Chapter 8 - Shit!

Jason, whose mind was still reeling from the vivid nightmares, opened his eyes to an unusual sight close to noon.

Joe and Wheatley floated on opposite sides of a chessboard in the middle of the park. Although Wheatley didn't have limbs, he constructed a mechanical arm out of solid blue light in order to move the chess pieces.

After taking one look at them, Jason closed his eyes, letting his head fall back on the tree's trunk. He tiredly sighed, his voice deep and low. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with some urgent matters."

Joe didn't answer immediately and moved his knight piece forward, attacking Wheatley's bishop and rook and making him grunt frustratedly. "The data sample Wheatley sent intrigued me, and finding Dark Primordial Energy in a universe uninhabited by beings capable of producing it doesn't normally happen, so I came here to personally investigate."

"Did you check if there really isn't anything in this universe capable of making that energy?"

"I did. But what I found wasn't a god or primordial of some sort. It was a hole connected to another dimension leaking Dark Primordial Energy. I sealed it already, but the damage has been done and I don't know the extent it's reached. I also traced it back to its origin and found a… wall of some sort. The type of wall that could prevent someone like me from looking further into it."

Jason frowned at what Joe implied. A being capable of hindering him must at least be around Joe's level in pow—

"The entity that leaked the Dark Primordial Energy into this universe is *not* on my level," Joe interrupted, and Jason could sense that he was offended by such a thought. "The 'wall' that I encountered was made by the being that rules the section of the multiverse the entity comes from. Big boss over there is called 'The One Above All'. *That* one is the guy who's on my level. Not the damn bug I would crush if I was able to."

"If you were able to?" Jason looked at Joe and asked with a raised eyebrow. "Does that mean you're not able to go and do it right now?"

Joe shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. And don't ask why. It's… complicated."

Was it related to the penalty he received? The one Joe told him about when he was dead?

A grin then adorned Joe's face, and Jason suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach.

Joe slowly looked away from the chessboard and pointed at him. "Ah, but *you* certainly could."

Jason looked at Joe with a deadpan expression. "If you think I'm even close to being capable of killing something like a god, then you're delusional. Also, you didn't tell me I'd be dealing with gods, just the scum of the earth and everything else I'm used to dealing with."

Joe slowly shook his head with an amused smile. "Tsk, tsk. You're talking about the current you, but I'm talking about the Jason in the future. And I *didn't* say you *wouldn't* be dealing with gods."

"… What are you planning?" Jason asked with narrowed eyes.

"You'll see, Jason. You'll see," Joe said ominously before moving his queen from across the board and trapping the king with no way out. "And *that*, my robot friend, is a checkmate. Good game."

Wheatley groaned frustratedly. [Uughh. This is completely ridiculous! I demand a rematch! This time, I'll be white.]

Joe snapped his fingers, and the chessboard vanished. "No can do. I have appointments I have to take care of. And Jason—" He called out.

"What?" grunted Jason, still trying to guess what Joe implied.

"— You need to find Saki Yoshida *today*. As I said before, the damage has been done, which means some things will happen sooner than they should. The Dark Primordial Energy that causes this Anomaly you found had also entered normal humans, and she's one of the new hosts. I don't think I have to tell you how bad that is."

Jason nodded with a tense look and stood up. "I'll find her, don't worry."

If that energy could amplify people's dark desires and induce other negative effects, something similarly dangerous is likely to happen to Saki Yoshida and the others who have become its hosts.

Wheatley nodded. [We'll have it taken care of!]

"Alright. I'll leave it to you two. See ya." said Joe, disappearing after a bright flash of light. Similar to when he first left.

Wheatley looked at the spot where Joe had previously stood. [Welp. He's gone.] He turned to Jason. [So, I take it you didn't have a good night's rest? You were frowning and mumbling in your sleep.]

Wheatley's question reminded him of the vivid nightmare. But now that he thought about it clearly, it was too real. It felt like each emotion, each thought, and each action were something that he experienced in the past.

Wait, that was it.

The gaps in the memories of the other Jasons. The one Deathstroke mentored in particular. If he filled in the large gap with the nightmares he had, everything would fit in perfectly. The torture, the manipulation, the mental trauma, and the feeling of helplessness that remained even after he escaped. There was also the scar on his cheek shaped in the letter 'J'. The other version of him would see it on his own helmet's reflection, and every time, he would glare at it with rage.

"I'm fine," he lied. His thoughts were still stuck on the other Jason's memories, which slowly became clearer and more complete the more he focused on them.

"I was just reminded of something that happened in the past." Jason looked at the tree leaves, the sun's golden rays passing through the gaps. "We're wasting daylight. Let's go."

Jason took out the black face mask he bought from the store the night before and wore it. Hopefully, this will reduce the amount of attention he'll get, but he doubted it would do much at all.

"Wheatley, do you still want to stay in your current form?" He looked towards Wheatley, who eagerly nodded his body in response.

[Absolutely. I imagine seeing human civilization during the day will differ quite a bit from at night, and I want to see things in-person. Not through your eyes. Um, also, I'm not saying that looking through your eyes is —]

"Wheatley… Are you that afraid of offending me? Look, I'm fine with you staying as you are for as long as you want." Jason shrugged. "Just be discrete. Enter stealth mode, don't do anything that'll attract attention, and follow me."

Wheatley wordlessly complied and turned invisible as Jason walked out of the park.

There were more people during the day than he thought there would be, though he should've expected it since Tokyo *is* the capital of Japan.

Strangely enough, almost no one seemed to glance or look at him. Jason had expected some stares or glances because of his tall stature and large physique, which made him tower over everyone. He had been forced to move aside when people almost bumped into him, and when he bumped into someone on purpose to see their reaction, they jumped in fright and apologized, reacting as if they hadn't noticed him before they bumped into him even though they were clearly looking and walking in his direction.

As soon as he finished that though, Jason recalled what happened with Yoshihiro at the convenience store.

Didn't that piece of shit say that he didn't notice him at all? He could recall the exact words the pervert said on the receiver.

'A ghost that just popped out of nowhere… Does that mean my presence is completely hidden, as if I were trying to conceal myself even when I'm in broad daylight?' Jason frowned as he tried to understand how that came to be. 'The accumulation of compatible information causing qualitative evolutions. Isn't that what Joe said? And yet, I still can't understand how that results in whatever is happening to me.'

For now, Jason put the thought in the back of his mind, along with the strong urge to draw from last night. Right now, he had a person to find.

As soon as Jason was near someone's Wi-Fi, he hacked into it. He still remembered the name and image of Saki Yoshida's high school from the vision Joe showed him. A quick search of the high school's name gave him an address. For now, it was the best lead he had. Unfortunately, Japan's government stored a person's private information on a document which was stored inside one of their offices, and trying to look for Saki Yoshida's among all of them is too inefficient and time-consuming.

With the directions inside his head, Jason entered an alley and made his way up to the roof. From there, he began travelling as fast as he currently could while evading obstacles, which was around 65 mph (105 km/h), without minding the people below or anyone inside the skyscrapers that might see him. If his presence was completely hidden, which was what he speculated, then no one would notice him running from roof to roof.

Behind Jason, Wheatley quietly followed while observing his surroundings with amazement.

-===-

'Wheatley,' Jason mentally called as he stood on the high school's rooftop, looking over the whole campus.

[What is it, Jason?]

'Can you scan for traces of Dark Primordial Energy within a 16 kilometer (10 mile) radius with the school as the center? I'm going inside the to see if I can find Saki Yoshida's information from their school database. She should be enrolled here already.'

[Leave it to me! But this is gonna take a couple of minutes, so you can take your time.]

Jason thanked him and headed inside the school. He passed through the school's hallways and found his way to the principal's room. It was locked, but he simply picked the lock with a bobby pin he took out from his ring.

Inside the principal's room was a table with a large office chair behind it and a pair of cushioned chairs in front. Medals, certificates, and trophies, sat behind a locked display case behind the principal's chair. But what Jason gunned for immediately was the computer sitting on the principal's table.

Jason connected his tablet to the computer via cable, allowing him to connect to the school's database, find Saki Yoshida's information, and download it. After everything was done, Jason disconnected the tablet.

'Alright. I've got her address.'

There was no need to stay inside the office anymore, and just as he stepped out the door, Wheatley contacted him.

[Jason, I've finished the scan! There are multiple signatures of Dark Primordial Energy within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the school.]

Jason frowned at how many signatures Wheatley detected. 'Good job. We'll take care of the others later.'

He pulled out his phone and searched her address using the school's Wi-Fi. 'I have Saki Yoshida's home address and I'm gonna start making my way there. With how grave Joe sounded, something might've already happened to her, so I'm gonna go ahead. Make sure you catch up.'

[Uh, yeah, yeah. I'll catch up. No problem.]

Jason sensed the hidden uncertainty in his voice. "You can just revert into your previous state if you don't feel like catching up," Jason said as he ran across the rooftops towards the address.

[… Ohhhhh, right. I *can* do that. Why am I still so forgetful? I'll be right there.]

Jason felt Wheatley return to his soul. 'Never thought I'd ever *feel* my soul, but here I am.'

[Just, um, just ignore me and continue with what you're doing. The direction you're heading in has one of the signatures I detected, which should be the girl. Also, the signatures are - you know what? Doesn't matter. Probably just a coincidence]

He wondered what that was about.

'I'm speeding up.' Jason, with a sense of urgency, quickly accelerated until he reached the speed of approximately 70 mph (113 km/h).

-===-

Minutes later, he arrived to a simple two-story japanese house with a small front yard. He stood outside with his eyes narrowed in thought.

'This is the house.' Jason focused on trying to hear signs of *something* happening, and found no luck until around a minute later when he could hear the muffled scream of a girl and the hushed voice of a man.

"Kyah! Dad, w-what are you doing?! No… It hurts…"

"You really look exactly like your mom when she was young."

'Shit!'