STITCH V

"Isn't that obvious, I' am Michael! Pleased to meet you!"

The boy beckoned Nate to shake his hand.

Nate shook it.

"Wait, I don't understand—"

The boy giggled again.

"We are both Michael, let me make it simple, you can call me: Wonder and Happiness. And—

He embraced the cyanotic Michael on his side.

--this is: Despair and Sadness."

Despair and Sadness suddenly burst into tears and cried.

"Just let it all out my friend, a hug is all that we need to push all our worries away."

"A hug may not be enough. But, you can still save innocent people, my brother and his friends needs us." Said Nate.

"Good grief! You're so damn serious." Wonder and Happiness said then, he burst into laughter.

"Please, I beg you!"

Wonder and Happiness' smile didn't waver.

"I' am willing to help you, I really do, but I'm not the one who needs convincing."

Wonder looked up and pointed at a pointy mountain with a spiraling stone staircase.

'He's up there."

Nate looked up. He can't see the top which was surrounded by dark clouds which sparkled long streaks of light.

Nate wrinkled his forehead.

"Who?!" he asked.

"Wrath and Vengeance. Even though this is just a part of the mindscape walking up there is tiring and treacherous, and worst, boring." Said Wonder.

"He's Wrath, right?!"

Wonder and Despair nodded at the same time.

"Why was he so angry? And where is his power coming from?"

Wonder seated Despair on a bench then sat beside him.

"The story is a bit boring, popcorn?"

A huge bucket of popcorn appeared from nowhere.

"Hmmmm, caramel and honey. Before I lose myself with this treat, I guess I have to tell my story then."

Wonder beckoned at Nate to sit on a tripod.

Nate sat on it.

"Have you heard his song earlier? I was the one who composed it. It was all true---

Wonder cleared his throat---Once, upon a time there was a boy named, Michael Cook. Michael or "me" or "we," rather, grew up in a small orphanage called: Foster Home of Saint Anthony of Padua in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was really frustrating back then, to see your friends getting picked by good parents, some of them by scientists who deemed a child have a sky rocketing IQ, some by tall muscular generals who only cared for tall strong boys who were too confident if you ask me, some were taken in by small time business men who picked children to have a cleaning dishwasher and toilet cleaner slave for cheap, and there were "us," the children that were never picked. It was as though there was a dark curse looming around us. It was powerful enough that made people sick and revolted by the sight of us. Don't get me wrong I have plenty of friends back in the "Home." It's weird you have plenty of kid friends and all of the adults seemed to hate you. Whenever something comes up they always blame us, even though I wasn't near the incident. They would always blame us on missing snacks, mess in the hallways, fighting and rough housing, pooping on the Head Caretaker's table, you get the point. Speaking of the head caretaker, she hated us the most, he looks holy and kind because she was a Nun and all that but, she was a horrible greedy "bitch!" We and my friends were curious on what happens to kids that are getting old and vanishes from existence. You know, being an orphan had its downsides, if you disappear, no one will look for you, and worse, miss you. So we go on snooping and followed the truck that goes to nowhere. There were a lot of bodies in there----Despair shivered and cried. Wonder patted him gently on the back---There, there no need to be upset. Anyway, back to the story. It was a horrible sight, dead fresh bodies with holes on weird places, some of them got their eyes out of their sockets, some of them lost a chunk of most of their innards, it was revolting."

"You don't look revolted." Said Nate.

"Come, on lad. I thought you already get it? Let's put it this way, he feels sadness and despair, while I, I' am the happy, and wrath, well, you'll find out soon enough. Let's continue. Eventually "Madam Superior", found out about us knowing she was selling body parts for money. We tried to escape but she was able to trap us, again and again. She was always ahead of us. That was the last time I saw my bestfriends, Cole and Rowena, we grew up together, we're more than just friends, we're practically siblings. We played together, make pranks in the home together, our butts were connected."

Wonder smiled.

He paused.

"What happened to them?"

Despair cried louder.

"We don't know, we assumed, they died. The truck took them away. That was the last time I saw them. One day that "bitch" took me out from her "storage," it's really funny when your treated like her supply of goods, anyway, I thought it was my turn to die, it was strange though, she pulled me to the comfort room and told me to take a bath, I looked for a window for an immediate escape but, there wasn't any so I just took a bath, then she gave me some fine clothes to change into. When I was done changing she pulled me up to her office, I can barely walk. There inside the office, a man wearing a blue coat and tie whose hair was properly brushed up and gelled, was waiting, sitting on a chair across the Head Caretaker's table. His eyes we're greenish blue and his nose was pointy. Just like mine. It turns out, the man was actually my father. Madam Superior sobbed and told him how she suffered taking care of his son, and told him that I was high maintenance. She was a big ass liar. She should be burned in hell for killing my bestfriends, I thought. He placed a suitcase on top of the nun's table and told her that he hopes that's enough for all the trouble I caused. I was so ecstatic and happy to know I still have a family, and a father that was so rich, what more could I ask for. He owned a corporation of companies, several ranches, houses, resorts, and mansions, he had collections of motorcycles, well-polished cars like the white limo, that was so cool, I loved riding in it, he had his own museums and a wide variety of pets like Lions, Tigers, Alligators, and birds, and all kinds of animals, he practically had his own zoo. He even owned the world wide sensation "Burgers Plaza." I got everything that I wanted, toys, clothes, food, desserts, snacks, gadgets, comic books, anything and everything a ten-year old could ask for. I was so happy, but I was wrong. I overheard the maids talk about how, my Dad, Martin got his "billion dollar" wealth. They said, he only inherited it because my grandfather, who I never met, wanted to have a grandson, something my uncle and aunts and other relatives doesn't have, most of them bore daughters. I hate my cousins, they always talk shit things like I was illegitimate and don't deserve to bear the Cook's name, blah, blah, blah. My playboy father didn't marry and doesn't want to commit. But a chance came into a form of a child, he got from a prostitute from L.A. I never really met my mom. I was his legit son though, he got me testing my D.N.A. over and over. My father was a really cold person, he greedily took all the inheritance for himself, sent all our angry relatives packing, changed and removed the old household help, guards and drivers. He was also very strict whenever a maid done something wrong he would punch her hard on the face or lock her in her room for a whole day without food. He also had the habit of disseminating late salaries. More worst things he had done was setting his giant pit bulls on our relatives begging for money and he also crushed all his enemies and the competition against his business. Many people lost everything because of Dad. Of course it didn't end without any repercussions."

Wonder smiled at Nate.

"Then, what happened?" Nate asked.

"That's where you and your brother comes in. It wasn't a coincidence your parents have died, and you, meeting Stitches tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever wonder why you don't have middle names?" Wonder said raising his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry---"

"Oh, this is so exciting! Seeing your eyes of dread twinkling, isn't it, Despair?"

Despair continued on crying.

"Okay, lets continue. Some of our relatives didn't take what happened to them too lightly. We don't know what happened but one of them snapped. She applied as a maid in our main mansion and because she was pretty and knowing how naïve he was, he immediately hired her. After a few months when everyone including my Dad, seemed to trust her, her malicious plan commenced. Her invasion was a success. Every day she would bring my Dad coffee, four scoops, two sugar cubes, no cream, the way he likes it. Little did he know though she added something in the concoction. Day by day my Dad grew weaker and weaker. After a few months my Dad, died. It's okay I, I mean "we," were never upset. He never really loved us. He would go out at night and enjoyed his night life with his buddy Monzero. Whenever he comes home he was asleep all morning, and when he did wake up, he was always irritable and he would shout at me saying he was tired from work and he needed no disturbance. I was a disturbance for him. Even in his last breath, he said to me to get out from his hospital room. My only real family that time was Elsa, my governess, she was not just a teacher, she was a friend, and best of all, she was a mother to us. We would hang out in my room, talk about anything, played video games, mind you, she was good in playing Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, she was a beast. She would bring me to Carnivals and we would have fun from dawn 'til dusk. Of course, my Dad didn't care if I went home late or even care if I come home at all. After my Dad's funeral, Elsa was one of the front-liners who planned my grand birthday party. I never had a birthday party before that's why I was really happy and for the first time in my life I felt really important. Everything was perfect: It was of course held in the most joyous Burgers Plaza, the main and biggest branch in Duluth, and the whole world, many glittered colorful balloons were put up, the meaty smell of burgers and cheesy pizza wafted in the whole venue, there were also crispy chickens, French fries, candies, gummy bears, a huge chocolate fountains, large bottles of sodas, an ice cream sculpture of Stitches, and beside it, in the same pose, it was its replica made out of icing and cake, there were also bucketful of popcorn, and trays and trays of donuts, large bowls of sweet spaghetti, there were a lot of food. In front of the food tables was a huge stage where the unmoving singing animatronics rested, of course, the crowd favorite was Stitches. The sound of children playing and laughing were music to my ears. I've invited the company executives, employees, the household and their kids and family. Even my relatives, even though they were reluctant and angry at first. In this birthday I planned to make nice to everyone: share my wealth to my relatives, provide the employees' salary they deserved, and treat everyone fairly no matter who they are. Though I was a naive little boy, We seemed to have matured, not to brag or anything. Elsa kissed me on the cheek and told me to wait when my name gets called. She caressed my hair and left. I hugged my animatronic toy, Stitches. Then, I died."

"You died?! How?! Just like that?!" asked Nate.

"Yeah, a hard whack on the head killed us instantly. I went missing for almost a month. A Fry man found me when he was looking for a cut of meat inside our large meat freezer. Everyone, and a pair of detectives haven't got a clue who had killed us. It seemed well planned and they didn't leave any tracks. But, we know who she is. A part of my soul was really angry and want nothing but revenge. The Wrath inside us melted its connection between happiness and despair. And here we are. You have quite a gift, Nate."

"She?! A woman killed you?!" said Nate, eyes widened.

Despair's body shook.

His body bent and rotated in different directions, creating disturbing cracking sounds.

CRAAAAACKKKK! CRAAAAAAAAACKKKKK!

He snapped his head to face Nate. His eyes disappeared leaving their hollows sockets and his mouth stretched into an upside down crescent moon. Dark red blood suddenly gushed out from the holes on his face.

He bellowed at him which sounded like a wounded animal.

Nate moved away as fast as he could but he slipped on the blood.

The creature was still coming after him. It cried its sad wail.

Nate slipped himself backwards away from the creature.

"STOP! HE'S NOT THE ENEMY! WRATH ALREADY KILLED HER!" Shouted Wonder.

Despair was about to whip his elongated arm at Nate.

He stopped.

His body slithered back to normal.

Despair crouched down on the floor. He hid his face in his palms. He started to sob and moan.