AUTHOR'S NOTE Part 1: (Hey everybody!! Finally got this part out. It was very difficult to write just because this is where Everything goes down for real. It gets super crazy in this chapter. There is way too much to explain in this story all at once, so everyone might be left confused for a little while. I didn't get to the parts I badly wanted to write for this chapter, which I'm really sad about, hopefully they will make an appearance in the next chapter though. So look forward to that. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. As always, if you have any questions or I just didnt explain something well enough, please leave your questions in the comments below. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this crazy ride!! Thank you for reading! :D)

(WARNING: Angst and Puking)

5:08 p.m.

THUD! Anxiety’s chair fell over backwards, startling the people around the seemingly empty table. Thomas watched the whole predicament from the corner of his eyes, badly wanting to go over and make sure his sides were okay, but knew he would just make matters worse for his anxious side. He did not understand why Anxiety fell when the waitress bumped into him, or what was even going on at the sides’ table. But if there was one thing he knew for sure, it was he felt sick to his stomach. His insides twisted as if it were trying to fight off a nasty bug, but no parasite or vicious virus had called his body it’s home. So...why then did he feel like he was going to throw up all of a sudden?

5:08 p.m.

THUD! Anxiety’s chair fell over backwards, startling the people around the seemingly empty table.

“It was me Logan. I stole your notepad.” Virgil stood there watching the complexions of his fellow sides change with the confessions he had made. Roman and Logan’s eyebrows both raised in surprise while the moral aspect’s whole face drained of what color was left.

    Through the awkward silence, Patton coughed in his tears. “K-kiddo...you didn’t...you didn’t have too-”

    “Yes. Patton. I did. Now before ANY of you decide to talk or accuse me, let me accuse myself!” His voice slightly raised as he dried his eyes of what could have been tears had he let his emotions spill over. “Logan, Patton took it upon himself to lie to you for me and I didn’t say anything. I hoped it would blow over, but now that I know that something is happening to the copy I-”

    “Copy?” Logan’s head slightly cocked, now more confused than ever.

Anxiety rubbed his nose in irritation at being interrupted by the logical side. “Look. I can duplicate things ok? I stole your notepad because you had told me during the Outfit war that I...that I represented more than just my job. I didn’t believe your words, so I stole the notepad that held all your notes and theories, to see if you were actually telling the truth. I copied it, gave the fake one back to you and kept the real to myself.” Logan glanced down at the real notebook on the table then back up at the anxious aspect, keeping silent so he could continue to speak.

“And...you were telling the truth. I didn’t trust you, because I’ve been told by all of you at one point that I only was Anxiety. And nothing more. Why the sudden change Logan?! Why?” Logan’s neutral expression transformed itself into frown, but the darker aspect gave him no time to speak. “You know what!? Don’t. Don’t answer that. I don’t need to know and I don’t wanna know. Just take the real notebook and toss the copy in the garbage. I’m sorry I lied, just...keep talking about me behind my back like I’m the villain still. It’s better than being accepted as a friend.”

Patton choked back a sob. “Anxiety…”

“No dad. Just make up with Logan and slap some sense into the prince of ignorance over there. I’ve got better things to do than stay here. Night.” He sank out, before Logan or Patton could have convinced him to do otherwise.

5:10 pm

Anxiety rematerialized in his room, collapsing on his bed sheets overwhelmed by the amount of self-hate and anger he had placed upon himself. He was not sure if it was true, but it was felt by the owner of the feelings regardless what the others thought. The sigh that protruded from his mouth was strained and raw reflecting the emotions that hung over him like a black cloud returning to haunt him once more.

He lay there unable to move painstricken by sorrow and weighed down by his own hopelessness. No matter how he tried to suppress it however, there lay a tiny spark of trust that time will pass and this whole situation would be dealt with soon.

He gave a tiny grieved smile as the thought passed through his mind. The ticking of the clock was the one thing he could always count on to solve his problems. He did hear Logan say once that time was the best healer and in many ways it cleanses problems, pushes away past mistakes, and puts distance between those who are unhappy with their earlier versions of themselves. Because of these facts all Anxiety deduced he had to do was let time pass then perhaps his mistake would be fixed.

He grinned wider as he let his grasp on time slip, the ticking of the clock soon quickening before his own eyes and ears. His body remained as his consciousness phazed through time itself, refusing to pay attention to the ever slight shifting of his room as time flew by. For the most part it remained the same, save for the imaginary spider he thought he saw running across the room or the sped up knocks of most likely Patton or any of the other sides trying to check on him.

He took a second out of his processes to thank the lucky stars that he locked his room door, but it was in that second that he heard a tiny knock. One that hadn’t rang in his ears for a long time. Not as steady as Logan’s. Not as boisterous as Roman’s. One that resembled Patton’s sweet knock, but higher pitched and placed closer to the floor. For a moment, Virgil believed he was hearing things. From past experience, he knew time-travelling had it’s side-effects on him and illusions were quite common things to experience, but after hearing it for a second time, there was no mistaking it.

He relapsed slightly, rewinding his position to a minute before he first heard the knock, and then stabilized his mind back into the mindscape. His consciousness suddenly existing in the future time he had picked and in the same position that he had laid down in. Eyeing the clock on the wall, the hands told it’s reader everything he needed to know.

7:08 pm

It was a little later than he had wanted, but he knew for a matter of fact that Thomas would be home from the Sushi place, or at least getting home if nothing else. Anxiety arose from his bed and rubbed his eyes, already feeling the spark of hope begin to nag at the back of his mind again as he slumped towards the door. He brushed it aside knowing full well that it was the last thing he had wanted to think about. At least he knew the knock would distract him.

7:09 pm

The small knock sounded, cutting through the silence and in turn his thoughts. He turned the knob and peeked out slightly, his breath caught in his throat as he saw who was standing outside his door.

“Hey Virge. Dad’s freaking out for some reason. Mind if we hide in here with you?”

5:09 pm

It took the logical aspect one whole minute to let the situation sink in. He was unable to move as he processed all the events that had led up to this point. He now realized his words to the moral aspect were much more insensitive than he had intended. Especially if he was just trying to protect Anxiety, from whatever harsh words Logan was going to give him. But, that was just it. Logan felt no anger at the anxious aspect for stealing his notebook. Maybe embarrassed since his small crush on Patton had been exploited, but even that bit of information in itself meant Patton hadn’t exactly seen his drawings anyway. But Anxiety had only wanted to confirm the words he had said during the Outfit War, but was too embarrassed to ask him to his face, which was understandable, considering how he and Roman had treated him in the past.

Logan felt his body relax slightly, as the miscommunication laid out clearly in front of him. He really did wish Anxiety had stayed so Logan could explain his thoughts on the matter. Instead, Anxiety just had to jump to conclusions once again, thinking everyone hated him for this simple act of mistrust. However, Logan couldn’t have been angry even if he wanted too. By taking his notepad, Anxiety had most likely gone through the other theories in his notepad and now he had another person to converse with about his thoughts. This whole ordeal was most likely just a rocky start to a companionship that should have been established ages ago.

Shaking himself back into the real world, Logan crept a hand cautiously towards his notepad, checking for any slight differences between the copy and the real sitting in front of him. Grasping it quickly, he flipped through it, pulled out a pen, and drew a small heart on a random page. To his relief, the ink came out of the pen and wrote like it should. This meant that only the copy was having issues performing it’s primary function. He shoved the pad inside his pocket before analyzing his surroundings.

Anxiety’s outburst had done more than surprise Logan, Patton, and Roman. Three other groups of people were now currently staring towards the sides’ seemingly empty table, but this was not what Logan was mostly concerned about. Turning towards the table where Thomas’s friends sat, everyone was talking normally, but Thomas himself had vanished. The logical facet gave a thorough scan of the restaurant, but could find no trace of their human anywhere. He blew a sigh of slight relief as Roman and Patton began to understand the gravity of the situation.

Speaking of the moral trait, Patton had broken down into even more tears after seeing Anxiety leave on such a sour note. Roman had been doing his best at comfort, but he didn’t seem too keen on how to properly help him.

“Logan! A little help over here!” Logan instantly turned to Morality and laid a gentle hand on Patton’s shoulder.

“Patton? I am sorry for what I said. I realize now you were only protecting Anxiety from my anger, but I assure you I am not in the slightest bit. It was wrong for my words to attack your ability to perform your occupation as Thomas’s morality, but you were not acting so far out of a range that Thomas wouldn’t decidedly do for his friends. Will you accept my apology?”

The moral aspect turned to Logan and threw his arms around the logical aspect’s neck, much to Roman and his own surprise. “Oh yes Logan! I forgive you. I knew you didn’t know what happened, but we need to go after Anxiety. He can’t just sit in his room thinking this is all his fault for a long period of time. We’ve let him do that enough.”

Logan nodded in acknowledgement, thankful as the moral aspect dried his tears and withdrew his arms. “Yes, I for one agree, however Anxiety’s absence is not our only problem. Thomas is gone and nowhere to be found. We might have to split up and solve both problems at once. Roman!” The fanciful aspect had been surprisingly listening to him, his phone away and eyes attentive.

“I’m awake with my so called head out of the clouds, nerd. You don’t need to shout at me. I’m staying here and looking for Thomas, though. You two can go look for Anxiety.”

Patton frowned. “He needs your apology too, Princey.”

“Yes I know. I’ll give it to him when I’m ready.” The reluctant face Roman portrayed told both bespectacled aspects that he didn’t plan on apologizing to him anytime soon. Before Logan could do so much as frown or rebuke the prince for this, the same waiter that Anxiety had bumped into began to make her way over to their table after seeing Anxiety’s fallen chair. Logan quickly drew in a breath about to reset it with his gravity powers, when he was restrained by Roman. A quick shake of his head brought Logan back to the reality of the situation. Anxiety had interacted directly with Thomas’s plane of existence unintentionally. Heaven knew if Logan’s forces could do the same.

Time seemed to stop as she sauntered over to the table and slowly set the chair upright, her face suddenly snapping to stare at the facets in front of her as all four chair legs hit the ground. Logan started, beginning to feel a sense of dread overcome him as her eyes swept along the exact position of all three of them. For a moment he feared as if she could see them sitting there directly in front of her. Movement caught his eye beyond her hair however as he spotted the same exact waitress three tables down. His eyes widened further, taking in the positions of the two identical waitresses. The one glaring at them from Anxiety’s seat, and the other who was currently walking back to the kitchen.

Two waitresses. Two Notebooks. Logan felt himself gulp and saw out of the corner of his eye the other sides had already noticed the impossible occurrence standing before them. In no way could two of the same person exist in the same time, but from the research he had gathered it said nothing about the same person existing in different dimensions at the same time.

It hit him like a truck rushing a building at full speed. The copy waiter standing before them did not exist in the dimensions of the real world, but the dimensions of their world. She smiled, seemingly noting the look of total shock on their faces as Patton and Roman glanced at Logan, trying to make sense of the situation.

“You know its not necessarily nice to take food without paying for it.” The waiter gestured to their empty plates. “How about I take you to see my manager so they can sort this predicament out?” In a flash, she reached out grabbing Roman by the wrist. The royal yelped in surprise, but it quickly turned into a scream of anguish as she gripped him. This version of the waiter was clearly stronger and more agile than other ladies her same age.

Logan acted quickly, jumping out of his seat to rush to Roman’s aid, but found himself being death gripped by the waitress as well. At first, it hurt and he could feel a wave of paralysis overtake his body, causing his body to freeze in it’s awkward position. And then a similar scream to Roman’s forced itself out of his mouth as an excruciating pain was felt traveling up his arm. He whipped his head over to Roman and then to his arm finding the same thing happening. His body was becoming transparent, leaving only the outlines of his clothing and body visible. He watched with horror as Roman’s screams continued and his own transparency spread, leaving Roman’s body looking more like a suspended, lined drawing by the second.

Before Patton could do so much as yell or scream or react to the situation at hand, Roman fell. He fell through the floor, as if it didn’t even exist under his feet. Logan stared mortified and soon after felt his body losing it’s solidity, the floor’s stability vanishing suddenly from under his feet. His stomach jumped to his throat as he felt himself follow suit of Roman, sinking down with a speed more forceful than anything Thomas had ever experienced. He plummeted down, only catching another glimpse of the outline of Roman’s body, before all consciousness slipped from him.

Patton froze with mortal terror as he watched all of this happen, unable to explain, breathe or save them from whatever was happening. His mouth opened, but no sound came out, watching the transparent forms of Roman and Logan just plunge through the floor as if it didn’t exist. Through this, no one around seemed to notice. Not Thomas’s friends, Nor people around them. Just them and the copy waitress who had power beyond any of their comprehension. As Logan fell, she retreated her hand and smiled coldly towards Patton, giving him a heartless wave, before turning transparent herself and falling through the floor.

The room grew quiet. Quiet in Patton’s dimension. People chattered all around him, but he couldn’t hear any of it. He hardly even felt the tears as they dripped off his cheeks, finally understanding the meaning of numb. He subconsciously sunk back into the mindscape, landing on his stomach which forced some of his food he ate to resurface into his mouth. He spit, a strained sound protruding from his mouth as all physical and mental pain hit him at the same time. Anxiety. He had to find Anxiety.

Patton staggered to his feet and stumbled to Anxiety’s room door. He pounded, fist after fist, the tears becoming a shower of rain, followed by strangled sound of shear sorrow, as he continued to beat, begging him to open up. After five minutes of constant beating, Patton threw himself on the ground, wailing for someone to help. Thomas. Anxiety. The Others. Anyone. Just someone, so he didn’t feel so alone.

His strangled cries soon began to dwindle into softer whimpers as he curled up on himself, in the middle of the hallway. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he had picked himself up and crawled to the darkest corner of the mindscape, choosing there to sob the rest of his overloading emotions away.

5:10 pm

Thomas puked into the toilet for the fifth time, panting, whining, and wishing his stomach would just stop being upset so he could join his friends again. He felt the pain rise in his throat as he gagged and coughed up the bile once again. He knew there were people in the restroom with him, listening to him make these pathetic sounds and it caused his stomach to wrench even more with embarrassment.

Suddenly though, from within the depths of his soul and within the depths of his mind, he could feel a pain searing grasp stripping away two sides of his very being. He screamed. A blood curling scream, enough to frighten all the other men inside the bathroom with him. It was too much. It hurt too much. Thomas felt his body begin to pass out with pain, only vaguely hearing the stall door being broken into behind him. The two voices behind him gasping with extreme disturbance at what they saw. Thomas only barely heard a voice, before he too lost all consciousness, his head plunging into the murky depths of the toilet.

“...oh my god....”

(AUTHOR'S NOTE part 2: And that's it! I know this chapter was crazy and you probably have a crap ton of questions. I wont be able to answer all of them because spoilers, but I will help clear the air for you guys a little. Anxiety's control over the mindscape/palace includes time travel and time itself. This story is going to be jumping a lot  through, in, and out of different timelines so pay attention to the different times as they are important. It will also begin to jump dimensions, but I'll do my best to make sure, those are easy to understand. I can't reveal anything about Logan and Roman's kidnapping. But there might be some hints that might help you understand if you go back through chapter's 5, 8, and 9. Also the notebooks are hints on their own. I hope I explained everything well enough, but if I didn't please feel free to ask questions. Otherwise, keep your hands and feet inside the railcart at all times and enjoy this crazy ride. I hope you all have a great whatever time of day it is while you read this. And I'll talk to you later! Chickoo out!)