind them once.