The Five Stages of Being John Doe

Chapter Two: Anger

The space he now was occupying was very basic, very ethereal. It was a simple room with ever-changing colors, except the floor remained a static gray. There were no doors, no windows, nothing except for a round table of five chairs. All that was in here were made of no real material in question, these borders simply were and 'existed' as such. They had no definable shape or reason to them except to hold this personage together.

Beyond the aspects of this room remained the inhabitants in question. Five Johns were seated around the table, but New John found out quickly that they were not indefinitely tied into place there. They could move about, take different seats, stand on the furniture or wander off into a corner, there were no rules except for one: when a John was in control, all of them sat down and could not remove themselves from the chair nor their hands from the table. And from behind the John that had control, they'd be able to see everything that John Doe was able to see. They had a first-person view of his life as they devised ways to move him how they wanted and where.

The only non-hostile John told him all that information. It was the one with a veritable hair-helmet of gel with a look of boredom, almost an air of sarcasm and wit about him except for the fact that all five of them were just as dumb as the real one. And in truth it wasn't as if this John were incapable of violence, but rather he just didn't care enough to do it. He was the very definition of reservation, someone who just lived to live and held no interest beyond making sure their collective John Doe carried on.

This was Cripple John, the faker and poser that got through two whole years of high school before it all came crashing down in the third quarter on his watch. He still wore his uniform despite no longer being the one in control, but he wore it a bit looser; his tie was more undone, his collar more open as he reclined in his seat, his feet propped up on the table in their shoes.

When New John appeared into their reality he was immediately bestowed what they jokingly referred to as "The Talking Stick". It denoted his influence over John Doe in real life. Sure, that unmetaphorical John was still capable of free will, but he still faced guidance by the different personalities he'd formed on his way through this dangerous world. The stick got handed over to the newest personality, without anyone having taken it back for their own devices yet.

"To be honest," Cripple John remarked sardonically on the subject, "I don't even know if I could ever get that thing back. I don't want it back. I messed up enough, so now I'm just along for the ride. But, hey, if you play your cards right, I'll always be in your corner, buddy. Don't let us down, or you're on your own." So at least there was someone at least guaranteed neutral party here. One less knife to worry about.

The other three were their own voting bloc, a powerhouse of all the fears, the indignation and warped emotions that ruled over John in his darkest days. Unlike either of them, these Johns let their hair loose without a drop of gel in sight. New John got acquainted with these dour figures really quickly because one of them lobbed a chair at him as soon as they realized that none of them got the stick back upon this new incarnation. Cripple John whispered cattishly that they were all really jonesing to be back in the driver's seat, so he'd better watch his back.

New Bostin John was visibly younger than all of them despite, paradoxically, being the oldest representation of John's psyche. He was eternally that child, battered and bruised from fighting first for his own protection and then for domination over New Bostin High School as its King.

His hair was spiky, his outfit obviously not a Wellston High uniform but rather casual clothes you'd expect a little boy to wear in those tweenage years. T-shirt, shorts, sneakers, who cared as long as it fit? What did matter was that he was the nexus between that little dictator that thrashed students into submission as well as the jealous little brat that took his friends for granted til the last blow was dealt. Although New Bostin John wasn't the most powerful of the three, he was still the most influential as the greatest claimant to being the real John.