#jfreeman

"... "Certified Freak"...?"

Samantha raises her gaze, only for her eyes to grow wide and her face to grow pale upon catching sight of something. The boys, confused beyond all merits, turn to look directly behind them...

... and... catch sight of the "freak" you spoke of... It lingers, just long enough for them to see it, to watch the black sludge trickle down its fingers, and then it is gone, vanished back within the painting.

The boys both stare up at where the arm had been, both much too scared and put off to say anything for a good while.

It isn't until Samantha speaks up again that they are broken free from their petrification.

... She, however, proves much less than unhelpful for the current situation, acting as though nothing was there. Nothing had ever been there. Nothing is.

"... But you... you looked terrified..." Joshua managed to say despite how his own body shook. "D... That just happened, we saw you, how can you..." He continued, baffled at the current dismissal.

As Samantha continues on her rant of expletive reasons as to why she despises the two boys before her, the two in question silently gaze at one another, both wanting nothing more than for the moment to pass.

But none seem to want that more than the forgotten Man of The Hour, Benrey, who is suitably zoning out from boredom and wanting nothing more than-

Hey. Hey. Yo. Are you seeing this? Are you hearing this? Yo, gamer squad, can you, uh, do something about this? I got, uh, important stuff to do. Important stuff to talk about. Yo. Please? I want my, uh, food...

Allen speaks in a hushed tone, the voice of the waitress next to him fading as your focus turns to him.

"Sometimes you sound different, sometimes you all sound the same, it doesn't matter much I feel. If you can change how you sound, then... I don't know, maybe that'll help? Maybe that'll be good for something?"

His expression has fallen, he seems tired.

Messages continue to pour in as the two continue to argue, with Samantha now incapable of ignoring the fact that neither of the boys before her seemed to utter a single word while the phrases still come through, clear as day. But that would be absurd, wouldn't it?

Despite Allen's best attempts, she doesn't seem to be backing down.

A silence falls over the group for a brief moment as soon as your response is posed. Samantha's expression changes from one of disdain to one of confusion as she finally breaks the silence.

"No one! No one said anything to you!" Allen hisses at the girl, causing her to laugh incredulously.

"Like I'm going to believe that for a second! How stupid do you think I am?!"

... you are all brought right back to the diner. Despite displaying something that disturbingly impossible to wrap one's head around, Benrey seems unbothered. The boys, however, are quite a different story.

Allen is horridly on edge, and Joshua... seems to not be taking it well.

But, as fate would have it, their troubles do not appear to be ending any time soon. A blonde waitress has come by, undoubtedly to take their orders, but it isn't hard to see that she has met the boys before.

And to say she's unhappy to see them would be an understatement.

The boys as well as yourselves seem to be trapped in a... picture of the past. Within, you can see Benrey in Xen, clear as day, lounging in his Boss Room as if the battle with the others had only just ended. He sings a song of pink, a mere speck when compared to the vastness of the room around him.

And he wasn't alone either. Someone else... someone "new" was there... Despite showing you everything wholesale, Benrey still seems to feel the need to lie to you. All of you.