章 5: Cup of Noodles
Mall Mayhem
[Page: 27]
FALLENSPARROW // 01:22am //
As the monster reared, Willow froze, staring up at the towering figure. She watched as the boy tried to yell, but the grip seemed to be cutting off that sonic Screech that earned in his name. The unexpected concern she felt pushed her forward, arms sending vines along the monsters arm. It snarled, slashing out toward her, but she was faster. In moments the tendrils had covered its legs, it's arms, and finally, it's face.
"Let-GO!" She yelled, surprised at how angry she felt. Why did she care if this stupid monster hurt Screech? He was just an obnoxious brat anyway. But she still felt herself prepared to catch the boy if he fell.
ROGUEOWL // 1:45am
Tyler no longer felt confident in his plan. Catch a shoplifter, he said. It'll be fun, he said. Well, first he broke the windows on Willow's car, now he found himself captive to an evil monster. That's right girls, almighty Screech got his ass kicked by a shape shifter. What a whimp. Then the vines started appearing around him and the pressure on his chest got heavier. Oh crap, what was it doing now? He wriggled helplessly until, to his surprise, the monster dropped him.
It frickin, DROPPED HIM.
FALLENSPARROW // 2:01am
Willow gasped when the monster let go of Screech. Sure, she was prepared, but grabbing a falling object with vines was MUCH harder than grabbing a giant monster. She should have made a giant net, a trampoline, something.... In the end, all she managed to grab was his leg, but it still lurched him to a stop so he wouldn't hit the ground.
There, safe.
ROGUEOWL // 2:15 am
Just as Tyler was finishing his funeral plans, prepared to kiss the ground goodbye, he felt something stop him. His leg, painful, jerked, bringing his whole body to a halt. At least, for a moment. His cargo pants, once so handsome and comfortable, became his worst enemy as he felt his body slip forward, falling the last two feet to the ground.
THUD.
He didn't even want to open his eyes to confirm what the breeze on his calves meant. OH SWEET CUP OF NOODLES, the vines were left only holding his pants. This was a bad day to wear his Star Portal boxers.
Rylee's room // 2:16am
Despite the fact it was 2 am, reading the post made Rylee laugh into her hands. She scrolled up to the chat box, and instantly berated RogueOwl for his actions.
//You pulled his pants off! Poor kid! Are you trying to humiliate both of them!//
//:D kids gotta learn. Super heroes don't wear cargo pants to fight bad guys//
Her giggle made Bandit tilt his head and lick her arm, clearly wondering how much longer they had to sit in this chair. With a sigh, she glanced at the clock and groaned. She had to be up in 6 hours. She really needed to control her time on the net better.
//I need to go to bed, but I feel so cruel leaving him like that.//
//Eh, he'll get over it. He's a fictional character and all. But I have deadlines in the morning too so that's a good place to stop.//
//Eww deadlines. Good luck!//
//See you later//
RogueOwl's username disappeared and she watched as Bookworm took his place. Rylee snuck away before she could get dragged into another conversation. If she was awake when the UK crew took over, she was going to really regret it later. She had another double after all.
Yawning, she turned off her monitor and crawled over to her bed. Bandit lightly hopped next to her and circled until he was resting against her arm. Not for the first time, Rylee wondered about her online friend, their posting fresh in her mind. She knew they were in similar time zones, they both did art, but like most role players in the forum, there was still a bit of mystery surrounding him. More often than not, she was forced to picture him as Tyler, aka Screech, the silver haired character he currently controlled. Which felt weird considering RogueOwl could be at least ten years older than that. Or older. She secretly hoped he wasn't older...
Rolling over, she glanced at her desk. Between posts she had found herself doodling, slowly creating images for her long forgotten comic. She had enough material for maybe four pages, but always hesitated when it came to drawing more. What if she posted it, and everyone hated the art? Or worse, what if she shared it, and no one cared. She saw that happen online, where the millions of hopeful artists released their art, only to be swallowed by the masses. She knew it was safer in reality, with jobs and a paycheck, and less chance of another broken heart.
Restless, Rylee tugged her phone off her desk, and pulled up her news feed. Going to DeviousArt, she navigated to the web comics, scrolling through the endless posts. Then she clicked on the 'Recently Added' tab, and looked at the time stamps. Added 3 minutes ago, added 5 minutes ago. Some were polished art pieces, with vivid characters and expressive lines. Some were rough cell phone images of hand drawn art. So many people wanting to be seen.
'Try not to get your hopes up,' Blake would text, as she set up her table in the middle of artist alley. She was surrounded by other creators, and it was terrifying, but somehow, exhilarating.
'I wish you would come sometime and see this! It's so cool to watch people buy something you made,' she had begged. She was a daydreamer then, just like these artists. The first page of her comic was still out there, lost in the cyberspace abyss. That time stamp would show 3 years ago, and after that, she let herself walk away. Goodbye artist alleys, and goodbye dreams.
'Cheating jerk,' the memory made her sit up, anger driving away her exhaustion. She flipped the light back on and pulled her art tablet onto the desk. Opening a fresh canvas, she let her frustration fill the computer screen, running free like so many years before. The rage was sudden and controlling. Why did she give up anyway? To support HIM. To support THEM. Now, it was just her. What was she so afraid of?
The real answer? Failure. She shivered and colored more. She was afraid of standing behind that table and feeling invisible. She was afraid of feeling blinded by dreams like she was back then. Of having her happily ever after snatched from her hands. But she couldn't forget the good things, the adventure. She was tired of only living through her role playing games.
Nervously, Rylee opened the web browser, and sent a private message to RogueOwl before she could change her mind.
'You still up? I need someone to bounce some ideas off of,' she sent.
Within moments came the reply, 'can't wait to here what it is.'
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