Chapter Text
Neon lights flew everywhere, as bass-heavy club music played through the fanciest mansion money can buy. Lightning lays on the couch, wasted from every single Jello shot he drank. Dakota’s birthday party was the first time he’s felt like shit and happy at the same time.
"Dude, Sam’s finally met his match in Super Smash Bros-"
"Not the time, bro… Lightning needs a sha-break, dude!", Lightning replied, trying to shake off his chronic, painful headache bugging him for longer than the Earth has existed.
Raihan stares at his best friend, a little concerned.
"Come on, man… You’re stronger than this, Lightning! I’ve… You’ve drank jello shots again, didn’t you?"
"Sha-so what, Raihan? It’s just a party drink, not like someone’s sha-spiked it with ecstasy", Lightning replied, "…right?"
Raihan heaves a deep sigh, and drags him along
"Hey, where are we going, let… LET LIGHTNING GO!"
Lightning is now facing what looks like the least cliche bouts of Super Smash Bros he’s ever seen. Sam’s always number one in that video game, like always… but something felt different. He’s met his match. Dakota and Sam focus on the TV screen, laser-sharp as the attacks of the characters they control.
"Come on…"
"…You know, this might be fun to watch for once, right Lightning?", Raihan asked enthusiastically
Lightning is already fast asleep, laying on a comfortable pillow and trying to catch some Zs
"Ok, you wanna be like that? Be my guest, bro-"
"Hey, chumps! Wanna ditch this boring party and… hmm… catch some ghosts?"
Raihan just stares at Scott, sporting his usual white tank top. Scott’s face turned confused, not expecting what looked like a cold shoulder.
"…What? It’s not like someone’s funeral or wedding, or… WHATEVER!", Scott retorted… slightly pissed.
"Ok, I… well, we’ve got a DRUNK football star to take care off, we… just…", Raihan replied, frustrated.
Scott and Raihan are… let’s just say, Lightning’s closest friends, outside his football team. They’d hang out at the local gym to work out, mess with Raihan’s TikToks or Scott’s farm, maybe tease a few girls about what they’re wearing or their makeup… and the best part? Ghost hunts. They’d always meet up to discuss and hunt down anything paranormal. It’s just the three of them, and nothing else.
And it will always stay that way. People would make fun of you for believing in shit that "doesn’t exist".
"…Yeah, sure! Lightning’s fucking done with this… UGH!"…
Lightning spent the rest of the night, drunkenly laying on Raihan’s lap on the backseat. Scott’s usually the driver, because his two friends are too stupid or easily distracted to even drive ten feet on the road.
Lightning groans in drunk, frustrating Scott… he’s already pissed after losing ten straight rounds of Poker.
"God, Lightning, can you PLEASE SHUT UP WITH YOUR DRUNKEN MOANS FOR ONCE?!", Scott screamed at the tip of his annoyed lungs
"Relax, amigo… Lightning would magically sober up… anytime now…", Raihan replied, "Anytime now… Yeah, he needs an extra hour from all these Jello shots-"
"Ugh, what… happened?", Lightning asked… sober and slightly confused.
"Simply put, you got drunk, heavily drunk and fucking annoying-"
"Says the guy who lost a drinking game to Jo three hours ago", Lightning retorted, snarkily.
"…FUCK."
Lightning and Raihan panic, screaming for help as Scott breathes faster and faster like a marathon runner. As time ticked down and the car deviated from its intended path, Scott’s brain kept begging for earplugs… anything to keep his annoying friends out of his sensitive ears.
"Uhh, guys?… Where are we?"
Scott’s face slams onto the horn. Thank you, alcohol, thank you!
"Ok, this seems… a little… uhh… what’s the sha-word again?"
"No wonder you fail every single spelling test, Lightning!", Scott remarked, before chuckling.
Lightning breathes out a heavy, angry whiff… before bickering with Scott. Raihan turns around, trying desperately to break the two off.
"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP BICKERING, AND START FINDING A WAY BACK HOME?!", Raihan screamed from the top of his lungs, startling the two.
"Ok… now… WHERE THE HECK IS HOME?!", Scott screamed back.
The three really are lost, in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows through the three boys, as if it’s trying to guide them somewhere. Lightning’s jaw shivers rapidly, as if something’s freezing him to death
"D… did you feel that?!", Lightning timidly asked…
"The wind? Yeah! But… hold on, it doesn’t feel like just… "the wind"", Scott replied
…The boys shrug as they venture deeper into the forest, following what seemed to be a trail of rocks. The atmosphere started to get chillier and chillier with every step further. Something about this seemed very unusual, as if they’ve entered another world. A white, ominous mist filled the landscape, encasing the three teens with its hopeless and ghastly arms. Every crumple of dried leaves on the floor grew louder with every step they took.
"This… is 100% fine… it’s normal! Haha-"
"Hey, Lightning! Dragon boy’s about to piss his pants again-"
"SCOTT, NO… I’M NOT GOING TO PISS MY PANTS!-"
Raihan’s pants get soaked with a mixture of pee and sweat.
"Ok, sharkbait, you win this time,"
"GUYS, LOOK!"
Lightning pointed at what seemed to be ruins… ruins of something lost to time. Broken pieces of castle were strewn everywhere, charred by some unworldly force. Raihan and Scott trodded closer to the view, intrigued and captivated by what they found… little do they know, they were about to open a can of worms, a can of ghostly worms.
The trio tiptoed down the rocky slope, almost steep enough to be considered a cliff, but not too steep to be impossible to traverse through… Rustling can be heard through some nearby trees.
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
"OK, that could be…"
"A… GHOST?! OK, BOYS. POSITIONS, READY?!"
Rallied up, Scott, Lightning and Raihan formed a circle, ready to fight off anything supernatural or dead coming their way.
"Whatever you are, and wherever you’re hiding, we WON’T BE SCARED OF YOU…"
"…Nah, it’s probably just the wind… or-"
A rabbit jumps out of the bush, oblivious to whatever dangers it went into.
"See? Just a bunny, nothing wrong-"
Suddenly, a black, ghastly figure snatches it. A large thunderous crack can be heard... followed by a dark figure emerging from the bushes
"…OH MY FUCKING GOD-"
Black ghouls flied through the skies from every direction, trying to attack them. Lightning lunged at a few, but to no avail.
"GUYS, JUST… FIND SOMEWHERE WE CAN HIDE. WE CAN’T FIGHT THEM OFF-", Raihan instructed, screaming to the best of his ability
"I’M TRYING TO FIGHT THEM OFF!", Scott answered back, before getting his ass beaten by a demon.
A ghoul tries to pounce on Raihan, but Lightning tackles it away, head on. Raihan, heaving a sigh of relief, picks Lightning up as they (alongside Scott) run further into the ruins trying to find somewhere to hide… A mint-green aura calls them, especially Lightning… glowing like the Northern Lights, and guiding them inside a small room that seemed surprisingly intact. Lightning heaves a sigh of relief… before spotting something glowing in the distance.
"What… sha-what the heck are these things?!… And what is that glowing-"
"Lightning, no. THIS could be very, VERY dangerous!", Raihan warned, slightly bruised from the attacks.
"I DON’T KNOW MAN, BUT… THAT THING… it’s calling Lightning-", Lightning replied
"God, Lightning, delusional again?", Scott interjected.
Lightning groans in anger… as the protective aura starts to crack… The dark forces after them keep trying to barge inside, slamming onto the supernatural force field as hard as an angry mob. The glowing thing keeps attracting Lightning, as one by one, the ghosts start penetrating into their safe zone, ready to attack them three… Lightning runs further inside, dragging Scott and Raihan along.
"There has to be a GOOD REASON WHY THESE SHITS ARE AFTER US!"
"I don’t know, maybe they attack ANYTHING THEY SEE?"
Lightning leaps for the glowing object, whose voice grows louder as Lightning runs closer to it. A ghost flies straight for Lightning, trying to pierce him in half… before being disintegrated mid-air. Lightning feels a chill go through his spine, as if a bug poked a hole through his back… Lightning falls onto the floor, helpless, lighter and slightly unconscious, as a figure in knightly armour attacks the demons, saving his friends.
Who… was that?
"Lightning… LIGHTNING!"
Lightning gets jolted up awake, opening his eyes to his two buddies
"GAH, guys?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"Ehh, Scott’s car got busted, so we decided to rest here for the night…", Raihan explained.
"Anyways, thanks for saving us last night! I swore… those things were about to chop our heads off! Haha…", Scott added. A confused look falls onto Lightning’s face.
"Hold on, I… saved you guys? WHAT?! I mean, yeah! Lightning’s sha-strong and uhh…", Lightning responded
Lightning couldn’t remember saving the two… all he remembered was being saved by someone… someone mysterious.
"OK, AND… YEAH… Lightning… uhh… swore he saw someone… Someone… in shining armour… He saved all three of us! But… BUT… Raihan and Scott said that "Lightning saved them"?… DID SOMETHING ERASE OUR HEADS?! Lightning-"
A knight in a metallic, medieval armour, the same one that saved Lightning and his friends, leers at Lightning from afar.
"…He’s here!… Right?… You see him, creepy girl?"
Lightning turns Dawn’s body towards the mysterious figure…
"Well, weird… I can’t see him," Dawn replied.
"WHAT?! Wait… is Lightning seeing things? Come on… THIS SEEMS ENTIRELY WRONG! I… uhh…"
"Well, you did save your friends… not the Lightning parts though…", Dawn answered, "Plus, your aura is twice as strong… and seems slightly… off,"
Dawn walks off, leaving a confused Lightning. What did she mean… the "Lightning parts"? He needed answers, and the mystery guy to either fuck off or explain everything.
"So, heard anything from Dawn, dude?", Raihan asked
"…UGH, nothing helpful! She usually either gives really good sage advice or sha-something… but this time, she’s made this shit worse!", Lightning replied…
Scott creeps behind Lightning, trying to scare him.
"Boo."
"…Not falling for that, Scott!"
No response…
"Ok, I’m going to say this now: You’re seeing things! Maybe these weird black things messed up your mind, or you’re still drunk! It’s either one of those things-"
There the knight was, looking at Lightning as if he’s a long-lost friend.
"…THERE HE IS! DO YOU SEE HIM?!"
"See what?… Courtney?!", Scott replied, "I’ve written the cutest uhh… poem for her!… Uhm, here goes… Roses are red, violets are… uhh…"
"Forgetting your lines again, Scott?", Raihan remarked
"RAIHAN! UGH, kill yourself"
Raihan giggles at a slightly frustrated Scott… leaving Lightning slightly helpless and pissed. No one’s going to give him answers about whatever the fuck is going on around him… Lightning groaned, storming off to the bathrooms to wash his face… maybe that would keep him more awake and snap him out of his apparent delusion…
"…Hello,"
"GAH, WHAT THE-"
Lightning turns around, seeing that knight everyone thought he was hallucinating…
"WHAT ARE YOU… WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"…
"…I need your help, my liege"