Declaration Of War

March 17th,

Friday 7:32 AM,

in an abandoned cabin in the woods.

After a while, Matt finally broke the hug with Emily, then gathered everyone around.

"Alright, everyone. Here's the plan for today. First off, well, Emily's definitely gonna be late to school... Whatever, we'll figure something out."

"Fuck that, there's no way I'm going."

"Nope, you definitely are."

"Ugh..."

"Second of all, I want you guys to continue acting like before. Y'all have no idea where me and Alex are. Don't even mention our names. Understood?"

Alex stood upright and put his hand up, like a soldier's salute.

"Sir, yessir!"

"W-Wait, not you, Alex..."

"Since when were you such a good leader, Matt? Why'd you get all the good genes? You're making me jealous."

"Stop joking around. And, I don't know... Something is just, like, yelling at me to take control of the situation..."

"That's not sketchy at all."

Matt thought for a second about what to do next. While he put his hands in his pockets, he noticed... Water.

"Uhm... So... Alright, I think I've got it."

"Mm? What's up?"

"Since I need new clothes anyway... I'll go see dad!"

Silenceee~

"Matt, are you insane?! You're wanted in the whole goddamn country! You're a fugitive!"

"I was joking, I was joking."

Emily sighed in relief.

"We're gonna go see my dad! Together!"

"W-W-We're gonna do what now?!"

Patt was laughing his ass off, while Alex just stood confused as to why the two were fighting.

"Chill out, chill out! At least I'm letting you skip school!"

"What do you mean, chill out?!"

"No, no, really! Listen to me for a second!"

Emily finally gave up, and sat down on the floor.

"Jeez... Fine..."

Matt sat down besides her, by instinct.

"Alright, look. So, long story short, our mom's dead."

"I mean, you guys have my condolences and all, but why is this important?"

"Because I lied to Mr. White. My dad's the gateling, not my mom."

Alex sat down, besides Emily, and started listening as well.

"Ohh... I get it... I mean, not really, but uh, go on..."

Matt sighed, then continued.

"My dad got married to my mom who knows how many years ago because she looked familiar to him. Turns out, she looked just like his ex-wife!"

"W-Wait, you mean..."

"You guessed it. My dad has some memories of his life, before Earth."

Patt was listening to this like it was something completely normal, while Emily and Alex were sat next to each other, eating up every word Matt said with their full attention.

"Look, now, he has twins, a dead wife, and is a security guard at some pizza place."

"Alright, but how's the last part important?"

"Apparently, he had a wife who looked just like my mom, that died during a raid, two boys who looked alike, and get this... He was a guard for the city's gate."

Emily sat in silence for a bit, to process the information. But Alex was quicker, and responded before her.

"Wait, that's basically the same thing!"

"Bingo, Alex! Good luck next time, mom!"

"I was gonna say that too..."

"Look, important thing is, we can trust him. I trust him."

"So... What now?"

Matt got up first, and offered a hand to both Alex and Emily.

"We go talk to him!"

Patt laughed again.

"What about school?"

"It's Friday man, it's whatevs. Today's classes are boring. As long as you two don't miss A.C.T.P. it's all gonna be alright. So, let's all go!"

Patt cracked his neck and stretched his back.

"Fine by me! Let's get going."

Emily and Alex got up, with Matt's help.

"Yeah, let's go."

Matt grabbed onto Alex and Emily tight.

"Meet ya' there, Begone?"

"Fine by me, Reaper."

And once again, after a whoosh and a flash, Begone was... Well, gone. It's in the name.

"Ah, we're calling each other by our nicknames?"

"When were out on field, we sure do, Disappear! Now, you might wanna hold on tight..."

"Wait, Ma... Reaper. You sure you can run with two people at once? You barely managed me before..."

"Sure can. I've been sleeping for days. And, on top of that... I feel like my electricity turned into outright thunder!"

Matt revved up a bit, then started running like crazy! He was definitely faster than before, even while holding two people. Once he got out of the woods, he started taking alleyways and whatnot, as to keep out of sight as much as possible.

His house was in a bit of an secluded area, so he went to the front door instead of the back.

On the stairs of his house stood Patt, looking down.

Once Matt stopped, he let the two down, then went up to him.

"Hey... You okay?"

Patt looked up at him. To Matt's shock, his smile was absolutely dead and gone, and he was clearly crying for what seemed a while.

"W-Wait, what the hell happ-"

Patt stood up and grabbed his shoulders, and started talking to Matt, with some sobs in-between.

"Listen to me. You have to go in there. And once you do... Be prepared. I want you to go in as 'Matt' and come out as 'Reaper', got it?"

Matt looked at him for a while, in shock.

"...Say that you got it!"

"...A-Alright. I got it."

Matt turned around, to Emily.

"Keep Alex right there. Don't move an inch, either of you."

Matt stepped up the stairs, and to his front door. It's been about a week since he last came here. He considered knocking, but reconsidered, and just opened the door.

Once he stepped in, he noticed a few things. First, everything was fucking ruined. Picture frames were shattered, stuff was on the ground, broken, pillows from the sofa were ripped. It looked like a whole war was fought here.

Second of all, all the pictures that he was in had his face scratched out completely.

"...What kind of fucking monster passed through here? A dragon?"

Third of all, he noticed a trail of... Well, he didn't quite know of what. It looked dark brownish, maybe even a little red... But it was going up the stairs. So, he followed.

The floor creaked under his footsteps, and so did the stairs. He could still hear Patt's faint sobs from outside, but they died down as he went up the stairs.

Once he reached the top, the trail lead to the right. He first took a left, and entered his room. Inside, everything was worse than downstairs. Everything thrown around, everything ripped...

"Well... There goes my change of clothes..."

He went in, took a backpack from whatever remained from his closet, and filled it with whatever he thought was useful. Wallet, charger- even though he didn't really need it- and stuff like that. Good thing he kept those in a little box under the bed, that remained fairly untouched. After that, he went outside again, and started following the trail again.

It lead to the only place he wished it hadn't. His dad's room. He wiped his forehead, and slowly opener the door, with a creak.

After the door was fully open, Matt fell to his knees, punched the floor with both of his hand, with all his might, so hard that his fist were leaking electricity, and screamed in pain so loudly, to the point that both his ear drums and vocal cords were about to burst, and the power went out as well.

On the bed, stood Matt's best friend, protector, idol and hero. His father. He was laying lifelessly on the bed, with a knife stuck in his side, and scratches all over his body. In his hand, was a stainless white letter, which had 'A.M.' written on it. It was definitely placed there... After...

He went over to his now dead father, barely holding back his tears, and saw something else besides the letter. He saw an arrow on his father's arm, seemingly painted with his own blood. Matt instantly recognized it. It was something that was on his father's journal. One that he and Patt never got allowed to read.

He had to find that journal.

He got the white letter, put it in his backpack, and started searching for his father's journal.

He searched for about half an hour, in that foul, disgusting smell. In that timed he came to terms with it, cried because that wasn't true, came to terms with it again, cried again... So on, so forth. After ten more minutes, he actually did find it.

In a small little board under the floor, covered by his desk, was a journal with an arrow drawn on it. It wasn't a regular arrow, it was one that split into two at the head, as if it was cut by a talented swordsman mid-flight.

He also put it into his backpack, wiped his tears for good, and bowed down to his father.

"Thank you, dad."

Matt took a big breath.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine by ourselves. Go reunite with your family, be it this one or the other."

Matt took another big breath.

"Me and Patt both love you."

And another.

"I..."

And...

"I love you."

He wasn't fooling anyone, not even himself. He started crying again.

"Fuck..."

After he wiped his tears for about the twentieth time, he finally decided it was time to go.

"Bye, dad. Please rest peacefully, okay?"

He went downstairs, and hesitated in opening the door. He started thinking.

He was never gonna see this house ever again. Or his dad. He was never gonna come home late, only to find his dad reading his favorite book, 'A Careful Escape', on the sofa, with the TV on. He was never gonna get the chance to tell his dad about his date, after he so proudly bragged to him about it.

He then remembered Patt's words.

"...You enter as Matt... And leave as..."

Matt went back upstairs, and to his room. And to his surprise, it was still there, unscathed.

A long, black jacket, that reached his feet. He chuckled a bit.

"I'm so glad I read those manhwa's and bought this."

He put it on, and then went downstairs again, and this time, opened the door without hesitating.

He was met with a Patt who stopped crying, an Emily who had a sad look on her face, and an Alex who was sitting down on the house's stairs, almost shaking.

Patt was the first to talk to him.

"...It's fits you, doesn't it? Reaper."

"You think so? I'm just glad it wasn't torn apart."

Patt's composure slowly started to dissapear.

"...Did... Did you..."

"Don't worry. I did."

Patt almost fell to his knees after hearing that.

"Thank you... I... When I... I saw it... I couldn't... I couldn't..."

Matt hugged his brother.

"Don't worry. I let him know. He knows. Trust me, he does."

"Thank you... Thank you..."

Patt almost started crying again, so he went over to Alex, and sat next to him. Alex leaned over onto him, as a way of comfort.

Emily then went and spoke with Matt.

"Hey... I'm... I'm sorry..."

"It's alright. Don't worry."

"You keep saying 'don't worry', but are you... Okay?"

Matt smiled at her.

"No. I uh, I don't think so. But if I ever stop smiling, I think I might cry for the rest of eternity."

"...I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Don't... Don't worry..."

There were cracks in his voice. Matt's façade was slowly breaking, and he couldn't keep up the "though guy" act anymore. Emily didn't bother him further, and sat down next to Alex and Patt. Matt then went and joined them as well.

As they were all sitting down, Matt pulled out his phone, recharged it using his good old reliable tool, his fingers, and called 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Hi. I, uhm..."

Right, wanted fugitive...

"I'm Patt. Anderson Patt. Can you please transfer me over to the gateling's line? My dad... He's dead."

"Yes sir, one second please."

After talking with the gatelings dispatcher, he was told that a few police officers and an ambulance were on their way, with an ETA of 10 minutes.

After he hanged up, he got up.

"Well... It's time to go, I guess. C'mon, Alex."

"Uh... Where to?"

"Back to the cabin, I guess."

Emily stood up as well.

"But, what's the plan?"

Matt stopped, and thought for a bit, before replying with a smile on his face.

"I have something in mind, I guess. I'll update you all later. Don't forget to go to the A.C.T.P. on time, both of you."

He turned around, and took a step forward, but Emily stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"Hey. Wait up. This isn't right."

"Uh, what isn't?"

"You just said 'I guess' three times in a row. That's not something you usually do when you have a plan."

Smart girl. Matt sighed before responding.

"Damn... Look, the plan isn't really... All there. Not for now, at least. I got the late stages developed, but... For now... I'm useless. I can't think of anything."

"You're not useless, Matt... C'mon, let's go. You too, Alex."

Alex put a hand on his forehead, in confusion.

"Uh, where to...? I'm getting confused..."

"Well, my house, for now. Let's go."

"Sure, just, give me a second."

Matt went over to Patt, and crouched down.

"...What?"

"C'mon, bro. You have to."

"I... I'm scared... I didn't even get a good look, I just... I..."

"Hey, hey, hey... Calm down. It's all gonna be fine. Go speak your mind, then wait for the police. I already talked on your behalf too, but you should go as well."

"...Alright... I-I'm gonna try..."

"That's the Patt I know. Go on."

Patt got up, then went to the front door. Right before he went in, Matt yelled from behind him.

"Remember, bro! You go in as 'Patt'..."

"...And come out as 'Begone'... Alright. I'll see you later, Reaper."

"You too, Begone. Talk with the police for me, will you?"

Reaper picked up Emily and Alex, and started running towards Emily's house. It was quite far, so it should take him a while.

Begone went inside, to speak with his father one last time.

When the police arrived, they found him sitting on the stairs, reading a blue book, with the words 'A Careful Escape' written on it, in big bold letters.

"Hello, sir."

The officer pulled out his badge, and showed it to him.

"We're from the police department. Are you Patt Anderson?"

Begone almost smiled at that.

"Well, yeah. Usually. Where's the ambulance?"

"They'll be right here, ETA two minutes. Do you mind if we go in, take a look around, and at the victim?"

"Be my guests, please."

As the two police officers went in, Begone quietly sat on the stairs, and out of pure curiosity, he bookmarked the book, then flipped it over to it's last page.

On it, in a hurried, not so great handwriting, was written in big, blue words, the following.

'Hi there! If you're seeing this, you're most definitely Patt. Yeah, I'm sure of it. Matt would never ever read this type of book. He prefers all the Japanese and Korean stuff instead. Anyways, love you both! Hope you enjoyed the book, Patt!'

Patt sat in silence, as he read that over and over and over again.

He closed the book, and sighed.

"Fine then. I'll stay as Patt a little more, just for today..."