The Last of Our Fears: Chapter 3

In an instant, the lights went out. A spotlight was set over Caffrin and Harry, and another on Robin, Manny, and the microphone.
"Look here, lady," Mikey began, "I've been known to help the big-shots get their start--and I can't let chumps like you two steal away my clients."
Caffrin shook her head in frustration. "This isn't a game anymore--you're one of them; trying to send Robin and Manny into a world of trouble!"
Mikey chuckled. "I have no idea what you're talking about..."

Manny and Robin looked at eachother in shock, confusion....and almost fear. Caffrin was right; there's something wrong with all this.
"Excuse me, Mikey...maybe they're right. Fame and fortune may not be all that worth it..."
Manny nodded. "I don't think I want to be famous anymore..."
Mikey's eyes started glowing; his voice becoming hoarse...almost demonic. "But you're my best clients! You're staying with me and you're gonna enjoy it!"

Harry stepped forward. "They said no. Leave them alone."
Thinking quickly, Caffrin grabbed a breakaway vase and threw it at the microphone stand.
Direct hit. The stand fell over, with Mikey screaming in pain. With him distracted, Manny and Robin ran back to Harry and Caffrin.
Suddenly, the spotlight turned bright red as Mikey's screams became louder.
Caffrin grabbed Manny's hand. "Let's get out of this crazy place!"
Without a moment to lose, they headed to the door and exited the country club.


When they got outside, the sky had turned a dark-reddish color, buildings and bystanders looking more like shadows. Nothing more than sihloettes.
Caffrin stared in awe at what they've done to their quiet little neighborhood--they've turned it into their worst nightmares.
"The Dust-E-Mart!" she exclaimed, "That must be their base of operation. C'mon, we gotta investigate!"
She ran off to the abandoned building, Harry, Robin, and Manny following behind her.


The one lightbulb that lit up the meeting room started to flicker. Carrie arrived at the door with a panicked look on her face.
"Sir! We have an emergency Booksworth report!"
Tony grabbed the paper. "Let me see that!"
As he opened up the report, his eyes widened. "...Oh no."
Notepad reached for her pencil, freshly sharpened. "What is it, Tony? Have they figured us out?!"
"Worse," he said as he crumpled up the paper in his grasp.

"...They're resisting."

The other objects gasped. "They might be on their way here right now!"
Suddenly, there was another secret knock at the door.
Tony opened the door to find the bent microphone stand where Mikey was still resting on. "Who knew breakaway props could actually hurt you...?!"
The frustrated Tony dragged Mikey into the room and shut the door behind them. He stood Mikey upright. "What happened to you?!"
Mikey groaned in pain. "I almost had 'em, Tony...I almost had 'em! But that girl...she did a number on me! It was horrible!"

Notepad tightened her grip on the pencil. "That does it! We must go to phase three--finish them off once and for all!"
Tony set down the report, eyes glowing demonically. "Agreed. Our legacy of torture must be preserved!"
"And there's only one way to weaken the outsider; making them vulnerable again..." Notepad put her pencil back down beside her. The other objects' eyes started to glow as well.

She grinned evilly. "We must exploit her fears."


When the four got to the now-abandoned Dust-E-Mart, they noticed the lights were still on inside--and the sliding doors still worked. Once inside, they rifled through all the shelves, checked every aisle, and even behind the counter. Most of the popular items were gone--most notably in the appliance section--but everything else was still there, untouched and possibly non-living.
Caffrin was in the arts-and-crafts section--since the notepad had taught them about creativity; it seemed appropriate.
She examined a pottery vase. "Did you guys find anything?"
"Nothing in the hardware section..."
"The silverware aisle's all clear!"
"I can't find anything bad in the sports section!"
Caffrin put back the vase. "Well, there's gotta be something around he--"

She stopped when she noticed a strange outline on the back wall. She pushed it open to reveal a dark passageway. 'That wasn't there before, was it?!' Caffrin thought.
Caffrin turned her head down the aisle, yet still eyeing the passageway. "Guys..."


Meanwhile, all the other citizens outside were screaming in terror, running around in a panic. Their shadows were fading against the dark-red sky as their screams grew louder. Tony and Notepad watched the madness on Telemus Visual's screen.
The clock chuckled. "That's right....run from your inevitable fate. Try to run from your fears. Motherboard will be more than pleased with us now..."
A laptop shuffled in through the air vent. Notepad switched the channel back to Telemus Visual's face. "Prism Catrina! Did you get any intel on Caffrin's weaknesses?"
The laptop opened herself up. "I've gathered all the information we need...and more."
"Excellent. What have you discovered?"

Catrina changed her screen to a picture of Caffrin. "Her greatest weakness is being seperated from her sweater. That sweater is everything to her; she lives off of that thing. I even have old footage of her talking about them:"

She changed her screen to a video of Caffrin in her room, sewing up one of her sweaters. She hummed a quiet tune which she composed herself.
"Oh, my sweet little green-striped sweater," she said as she knotted up her last stitch, "What would I do without you?"
She smiled warmly and hugged the renewed sweater.

Catrina stopped the video and switched back to her face. "So it must be the sweater that keeps her safe! Without it, she'd be weak and vulnerable!"
Notepad's grip on pencil her pencil tightened furiously, snapping it in half. "Of course....the promise she made was based off of that ridiculous, uncreative disaster of a shirt!"
"It might not just be that, either," The laptop continued, "She's also more of the artistic type--claims the sweater helps to give her inspiraton; as if the color green itself was sacred to her."
Notepad was furious. "That's it! When I get my hands on her--"
Tony tried to hold her back. "Calm down, Notepad--at least now we know of her greatest fear!"

Notepad sighed and regained her senses. "You're right. The sweater must be destroyed."