Chomby looked into his bathroom sink. His mind was riddled with words. Words that weren’t his. They belonged to someone else. That person had spoken in his mind only a few hours ago, and the thoughts stuck with him.

“Chomby, I love you.” It said again. The voice was calm, reassuring even. It kept making Chomby choke up, but he couldn’t understand why. Splashing copious amounts of water onto his face didn’t change anything. Eventually, he gave up and wiped his face with a towel.

He walked back to his room and sat on the bed. “I feel I gotta talk to someone. Maybe they can help me out?” Chomby grabbed his phone from the night stand and quickly opened his contacts.

Client. Client. Client… Another client.

“Don’t I have anyone I can talk to?!” Chomby started rapidly swiping down on his phone until he hit the bottom of his contacts. The word “Xenon Morphix” appeared on the screen. This didn’t surprise Chomby, as his contacts were alphabetized.

He groaned and looked at the ceiling. He knew Xenon didn’t really see him as much of a friend. The two just partnered up to defeat Unit_00 that one time. Xenon baited Unit_00 into a standstill, and Chomby blew it apart with his Sonic Scream. After that defeat, Chomby and Xenon went their separate ways.

“He’s a detective, though. Maybe he has some sort of answer?” Chomby bit his tongue and pressed the call button.

It rang a few times before the familiar voice appeared on the other end. “Xenon’s Detective Services, Xenon speaking.”

“Hey, Xenon, it’s Chomby,” Chomby said sheepishly.

“Chomby? What’s wrong? Your voice sounds abnormal.”

“Oh, y’know just… dealing with a weird voice in my head that’s telling me it loves me.”

“That sounds very sweet. Who’s the lucky gal… or fella?”

“Uh, no. That’s not what I meant!” Chomby pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been having these weird dreams about someone. It’s like a silhouette of them, and then they have a face, and then they said their name to me, but I couldn’t hear it.”

“Are you calling me to interpret your dream for you?” Xenon asked. “That’s not my expertise, big guy. I go with concrete facts and evidence, not dreams. Talk to a psychic if you want-”

“It’s more than that!” Chomby interrupted. “It’s… it’s like some weird voice. Someone I’m supposed to remember. Their name is Sarge, or something… does that ring any bells for you?”

There was a moment of pause, followed by a deep breath. “No, sorry, Chomby. Can’t think of anyone named ‘Sarge’. Nothing really rings a bell, at least. Sorry.”

“Could you help me figure out who they are?” Chomby asked. “You’re a detective. Can’t you look up some sorta database-”

“I’m not magical, Chomby. You can’t just give me a name and expect me to know what I’m looking for.”

“They’re a werewolf, if that helps. They’ve got a wolf’s face and a human body.”

“Sounds like you’ve been struck by one of those e-book, b-rated, romance novels. They always have a beastman on them.”

“I’m being serious, Xenon! This thing is driving me insane. I keep dreaming about them, I keep seeing their face, and now I keep hearing their voice!”

“Then talk to a psychologist!” Xenon started to sound irritated. “Again, I don’t deal with dream stuff.”

“But… the voice is so calm, and reassuring… and kind.” Chomby felt his eyes begin to water. “It feels like I’m supposed to know who this person is….”

There was a long moment of pause. “Listen, Chomby, I can look up some cheap psychologists near your area. But outside of that, I don’t think I’ll be much help.” Xenon calmed down. “I’m sorry, Chomby. Though, it’s nice to hear you again.”

“You, too,” Chomby sighed. After he said his goodbyes to Xenon, he ended the call and stared down at the ground. He lifted a hand to his head and brushed his hair back. His frustration rose. “Voice. In. My. Head. WHAT are you?”

He was met with silence.

“No reassuring words?” Chomby asked. He lowered his hand to his chest and closed his eyes. He tried to listen for the voice again, but it didn’t reply. He supposed he couldn’t really call it on command.

The phone rang. Chomby jumped and immediately looked at the screen. It said “Xenon Morphix”.

“Huh?” Chomby lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Ahh, Chomby! Actually I did want to tell you that-” Xenon’s voice quieted.

There was several seconds of silence before Chomby decided to speak. “Yeah?”

“Uh… wait. Nevermind. Sorry.” Xenon immediately hung up.

Chomby kept the phone up to his ear as he tilted his head. “That was odd. Wonder what he-”

The phone rang again. Chomby looked, and saw it was Xenon… again. He answered it. “Xenon? Did you remember what you were wanting to say?”

“Yeah, actually, I just wanted to say that…” Xenon trailed off again.

“No luck?”

“No, no! It’s… uh….” Xenon scratched his head. “Oi ve. Why can’t I remember?”

“Your age catching up to you?” Chomby teased.

“Argh!” Xenon hung up again.

Chomby sighed and dropped onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and kept the phone in his hand, just in case Xenon called again.

Sure enough, after a minute of waiting, Xenon called once more.

“Alright, detective. You better have something good to keep calling me like this.” Chomby snarled.

“Yes! I wanted to say that…” Another pause. “I wrote it on my hand this time.”

“Wrote what?”

“Tell Chomby to let his phone go to voicemail, then listen to it in five minutes.” Xenon’s voice seemed confused. “I guess… that’s what I’m wanting. Uh… let your phone go to voicemail?”

“Will do, detective. See ya.” Chomby cut the call and then dropped the phone to his side. He heard it immediately ring but chose not to answer it this time, as per Xenon’s request.

Once it stopped ringing, Chomby stared at his alarm clock. It was eight thirty-four in the evening. He kept his eyes glued to the display as he watched the minutes tick by. Once it hit eight thirty-nine, he picked his phone back up and opened his answering machine.

“You have 1 new voice message, sent today at eight thirty-four P.M.” It said.

Xenon’s voice came in after a small beep. “Hey, Chomby, this is a really weird thing, but whenever I try to talk to you about what I’m going to say, I keep forgetting it. That’s why I’m sending it to your answering machine. Listen, I’ll be by your place in a few days. After I finish this case, we can investigate more into this ‘Sarge’ person. I know him. He’s… if I’m correct, he may be my friend. I just have trouble remembering that. But I feel like talking to you may be a key as to why that is.”

“Talking to me?” Chomby sat in stunned silence for a moment.

He called Xenon back.

“Hello?” Xenon asked.

“Xenon! What do you mean this Sarge guy was your friend? Who is he?”

“Who?” Xenon asked.

“Sarge! You just told me in the voicemail!”

“I did?”

Chomby wanted to retort, but his voice caught in his throat. Was Xenon messing with him? This wasn’t something the detective ever did before. He was always serious business.

“Chomby, I don’t recall ever mentioning some guy named ‘Sarge’. Are you feeling okay?” Xenon asked.

“Just… come here as soon as you can, Xenon! Something weird’s going on.”

“But I don’t do-”

“Just hurry!” Chomby yelled before he shut off the call. He immediately dropped back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes. He tried to understand what all this meant, but his mind kept getting stuck, as if something was preventing him from even thinking about it.

What was wrong with him?

~~~~~

This is chapter 2 of the next story. Enjoy!

~~~~~

Chomby/Sarge/Xenon/Art/Story ©  pikminpedia Me