What does it mean to be human? Pt. 1
Summary: The Jims just didnāt want to do the tasks Dark had assigned them. How did it end up with the four separated, how did it end with CJ in the middle of Monster Gulch? What will he do in with the previously undiscovered ego, and how will his three brothers do without him?
Part 1
Part 2
āWhat the hell is he? Even here people donāt just appearā¦ā
āIām more concerned about whY HE LOOK EXACTLY LIKE ME?!ā
Jim blinked slowly to the loud voices nearby that had been fading in and out. Ā Sunlight streamed through large maple trees. This wasnāt right⦠the forest near the Office was mostly oakā¦
āOh look heās up!ā A pale face was suddenly in his line of sight, making him yelp and swing out with his camera. The guy leaped back with inhuman speed as laughter sounded to his left. There stood a woman with ragged clothing holding on to the man next to her for support as she laughed. The man rolled his eyes before his eyes turned back to Jim, narrowed in suspicion, hand tightening on his machete. Jimās heart stopped as he recognized the fluffy black hair and hard dark brown eyes under the muck and grime.
āWhat are you?ā The Mark look alike growled advancing towards him. The girl sighed and grabbed his arm.
āCome on Mark,ā She whined, āHe seems human enough, plus his reflexes are pretty good,ā
āHe looks exactly like me in fancy clothes and glasses, Dodger!ā Mark snapped, āThatās not normal even outside the Gulch!ā
āI-I can explainā¦ā Jim piped up, āI think I can at leastā¦ā
Mark scowled as the vampire leaned down and offered Jim a hand up. With only a brief hesitation he grabbed the offered hand.
He gripped his camera close to his chest as he stared at the angered face mirrored back at him. He had no idea if he was looking at an alternate version of his creator, or if this was another undiscovered tulpa, or even if he just dropped into a video that Mark had made in the past, let alone where he was. Perhaps honesty was the best possible choice?
āSo uhā¦ā He squeaked out wishing RJ was here to do the talking, āHave you ever heard of a tulpa?ā
āTulpa?ā the woman asked, āSounds like Mexican food.ā
āThatās Chalupa, Dodger,ā Mark groaned, āCan you please be serious in front of the monster,ā
āOh!ā The vampire breathed, āTulpas? Thatās what you and Mark are! That makes so much sense!ā
Jim nodded slowly, knowing the vampire would be able to smell if Mark wasnāt entirely human. Dodger and Mark stared at the vampire in surprise.
āWhat do you mean Enis?ā Mark asked slowly.
āYeah, dude, Markās human,ā Dodger corrected the vampire, Enis. Enis cocked his head.
āNo he isnāt,ā Enis said, āHeās never smelled entirely human. The fact heās a tulpa makes a lot of sense actually..ā
āWhat the hell do you mean?ā Mark asked eyes going wide, āI think I would know if I was a monster or not!ā
āYour name is Mark Edward Fischbach isnāt it?ā
They all snapped to look at Jim who gulped and continued on the facts of his creatorās life flowing easily from his lips, āYou were born in Honolulu Hawaii, not Oahu as you hate when people say Oahu as no one actually refers to the island like that. You grew up in Ohio with your father and stepmother after your parents got divorced. You had a few close friends growing up and were really close to your brother Jason, or as he started going by when he was older Thomas. You were studying to be an engineer when your father contracted cancer and ultimately died. It wasnāt until you contracted your own medical issues, including a tumor in your gut, did you decide to give up on being an engineer. After that, you decided that if you had to live your life you were going to do what you enjoyed. Have I messed anything up yet?ā
The other man gripped his stomach, where Jim knew the scar from the surgery lay, face ashy grey.
āI havenāt told anyone about any of that stuff,ā he mumbled softly. Jim winced, untucking his polo shirt from his slacks to flash what he knew to be an identical scar on his abdomen.
āI know because weāre based on the same person. The info I just told you is based on our creator, Mark,ā Jim said, ā Tulpas are being based on mental or psychic energy willing it into existence.ā
Dodger and the vampire shared a look.
āAlright, how about you two keep your clothes on and we figure out what to do with you somewhere a little more safe from monsters,ā She said, jabbing her finger in Jimās chest before she grabbed Markās shirt sleeve and dragged him with her.
āWait, we just came from that way!ā the vamp called running after them.
āShut it, Enis,ā Dodger snapped, āWeāre like a half an hour out from the bandit shack we stayed in last night. We can wait to figure out what to do until we get there, and Mark no longer looks like heās going to upchuck.ā
Jim frowned and jogged up towards them, hand digging into his pockets, āEat this,ā Jim said holding out a few peppermints. Mark blinked down at them in stupor.
āHow did you knowā¦ā He trailed off grimacing, not looking at his doubleās face. Jim shrugged softly, not willing to tell him he knew that peppermint would work because it worked on all of the Ipliers, how everyone from studio always kept peppermints on hand for when Bim worked himself up too much. Silence fell heavily over them as they crunched their way through the underbrush, Markās color returned as he sucked on the cool candy.
āSo whatās your name?ā Ā
Jim yelped as Enis appeared right next to him with a bright grin. It didnāt take much for Jim to smile back.
āJim,ā he answered, āJimās name is Jim, but his family calls him CJ.ā
āFamily?ā Dodger asked, āYou have a family?ā
Jim couldnāt help the nervous chuckle that bubbled from his lips, āSure, I mean what else would I consider Markās other tulpas?ā
āOTHERS?!ā
He had been running since the explosion had sounded from the Jimās corner of the Studio, louder and stronger than any of the normal chaos in the Office, it shook the whole building enough to knock more than one ego off their feet. In his panic, he seemed to forget his power to teleport instead rushing as quickly as he could on foot up the four flights of stairs from his greenhouse to the studio. Ā
The doors were already open when Bim arrived so he didnāt slow as he flew into the main studio room only to freeze at the damage.
The whole studio was scorched beyond recognition, brightly colored flames dancing nearly cheerfully on what was left of props and filming equipment around them, most of which he couldnāt even tell what it was anymore.
Hellfire, he realized with a sicking twist to his gut as he pushed himself forward towards the charred remains of a wall that divided the Jimās News platform from his game showās stage.
Bim heart jumped into his throat as he saw the clusters of people in the blackened room.
Off to the side stood Wilford, the pink man covered in soot but looking no worse for wear, leaning over the prone form of AJ, WJ kneeling next to him as Doctor Iplierās working on him. The Jimsā clothes were burned almost completely away, their forms having gone back to demonic to heal the burns that should have covered most of their bodies. Even so there bloody cuts and scratches littering their pelts from the explosion, and AJ had a nasty looking head wound knitting itself back together from Doctor Iplierās magic touch.
His eyes were then drawn to the middle of the room in the only unscathed section of the room sat RJ, his black eyes glazed lifelessly at the demolished outer wall of the studio, over the splintered remains of trees down below. His deep green was outstretched unmoving in front of him. Dark knelt to his left, talking in deep rich otherworldly tones to the smaller imp but was gaining no response, even as his demands to know what happened grew louder. Ice rain through his veins as he realized there didnāt seem to be another person in the room.
āHilaire! ā His cry was met with a blink and RJ turning his head towards him as his own human disguise disintegrated. At the same time AJ struggling to sit up to Doctor Iplierās protest,Ā but WJ batted the Docās hands away with a firm shake of his head as he pulled the older demon to a sitting position. Bim waited patiently until all three of his underlings were staring at him with attentiveness most would deny the news crew of possessing before his eyes softened and he ordered quietly āReport.ā
The imp seemed only able to utter a single syllable.
āGone.ā













