Heroes Gone Bad [Bad End Friends]

Chapter 3

The three of us stood there for a few minutes, looking at one another in surprise and confusion. I looked over at the ice kid then back over at the tree kid. He looked at us with a menacing and cold stare. His multicolored eyes seemed to dig into our very beings. It was really interesting.

Pine Tree came up beside me, all the while looking at the tree kid. He patted my shoulder, but I didn't give him a response. Didn't want to spoil any secrets.

"Hey, Bill, what do you think?" Damn kid not even considering the situation. I shrugged my shoulder a bit, hoping he would get the clue.

He looked around a bit and nodded. "Ok. Blink once for yes and twice for no. Have you met these guys before? Or anything like them?" I blinked twice.

"Do you think they're dangerous?" I took a moment to think about that. The ice kid has magical capabilities, but I wasn't sure about the tree kid. I didn't blink. Instead I just raised my eyebrow a bit.

"Does that mean maybe?" he asked. I blinked once. He hummed in response.

"I will ask you both again. What are you doing in the Unknown?" The tree kid asked us again. He looked slightly more pissed now, his eyes brightening a cerulean blue.

"I just woke up here," I said, stepping forward. He braced himself, almost like he was afraid I was going to do something. Note: he is a bit jumpy.

"So did I," the ice kid said, also stepping forward. The tree kid nearly did a double-take until he noticed that we weren't doing anything.

Standing straight, he took a deep breath. "What are your names?" He asked.

"I'm Bil--Bipper! Bipper," I said, almost saying my 'real' name. I stopped myself and again called what Shooting Star called me when she had her ridiculous sock puppet show. It actually kinda fit, and I liked the sound of it.

"My name is Finn," the ice kid said.

The tree kid looked at us questionably, possibly debating on trusting our word. He gave a sigh and pulled back the tree roots. "Alright. Say I believe you; but how do I know you won't bring any harm?" He looked over at Finn. "You've already frozen Pottsfield. They were lucky I was close by to help."

Finn looked down at the ground, ashamed and tears in his eyes. It was almost as if he didn't want to be responsible for that. Or maybe that he didn't even want to be like this. He gripped his metal arm, trying to conserve himself...or maybe his guilt.

"And you." I looked over to see the tree kid looking at me. "You have mischief in your eyes. I can see it. Now I don't know what your goal is, but whatever game you have going on I don't like it."

I smirked, amused by his attention to detail and deductions. "I like you, kid," I simply stated. He looked a bit shocked at first since he tensed up a bit, but he calmed down. "How about you tell us your name?"

Finn's gaze now turned upward in curiosity. I tilted my head, waiting for a response. "I go by many names, but I prefer to be called who I was before coming to this god forsaken hell: Wirt."

The snow crunched underneath Finn's bare feet as he stepped forward. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Wirt," he said, extending his hand.

Wirt stood for a little, looking at his hand then at its owner. Hesitantly he went up and shook his hand. "And it's good to meet you, Finn."

I heard Pine Tree sigh deeply, almost like he was holding his breath. "That went better than I thought," he said. I shrugged my shoulders a bit.

"And you, Bipper," I looked up to see Wirt standing in front of me. "It's nice to meet you too." He had his hand held out, but I just walked past him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Yeah. You too."

Best not to risk anything with these two. Sure they may be friendly, but I doubt they're completely benign. I don't want to just do anything reckless without knowing what I'm dealing with.

The three, or four, of us started heading back to the path. I trailed behind a little bit so that Pine Tree could catch up. It looked like the two up ahead were talking. Tree Gnome was really calm and collected, almost as if he had everything planned out and wrapped around his pale finger; while Snowflake was more jumpy and paranoid, albeit joyful and quick to introduction.

While they weren't particularly my type of crowd, it was a change from the Nightmare Realm. Although I can't bring about the destruction of this place, I could wreck havoc as Snowflake had already succeeded in. Gave me a bit of satisfaction.

Pine Tree caught up, his transparent ghost-like body levitating just next to me.

"What are we going to do, Bill?" he asked. Despite being an all-powerful dream demon, I knew there wasn't much I could do. I'm in a child's body, after all. I can't go into the Mindscape, or conjure any of my abilities. Pretty disheartening; but I don't always need those to spread my chaos.

"Perhaps we shouldn't do anything. You know, play it cool," I whispered. Pine Tree nodded.

A few minutes later, I noticed that we were slowing until coming to a complete stop. Wirt turned around to face us. He looked around suspiciously before returning his gaze back to me.

"Who are you talking to?"

Finn stood nervously beside him. He looked at me then the air surrounding my vessel. Wirt did the same in a more calm attitude, trying to differentiate between dead air and Pine Tree's soul.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tree Gnome," I responded. Pine Tree was freaking out next to me. "Bill..." I could feel him grip my shoulder, panicked.

"I can sense children's souls, Bipper. So I suggest you tell me the truth right now or I'll take your soul out of that body," Wirt threatened.

He kept on looking around, particularly on my left side; where Pine Tree was. The kid froze in place next to me, not making any movement to provoke whatever creature Wirt was. I pursed my lip in thought. Do I tell him?

I hummed in thought. "Bill, please don't who knows what he'll do to me!" Pine Tree begged quickly. My mind was at a stalemate. I either confess everything and risk Wirt damaging one of my pawns, or I assume be killed or defeated by this kid; both of which I wouldn't want to risk. But it seems that I have no choice.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth," I said. The duo started walking closer, until I put my hand up. They stopped, Finn colliding with Wirt's back a bit.

"As long as you don't cause damage to me," I said, pointing to my vessel.

"Fine," Wirt said calmly. I extended my hand, and we shook on it.

"This is an interesting story."