Nooch dragged me up the stairs at a pace slightly too fast for my legs and I found myself stumbling by the time we'd reached the top step.

"CHOCO!" Nooch yelled, walking into the living room. Nobody was there, and there was no response.

"Looks like you just missed him," the boss said smugly, from behind us. I turned around, he was now visible and picking at his nails. "Too bad. I guess you just have to-"

"Do you know where he was going?!" Nooch whipped the fuck around and glared at the boss with his cold, bright blue robot eyes.

"No," the boss looked up slightly, though he seemed unfazed.

"Don't fucking lie to me," the robot took an offensive step forward, his eyes glowing a deeper shade of blue. The boss's eyes grew wide with panic, as though Nooch would snap his neck at any given moment - which I didn't doubt that he would, if he had access to both his hands.

"I-I'm not lying to you," the boss stuttered, actually sounding scared. Something told me that anyone who could scare the boss was not to be messed with.

"Dude," I said, intimidated. He looked back at me quickly.

"Y'know, forget it, let's go," he replied. "We'll find him on our own."

"We?" I asked. I was not prepared to search the streets of Genesis for a runaway bird.

Nooch began dragging me towards the door. "Yeah, I'm only like, ten percent charged. You know how iPhones work, that shit will last for two minutes."

I raised my eyebrows in reply.

~~~

Soon, we were running down the street, towards the market, hands linked. My feet pounded against the ground hard, trampling over pebbles and rocks. My worn shoes weren't exactly the best for running, and my lungs weren't either - I found myself breathing hard within seconds. We ended up right outside of the flower stand.

"ROB!" Nooch exclaimed. Rob, who had been reading a book, shot his head up in surprise. "Did Choco pass by here?"

"NOOCH?!" Rob exclaimed, completely ignoring the question. "What the....how the...wh-"

"Forget all that, not important," Nooch interrupted, "Did Choco pass by here? Yes or no?"

"Uh..." Rob began, "no, not that I know of."

"Okay, thanks!"

"WAIT-"

It was too late, we were off again.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" I asked as I glanced back at Rob, who had a slack jaw and wide eyes as he watched us leave.

"No fucking clue," Nooch laughed.

"Wait," I paused. I dug my feet in the ground, and though it did little to prevent Nooch from moving, it did enough to let him know that I was objecting. He slowed down for a moment and turned his head to face me - which was a little freaky I must admit.

"What?" He asked.

"Could we..." I paused, attempting to catch my breath. "Could we stop for a moment? I'm human, I can't run forever."

"Good point," Nooch said, stopping his movement and returning his head to normal. He let his grip on my hand loosen and lead me in between two buildings, where we sat down, backs against the wall. I looked down at my knees as I attempted to breathe normally again.

"Could you explain something to me?" I asked, as soon as my breathing had slowed to a normal pace. "Why...why do you want to find Choco so bad?"

"I didn't really want to find him," Nooch replied, leaning his head against the wall. "I knew Rob wouldn't know where he was, I just thought I'd say hi. When Choco leaves, he leaves, dude. No finding him unless you have it pinpointed down to the inch where he's going. I just don't want to be shut down again."

"And you need me because I'm your power source," I nodded. "Ah."

"Now it's your turn to explain something," Nooch said. "What's your story? How are you powering me? Just...what the fuck is up with you?"

"Honestly?" I began. "I don't really know. I woke up on the subway with no memory, met some girl named Ashley, she told me to go to Rob, Rob introduced me to Preston, and now I live at Five Seasons HQ apparently. This has all happened in the span of half a day by the way."

"Does Ashley have purple hair?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. I know her. Also, sorry about all the shit that's happened to you. Must be a shock."

"Yeah..." I looked down again. Nooch squeezed my hand, and I couldn't tell if it was because he needed more energy or if he was attempting to be affectionate towards me.

"Are your freaky energy powers connected to your necklace?" Nooch asked me. "Cause Preston, Choco, and Lachlan, or the boss as you know him, all have necklaces and powers as well."

"Really?" I asked. "So, Preston has an orange necklace, he can do something with heat. Choco has a blue necklace, he has a sixth sense. The boss, er, Lachlan, can turn invisible - I didn't know he had a necklace, though."

"Yeah, he does," Nooch said. "It's got a clear orb on it, though he always hides it under his hoodie like Choco does."

"Ah," I replied, "That makes sense. You're powered by redstone, right?"

"Correct."

"I guess that would mean I have redstone powers."

"Most likely."

We paused, and I thought for a moment. A lot of information had just been jammed into my head. Also, I was meant to kill people - to be an assassin for a living, in order to pay for my room, which I was unsure that I could do. It seemed like the others used their powers for killing, but how was I supposed to kill someone with redstone?

"Did you work as an assassin?" I asked suddenly, glancing sideways at Nooch.

"Yeah," he replied simply.

"Did you ever kill anyone?" I elaborated.

"...yeah," he said, slower this time. "They weren't good people, though."

"I know," I said. "But they were still people. They deserved a second chance."

"I can't bring people back to life, Brandon," Nooch said sadly. It interested me that a robot could express emotion so well. It was like he was a human trapped in a robotic body.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"I can't argue with that," I said, smiling a bit.

"Hey," Nooch began, looking towards me. "Have you ever been to a PvP tournament?"

"No," I replied. "At least, not that I know of."

"Let's go to one."

"Right now?"

"Yeah!" Nooch exclaimed. He sounded excited, reminiscent of a small child. He stood up, and pulled me up with him. "They're fun. We'll sneak in illegally, of course, I don't have any money and I take it you don't either."

I wanted to object, but a PvP tournament did sound like fun, and I didn't want to disappoint my new friend.

And so we went.

~~~

Yo! I am loving writing Nooch right now. He's like the best character so far.

What are y'all being for halloween, if anything? I'm gonna be Marshall Lee from Adventure Time. Comment plz

Ciao!

~Lia