Are We Cool Yet? [Complete!]

Protector

Peanut's POV

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I am in corner. I wait. There is one outside. I would like to crunch him.

The others are still. The Doc and the Mask are together, and the Larry is talking to Shy. Shy looks scared and bad. The Larry is holding Shy's hand. I do not know why. I do not know what is going on.

I am alone, in corner. I hear outside the sound of breathing. Yes. I will crunch. Crunch make me feel much better, I think. I open the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" The Mask hisses.

Shy covers his face again. The Larry is startled. Some of the Larry's liquid is on Shy's hand.

Am not thinking about that. Am thinking about crunch.

I do not see anything outside. Something touches me, but I do not see. It see me, I think. I am cold again. I am stone.

What is it? Where is it? It is very cold. It makes me feel weird, like being still and quiet for a long long time.

The Larry comes up behind me. "Peanut! What the hell?"

I do not answer. I cannot. The hidden thing is looking.

The Larry squeezes past me. The thing touches him too. He sways a little on his feet, and swats at it.

Now I can move! I feel lightness in me again. I felt the hands, and it is not hard to find the neck.

The crunch is loud. The crunch is good.

I still do not see the thing, but I know that it is dead. I have done my purpose. But something else, also. I have protected the Larry. And the Doc and the Mask and Shy. I found them, I brought them with me, now I protect them.

They are mine. Now the crunch is needed. My purpose is good. Still, I do not feel good when they  ignore me. The Larry goes back to Shy. Shy is distracted. This time, he holds out his hand first and the Larry takes it.

Shy seems pinker than he was before. It is kind of funny. Hm. I am still ignored. I do not like being ignored. Shy mentioned talk. Maybe talk will help.

"The thing has been crunched. We go or stay?"

The Mask answers first. "I'm staying here. Doc's bleeding, he needs rest."

The Doc gives the Mask an annoyed look, but not all annoyed. Happy too? Fond. He is fond of the Mask. "I think I'd be fine with a little travel, if need be," he says.

"No, we should all get some rest," says the Larry.

"Well I am bored. We can talk about something."

The Larry shrugs. "Uh, sure?"

Shy gives me a small smile. That is nice. And they have agreed to talk. We will talk about before and after. After.

"When we get out, where do we go?" I ask.

I said something that was wrong. They are quiet now. They do not look as happy. The Larry says, "I don't know. We'll find somewhere, I guess."

Now Shy speaks up. "I think it'll be harder than that, I... from what I can remember, people are everywhere now. And that means the Foundation will be, too."

"The Foundation will not get us," I say. "I will crunch them."

"There are too many of them." Shy starts to cry again. "I guess I'm still gonna die."

"No," Larry says. "There has to be somewhere. And if there isn't..." he brushes a hand against the wall, and a patch of darkness appears. "If there isn't, you can live in my world. It ain't much, but it's somewhere they'll never take." He sticks his hand into the wall and it disappears. 

The others do not seem sure. They do not move. I will move. I am the strong one. When I touch the wall, it is not a wall, it is emptiness. It is a door.

I am in a new place. It is dark and gray. There is no sky. There are many doors and many rooms. The Larry appears, too. He waves a hand, and the doors are gone except five.

"How?" I ask.

The Larry shrugs. "It's my world. I'm kind of the god or king or whatever. It's easy to get lost in here, so there's just one room for everyone, if they want to come."

"And we will just stay here, in the dark?"

"Not if you don't want to. You can travel almost anywhere from here, but it has to be nearby. The Foundation's too big to phase all the way out of, but maybe if we get near the top we can get out through here."

"That is good," I say.

He grins. "Yeah, I think so too."