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Sublime Awakenings	By : Kailean Category: Comics > Squee! Views: 1478 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Squee!, JTHM, or Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from these works. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Sublime Awakenings: Chapter 23

Dark towers rose up from the firmament as if reaching out for a long lost triumph, but none reaching as high as the top tower of the castle he was currently making his observations from. Behind them, at a distance of several miles, he could see heat waves and occasional puffs of smoke rising from a molten river that surrounded the small city Pandemonium.

“Hey, Mr. Satan! What's the deal with the river of fire? It's so... traditional. I didn't see anything like that during my last visit.” Asked the skinny, blue-haired maniac from the tower window.

“What? Oh, yes. Well, last time you were in with other human souls in one of the cities of the damned. This,” Señor Diablo spread his arms to indicate the surrounding area. “Is my city, where demons, other infernal creatures and a select few human souls reside. The river of fire is really just to keep out unwanted individuals who would come here seeking prestige. Now, pay attention.”

Johnny reluctantly turned from the view to watch as Mr. Satan approached a pedestal with a concave top. He placed his hands above the surface, and slowly spread them to reveal a swirling vortex of fiery doom. It appeared to be a miniature version of the large eye-shaped storm swirling at the very peek of the tower they were in. When Satan stepped back, the vortex spun faster until Johnny could no longer make out the condensations of energy that made it up. It grew cloudy before forming a clear picture of the previous night. Johnny had just brought Squee's bear home with him.

-----------------------ASE Broadcast-------------------

“Okay, Mr. Bear-bear, why have you been causing so much trouble for Squee?”

“I don't cause trouble for Todd. I eat his troubles. You, on the other hand, seem to have exposed him to so much “trouble” that he now requires extreme experiences to achieve the desired effect.”

“LIES! Things like you always claim to help, but if you were really still a part of Squee you wouldn't be able to talk to ME right now, without him even around, would you? And what do you mean 'desired effect'?”

“Ha! I was NEVER a part of Todd! And the effect I desire is trauma, fear: sublime and pure. I thrive on it, just as you thrive on the pain of others. You've made it harder for him to experience these things with all your macabre tales, and your sick, twisted humor. So, it seems to me that it is YOUR fault that he must now face such “troubles” so that I may feed.”

“You VILE, parasitic monstrosity! How dare you try to put the blame on ME for your malicious... maliciousness! Well, you know what Shmee? You're not going to be eating anyone's trauma anymore! I am going to see to it that-”

-------------------ASE Broadcast End-----------------

The image froze, then speed up as Señor Diablo fast-forwarded through Johnny's life like it was nothing more than a rented videotape. “Yes, yes. Well, I'm sure even you remember the events that occurred less than twenty-four hours ago. Stop!” Suddenly, the scene froze again. “Here is where it gets interesting.”

Nny found himself once again wondering if there was any way to kill the Devil, but was drawn from his speculation on the matter when the scene resumed.

---------------------ASE Broadcast------------------

He had just finished incinerating Squee's old Teddy bear in one of the underground rooms below his house. The incinerator seemed to be designed for cremating human bodies, though it was difficult to be sure because it, like most of the torture devices and the many subterranean floors themselves, had been there when he moved in. That's what he used it for in any case. The turn over rate of bodily decay in his front yard wasn't high enough for his liking, and it was more convenient than finding some secluded place to bury the extras.

As the Nny in the All Seeing Eye opened the metal, oven-like door of the incinerator to make sure that all of the bear was gone, something took form behind him. That something appeared to be a three-foot long, two feet wide… thing. The thing glowed, though it almost appeared as more of a smoke or fog than a glow, a muddy red. Inside of this glow was what looked like a being that somehow was made up of energy, but still had organs… non-organic organs that were themselves made up of energy. The head and six wispy tentacles that branched off from its body were a murky orange, while the twin organs in the center of the being that resembled the lungs of many Earth creature. With such a creature as this; however, the lung-looking organs most certainly served a completely different function in such a being as this were solid black.

Nny chuckled a bit at the thought of the smoky exterior causing the being to develop the black lung.

His amusement came to a halt when the being in the eye charged at his self from the previous night, merging completely into his body. The body spasmed uncontrollably, then swayed limply, nearly falling to the ground before regaining balance. It turned almost mechanically from the still open incinerator to walk up the stairs.

----------------------ASE Broadcast End-----------------

The scene once again came to a stop in accordance with Señor Diablo's will. “That being was obviously manipulating you into destroying the stuffed bear so that it could use you for its own purpose. Do you remember being possessed by it?”

Nny shuttered at the memories. “Some of it, yes. I don't know what it is if that's what you're getting at. I had assumed that it was a runaway figment of Squee's imagination. If it's not that, and it's not one of yours, then what is it?”

“That, my amusingly ill-chosen waste lock, is precisely what I would like to find out. We can't have outside entities disrupting the system here, now can we? And you know how inclined those in Heaven are to getting off their infantile posteriors to actually do anything about it.”

He paused briefly to turn his attention to a young woman in a white dress suit and tie with long black hair who had been leaning against a wall, listening patiently. “Elize, would you see Johnny to the exit?”

The woman pushed herself off the wall to walk across the circular room to Nny, hooking her arm casually around one of his. “Yes, my Lord. Come Johnny.”

“WAIT! I'm not ready to go back yet! The boy that came to my house after what you just showed me! What happened to him? Did he get in trouble? And that thing is still alive, right? I need to know how it can be killed. It caused me to endure horrible things! Just HORRIBLE!”

“If you can be of further assistance to us, we will be in contact with you. And I have a feeling that Todd Castil may be in very deep trouble indeed. But he is currently alive and not in legal trouble, if that is what you mean.”

“Show me.”

Señor Diablo sighed wearily. He had things of much more importance to do, but if this would get the deranged waste lock out of his horns for the remainder of his stay in Hell, then so be it. “Very well. But then you must go.”

The paused scene at Nny's house clouded over. When the swirls parted again, he saw two teenage boys in what appeared to be a mini-medical unit. Looking closely, he noticed that the one in the bed was Squee, though he looked rather pale, even for someone who had only seen the light of day on occasional weekends for the past eight years. “What happened to him?”

“He tried to kill himself.”

Johnny broke off what would have been his next sentence when the scene started moving.

-----------------------ASE Broadcast----------------------

The darker youth was stroking Squee's hair, which struck Nny as fairly distasteful, like all human contact… especially when it involved bodily fluids of any kind. He unconsciously jerked his arm away from Damned Elize's grasp. He must have missed something because the next the he knew, the boys were yelling at each other.

“Of course it matters! Your life matters, Todd. And so does how you die.”

“Why? And why doyou care anyway? Is it not enough for me to kill myself? Well, fine, I killed Johnny too! And it wasn't his fault at all. He wasn't trying to kill me. But surely you can sense all this without me having to tell you, so maybe even that's not enough. What do you want from me, Pepito? What will it take for you to just let me die? Do you want me to give you my soul officially first?”

At those words, the other teen, apparently named “Pepito”, stepped away from the bed, a hurt look on his face.

-------------------ASE Broadcast End-------------------

The scene froze again. Mr. Satan stood, staring at the Eye. Nny cast a suspicious gaze his way.

“Why would that Pepito kid want Squeegee's soul?”

Damn it! That was the last time he was using real-time ASE around anyone who wasn't under his control! Señor Diablo put on his best poker face. “The boy is clearly insane.”

“Oh, COME-ON! You're the DEVIL! You exist! Demons exist! That boy is one of them, isn't he? ISN'T HE?”

“CALM DOWN! Ahem. I'm going to need you to sign a contract stating that you will not divulge what you have just seen to anyone on Earth. Not that they would believe you.”

“No way! I'm not one of your underlings that you can just order around! I have my freedom...sort of.”

“Be that as it may, you WILL sign the contract.”

Nny raised his hand to his chin in contemplation. “Don't people who make a deal with da Devil usually get something out of it?”

“Must I remind you to address me by my distinguished title? And, yes, they do. However, most people who make a deal with me sell me their souls. I cannot take yours, so you will simply be agreeing to be silent on this matter.”

“I still think I should get something.”

“Very well. How about I tell you about your tragic and mysterious past? It is very interesting, you know.”

Nny looked contemplative once again. “Umm… I was thinking of something of a more material nature.”

Elize smiled widely, taking Johnny hand in her own. “How about we spend a little time together before you have to wake up. I have a small riverfront condo.” She made her offer in a seductive voice, following with a quick wink.

Nny jerked his hand away again, this time in complete disgust. “No, thank you! THAT is not what I had in mind.” He turned his attention back to Mr. Satan. “Remember that trench-coat that you said I couldn't keep last time I was here?”

---------------------POV SHIFT--------------------------

“Is THIS it?” A stumpy little hobgoblin-looking demon with too many trinkets and amulets to count around his neck held up a brown, suede jacket.

“No. I told you, it's long and black and PERFECT.”

“How about this?”

“No.”

“This?”

“Hell no! That looks like it was made for a twenty dollar hooker!”

“That sounds like a decent price for you.” The demon scoffed in irritation.

“Touch me and the price will be your LIFE! Uhh...do you technically have a 'life'?”

“No.”

“Oh. Is there an equivalent for demons?”

Elize sighed dejectedly, slumping against the concrete wall of the Mega Hell Storage facility. Señor Diablo had put her in charge of watching Johnny for the rest of his time in Hell, and then some undefined amount of time on Earth in case that entity returned to have another go at him. Her first obligation to the homicidal maniac was to help him find some trench coat that had been out of style in the cities of the damned for a good eight years in Earth time... who knew how many fashion seasons that was in Hell?

The coat had, of course, been taken off the shelves of stores and back-stocked for a time when it would be remarketed as retro. Unfortunately, the storage system had not been designed for early retrieval, as no one in the cities would want something that wasn't currently in style. They had already been to several storage buildings with no luck when Elize had finally broken down and called in a favor from a minor demon she knew, who was supposed to be good at finding lost objects. That had been hours ago, and she was beginning to suspect that his real purpose was wasting the time of the greedy or, in this case, the insanely obsessed.

She finally snapped. “Okay. I've had enough of this. You're not going to find the damn coat, so just pick something else!”

Johnny looked at woman with a useless homicidal gleam in his eyes. “My contract said that I get THE coat from last time!”

Damned Elize looked at her watch, which told something that could be interpreted roughly into a likeness of time. “Well, in that case the contract will be void soon.”

“THERE! This feels right.” The little demon held up a long, black trench coat that just might have been the right one.

“YES! Thank you strange, little, demon monkey! At long last, it's MINE!” Nny yanked the coat from his claw victoriously, hugging it to his chest.

“Thank the Dark Lord that's over.” Elize felt some of the tension leave her disembodied spirit as she rose from the floor. “And you know what, Johnny? I'm going to let you pick out a whole new wardrobe to go with that coat if you can get dressed before we have to leave for the Earth.”

Nny looked at Elize with deep-seated mistrust. “You think you can trick me, but KNOW THIS! I know your plan! You just want me to change so you can see me naked! Well, it's not going to happen!”

Elize simply smirked. “No, really. I won't look.”

“LIES!”

“If you say so.” She looked down at her watch in boredom.

Nny looked unsurely from the dead woman to the stockpiles of clothing at his disposal and back. “Do you PROMISE not to look?”

“Sure.”

“Monkey-man! Watch her CAREFULLY!”

With that, he darted through the isles, fishing through various bins, all of which he left in a wrinkled mess. Once he had finally found suitable attire he retreated behind a large stack of boxes to change, peeking occasionally to make sure that Elize had remained with the goblin-demon. Just as he was about to present himself in his new wardrobe, complete with the most amazing trench coast ever, he felt himself poof out of that existence. He only had a millisecond to fret about the horrors of waking from a sleep that he would soon fall victim to.

--------------Dimensional Shift----------------------

Johnny yawned groggily before smacking his dry lips together a few times. He absentmindedly stretched his limbs as his consciousness slowly floated to the surface of his newly resurrected body. The first thing he registered was that he was laying on his side, in a fetal position, on something cold, hard and scratchy. SHIT! There was that miserable feeling that made what little grasp he had on reality even more intangible. Had he fallen asleep or had what now seemed only a dream been true? And where the Hell was he?!

Deciding that his last question was currently the most important, Nny opened his eyes and uncurled himself to take in his surroundings. The first thing to meet his retinas was the open, blue sky and the bright sun. The second thing was a large water fountain rising up from the concrete directly in front of him. That was vaguely familiar. Making quick, shifty movements, he crouched against the side of the fountain and scanned the area in his line of vision. He was surrounded by small shops. That could only mean one thing. He was in The Square: the last commercial sector of the city that had yet to be taken over or simply driven out of business by large corporations selling everything a modern American could want at great convenience and super, low, low prices brought to them by underpaid, malnutritioned children in the third world.

But HOW did he get there?! Surely he wouldn't have fallen asleep in public! There were no signs of a massacre, so he hadn't overexerted himself and passed out.

“Allow me to set the record straight.” Elize smiled brightly at him from her seat on the edge of the fountain. “Yes, it really happened. You flushed again, and you have just been resurrected… again.”

“But WHY am I HERE? And why are YOU here? Don't you belong in Heaven or Hell or something?”

“The Dark Lord wants me to keep an eye on you for a while. And I think waking up here beats that crummy, condemned jumble of boards you call a house any day. So, wanna go shopping?”

“No. I need to find Squee. Where was he in the Eye?”

“Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm sure he is being taken care of.”

“By a demon?!”

“Sure. Pepito's a real sweetie. He'll be fiinne. So, relax. Let's take a walk, show off your new threads.” The dead woman offered him her hand.

A small smile played at his lips when he looked down at his wardrobe, remembering that Mr. Satan had finally let him keep that wonderful coat. He staggered to his feet, ignoring the offered hand. His face contorted in confusion when he immediately drew the attention of everyone whose eyes passed over him.

Most of those who saw him reacted with shock, some backing away, some covering their eyes and the eyes of their children and some coming closer to form a small circle of spectators around the maniac. A few ignored him, going about their business as usual.

“What are you people staring at?! Do I look THAT weird? That WACKY? Is that it?!”

A teen with green hair and braces tilted his head to the side in contemplation. “Well, you are pretty skinny.”

A young woman with dirty blond hair in an apron sporting the image of a steaming cup of coffee forced her way through the gathered crowd. “Okay, what's going on here?” Her eyes widened at the sight of a bare-naked Johnny shouting indignant remarks at the gawking public. “Johnny?! Why are you ... NAKED?!”

“NAKED! I am not naked! Why would I be naked?” He looked down once again at his newly acquired clothing. Everything seemed to be in order. There was hardly any skin showing at all! Why the Hell did she think he was naked?! An angry suspicious look crept onto his face as he rounded on his Damned guardian. “Elize?! Am I naked?!”

“Of course not, Johnny.” Here smile was full of sadistic humor. “You're wearing your new outfit. It just so happens that most mortals can't see it.”

“WHAT?”

“Well, what did you expect? You did get it in Hell. Hell is a spiritual realm, more energy that matter. Like your soul. So, everything there is of that nature. That's why you're generally not allowed to bring it back to this world.”

“Why didn't anyone tell me this in Hell?!”

“We couldn't get through to you. You were an insistent ass, so don't complain to me. You got what you asked for.”

Her reasons for choosing a public place for their entrance to Earth suddenly made a lot more sense. Johnny glared at her, wishing that she were still alive so that he might kill her.

Letta looked nervously from the crowd to Johnny, then to the vacant area beside him that he appeared to he having a one-way conversation with. Removing her apron, she inched her way closer to the D.H.M.I. Volunteer, whom she knew suffered from sleep deprivation. “Nny, who are you talking to?”

Looking back to the young woman and the crowd, which seemed even more unnerved at his conversing with Elize, Nny realized that they couldn't see her either. “No one. No one at all.” He took the pink apron that the girl held out to him, easily slipping it over his new clothes. “I think I'll go home now.”

The crowd parted as he walked though, followed by an overly happy Damned Elize. He tried to memorize some of the faces, in case he felt like killing someone later. Right now he was too embarrassed to kill anyone.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:

-The “all seeing eye” in hell is a 13 Ghosts reference. Traditionally, I think the all seeing eyes is a Freemason symbol and belongs to God. I used this idea in The Fluff as well. Also, when I read JTHM I noticed that one of the women in Hell tells Nny about the eye that everyone in Hell thinks is watching them, so it fits pretty nicely.

-KrazyKatana, from Devaintart, inspired a lot of Johnny's role in this part by suggesting that he get to keep the coat from last time. In honor of JV's belief that even good things should hurt, I decided it would be invisible to mortals without "the sight". Then Elize wanted to kick it up a notch when he rejected her.
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Sublime Awakenings