“The door sags open and a man covered in blood drops the three feet or so to
The pavement
The car still rattling and shaking as if with a mind of it's own, unwilling
To die
The man....also after a time, an agonizingly painful period of time
Is also unwilling to die....”
-“In the Kingdom #19” by Sonic Youth, 1986

SEATTLE, September 11, 2001

Phoenix worked on his school project: a pumpkin with lights protruding from its shell. The teacher sat alone at her desk, typing on her computer.

Phoenix was bored out of his mind. First grade was one of the most tedious grades he's experienced. The day was starting out to be uneventful, that is, until the teacher's phone rang.

"Early release? It's not even Tuesday yet."

Phoenix's mom drove up to the front of the school. He got in, but noticed that his mom overpacked with groceries.

"Are you kidding me?" He yelled in dismay.

His mom didn't want to hear it, so she blasted up her cassette of Is This It by the Strokes.

They drove home, and he walked in first, to turn on the television, to see the new Simpsons episode. Instead he saw the Twin Towers burning.

He switched the channel.
"Why does every channel have the same show? MOOOOOOOM!!!!"

His mom walked in.
"Phoenix, you better stop complaining before somedody does something that'll hurt somebody else...." She saw the television. Her mouth dropped open.

"The channels are broken, Mom!"
Phoenix's mom dropped her groceries on the floor.

Phoenix gave a puzzled look.
"Mom?"
He shrugged and went off to his room, leaving the set on. After a couple minutes, he could hear his mom drop to the floor and sobbing profusely. His little brother walked in.

"Phoenix," he whimpered.
"Why is mom acting like that?”
Phoenix shrugged while turning on his Playstation, inserting Driver.
"Here, turn on my tape deck to drown out the noise," Phoenix responded.
The little brother turned on the deck, where LEN's "Steal my Sunshine" started playing. He then settled down on the floor and started drawing a picture.

"When's dad coming back? I'm starting to miss him."

"He's on a trip to New York. Dad'll be back in a couple days. Come on, I need somebody to watch me escape the cops, dude."

Character info-
Phoenix Hayes
Born: June 29, 1997(Age 18)
Favorite Label: Kill Rock Stars
Favorite Hobby: Driving
Trivia: Born in Washington but still can’t pronounce “Puyallup”

WHIDBEY ISLAND, February 23, 2015

Colors flashed into Phoenix's eyes. He was sweating ferociously, and the pacifier in his mouth was starting to wear out. Phoenix blasted up the Condominium song “Show Em”, nervously twitching and waving his arms everywhere.

His girlfriend walked up and took the pacifier out and kissed him. She took both their clothes off, and she climbed on top of him, resting on Phoenix's loins.

She started moving up and down, and Phoenix started converting the massive amounts of energy to the girl. He could feel inside her, and it felt even better than any other sex in the world.

It felt like hours passed, and she was still riding him. The girl was yelling in pleasure, and Phoenix was enjoying it just as much. He felt it coming closer, and he climaxed the biggest climax ever. It felt like his senses were completely focused on his loins, and it was the greatest thing he ever felt.

The girl fell over in bliss. Phoenix tried to stop the room from spinning and twisting. After trying to get up, he fell into the floor with a hard thud.
The floor was sticky with sweat and he crawled to the bathroom, where he turned on the faucet, and washed the sweat and semen off his hands.

The water ran blue and seemed to melt into his hands when it hit them.
Phoenix tumbled over, laying on the tile floor.

He laughed with euphoria, feeling the greatest he ever felt.

"Phoenix? Phoenix!"
Phoenix shot his head up. The teacher, Mr. Salazar, was giving him an angry look.

"Phoenix, can you tell me what the significance of Boo Radely is in To Kill A Mockingbird?"

"Uh....his parents were shitty enough to call him Boo?"

The class laughed.
Nick leaned towards Phoenix and a gave an ever so quiet whisper:

"Dude what the fuck happened to you?"

"I did like a fuckload of ecstasy mixed with LSD. It was fuckin wicked, man."

Mr. Salazar walked up to Phoenix.
"Phoenix, since you seem to be so smart today, who don't you come up and explain Boo Radley and the importance of his character to the class?"

Phoenix smirked and approached the board. He turned his head to the class, and then his body. After five seconds of silence:
"BOO!"

The class jumped.
"Radley. Who is Boo....Radley?"
He turned and touched a picture on the board, maximizing it. It was supposed to be a drawing of Boo, but it was instead displaying a picture of the Griffith Observatory.
"Here, is Boo Radley. Boo Radley is the epitome of misunderstood. Like Snape, or the Tea Party, or the McRib, or anchovies on pizza. They seem terrifying, especially after hearing what others feel of them, they even make you shiver. But upon further inspection, they are actually very non threatening, and quite adorable."

What Phoenix failed to mention to Nick is that he smoked a wild joint before going to school.

"So when the Scout bitch starts fucking freaking out when he ain't show up she like, 'fuck, dat crackah scary!' and so everybody else thinks that Boo is a pedo or some shit. But he saved the little bitch from an actual pedo, and turns out to be some random asshole and continues on his journey through being a lonely guy.
That, is Boo Radley. You cant see something and find it horrifying without knowing the full on truth. Only tea partiers do that!"

The whole room went quiet.
Mr. Salazar got up and approached Phoenix.
"Phoenix, are you okay?”
"Whaaaaaat? Of course I’m OKAY," Phoenix laughed.
"Aw man I'm gonna pee my pants!"
Phoenix ran out the room laughing so hard he threw up on some random kid next to the door, in the hallway.
The room was even more silent.

The lunch bell rang. Everybody was eating their meal. Nick met with Phoenix, who was hitting on Amy.

Nick barged in.
"What's going on here?"

Amy gave a greeted smile in Nick's direction.

"Nick, take your chihuahua somewhere else to bark and shake."

Nick nodded and wrapped his arm around Phoenix and pulled him away.

Nick took Phoenix to the school courtyard.

"Dude, where's Twilight?" Phoenix asked.

"In a corner in the front of the school. Apparently nobody but us can see her."

Jennifer popped up.
"Hey guys!"
"Jennifer? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Jennifer shrugged. She planned to imply to Nick and Phoenix that she knew about the ponies, but not too blatantly.

"Oh, I'm just....horsing around. Hey, I heard about your new....neighbors."
"What?"
"They're obsessed with the history of the pony express. I'm not sure their minds are very....stable...."

"Jennifer please fuck off."
"What's the similarity between a cartoon pony and Osama Bin Laden? They're both hiding....very strategically...."
"Osama is dead."
"...."
"...."
"...."
"...."
"....what's the difference between a cartoon pony and Elvis?"
"Okay, what the fuck are you on about now?"

"Look, I know you're hiding cartoon ponies with you. I can see them."

Phoenix rolled his eyes.
"Lady, you're delusional."
The two guys got up and left.

Jennifer walked back to Amy, who was having a heated discussion about a song with an old friend.
"I'm telling you, RJD2 is way better than Wax Tailor," Amy remarked.
"Ha, that's where you're wrong," Lukas shot back with his British accent.

"I bet the only Wax Tailor song you've heard is 'Que Sera'"
"And I bet the only RJD2 song you've heard is 'Ghostwriter'".

Phoenix broke into the conversation.
"Ayo! What's the feminazi doing with the bro from Manchester!"
"....I'm from London.”
"I'm not a feminazi you asshole."

Phoenix grabbed Lukas and put him in a headlock.
"Hey mate! Guess what I scored yesterday?"
"A job?"
"A fuckload of drugs, man! Enough to give Charlie Sheen an overdose!"
"You WOT?"

Phoenix laughed out loud.
"Im gonna use every fucking drug in the stash and you're gonna join me!"
"Sorry mate, but I gotta take my girlfriend out to the Prima tonight."
"Man fuck your girl! Bring her along she needs a fucking good dose of narcotics."

Teresa walked down the hall to the front office.
"Um, excuse me, Ms. Hall?"

Ms. Hall was the receptionist. She was in her late 40's, and had a lot to complain about.

"Teresa not now, I have to finish this article Allen West shared about those fucking Mexicans."

"What?"
"Those fucking Mexicans! Crossing our borders like they own the fucking place. We should have permission to go over there and shoot every burrito muncher in fucking site!"

Ms. Hall was also Buck's mom.

"So....you called me here?"
"Oh yeah, the principal wants to see you. Something about your grades. You fucking degenerate. I hope you and your family suffocate in Carbon Monoxide you worthless little shit."
Teresa rolled her eyes.

"Fuck you, Ms. Hall."
"TREAT YOUR SUPERIORS WITH RESPECT YOU LEFTY BAG OF PISS! TELL YOU WHAT, WHEN I BECOME PRINCIPAL IM GONNA FUCKING HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR DRUGS YOU DEGENERATE MOTHERFUCKER!" Ms. Hall yelled to Teresa as she walked away.

Teresa entered the principal's room.

"Mr. White? You called?"
Mr. White was a man in his late forties. Started out running schools in south side Los Angeles before deciding to cut loose and found himself here on Whidbey.

"I'm gonna need to ask you why you've been truant so many days this month. You've missed some very important tests, and you're a senior, so there's a chance you might not graduate."

"What do you mean, Mr. White? I haven't missed a single test! I swear! Check my records again, perfect test day attendance since 2011!"

"I couldn't believe it either. It's like just yesterday they were changed. What I'm going to recommend is for you to do extra work after school and on weekends."

"I can't do that! I have a strict schedule on my journalism! Have you even noticed the odd events happening here lately? People are dying! Randomly falling dead! In the streets! Does that not bother you? It certainly bothers me!"

"Listen, Teresa, I had a student in the 90's who likes that stuff too. They're still trying to find the rest of his body parts."

Teresa sighed and sat down.
"Teresa....you obviously need to focus more on your work. Go to Mr. Salazar's room next Tuesday after school ends. You can leave now."
Teresa got up and left.

Ms. Hall tried to yell something at Teresa, but Teresa just flipped her off and slammed the door.

OAK HARBOR, 3:15 PM

Phoenix knocked on Amy's door. He turned and leaned against the door, watching military jets flying over the city, from the Whidbey military base.

Phoenix silty staggered back as the door opened, making him lose his balance. He turned to see Amy giving him a dismayed look while covering herself with a towel.
“Great. If I knew it’d be you I would’ve put clothes on before answering the door.”
Phoenix gave a sarcastic laugh, which was cut off by Amy.
“What do you want Phoenix?”
“Um, well Jennifer told me she wanted some weed and-“ Phoenix held up a smal bag with weed- “I’m the supplier.”

Amy rolled her eyes and signaled Phoenix to come in.
As Amy shut the door there was a short silence, in which Amy broke.
“Jennifer’s not home. I doubt she’ll die if you shared some of that, right?”

3:50 PM

Amy laid back and let a cloud of smoke pour out her nostrils. She put on music on her phone and their soundtrack for their smoke session was Phantogram’s “As Far As I Can See”.

Phoenix, who was also relaxing from his high, stated at Amy, who was completely naked on her coach, slouched back against the cushions. He couldn’t stop eyeing her slim, modest body.
It wasn’t long until she noticed.
“You enjoying the sight, Phoenix?”
“You’re just....naked.”
“Yeah? It’s my house. My rules. And I hate clothes.”
“You don’t mind me seeing you?”
“Of course not. You’re my friend and I trust you.”
“Wait——-for real?”
“You’re a fuckboy, sure, but Lukas likes you and he’s my best friend, so I’m cool with you I guess.”
Amy stretched her arms out.
“I’ll tell you though, I’m not naked for anybody’s pleasure. It’s just for me.”
“Yeah......fair enough.”

The song changed to “Mambo Sun” by T Rex.

Amy got up and began pacing back and forth.
“My body belongs to nobody but me. I’ve never even fucked anybody.”

Phoenix coughed from the smoke.
“You’re like the hottest girl in the school and you’ve never fucked anybody?”
“I have absolutely zero interest in it.”

Before Phoenix could respond, Jennifer walked through the front door, noticing the two getting high off her precious weed without her, signaling a “what the fuck” from her.

FREELAND, 6:15 PM

*Background Music: Hella- 1-800 Ghost Dance*

Phoenix sped home in his car, fighting the Whidbey after-work rush before finally making it home.

He slammed the door and sped inside the house.
Phoenix was greeted by Nick and Twilight Sparkle.
"What's going on, Nick?" Twilight asked.
"I fucking need some heroin."

Phoenix rushed into his room and hastily prepared a huge injection, which he emptied into his arm.

He fell back onto the floor, moaning with pleasure.
"Aw fuck yes. Oh fucking yes...."

The front door was knocked over with pure force, causing Phoenix to release a high pitched scream.
Nick shot up out of his seat and pointed a knife towards the small group of people holding military grade weaponry standing at his doorway.

"Who the fuck are you," Nick demanded to know.

A woman walked forward, casually, yet with a hint of a business-serious approach.

"Im Sarah, I'm a field worker and current CEO of secret organization SENTINEL."

Nick, Phoenix and Twilight were sitting on the couch with hot cups of coffee, across from Sarah and her partners.

"So.......you're that SENTINEL I've been hearing about," Nick chimed in.
"What's SENTINEL?" Twilight asked.

"SENTINEL is an organization that was established in 1950. What we do is we go to areas of the world where strange events occur, and we try to decide whether the thing causing such events is a problem or not.

And if it is, we find a way to stop it. We've lost a shitload of people over the years, but we've stopped the world from facing an agonizing death many times, so I guess it's part of the job in a way."

"Why are you here?"
"We're here to investigate a number of random deaths. We've been watching the case for awhile, and we noticed the deaths started happening when we picked up a strong presence of foreign matter appearing in Seattle. We tracked it here."

"Are you here to take me away?" Twilight asked with an openly concerned tone.

"So far, no. But we're going to have to study you, make sure you aren't a danger to us."

Erik squeezed through the SENTINEL guards at the entrance and stopped.

"Where is she?" He eagerly asked.
"She's in front of you, dumb ass," Phoenix snapped.

Erik put on a pair of shutter shades.

"Ah, didn't see ya there," he smiled, approaching Twilight.
He crouched down to her level and examined her face.

"Wow! That's amazing!"
Sarah got up.

"Nick, Phoenix, meet Erik. He tags along in our cases to be our connection to non-SENTINEL members, to keep us from going insane from work."

Erik stroked Twilight's mane. Twilight sheepishly smiled.
"Okay, do you speak English? Español? Norsk? Nihongo wakari masu ka? Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you," Twilight answered.

"Have you experienced any changes to your health or body lately?"
"I've been getting drowsy, but that's it."

"Time in our universe must be different than the time in yours."
Erik put out his hand.

"Welcome to Earth. You're safe with SENTINEL. They don't report to the government, so they do things their own way."

Twilight shook Erik's hand.
"You're the first warm welcome I've received since I got here."
Erik got up.

"You two can see her just fine?" He pointed to Nick and Phoenix.
They both nodded.
"You, guards, take off your shades."
They took off their shades.
"Can you see her?"
They simply shook their heads.
"But can you see her with the shades on?"

They nodded.
"So it's not only me...."
Phoenix scoffed.

"What? Can you not see the fucking cartoon pony in front of you?"

"Actually, I cant. I need these special glasses. I bet only a few would be able to see her without the equipment."

"That's correct. SENTINEL is working another case on the island that involves an ex-cop and a furry wolf," Sarah added.

"Oh please tell me you're joking," Phoenix said with disbelief.

"That's so fucking stupid. I swear, the internet better not be invading us."

Erik checked Twilight's ears and eyes with a flashlight.

"So, have you noticed anything odd happening to you, lately?"
"You asked me that," Twilight answered.

"Oh no, I was asking those two over there," he nodded in Nick and Phoenix's direction.

"What do you mean?"
"Well surely your mind is finding it pretty difficult to process a being from another universe. Not to mention the fact that your bodies haven't grown accustomed to the foreign substances she brought along with her."

Erik patted Nick on the shoulder.
"Take care of yourself, you're gonna experience a very shitty week."
Erik paused.

"How have you been treating her?"
Nick shrugged.
"She's not DEAD...."

"You guys try your darnedest not to hurt her....she's in a world she knows nothing about, so you need to take very good care of her."

"What makes you so special? Telling us what to do?" Phoenix jabbed.

"Do you think I don't know what she is?"

Erik leaned closer and started whispering.

"Keep from telling her she's from My Little Pony. Okay?"
"Whatever?"

"....You know my favorite part about today?"
"What?"

"Its just like the My Little Pony fan fiction I wrote. And I'm the main character. And I hug Twilight Sparkle."

"Why are you the main character?"
"Because that's what fanfic writers do. They make themselves important characters because they don't want to be left out of the action."

"My goodness you're sad."
"What are you guys whispering about?" Twilight called to the kids.

Erik turned. "Nothing. Just about how the Seahawks beat the Broncos. Have those two fine gentlemen been treating you okay?"
"I'm not DEAD...."

"Excellent! Listen, if you need anything, you come to me, I'll arrange for whatever you need."

"Thanks."
"Now give me a hug."
"No thanks."
"Okay."

Erik got up and left.
"If you ever see anything or experience anything strange, give us a call," Sarah nodded as she handed Nick a business card. She beckoned the other members to follow her out, leaving Nick, Phoenix and Twilight alone.

"Well, that fucking happened," Phoenix shrugged.

FREELAND, MAY 29, 12:15 AM

Phoenix placed a box of condoms in the cart. Payless was an amazing place to get that stuff. Being close to summer, a lot of students would try to find jobs, and Payless was a one stop shop for summer jobs.

And a lot of those summer workers were ladies.

Phoenix bobbed his head to the Gorillaz playing in the background. He couldn't remember the song, but he assumed it was called "On Melancholy Hill".

Twilight was with him, resting in the cart. Nobody could see her anyway, so it didnt exactly matter.
Or that's what they thought.

"We'll if it isn't Phoenix fucking Hayes."

Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks.

"Now that couldn't have been Hank, since he moved to Portland 2 years ago." Phoenix smiled.
"Well looks like Hank is back."
Phoenix turned to see his old friend, Hank.

"Hank man how's it fucking going!?" Phoenix and Hank shared a man hug.

"Yo, Im owning the world! Got a fucking job at a place called Powell's, I sort books there and shit. When I do enough work, they let me hang out in their secret room!"

"Aw fuck dude, what's the secret room?"

"It's filled with books with murder scene photos, brah. Serial Killer and Mentaly Insane diaries donated by mental hospitals, hardcore pornography, smut from the 1920's...."

"Fucking dude, man! That's hardcore!"

"DUUUUUUDE!"

Hank turned the corner and saw Twilight sitting in the cart.
Twilight looked back in shock.
Phoenix made a look that can only be summed up by the words, "Oh fuck".

"Phoenix...."
"Yeah?"
"There's a fucking pony in your cart."
"Yeah?"
"It's fucking hardcore man."
"DUUUUUDE!"
They both man-hugged again.

"Wait, you're able to see me?" Twilight was in disbelief.
"I shouldn't?"
"Well, no."

Phoenix was confused too. If the SENTINEL people were correct, barely anybody would be able to see her.

But Hank didnt seem to care, so neither were worried.
The people around them, however, were.

"Bro, we should get a cup of coffee sometime this week," Hank suggested to Phoenix, inspecting the box of condoms in his cart.

"Yeah, fo sho! Wifire? Tuesday?"
"Fuck yeah, man! Seeya then!"
Hank ran off.

"Who was that?" Twilight asked.
"That's Hank. He was my total bromance back in Middle School, got me to let go of my brother's----hey, I havent taken you to Oak Harbor yet! The Walmart there has fucking great tobacco."

Phoenix turned the cart around and headed to the cashier.

Harry parked his car in the Payless parking lot, bringing out a camera. He shoved in a Blondie tape and leaned the seat back.

He wanted to find the person that took his drugs, and upon lurking on drug market sites online he found the culprit, the records kept on his phone, found from online police records of the dude.

Harry looked up from his phone and jumped when he saw a kid fitting Phoenix's description. Upon zooming in on the kid with the camera, he saw a pony in the cart, too.
A cartoon pony.

Harry looked up from his camera.
"What the fuck?" He muttered to himself. He snapped several photos of the kid and the pony walking out of the store and driving the car out of the parking lot.

Harry turned the keys and sped out to catch up.

Phoenix turned on the radio and cranked up "Lovefool", laughing at Twilight Sparkle covering her ears.

Harry turned the corner and continued following Phoenix's car.

Phoenix glanced at the rear view mirror with a cigar sticking out his mouth.

"What the fuck is that guy up to?"
"What?"

"That asshole has been following me since we left Payless."

"Maybe he wants to hurt us?"
"Over my dead body."
Phoenix waited patiently for the light to go green.

"Twilight, hold on to your pretty little ass."
"Whatever you're planning on doing, it probably isn't WAAAAH!!"

Phoenix stomped on the gas, and the car went full speed.

Harry stomped on the gas, and shifted the gear to a mode that was labeled "kick ass" on a post-it.

The engine roared as the muscle car zoomed in Phoenix's direction.

Phoenix kept on the straight main road, weaving around cars that were in his way. Twilight was pressed against the passenger seat.
"PHOENIX! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?"

Harry spotted a shortcut and swerved into a one way road.
He spun the steering wheel to the left when he saw a car about to hit him head-on. The Ford Falcon scraped its side against a tree. Harry backed up and sped the other way.

Phoenix was being successful in evading Harry, but he saw a turn ahead.

Twilight gave the MPH meter one quick look.
"Phoenix!!!! You're going too fast! At the speed you're going, the car's momentum will turn us over!!!!"
Phoenix grunted. They were rapidly approaching the turn, and he had to do something immediately.

Harry was speeding on the other end of the long turn, and seeing Phoenix's car, he realized the only choice for Phoenix was to spin over.

Instead, Phoenix sped foward, straight off the road and into the fields surrounding it.

Phoenix and Twilight heard a loud THUD hitting the dirt.
Phoenix looked back.
"Fuck, why do the hubcaps always have to go?"
"Why are you driving so recklessly?"

Harry continued giving chase, but predicting where they were headed and staying on the road.

"We're gonna have to come up with a plan; there's thick forest up ahead."

Twilight looked at Nick, then at the field ahead. There was indeed a forest. She only had one thing that would work.

Phoenix would lose control in the dirt field, and he knew it. He prepared to stop the car and risk both his and Twilight's lives.

He crashed into the garage door of his home, and the car kept going until it sped through the back of the garage.

Phoenix got up off the floor.
Twilight was next to him, slightly bruised but okay otherwise.

"How did I get home?"
"I teleported us here. Sorry for the car, by the way. That energy had to go somewhere."

Phoenix's Corvette was at the bottom of a steep ledge, smashed behing recognition and being assaulted by the waves from the beach.

"Worry not, I know some spells that can fix it. I'll be back." Twilight trotted off, heading to the beach.

Harry stumbled out of his lopsided Falcon. He was covered in blood from hitting his nose against the steering wheel, and stood in the middle of the field where Phoenix and Twilight teleported away.

"What the fuck just happened?"

Phoenix plopped onto the sofa, exhausted, and his wrist was wrapped in a bandage Twilight gave him after twisting it.

He turned on the TV in hopes of the Roku working. Instead, he was on the news, with coverage of his car speeding through the streets.

"Well, looks like Im gonna have to go into 'in cognito' mode. Again."

Phoenix slowly got up and headed down the hall, but was stopped by Lucy, who was leaning against the wall and munching on a Snickers bar.

"So I saw you got into another car chase. Who was it? Police?"
"No."
"Did the school custodian chase you again?"
"No, it was some crazy kid. Wait----he had the same car that I saw outside the apartment where I stole the drugs from. Fuck!"

Phoenix slammed the wall.
"It's that gay guy!"

"What's wrong with a gay guy?" Lucy asked sincerely.
"It's not that he's gay, it's that he chased me because he wanted the drugs back!"

"But....you only described him as a gay guy."

"Please Lucy. I need to prepare to defend myself from that whacko gay guy."
"You did it again."

"The island is tiny. We're bound to run into eachother at some point."
Phoenix cocked a handgun, which he put in his pants.

Nick burst into the house.
"PHOENIX! Did you piss off the school custodian again??"

"Nick, you know those drugs I stole?"
Twilight broke in.

"Phoenix did something stupid and he's going to keep acting stupid until he gets hurt. Oh, and your car is fixed."
Nick scoffed.
"Typical Phoenix."

"Oh yeah, guess who I ran into today?"
"Let me guess, was it-"

"It was Hank, dude. Remember Hank?"
"You mean that douche who kept going like 'DUUUUUUUDE'?"

"Dude he's dope! How could you not like him?"
"No, he seems like bad news," Twilight chimed in.

"No, Twilight. You were barely here for a week. You couldn't know anything about how we work."
Twilight was appalled.

"Excuse me? I read everything I could find on Nick's bookshelf the first night I got here! I've taken several notes on everybody's behavioral patterns too! And trust me, you shouldn't be proud of yours."
Twilight sighed.
"Both of you are pretty bad. But Phoenix----you are the epitome of a spoiled, teenage brat!" Twilight stormed out the room.

Nick knocked on the door of the room where Twilight was sobbing.
"Please leave me alone!" He heard through the wood.

"Twilight....you know....Phoenix is a good guy. You just gotta get to know him."

Lucy approached Nick and leaned on the wall.
"That's a really cliche thing to tell her dude," she giggled.

Lucy entered the room and sat next to Twilight. She was crying a puddle of tears, which was laying underneath her.

"Listen, what's crying going to achieve?"

"*SNIFF* It's the only thing I could do!"

"That's bullshit! Crying won't do shit for you! You gotta take your hoof and grab the situation by the nutsack!"

"You mean like drowning in alchahol like you did?"
"Oh, shit, I thought Nick was just being a smartass."

"Listen, Lucy, there really isn't anything you could do to make me like this place, or any of the people here. The only thing I need to know is that Im stuck here until Cadence finds a way to bring me back."
Twilight left, leaving Lucy sitting on the floor.
"....who the fuck is Cadence?"

Phoenix was smoking a joint when he heard a knock on the front door.
He went to open it, and was surprised to see Hank.

"Hank! What are you doing here?"
"I was just passing by, thought I'd take my old friend out for some, you know, 'shopping'."

Hank handed Phoenix a small revolver.
"Are you in?"
Phoenix stood there. The police were probably on to him already. What did he have to lose?

He gave a sly grin and took the gun.
"Let's fucking do it."

"Perfect! I got the car ready."
"Great, just gotta get my backpack real quick!" Phoenix ran to his room.

Hank casually walked into the house. He ran into Twilight, who was munching on some lettuce.

"Oh, yes, it's the most beautiful pony in the world! How ya doin'?"

"I'm doing just fine, Hank," Twilight replied in a dry tone.

Hank tilted his head to the side.
"Hey, why so pissy? You want to come with Phoenix and I to run some little errands?"

"Why would I want to do that?"
"Just because....I think it would be nice to get used to Phoenix's lifestyle. It's pretty fun. I taught him myself."
"...."

Hank patted Twilight's back.
"I'll wait for you in the car."

LANGELY, 7:30 PM

Teresa finished the 50 page Biology packet she had to complete by the end of the week. She killed at Biology, she was the top of her class, until somehow her records showed otherwise. A tough looking girl sat next to her, also working on a packet, but for Pre-Algebra.

"Ugh, I need to get up and take a little walk. Want to join?" The girl asked.
Teresa shook her head.

"Okay, but you won't have a chance when the teacher returns," the girl warned. She approached the door, turned the handle, and dropped backwards onto the floor.

Teresa instantly got up to check the girl to see if she was okay, but the lights were shut off, causing her to trip. She got up and stumbled her way to the switches, but they wouldn't work.

"What the fuck is going on?" She whispered to herself before realizing that the computers in the room were all turned on.

Creeped the fuck out as she was, she still saw checking the girl as a top priority.

After placing her fingers on the girl's artery, she felt her stomach drop when she found out that the girl was dead.

Teresa stood up. The computers started opening up pictures through an account named "JIMMY".

Each computer had a different picture of Teresa doing various activities around the island....including her sleeping.

"What the fuck is going on here?!?" She yelled.

A sillouette materialized out of light and stared in Teresa's direction.
She slowly stepped back.
"What the fuck are you?"
The sillouette tilted its head.
"I am everything...."

When it spoke, it didnt sound like it had a voice. The thing seemed to have made vibrations out of thin air.
"Teresa Blake. We could only hold you back for so long. Don't make us wipe you out."

"What do you mean? Who are you? What do you want? Why are you here?"

There was no answer. The lights faded back on, and the girl shot up off the floor like she just surfaced for air.

"Did I fall asleep? I had such a nice dream!"

Teresa turned to the girl.
"You were dead!"
"....Oh! Well I hope that was heaven!" The girl laughed.

Teresa ran her fingers through her hair.
"What am I doing?"

SHELL SHACK, FREELAND

Twilight was in the back seat of the car, with Hank and Phoenix in the front, watching a guy in a convinience store. The Shell Shack they called it.
MGMT "Electric Feel" was playing on the radio.

"How's your brother doing?" Hank asked.

"Okay, it's closed now," Phoenix exited the car and hid the handgun.
"You wait here Twilight. We'll be back in a jiffy."

Phoenix and Hank approached the store, ready to bust a move.

The two walked in with casual motion. Elvis Costello's "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" was faintly heard in the background. Phoenix walked next to the beer and soda fridges, and Hank was pretending to browse the candies. He grabbed a handful of Snickers before approaching the register.

A young man was waiting with a big smile on his face.
Hank dropped the candy on the counter.

"You seem happy," he casually quipped.
"You bet I am," the cashier responded with a chipper tone.

"I'm getting married next week. This is my last day till I get my packing started up."
"Hmm, where ya heading?"
"Me and my fiancé are moving to Brazil. It must be beautiful down there."

"Ah yes, Brazil. It is indeed beautiful."
"Yeah, you've been?"
"Seen it on postcards. Nothing personal, but....o seu dia chegou"
Hank pulled out a gun and shot the man repeatedly until he heard the gun *click*.
The cashier dropped onto the floor, wheezing.

Hank started reloading.
A person in the back of the store rolled behind the counter to grab a gun. When the person stood up and tried to aim Hank emptied the clip on the person.

Hank slammed another magazine in his gun.

Phoenix ran to the spot where Hank was.
"What the fuck did you do that for?!?" Phoenix shoved Hank.

"I was aware they had a gun. Wanted to kill them first."
"You heartless motherfu-"

The two were interrupted by the cashier coughing and painfully wheezing. The two simply stood there, giving eachother pissed off looks.

"I'm going to help the guy," Phoenix growled.
"We can't do anything, I filled him up with a whole mag."

The cashier gave one last breath before dying.

Phoenix waited a second before continuing.

"....you heartless motherfucker! Why the fuck did you have to kill them?"
"They had a gun, dude!"
"Yeah, so do I-"

Phoenix reached to pull out his own gun before Hank grabbed his hand and slammed the gun on the back of Phoenix's head.
Phoenix fell to the floor.

Hank paced around nervously. Enraged, he emptied his last clip on the cashier's dead body.

He hopped the counter and took the money from the register.
He ran out the store when he heard police sirens.

Hank fell into his car. Twilight was waiting in the back.

"Hey, what was that noise? Where's Phoenix?"
Hank ignored her and sped out the driveway. He had to leave fast.

Phoenix woke up in the back of a police car. He was cuffed, and he had a massive headache.
"Wh....what happened?"
"You just got yourself in deep shit, son," one of the officers replied.
Phoenix buried head head in his handcuffed hands. He regretted following Hank.

Hank stopped at a gas station in Oak Harbor.
"Fucking low mileage cars," he muttered before slamming the door.

FREELAND POLICE STATION

Phoenix was sitting in the detention room. An officer was on the opposite end of the table.

"You've been a tough one since your brother left, haven't ya? But not a clever one, apparently. Here's what's going on for you. You're being charged for both the murder of two people and the reckless driving you pulled off the many hours before."
"I didnt kill those people-"

"Hey, I didn't ask you to open your shithole, did I?"
Phoenix shut his mouth.

"Exactly. So let's see: cold blooded homocide times two, that's, um, a shitload of jail for you buddy. That doesn't even include the reckless endangerment of innocent people. Hope you have fun, kid." The officer got up.

"Take him to his cell."
Two cops pulled him up and brought him to a cell, slamming the door shut, trapping him in there.

Hank was driving on the main road. To avoid detection, since he was covered in blood, he planned to take the exit through Deception Pass, where he won't be bothered by a ferry schedule.

"Where are we heading?" Twilight worriedly asked.

"You know, you're gonna be stuck with me for a very long time, so Im just gonna be honest....I got fired from Powell's books two months ago. I got kicked out of my parents' house, and I need to support stuff, like, my own weight. I've been robbing shit, and I came here to see if Phoenix would join me. I've been looking around for a cheap place to go, and it looks like we're gonna move to Yakima."

Hank tossed the bag of money to Twilight.
"Be useful and count."

"There's over four hundred in here."
"That's bullshit, you didn't even open the bag!"
"I could tell by the weight and how much a single dollar bill weighs."

"....fuck, really? That's pretty badass. How do you feel about accounting?"

"Accounting? Well, um...."
"Oh, and how good is your Spanish?"
"Ehh, habla un poco de castillano. Poca gente habla castilliano en Equestria. Me gusta viajar, è colecciono libros. Pero, mejor que no; estoy aprendiendo."

"Sweet!——I dunno what the fuck you just said but right on!”

Twilight actually learned Spanish while staying at Nick’s, looking through his books. After hearing it’s useful in the United States she figured it’d get her far in emergencies.

A small number of photos were slapped in front of Phoenix. The police officer sat down on a chair in front of Phoenix, hoping to get some answers off a new piece of evidence they found.

"Looks like we got quite a plan for you, Phoenix,” the officer smiled. He had a rural accent, totally not a city boy.

"During our search through the crime scene, we took the liberty of watching the security footage, and we found something that's quite the spectacle...." he pointed at Hank in the pictures.

"Do you know this kid?"
Phoenix was pretty annoyed by the officer's taunting attitude, especially since they didnt really have evidence of him killing the two people, nor did they have evidence of him speeding earlier that day; the car he drove still legally belonged to his dad.

"Yeah, he had anal sex with your wife, and then he let me fuck your dog. Can I go?"

"Listen you little shit, Im the boss here! You are nothing! You are worthless here! The other cops should've shot you at sight! Would've ridden the world of one degenerate."

"Ha! Go fuck your daughter you redneck cunt!"

The policeman punched Phoenix, clipping his jaw. Phoenix remained sitting in his chair, barely phased. He wiped the blood from his mouth and gave a shit eating grin.

"I had a girlfriend for 2 years who was into BDSM. Your punches are like butterfly kisses to me."
"I'll fucking kill you, boy!"
The cop threw the chair at Phoenix, who fell back trying to dodge it.

Phoenix quickly jumped back on his feet, ready to fight.

The cop brought out a nightstick.
Phoenix grabbed the cop's arm before he could get a swing at his head.

Phoenix threw a punch at the officer's face, breaking his nose on impact.

The cop stumbled back, and Phoenix watched the blood drip from the cop's nose.

When the drop of blood hit the floor, Phoenix felt his body being thrown against the wall.

He struggled to catch his breath, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the officer....and himself.
Phoenix got up, confused.

The Phoenix clone was lying on the floor, his face caved in, like it was slammed against something.

The chest was obviously heavily broken, the ribcage snapped, with some ribs tearing out the skin.

Phoenix rubbed his eyes, hoping to see the clone gone when he opened them.

But upon opening them, he saw a kid slouching on a chair, his head crushed, blood soaking his clothing.

The kid's brain was ripped to pieces, some of it dangling from his skull.

Phoenix began to hear ambulance sirens in the distance, and he began to panic. Then, he realized what was happening. Before he could do anything, he felt a blunt object slam against his stomach.

He fell to the floor. He opened his eyes; the bodies were gone. Now, the cop was brutally hitting him with the nightstick, over and over.

The cop kept on going for another minute, leaving Phoenix on the ground, curled up and bleeding.
"How's it feel to be my bitch, boy?"

The officer bent down to face Phoenix.
Phoenix realized Hank abandoned him for his own agenda. He was done for.

The officer got close to him.
"Now listen here. I'm gonna make a little proposition, because Im a good cop: you help us find the kid, and Ill erase your record. Does that sound good? No more manslaughter charges looming over you."
Phoenix was panting.

He stayed silent for a couple seconds.
"The kid....is named Hank Pierre...."
"Good boy."
The chief peeked in.

"Dave, we got a match on the license plate of the car from the security footage. The accomplice is heading towards Deception Pass."
The officer proudly stood up, looming over Phoenix.

"You're coming with me, boy."
The cop pulled Phoenix up and took him to a police car.
Phoenix was a bit surprised at Hank. Why is he leaving the island now?

Hank kept silent during the drive. He clenched his fists around the steering wheel, and Twilight started getting worried.

"Hank? Why are you suddenly so tense? What happened back at the store?"
Hank stayed quiet.
"....Hank?"

Hank stomped on the breaks, slamming Twilight against the seat. Hank stumbled out of the car, and threw up against a tree.

Twilight got out of the car, passing a sign that read, "DECEPTION PASS BRIDGE".

"Hank! Please, tell me what happened? Why aren't you telling me?"

Before she could ask again, Hank spun around and aimed a gun at Twilight.

Twilight stood there, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
"....I don't get what you're doing."

Hank sighed.
"It's a gun, dumbass! I shoot you, you die!"

"Wait, WHAT?!"
Hank laughed in a mad manner.
"Just like I did to two people in a store! Ha! I killed them!"

Twilight stepped back in shock.
Hank started pulling his hair in a horrifying panic.

"I KILLED PEOPLE! They had families to go home to! And they'll never be with each other! Again!"

"You're telling me you....took peoples' lives? Why would you....why would you do such a thing?"

"It doesn't matter now! Ha! Those..those fucking swine shitheads probably got my plate. I'm gonna go to jail!"

Twilight was starting to get scared. Hank was getting very erratic.

"You know it doesn't have to end this way," Twilight consoled.

"You have the ability to change your ways. To be a better person. I've helped many where I came from, and I could help you too."

"You don't fucking get it, do you? Your little fantasy brain cant understand what is going to happen to me! What, you think people will just start sucking my dick after I apologize? This is the real world, honey! And it's over for me!"

Hank heard sirens in the distance.
"Fuck! The fucking pigs are here! We have to leave!"

"No! You aren't going to run away from your problems! You have to face them! It's the first step to finding your purpose!"

"Oh stop being so FUCKING sappy!"
Hank pointed the gun at Twilight, and began to pull the trigger.

The gun flew out of Hank's hand-or what was left of his hand.
He yelled in pain as he watched blood pour out a huge hole in his wrist.

"AW! YOU FUCKING SHOT MY JERKING OFF HAND! YOU CUNTS!"

The police gave chase to Hank, who started running towards the bridge.

Phoenix hurried to Twilight.
"Twilight! Did he hurt you?"
"He's gone mad! He's going to get himself hurt!"

Hank kept a stead speed across the bridge, until he started violent convulsing as loads of bullets started flying through his torso.

The last shot went through his head, the exit wound shattering his forehead. He stumbled around, like the body had not yet realized the brain was just destroyed. Then, Hank fell of the bridge, falling 177 feet into the ice cold water below.

Phoenix stood next to the stretcher that carried Hank. If it wasn't the bullets that killed him, it was the impact in the water. Hank's skull was shattered, his scalp hanging, with some brain matter still refusing to spill out. Hank's face was near completely gone.

A blanket was slowly draped over him. Phoenix stood there for an extra minute, and began to head back to the car.

He started getting in when the Dave officer approached him.

"Looks like we really killed that kid dead, doesn't it? Have fun being a clean man....Phoenix....”

Phoenix looked at the officer with a look that could kill. But he decided to leave it, and he instead started driving away.

Twilight was in the back seat, reflecting, with a tear making its way down her cheek.

"Never....in my time as a student....have I faced anything this atrocious....never...." she choked.
Phoenix simply continued driving away.

OAK HARBOR, May 30, 8:40 PM

Phoenix took Twilight out for a drink. Twilight didn't want to, but Phoenix wanted to.

He casually walked out of the Walmart with a box of Bud Light, because he drank shit when his day was shit. He got in the car, smiling with his beer.
"I'm gonna get fucking wasted!" He proudly announced to Twilight.

"Whatever you want," Twilight moaned.
Phoenix drove to a lot next to a small playground in the middle of Windjammer Park. He cracked open a can and offered it to Twilight. She denied.
"You better not go crazy with that, I need you to drive us back to your house," Twilight warned.

1 HOUR LATER

Phoenix finished the last drop of the last can of beer from the first pack.
"....so that's why I only fuck women," he slurred in a very drunk manner."
"Phoenix! What did I tell you--"
"WAIT!.............."
Phoenix stayed in a position for a couple seconds.
"............I'm sorry, I have to take a piss."
Phoenix fell out of the car, and stumbled towards a ledge.
He slowly got up, and pulled off his pants. Then his underwear. Then his shirt. He got into a peeing situation. A minute later, he finished peeing, and went back to the car.
"Okay, I'm sorry I'm fucking naked, but I didn't want to, like pee on anything....." Phoenix fell onto the back seat, and Twilight looked back.
"It's fine," Twilight sighed.
"I AM, however, finding it interesting, how you treat nudity in your culture. And I don't get it. By what I've studied on human anatomy and how it's effected by certain substances, in spite of your lifestyle, you look perfectly fit."
“What, you want to fuck me?” Phoenix giggled, prompting Twilight to roll her eyes.
“I’m trying to tell you that you seem healthy in spite of all the drugs you’ve done.”

Phoenix laughed.
"Are you talking physical or mental? Cause you are so fucking wrong on the mental part!"
He cracked open another can and started drinking.

"I have had a fucked up life and nothing can stop me from thinking that."
"What happened?"

WESTFIELD MALL, LOS ANGELES, APRIL 14, 2008

Phoenix walked through the mall with his brother. The Apple Store had plenty of goodies they were able to play with. But since the iPod touch hasn't been sold yet, it mostly had shit, so everybody had Blackberrys instead.

Phoenix and his brother, James, were actually waiting on a bench outside the Sephora, where their mother was shopping for her fourth dating anniversary with her new boyfriend.

James was drawing a picture. He had entire portfolios filled with his work, and, being described as having a style that "puts Vivaldi on paper", according to his teacher.

"You draw too much," Phoenix commented while munching a Snickers.

"I like it...." James responded shyly.

Phoenix was quickly getting bored. He reached into his Target bag and pulled out two Nerf guns.

"You want to have a shootout?"
James stopped drawing and looked at Phoenix.

The brothers loaded their Nerf guns and each one hid on their own side of the bridge separating the first strip of stores from the second.

"This is the CIA, we've located the Al Queda terrorists in the Westfield Mall. Preceding to attack," Phoenix said into his wrist in a playful tone.

He jumped out from behind a plant and started shooting at James, who was expertly dodging.

The two collected each others' darts and used them as ammo. The passerbys were not amused, but the brothers didn't give a shit, they were having fun.

It wasn't until a dart made its way into James' eye when Phoenix realized how dangerous their game was.

James took his hand away from his eye, and gave a panicked look at the sight of the blood. In a state of horror, he ran.

"James, wait!" Phoenix shouted before giving chase. The chase went on through the entire mall, but it stopped when James ran into the Carousal to hide from Phoenix.

Phoenix stopped in the area where the Carousal was, and he gave an "Oh shit" look when he saw his brother hiding in the Carousal.

Phoenix ran to the controls to try and stop the crew from starting it up; the line made it onto the ride, and he had to keep it from running.

He pushed a worker away and tried messing with the controls. Of course, he was unaware the ride didn't start. By now his head was in panic mode. He just wanted to get James out of danger.

Unintentionally he started the Carousal.

James realized he shouldn't have gone into the ride. He tried scrambling out, avoiding the animals. Eventually he got attention from the workers, who were busy trying to take Phoenix off the controls, though now he was focused on halting the ride, but by then it was too late.

James' head was crushed by one of the animals. Nobody was riding that particular animal, but the people on the other animals were horrified.

The workers halted the ride. The bloodied horse rose once more before stopping above the body.

Phoenix only saw his brother laying the ground, and the blood creating a stream down the Carousal steps.

That's when he realized his sane life was over. He killed his own brother, and it felt like a cave filled with angry bats were trying to rip out of his stomach.

But perhaps the worst part was the fact that nobody saw it coming. One stupid decision would change him.

OAK HARBOR, 10:20 PM

Phoenix was fast asleep in the back seat.

Twilight let Phoenix's graphic memory flow through her mind. She was pretty fed up with the dread the world had displayed to her.

She cracked open a can of Bud Lite and started sipping at it. At this point it didn't matter what she did. Twilight would probably never get home.

When she looked at the floor of the car to pick Phoenix's clothes up to make a good sleeping place, his wallet fell out of his pants pocket.

Twilight picked it up and opened it. Alongside several coupons to various attractions around Whidbey Island and Seattle, there were pictures of James, just small enough to fit in the wallet.

The pictures were from 2007, and were labeled, "James' 9th birthday".

Among putting the pictures back, Twilight noticed a piece of folded paper sticking out. She took it out, and unfolded it.

The picture was a drawing of the Los Angeles skyline. It was unfinished, and the paper was well worn from being stored in a wallet for over seven years.

Dried up blood stained the paper. Twilight let out a sigh of helplessness before restoring the wallet's items and resting against the seat of the car.

FREELAND, February 25, 12:50 PM

"Yes, but you must know that the potency of marijuana has drastically risen since the 1970's!" Twilight was holding Phoenix back from the bags of weed.

"You're telling me I'm better off doing fucking crack? Because I will do just that!"

Phoenix snapped before snatched the bags and ran. Twilight gave chase.

The bonding the night before gave both Phoenix and Twilight a new understanding into eachothers’ mindsets and Twilight wasn’t nearly as cynical about him as she was before.

Phoenix and Twilight were running around the house, laughing, and then came to a dead silence and stopped in a shocked pose. Jennifer stood at the doorway with a HUGE smile on her face.

TO BE CONTINUED

Credits song: Pissed Jeans-Bathroom Laughter

Author's Note

Credits Song: Breeders-Cannonball