Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

011 - Solace (007)

Song of the Chapter: Disconnected - Pegboard Nerds (Electro)

(Monstercat's POV)

"Seriously, Noisestorm?" I groan after Stephen tells me the story.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Noisestorm says, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. "I screwed up again."

"Yeah, you did," Phantom mutters.

"We'll just have to be extra careful, then. That's nothing we can't do," I say, hoping to keep the peace. I don't want them fighting again.

"Can we get pizza?" Laura yells from the other room. I'm pretty sure the neighbors hate us already.

Stephen starts to say no, but I quickly cut him off to avoid another argument. "Sure!"

"We don't have that kind of money," Stephen argues.

"Well, it's either that or Tristam's celery." I shrug.

"I'd rather not have celery." Noisestorm flops on the bed, lacing his hands behind his head. "I haven't eaten pizza in forever."

"Alright, fine. I'll go get some," Phantom grumbles. He's the only one with money - mainly because it 'borrowed' the credit card from his parents. He never talks about his family, but no one asks questions. We're all just glad he can pay for stuff. No one else can use their credit cards, since they can be tracked too easily.

Maybe a half an hour later, he comes back with like ten boxes and the feasting begins. We cram everybody into one room and the pizza starts to vanish. Even after everyone starts to cool down, happily complaining about being too full, pieces disappear mysteriously.

"Alright, who's going to get sick tonight?" Stephen demands.

"I AM THE PIZZA KING," Noisestorm yells through a mouthful, holding a slice in each hand and jumping up onto one of the beds.

Just then, the door opens. We all freeze and turn, but it's just Tristam, coming back from his walk, although he has two others with him. One has a green scarf and an oversized black hoodie. The other is a lot shorter, wearing a dark blue jacket and a red shirt underneath.

"Guys," Tristam says, trying to break the awkwardness, "this is my best friend and frequent collaborator, Braken." The one in the hoodie and scarf smiles awkwardly and waves a little.

"So, that's who you are," Noisestorm says through his pizza.

"And this ..." Tristam sighs. "This is Nitro Fun."

"Yes, I'm Nitro Fun," he says quickly, sounding annoyed. "And yes, I'm a kid. Let's move on." He looks around, studying each of us, and his expression grows more excited. "And I finally get to meet you guys! Sorry I couldn't make it to the little 'get together' thing. I had a crap load of homework, since I'm still in high school, and honestly, I still haven't done most of it - but I was working on my new track and I heard about the MI crashing and I was pretty worried but it turns out you're all here -"

"Does this kid ever shut up?" Varien mutters under his breath.

Nitro gives him a look. "Yeah, I do shut up. I'm just not going to." He then flashes a grin. "Some party you've got going on here."

"We're not going to talk about that," Stephen says kind of aggressively.

"I AM THE PIZZA KING." Noisestorm repeats, resuming his heroic stance. "Want some?"

Nitro is immediately comfortable with everyone around him, although not everyone seems thrilled to have him. Braken, on the other hand, tries to hide in his scarf and sticks close to Tristam. I watch them quietly out of the corner of my eye and notice the second they leave.

I wait a moment before going after them, following them into one of the other rooms, where it's a lot quieter. They're talking in hushed tones, Tristam soothing his friend.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, knocking lightly on the cracked-open door.

"Yeah," Tristam answers.

"What about you, Braken?"

"I'm fine," he mumbles.

I push open the door and join them on the bed. "Are you sure? You seem kind of ... distant."

"I'm fine," he repeats. "It's just ... I'm not used to so many people in one place without ... someone getting hurt. It reminds me of my dad's parties ..." He lets his voice trail off and stares at the floor. "I remember ..." Suddenly, he forcefully shakes his head. "No. It's none of your business."

I shrug. "Alright. Your reasons are your business. I get it. But if you decide to tell me, I'll always be there. I'll listen." I grin at them both before leaving them alone to talk privately.

I go straight to the room with our supplies in it, including Noisestorm's fireworks. It's not even that late, but already, I'm exhausted. Maybe it's all the excitement of the day. I hop onto one of the king beds and curl up under the blankets, ignoring the noise coming from the other room.

Surprisingly, I fall asleep pretty quickly. I have an interesting dream.

I'm sitting on a dark hill, the city of Vancouver just on the horizon. I look down to see what looks like a sort of stadium, with crowds of people surrounding it. They're cheering and dancing, jumping up and down, but I can't hear anything - not even the sound of my own breathing. I feel sort of ... lonely, up here all by myself.

Someone touches my shoulder. I turn around to see Tristam standing there, smiling at me. He says something, but I can't hear it. It's like I'm in a bubble. Tristam holds his hand out and I take it, accepting the assistance and standing up. He points down the hill and the two of us walk down.

I look up at him, but he doesn't say anything. He just looks straight ahead. I start to get a little nervous as we approach the massive crowd, but then he turns to me and grins. "Loosen up," he says, addressing me by my real name. "You're with us now."