Chapter 5 - The Skeleton Man

Rick’s shoes squeaked as he walked through the various grocery store aisles. In his hand, he held the list his mom had given him, parts of it now soaked through by rain and smudging the ink. He paused at the bread aisle, squinting at his list. Maybe it was bread, Rick wasn’t sure, but he grabbed a loaf anyway, just in case.

Even though he was cold and wet, Rick couldn’t help but find a little happiness in the bleary evening. He’d spent some time with Taylor, and met her dad, and Harold seemed to like him, so that was good.

But whenever Rick had good thoughts, he always managed to find the shadows of sunbeams. Even though he felt like he’d made progress, the mediocrity of his existence was ever present in his mind. Rick had never been a standout guy, never once been anything but the epitome of normal.

And that was okay most of the time. Because most of the time Rick’s only goal was staying out of other people’s way. Trying not to be a bother.

Maybe that was what held him back. Maybe the reason he couldn’t bring himself to confess his feelings to Taylor was because he knew he would just be another burden to her. The happiness he had in his chest began to sputter and die.

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone buzzed.

“Hey, you still at the store?” Vivian had messaged him.

“Yeah, what do you want?” He replied, at the very least grateful that she hadn’t waited until he was halfway home, as was usually the case.

“Craving chili, bring some home?” She answered.

“Chili, chili, chili…” Rick muttered to himself as he scanned up and down the rows of canned food.

“Ah, are you looking for chili too?” Came a chipper voice from a fellow shopper beside him. Rick looked up to see a boy in a blue baseball cap with a lightning bolt on the front, and he was wearing a similar hoodie. Around his waist were several leather straps holding a pouch to his upper thigh and another hanging loosely.

Next to him, also looking at canned chili, was a Gormaden. Rick didn’t see gormaden’s very often, and he did a double take on the little soccer ball sized furry bunny. He was always taken aback by their disconnected arms and feet, floating paws that now held a can of chili. Magic was weird.

“Um… yeah.” Rick said. The boy took a step back, his tall leather boots tapping on the tile floor, buckles clinking.

“I am too,” the boy said, stroking his chin thoughtfully, “but I’m in a bit of a dilemma here.”

“A dilemma?” Rick asked, looking the boy up and down again. He had seen all types of people from all the different islands of the East, but he couldn’t put his finger on where the boy might have been from.

“Where are my manners?” The boy tipped his hat in greeting. “David Echoe, and this is my best bud and partner in crime, Dustbunny.”

“Greetings fellow store goer.” Dustbunny waved.

“We are famous adventurers, and canned chili connoisseurs,” David continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”

“Not for either of those things, no,” Rick replied, a little more blunt than he’d intended. David clasped a hand to his heart as though wounded and took a deep, shuddering breath.

“No matter.” He shook his head. “I can’t let pride get in the way. You, me, and Dust have much bigger things to worry about.”

“Such as…?” Rick asked, feeling a little confused, and a lot concerned.

“Such as what type of chili we’re gonna get!” Dustbunny piped up. He reached out and grabbed two different cans and held them up.

“Right, right,” David knelt down, eyeing the two. “See, here’s the thing, this one is the home-style version, doesn’t play by the rules like a normal chili. It’s got a bean medley and some corn and extra vegetables, so it’s definitely a wild flavorful ride. This one here, however, is a classic, just your meat and beans, but it has a spice and flavor that’s simple… yet exquisite.”

“I say we get what we can afford,” Dustbunny said, still grinning. “Because we are dead broke.”

“I, uh, normally just get this kind.” Rick reached over Dust and grabbed his own can of chili. Nothing distinct about it. As he did, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever met or seen David before.

Rick looked down at his smudged list, forgetting the thought and hoping to find an excuse to leave the boy and gormaden. He had to go to a different aisle anyway, so all he had to do was wave and…

Behind him, the door opened, the bell rang, and someone else of interest walked into the grocery store.

She was a bit shorter than he was, with wine colored hair and a purple button up. Her silver eyes scanned the place, and her hard gaze was enough to make Rick look away. Rick took his chili and his bread and made for the cereal aisle.

As he did, though, he couldn’t help but look back and see the girl go to the clerk at the register. She placed a piece of paper, no, a picture, on the counter.

“Have you seen him?” she asked, and the clerk studied the photo for a moment before nodding.

“Ey, yeah, I seen him. Kid comes in here all the time getting snacks for him and his bunny friend.” The man said, “matter o’ fact. I coulda sworn I just seen him in here.”

The man paused for a moment to look around the store, even raising on his tiptoes to get a better view. The clerk then looked back to the girl with a suspicious look in his eyes.

“Wait a second,” he said, pointing a finger. “You’se ain’t one of those ex-girlfriends he mentioned, are yah? He always told me to watch out for you guys.”

The girl grumbled something and turned, her eyes locking with Rick’s. He turned away quickly, a bad feeling beginning to develop inside of him. He just needed to grab a few more things, and then he could leave but-

“Excuse me,” he heard the tapping of boots approach him, and he winced as he realized it was the girl’s voice. “I would like to ask you a couple of questions. Do you have a moment?”

Rick turned around, and she was standing there, holding out a photo. On it was a black-and-white picture of… what was his name, David? He looked at the girl, and her silver eyes were watching him closely. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak when he saw David peek his head around the aisle.

The boy began to make frantic gestures, and mouth silent words which Rick could only interpret as “Don’t tell her I’m here.” He frowned again, completely and totally confused.

“Have you seen him?” The girl repeated. Rick glanced between the boy and the girl, unsure of what to do.

“I haven’t seen him,” he blurted out. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The last thing Rick wanted to do was get caught up in some drama that he wasn’t a part of. He had seen enough soap operas to know that it never really ended well.

The girl eyed him a moment longer, a look of distrust in her eyes. But she turned on her heels and walked away.

“Nice save there, pal.” Rick jumped and hissed in surprise. David had appeared behind him, and Dustbunny was sitting on his shoulder.

“What was that all about?” Rick whispered, gesturing in the direction the girl had gone.

“What can I say?” David shrugged. “I’m famous. I have fans everywhere.”

“She was most definitely not a fan,” Rick groaned, beginning to regret his decision. “She looked like she was hunting you down, or gonna put you in jail or something.”

“Don’t be silly,” David waved him off. “She wasn’t a little policewoman, she was an Explorer.” Dustbunny nodded in corroboration.

“AN EXPLORER?” Rick’s eyes widened. “I just LIED to an EXPLORER? Oh, break me, I am so dead. I’m so dead, and all I wanted to do was get my sister some chili.”

“Oh, thanks for that by the way,” David grinned, holding up a can. “I managed to find this new brand I’m gonna try, and it’s supposed to have more spice than…”

“You know what? I really don’t wanna know.” Rick shook his head and began to walk away as quickly as he could. He was done with David. He just wanted to check out and go home, and potentially not leave his room for a week until the inevitable search party quieted down, and he was no longer at risk of being put in prison for the rest of his life. Okay, perhaps he was being a little overdramatic, but still.

No sooner had he reached the end of the aisle than he the Explorer girl stepped back out.

“I knew you were lying,” she snarled. “You’re his accomplice, aren’t you?”

“No, he’s not!” David called out in a cheerful tone, “Wait. Sorry, not helping.”

“Hey!” the girl yelled and dashed past Rick, who dropped his cereal and chili, only barely managing to keep himself from falling.

David yelped and bolted away, and for a moment, all Rick could hear were the clacking of boots as they ran and dodged away from each other. Then, peaking around, he saw David sprinting straight towards him. Dustbunny hanging on to his shoulder for dear life.

“Run, man!” David yelped as he bolted past. Rick, without even thinking, dropped his groceries and ran after the boy.

“Why am I running with you?” Rick cried out as he caught up to David, “I’m not your accomplice! I don’t even know you!”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know that,” David said with a grin.

Rick sucked in a deep breath and realized just how out of shape he was. His legs were burning, and his lungs felt tingly as he breathed in the cold, rainy air. Pedestrians parted and moved out of the way as the trio ran through.

“In here!” Dustbunny pointed with his hand and his ears towards an alleyway. David scooped him up, and Rick dove in after them just as the two Explorers turned the corner.

“C’mere,” David grabbed Rick’s shirt and pulled him behind the dumpster, the three of them crouched in the shadows. It smelled like sickly sweet rotten meats and fermenting fruits.

“Where did they go?” Rayne asked, her voice carrying through the alley. Rick heard her footsteps, her heavy breathing.

“I bet they went through here,” Alex said, and he could only mean the alley. “We need to catch up, to cut them off. Follow me this way.” Instead of taking the alley route, they went around, and the footsteps faded away.

David, Dust, and Rick all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

“That was insane,” Rick whispered. “This is a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. I just need to go home, and I need to go home right now.”

“Not gonna lie,” David said, “got my heart pumping a bit. That was pretty fun, right?”

“No. Break me, no.” Rick swore. “That was not fun.”

Dustbunny poked his head out from behind the dumpster and looked around. His ears perked up as he turned this way and that. Rick took some deep calming breaths, before the Gormaden came back, his little face crinkled in concern.

“What is it?” David asked, sounding confused, and Dust twiddled his thumbs a bit.

“Do you remember Fifth Street?” Dustbunny asked.

“Of course,” David said gravely. “How could I forget? We swore we’d never return to Fifth Street after—”

“We’re on Fifth Street!” Dustbunny blurted out. “Like we are so on Fifth Street, it’s not even funny.”

“Ah, geez, Rick, we gotta go.” David jumped to his feet. “Like for real, we gotta go.”

“Why?” Rick asked. He began to look all around, watching out for anything and everything that might do him harm. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with Fifth Street?”

“It’s not the street itself,” David said in hushed tones. “It’s the mafia that controls Fifth Street.”

“Mafia?” Rick squeaked. “There’s a mafia here?”

“Rick, do you even know how cities work?” David sighed in exasperation. “Of course, there’s a mafia, now come on.” He left his hiding spot behind the dumpster, and Rick followed, not wanting to be left behind.

They reached the sidewalk and David stopped so abruptly that Rick bumped into him. He didn’t say anything at first, he was just staring across the road.

“Uh oh,” Dustbunny said, and he pointed to a black van across the street. There were two burly men sitting in the front, and they were looking right at them. One of the men had his arm hanging out of the window and Rick could see that up his hand and arm were tattoos of his bones. “They know we’re here!”

“Back into the alley,” David said, sprinting back into the dark. “Follow me!”

The last thing Rick wanted to do was get kidnapped by a tattooed mafia henchman. The second to last thing he wanted to do was follow David and Dustbunny back into the alley, but there wasn’t much choice. He was running before he even realized what he was doing, his body moving on its own.

The alley was dank and littered with trash cans and garbage bags and sinking close lines. Rick ducked and dodged and tripped over all of it as he ran.

“Not good, not good, not good,” he heard David say as they encountered a T in the alley. They had to choose right or left.

“Left!” Dustbunny decided on the spot and led the way, his little disconnected feet and bouncing body zooming ahead. They raced between the buildings when David slowed down again, the three of them catching their breath.

“Hold on a second,” David said. He looked around. “I feel like I recognize this for some reason.”

Rick leaned over on his knees, sucking in a deep breath, and trying not to pass out. He really needed to get in better shape.

“Do you feel that?” Dustbunny knelt down and tapped on the ground at their feet. It sounded like hollow metal.

“Oh,” David said cheerfully. “I remember now, this is the--!”

Rick screamed as the ground gave way beneath them, and they went tumbling and sliding down a metal ramp. He hit the ground with a dull thud, felt himself flop over and he crashed again, Dustbunny landing on top of him like a dropped pillow.

“—secret entrance…” David groaned underneath Rick.

“Ow, ow, ow,” Dustbunny grumbled.

“Sorry,” Rick muttered, rubbing his head. “Sorry, I think I’m sitting on your ears.” He scooted off of Dustbunny and looked around.

They had fallen into what looked like an old parking deck. Lights hung from the ceiling and illuminated just enough for Rick to see tents and metal buildings that had been crafted into a makeshift community underground. Graffiti all over the walls. Henchmen like the two that they’d seen across the street now surrounded them, and they were all tattooed with bones. Men and women with a scowl looked down on them, and Rick’s heart sank.

“Well, well, well…” came a voice. It echoed across the chamber as more and more people began to come out of the town.

“If it isn’t David Echoe…” said the voice again, and the surrounding crowd began to part. It looked like the leader of the mafia was making his way through. He wore a ratty and patched leather trench coat, and a wide-brimmed fedora that covered his face.

There was something about him though, Rick noticed, that when he spoke there was a clacking sound, and when he moved it was the same, or at least very similar. When the figure approached, he tilted his hat up, and Rick screamed again.

It was a skeleton. Not a tattoo skeleton, but an actual walking and talking skeleton. His bones were held together with copper wire, and inside of his ribcage there was a magical accumulator, about the size of his fist, wired to where his heart would be. His empty eye sockets had the faintest of light in them, like a small candle flame.

Those small flames looked at Rick.

“And it seems you’ve brought a friend.”

“Oh yes,” David grunted, pushing himself to his feet. “My bad. Rick, meet Jim Bones, AKA the Skeleton Man. Jim, meet Rick.”

“He’s…” Rick tried to speak, but his words didn’t seem to work. “That’s… He’s…”

“He’s a crummy villain, that’s what,” David retorted, his eyes narrowing.

The Skeleton Man reared back and laughed. It was loud and cackling and it echoed throughout the underground chamber. He leaned in close, causing Rick to whimper and scoot back.

“You dare enter my domain, and make fun of me?” Jim asked, his teeth clicking with the words. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to get back at you, boy?”

“Honestly no,” David shrugged, “I don’t normally keep up with our encounters. Wait, hold on, is this because I’ve been stealing all the coupons out of the newspaper before you get it?”

Jim Bones paused for a second. There was a muttering among the surrounding henchmen, a collective gasp, even they were shocked.

“You…” Jim shook a finger, his candle flame eyes turning a deep red. “You’re the one stealing all our coupons?!”

“Oh,” David blinked. “So, you didn’t know that was me…” He and Dust shared an awkward glance between each other and then looked back at Jim. His entire skeleton was shaking with rage now.

“You steal my coupons, blow up my car, and--!”

“Hold on,” David held up his hands, “that’s slightly out of context, but continue.”

“David Echoe,” Jim growled, “you have been a thorn in my side for far too long. And now, now I finally have you. This ends tonight.”

“What is it this time?” Dustbunny asked, “water tank full of sharks? Lasers?”

“No, actually…” Jim Bones smiled. Well, smiled as much as a skeleton could, but Rick could see by the gleam in his eye sockets that, that’s what he was doing. “Word on the street, David, is that you’ve come into possession of a rather important artifact. There are some bad dudes looking for you.”

Rick expected a snarky remark, but the look that David and Dustbunny shared was actually one of concern. That didn’t boost Rick’s already negative amount of confidence.

“Bad dudes…?” David asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jim said casually, “some remnant knight looking for something. Wouldn’t say what it was, but they said you had it, and…” he took another step closer, and the crystal in his chest began to gleam and glow brighter. “And I can feel it. It’s strong, oh ho, boy is it strong, and it feels… familiar.”

He paused at that and took a step back. The crystal heart dimming just a little. He pointed to one of his henchmen and beckoned him over.

“Go get the helicopter ready,” he said. “We’re taking them to Volthum now.”

“Oh, snap, you got a helicopter now?” David asked, and he sounded genuinely impressed. “Moving on up, aren’tcha?”

“That’s right,” Jim Bones sneered, “how many crummy villains have helicopters, eh?” He pointed to his other henchman. “Let’s escort our friends up to the helipad, shall we?”

“Hey, sounds like fun,” David said and gestured back toward the ramp they had fallen down. “But uh, Rick was getting some chili, and we got interrupted, so it’s probably best if we just, y’know, get back to doing that. Right Rick?”

“Right, right,” Rick nodded.

“Oh no,” the Skeleton Man said, “no, no, no. You are surrounded, which means that in order to escape, you’re going to have to go through them.” He pointed behind them and they turned to see a couple of hulking men in stained tank tops, their arms and chests tattooed like all the others.

“I mean…” David shrugged, “we can do that.” And without any further warning, he grabbed Dustbunny by the ears and launched him toward the nearest thug.

Dustbunny hissed as he landed on the guy’s face and he fell backwards, screaming as he was assaulted. David grabbed Rick and shoved him forward. Rick ran and hopped over the fallen man and up the ramp. It was steep, and he fell, but he couldn’t stop. He had to keep moving. He was scrambling.

Behind him, David punched another guy and rolled to avoid a third. He scooped up Dustbunny, who was still hissing and spitting on that one guy, and then they ran up the ramp, the whole mob behind them.

“How did that happen!” Jim Bones roared. “We have seriously got to work on our formation! Fine then.” Jim walked up the ramp and watched as they were running away. “Guess we’ll have to try something else.” From his trench coat, he pulled a large silver revolver, aimed, and fired.

Bang!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rick screamed as his ears rang, the bullet hitting a trashcan and ricocheting between the buildings.

“Go, go, go!” David yelled, leading the way back from where they had come. Rick ran as fast as he could, all thoughts focused on getting out of there and getting out alive. Comparatively, he would have much preferred being arrested by the Explorers, but he didn’t have the opportunity to do that.

They hit the street, rushing across the busy road, cars honking and screeching to a halt as David slid across the hood.

“Sorry, sorry, so sorry,” Rick yelled as he weaved his way through. He was vaguely aware of passing by the Explorers, the two of them standing at the mouth of the alley watching in shock as Rick, Dust, and David burst out of the alley chased by a mob. Well, the mob.

***

“What did we just watch?” Alex asked.

“We just watched David do what David does best, apparently.” Rayne gritted her teeth. “Get into a lot of fayring trouble. Come on, we better go after them.”