Dark Protector Pt. 2

"Mr. Maguire. Hello! You're spacing out!"

Nikki's voice called out to me as I stood in the trial room. Her hand was waving to catch my attention. I must have been lost in my thoughts. I had barely noticed that I had stopped talking, or even thinking about the trial I was on. 

"I-I'm sorry, what was the question again?" I asked in a confused tone. 

"The question was whether or not you wanted to join the Kill Watch. Is it that, or is it a far curler fate? And trust me, you won't get to go to the other side if you refuse." 

This was such a difficult question. Was joining the Kill Watch the right thing to do? What would... Stacy have told me to do at this time? Of course Amoxil wanted me to take the offer, but was it really what was right? The Kill Watch were heroes, but government pawns. Was that really what I stood for? 

Then again, what did I stand for? Memories of my school life started to flood into my thoughts. Just like that, I was back in my high school. I was remembering Stacy speaking with me. She was so ecstatic.

"Soooo, you found a cosplay! That's pretty shwag, Tom!" 

"Yeah, I did. Are you still serious about buying me a ticket to Pinker-con?" 

"Mhm~!" Stacy trilled, "Just as long as you bring me as your plus one! What do you say?" 

"Stace, you're my best friend, and you're offering me a chance to go to Pinker-con. Of course you can go with me. Just make sure to make me look as shwag as possible, okay? Cuz seriously, the last thing I want is looking like a complete and utter moron in front of Midori."

"Um, sorry Tommy-boy, but I'm pretty sure you make yourself look like that in front of her all the time." 

Ouch. I had gotten absolutely destroyed by my best friend. She flipped her hair back and smiled. 

"But, it should be fun, so... I'm excited to go."

Stacy seemed happy when she said that. Especially with her beautiful, sunshine of a smile. After that, she gave one of flawlessly beautiful waves, and left me in order to go home. 

Amoxil then whispered in my ears. 

"Man, are they gonna have booze there? Maybe some rock? I dunno. It sounds kinda like a nerd party." He asked. He sure did love his drugs. 

"Dude, chill the shwig out. It'll be fun." 

"Alright, if you say so..." 

Amoxil then started to sing more Dave Matthews, which, unfortunately, by mere exposure, had become surprisingly catchy. 

On the day of Pinker-con, Stacy and I had met up dressed in our nerd outfits. She was supposed to be Shark-Man, that old Superhero from that old comic book that no one read anymore. Still, she looked cute, and it made her round butt look like something that I'd love to have near my face sometime. 

Me, on the other hand, I came in the dark armor that amoxil provided for me. 

"Holy shwig, Tom!" Stacy exclaimed when I tapped on her shoulder, revealing my cosplay. "You don't even look like you! Those muscles look so real!" 

"Yeah," I said, my voice a bit muffled and distorted due to the costume. "It's a good cosplay, and no one's going to beat it. Not even Midori. You, on the other hand, look crappy. Seriously, who likes Shark-Man anymore?" 

Stacy chuckled, and was going to give me a long, winded explanation on why Shark-Man was relevant, but before she could, I heard a new voice approach me. 

"WHOA-WHOA-WHOA-WHOA! HEYA, CUT IT OUT, BUSTER-ROO!" Said an unknown voice from behind. 

I turned my head only to see a girl wearing a some sort of inconspicuous, mild-mannered attire. Her hair was a deep blue, and her teeth were kind of sharp. Despite her outfit, she looked kind of suspicious.

"Uh, and you are?"  I asked. Stacy was probably just as confused as I was. 

"Sydney. Sydney Wayys. I'm a Shark-Man Super-Fan, and let me tell you one thing, buster! For that kind of talk, I should break a nose, jaw, and eat'cha raw! SHARK-MANISTHEBESTSUPERHEROEVER!" 

This Sydney girl seemed passionate about her Shark-Man. Luckily, she couldn't see my face, because if she could, she'd probably remember it, and hold a grudge for what I said now. 

"Nope, he's pretty shwig." 

"No, YOU'RE pretty Shwig!" 

Out of nowhere, the crazy fangirl punched me across the face, and with great strength I may had. Even though I was wearing Amoxil, I felt that punch. Without another word, she left. Stacy, being the good friend that she was, immediately rushed to my aid. 

"Holy Rivers! What the shwag was that bitch's problem? Talk about super-fan extreme, huh?" 

"Yeah, she's a weirdo. Let's just... go inside the con already." 

Stacy and I made our way into the con, and immediately caught sight of people taking pictures of Midori's cosplay. She was barely wearing anything, and everyone was eating it up. That big-titted, slanty-eyed slut. Seriously, what a shwiggin' bitch. I decided to leave this area, and sign up for the Pastel Pinker-Con cosplay contest which started soon. I knew Midori would be entering, and I couldn't wait to show her up with my own costume. 

About an hour had passed, and a group gathered for the OC cosplay contest. Midori and I, along with a few other strangers, headed on stage when a legend had appeared. It was the very chesty, very beautiful animator for Pinkerton Animation, Pastel Pinkerton. 

"Konnichiwa! Hello!" Pastel spoke into a Microphone that was likely implanted on the side of her face. "Pastel is -- Erm, I am Pastel Pinkerton! Owner of Pinkerton Animation Studios. I'm here to recruit a new artist for my company. The Cosplayer with the most originality, and work put into their costume will become my new, personal apprentice, and get to work with not only work with me, but help me with new designs for anime, cartoons, manga, and comics. By winning this contest, there are endless possibilities! But, before I start, I'd like to show you what got me started in animation." 

Pastel reached into her pocket, and pulled out a pen. 

"This is called the Pen of Nilloc. A pen that I, as an artist, have drawn with and made many of my animated wonders." 

The crowd was in awe at Pastel's pen. The Pen of Nilloc had been something she had spoke about in interviews. Supposedly, it had been her good luck charm for years, and she thanked it for all of the blessings it had given her. 

"The Pen of Nilloc is a symbol that anyone's dreams can come true! Even the young artists before us! Yes, COSPLAY IS AN ART, WHICH MEANS COSPLAYERS ARE ARTISTS! Never forget it!" 

Pastel smiled, and the crowd ate it up. I could see give Midori on the stage giving some of the other cosplayers with good outfits glare. Boy, she was going to lose, and I was going to come out on top. DOMINATED! That's what that shwiggin' ho would be. D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E-D. 

"Now, let me announce  the winner of this years cosplay conte--" 

Before Pastel could finish, Pyonpi-Bots had crashed through the roof. The instantly targeted random civilians in the crowds. 

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!" Pastel Pinkerton screamed as loud as she could when the Pyonpi-Bots had invaded. She then ran off in fear, but tripped on the way out, bursting open her top to where her breasts had been revealed. 

"Holy shwig!" I exclaimed, "Those are great tits... A-And Pyonpi-Bots are invading! Amoxil!" 

"Huh? Yeah, I see it man, let's run or somethin'!" 

"Run?! You're the one who told me to do good things, aren't you?" 

"Oh yeah, I said that. Man, don't listen to the things I say when I'm probably 90% high." 

"You were high that day?" 

"I dunno, I barely remember it." 

"Seriously, let's jus--" 

A Pyonpi bot then shot a laser towards me. As an instant reaction, I jumped out of the way. 

"SERIOUSLY, AMOXIL, I NEED YOU TO SHWIGGIN' HELP ME!" 

"Yeah, yeah. When I want help getting high, it's, 'No, Amoxil, drugs are bad,' but when you want to fight killer robots it's suddenly, 'Let's do the thing that'll kill us!'" 

"Dude, stop shwiggin' around, and c'mon!" 

"Fine, fine. What do you want?" 

"Um, gimme a... uhh,  gimme a sword! Make one!" 

Amoxil then used his shape shifting abilities to make a sword made from his biological form appear out of my hand. It felt a little strange, and was connected to me, but I could wield it, and it'd do damage. I charged towards the crowds of people that the Pyonpi-bots were terrorizing, slicing them to bits. 

That's when I heard a voice yell a battle cry. 

"IT'S TIME'TA TAKE A BITE OUTTA CRIME, GUPPIES! Shake-Babe's on the scene, and it's time to roll film! ACTION!" 

The voice came from a scantily-clad female with a shark-fin for hair. She wore a mask, and her breasts were very noticeable. In fact, they were so noticeable that I actually heard Amoxil say, "Uh, man, you're getting excited down below, and I can feel it. Seriously, stop checkin' out the SPACE BETWEEN her breasts, and get back to fighting." 

The woman jumped in, and instantly pulled down her mask, using her razor sharp teeth to destroy any Pyonpi-Bots that were hurting citizens. Her mouth was like a gaping black hole when she was opened wide. She could swallow certain things whole, and it didn't even seem to phase her. 

"Holy freakin' shwig! Are you seeing this, dude?!" I said to Amoxil. 

"Yeah, I am, but really, I've seen better when tripping."

"Dude, what the shwig is your problem?"

"Man, don't lecture me..." 

"Whatever! We need to get on same page as her. Transform into something cool that we can kill a bunch of these Pyonpi-Bots with ease." 

Amoxil then started to transform into a pretty shwaggin' car with flames that spurted out. I was instantly in the driver's seat. He spun around, running over any Pyonpi-bots that came close to us, as the Shark Girl ate, chewed, and destroyed as many Pyonpi-bots as she could. 

This Shark Girl and I were like a superhero team. In fact, it was cool. And I was saving people! How shwag is that? I was even saving Midori, and Pastel Pinkerton! I was going to be a shwiggin' hero! 

When all of the killer Pyonpi-bots had been defeated, the Shark Girl and I stood in the center of the room together. Civilians came to clap for us, and cheer us on. We were heroes in their eyes. I turned to the Shark Girl, and went to shake her hand. 

"Hey, sexy," I said in a suave voice. "That was nice work you did there." 

Instantly, she punched me in the face, sending me flying back. 

"SCREW YOU, SHARK HATING D*CK SUCKER! I'LL HATE YOU FOREVER, AND FOREVER ISN'T OVER YET! IN FACT, FOREVER'S JUST BEGUN!" 

I heard her yell, before she jumped inhumanely high, bursting through a newly made hole in the roof. The people gasped at the sudden outburst from that crazy lady, and soon gathered around me. 

"Rain Rivers," I groaned, "What the shwig was that bitch's problem?" 

"You're just not very good with women, man. Unlike me." Amoxil replied. 

"Oh, shut up. I'm awesome with the ladies. Like you're any better." 

"Yeah, man. Sure. Hey, I was married. Her name was Pippi, my ray of sunshine." 

"Yeah, I don't care. Shut up, Amoxil." 

I stood up, and wanted to take praise, but that's when Amoxil whispered into my ear. 

"Man, they're gonna be onto us. We're gonna be everywhere, let's go!" 

He was right. They were going to make us famous like the Kill Watch, and if that happened, Amoxil would get taken away. So, I had to leave. 

"Amoxil, transform into something that can get us out of here." 

In an instant, he morphed into a helicopter, which soon flew us out of the con. I was so upset, because now the contest would go on, and Midori would probably win. 

The next day, I had arrived at school, only to find Stacy waiting near my desk. She waved, and gave a perky smile. Beautiful as always. 

"Tommy, what did you do yesterday?! I saw you fly out of the arena, and save a bunch o--" 

"SHHH!" My hand dove towards Stacy, covering  her mouth. "Don't talk about it. It's a secret between you and me!" 

Stacy shook her head. 

"Alright, but tell me what's going on." 

"It's hard to explain, so I'll have to tel--" I didn't have time to finish. 

"Tooooomy," rang Midori's voice, her long finger tapping on my shoulder. 

I turned around, and with a groan glared at her. 

"What do you want, Mido--" 

What the shwig?! Without warning, Midori soon pressed her mouth to mine. Our lips collided, her tongue slid into my mouth, and pressed into my cheek. I was getting so turned on now, and it was involuntary. In my pants, I could feel myself becoming more erect. I was getting DOMINATED. Midori eventually broke from the kiss. 

"I saw you at Pinker-Con yesterday. I saw you come with Stacy. I knew it was you, because only the only reason Stacy would come would be for you, so it had to be you. You saved me, and..." Midori's eyes fluttered, which made my heart race, and blood pump through my loins. "You're my hero. So, let's hang out, Superhero. Come with me.. We're going to shwag." 

She turned away, and swayed her hips back and forth, leaving me in a lustful daze. 

Suddenly, I didn't hate Midori anymore. In fact, she was actually pretty shwiggin' cool when I thought about it. And holy shwig, Asians could kiss. Looks like I was wrong about another thing. W-Wait, did she just say 'shwag?'. But I was a ... Oh, this was too good. 


Stacy coughed, and raised an eyebrow. 

"Um, okay. That was weird?" 

"Hold up, Stacy. I gotta go." I left Stacy behind, and followed Midori. 

And what happened next was not safe for work. That much is true. But boy, was it was the best shwiggin' time of my life. Midori had become my girlfriend for the next few months. I would occasionally save a few people here and there, and get hot shwag-fests from Midori in return. Finally, I was shwaggin' the hottest girl in school, and it was good. Though, looking back on it, was it really that good? 

I didn't really talk to Stacy much after I started dating Midori. All I did was spend my time shwagging her, or, y'know, fighting crime to impress her. Stacy sort of became another face in the hall. One I didn't really care for seeing. In fact, I didn't miss her. I didn't even think about her. All I cared about was getting that sweet Asian ass. 

One morning in class, I came into see Stacy looking sick, It had easily been three or four weeks since I had even even said 'Hello' to her. Now was as good a time as any, and maybe it could have rekindled some sort of friendship that we once had. 

"Hey, Stace," I said like old times. "You don't look well today?" 

Stacy turned to me, her eyes red, her nose stuffy, puffy, and leaking with fluids. 

"Yeah, I have a cold. You've been busy... I've been hearing about your crime stopping on the TV. You're calling yourself the Dark Protector now, huh?" 

I nodded. 

"Yeah, shwag name, right? Came up with it myself." 

Stacy didn't look impressed. 

"You never told me how you got superpowers, Tom." She sniffed. 

"Oh yeah, I was supposed to do that, huh?"

"Yeah... You don't really talk to me anymore. Did I do something wrong? I mean, you kind of just stopped as soon as Midori came in. I know that she's beautiful and stuff, but you hated her. You didn't even have time to develop a real relationship wit--" 

"Okay, one: Shut the shwag up, Stace. You don't act like you shwaggin' know me. Midori's a really nice person, and we just got off on the wrong foot. We have a lot in common. You know, like cosplay?" 

"More like shwagging..." Stacy mumbled. 

"What? Oh, don't shwaggin' say that shwig. Seriously, grow up, Stace. People grow apart, stop being a whiny little bitch. Maybe if YOU had put out when we were friends, I'd still be talking to you. I was there all along, and you just strung me along. At least Midori knows what she likes, what she wants, and goes for it. You could learn a lot from her." 

Stacy gave me a look of disgust, shock, and sadness.

"... That's what you wanted from me? I thought we were friends. I thought that we liked spending time together. I thought that maybe..." 

"Just shut up. We *were* friends, Stacy. Not anymore. People grow apart. So grow up, and deal with it." 

I turned away, not wanting to speak with her anymore, but it didn't matter anyway. She had stood up, and left class. I didn't feel bad. Not one bit. She was being whiny, wasn't she? She was just bitching. She was jealous that I just didn't find her interesting anymore. 

"Man, that wasn't cool." Amoxil said softly. 

"Shut up, Amoxil." 

A few days later, Midori had messaged me in my eye-ular phone. She wanted me now, and needed some of my sweet touch. I had taken a shower, and come downstairs from my bedroom only to find my mom and Stacy sitting in the living room. Stacy looked as if she hadn't gotten any better from her cold. 

"Hey Tom..." Stacy greeted softly. 

"Thomas, Stacy's come over. I hadn't seen her in awhile, so I let her in." My mom said as she looked at me. 

"Oh hey, mom." I said to my mom, before looking to Stacy. "Hey, Stacy. Listen, as much as I..." 

"Tom, can I talk to you in private? I really..." 

Midori was really waiting for me, and I didn't have time to hear Stacy's bitching. She was going to complain about how I treated her the other day, and I just didn't want to deal with it. So, I just decided to play along. 

"Stacy, why don't you go home, and I'll meet you in a few hours, okay? I'll come over to your place, and we can talk there."

Stacy looked down at her feet when I said that. 

"... Okay." 

"Great. See ya." I said with little emotion in my tone. 

After my long, loving session with Midori, I decided to actually keep my promise. I went to Stacy's house. Her mom and dad didn't seem to be home, so I decided to let myself in. I walked up to her bedroom. The lights were on, and she was tucked away under her covers fast asleep. It looked like I had come at a bad time. On her bed,  she had her electronic journal out. My curiosity got the better of me, so I looked down.  

"Today Tom told me that maybe if I had put out, we still would have been friends. I don't think he knows that I never had anyone other than him. I know it looks like I'm popular, and I wish I was, but just because some faces swarm around me doesn't mean that I they stick around. I guess the same was true about Tom. 

Tonight, I'm going to go to his house, and offer to have sex with him. It's the only way I think I can get him to listen to him. I really want to tell him something important, but he never seems to have the time. I need someone to listen to my problems, and Dr. Lense said it'd be a good idea if I made more friends. But more friends doesn't replace the ones you really care ab--" 

The lights to the journal started to flicker, before fading to a black screen. The battery to the electronic journal died there. It needed a charge, so as an act of courtesy, I went to her nightstand and placed it on the charger. The words in her journal had left me bothered. She really needed to tell me something, and I was here now. I had felt horrible for how I treated her. Sex wasn't everything, and I had been a real scumbag. 

Walking over to her bed, I shook Stacy's sleeping body a few times. 

"Hey, Stace,"  I whispered, "I'm here. Do you still want to talk? Wake up." 

I shook her a few more times.

"Hey, Stace, wake up." I repeated. 

Her body laid there motionlessly. Was she really that tired? Holy Rain Rivers, she must have conked out. She was probably stressed. I shook her once more, and then decided to try something new. I took off her blankets, and revealed her body to the cold. But, that's when I noticed it. Something that I didn't want to see. In her arm there was a tube connected to an empty bottle which read 'SMiLE'. SMiLE had been around for the past hundred years, and had worked as a street knock-off to  the Euphoria chips implanted in people's brains. 

"St-Stacy," I called out, shaking her with my grip. 

Often, SMiLE could be lethal. So many thoughts had rushed through my head. What had she done? I touched her face only to realize that her skin had grown cold, pale, and lifeless. 

"Stacy," I said once more.

I was scared, in shock, and most of all, in denial. I came closer to her body, and cuddled her head.

"S-Stacy, I'm here now. C'mon, let's talk. Let's talk about what you wanted to..."

It like there was a ringing in my head. It was all I heard as I held her head close to me. I looked off into the distance, only seeing flashes of her face before my eyes. What did she need to tell me? I was here now. I was here. I could talk now. I could spare time now. But why couldn't I before?  Why couldn't I... before?

"Stacy, I'm here now. I can talk now." I repeated softly, rocking her body back and forth. "I want to know what you have to say... I ..." 

I swallowed my words. I didn't want to know. I didn't want this. I didn't want this to happen. What was I thinking? What was I...


. . . 


"Mr. Maguire!"

Nicole's voice called out to me again. I lifted my head and looked up at her, taking a deep breath. I was out of my memories, and now back in the courtroom.

"You sure do space out a lot. Dios Mio, you need to pay attention. What is your choice?" 

What was my choice? What would Stacy have done? What would I have done? Did I even deserve to keep going on? Did I? Was the Kill Watch really in my future, or should I have let it go, and pay for my crimes? I wasn't sure. But that's when Amoxil spoke to me. 

"It's never too late to do the right thing." 

"... Sorry, Ms. Rios. I've made my decision. I know what I want."