This is the first part of the sixth chapter of the triquel: Fiendish Friends! This part is where the human Tito Turtle makes his first appearance! Due to personal discontent with how his backstory's written in the comics, I'm writing it a bit differently in these two parts! Is that okay? I hope that you guys like it! 👍

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In the far left corner of the 'Super Happy Fun Room', the asylum, back in the past, three days later ...

Jerry Robert Willis was sitting at a small, bare table for one, far away from everyone else in the 'Super Happy Fun Room'. And that was just how Jerry wanted it, at the moment.

The middle-aged man was bent over a sheet of paper attached to a clipboard; being held by his right hand.

Jerry's brow furrowed in concentration as he drew carefully with a pencil, his determined gaze fully focused on the playful figure that he was drawing. He was also wearing a pair of glasses, to help with the fine details of the art.

The serial killer chief's desk was covered in pieces of blank paper, a couple of asylum library books, and some ordinary and colouring pencils.

The dull blue walls surrounding Jerry Willis on three sides were lined with a locked trunk, a barred, glass window, and small bookshelves with bric-à-brac on top of them.

The asylum staff (or the 'fools and morons' as Jerry called them) were really chuffed earlier when the serial killer chief asked them for some paper and colouring pencils to do some 'artwork'.

They were almost falling over themselves to grant his requests, talking in whispers about how 'the treatment seems to be working', and 'maybe he's changing for the better'.

Jerry's face twisted into a contemptuous expression for a couple of seconds. Ha! I would rather damn myself to hell than pander to those giddy, soppy-brained idiots! he thought to himself.

"Hi, Mr. Willis!" called a familiar voice suddenly, followed by approaching footsteps. "Whatcha doing?" Without looking up, the aforementioned chap recognised the voice instantly.

Camilla Love, his most recent recruit ... officially nicknamed "Cammy" by Jerry himself.  The orange-shirted, asylum resident wasn't really that keen to chat while drawing, but ... he'd almost finished the picture.

Plus, Jerry was officially in charge of a proper gang now. He had to get used to the extra company. Well, more company than usual (with Bia).

There was just one issue though ...

"Cammy, my snowflake, please call me 'Willy'", the serial killer chief said calmly as he picked up a rich orange-coloured pencil. "Mr. Willis was my 'father'."

Jerry's face then twisted in anger and hatred, a truly frightening sight; as he spoke. "God. Have. Pity. On. His. Wretched. Soul."

Those last several words were stilted, icy, and sounded like the middle-aged man had to physically drag the words out of himself.

The incoming Cammy, who had wits enough to recognise a dangerous situation when she saw one, shakily smiled disarmingly and tried to change the subject.

"Did your mother make up it for you, sir? It's a nice nickname!" the young, blonde girl nervously complimented her boss. Jerry Willis merely closed his eyes for a second and sighed deeply.

"Thanks, but my mother didn't make it up. She wasn't the type for nicknames", the orange-shirted chap said tersely, grimacing.

"More the ... 'leaving and never coming back' type." The orange pencil suddenly snapped as it was viciously stabbed right through the paper by Jerry.

Seeing the damage, the aforementioned serial killer just sighed and put the broken pencil down. "It was my schoolmates of long ago who made it up as a term of endearment", he explained amiably to a worried-looking Cammy.

Jerry's face had reverted quickly to a calm smile; which was a bit unnerving to the aforementioned girl. He picked up a new orange pencil and then resumed the drawing.

"At least, I think it was a term of endearment ..." the chap said, frowning a little. Cammy wisely kept her mouth shut, not wanting to provoke her boss further.

A minute later, Jerry put the orange pencil down and lifted the paper drawing up to face him. After nodding twice in critical appraisal, the orange-shirted guy then held the drawing out for the girl to see.

"So, what do you think?" Jerry said, with a toothy smile. Cammy smiled back at him as she looked at the paper.

"I love it! You're really good at sketching, boss!" the blonde girl complimented, sincere in her praise. Jerry's grin widened in return.

It actually felt very nice to be complimented for his creations. The major reason for that was because praise was something that the serial killer chief didn't get very often.

"Thanks, honey drop! I had to practice sketching at college for a looooong time before I qualified as a photographer!" he explained. Cammy nodded understandingly.

"What's this character's name?" she then asked, tapping the cartoon weasel's picture.

"Willy Weasel", Jerry Willis replied. The serial killer chief chuckled out loud as he watched Cammy cheekily 'boop' the orange weasel, right on its nose.

"Willy always loves a good party; him and all of his friends", he added, grinning widely.

"Awesome! Sounds like a really nice guy!" the blonde woman complimented, as she looked back at Jerry. "Is his name based off your nickname, sir?"

To Cammy's surprise, her new boss shook his head firmly.

"No, actually! His name is based off my daughter Arabia's doll: Willimeena Weasel", Jerry Willis explained. He chuckled again.

"I couldn't call this character that though; Arabia would never let me hear the end of it! 'There's only one Willimeena Weasel in the world', she would say to me quite a bit!"

Cammy laughed along with the orange-shirted man, as he did a perfect mimic of his daughter's voice. Jerry's grin then faded slowly into a despairing frown as saddened thoughts of his beloved little girl clouded the tall man's mind again.

Oh ... Bia.

"By the way, we should send this off to my brother: Jed!" Cammy's piping, excited voice broke into Jerry's miserable reverie. "He can build anything, especially mechanical stuff!"

The serial killer chief quickly put on a broad smirk, hastily wiping away all trace of sadness from his body language.

Jerry shoved the black thoughts down behind his emotional walls, down to join the rest of them.

Keep it together, Willy, don't let them overwhelm you ... don't let them overwhelm you ... he whispered inwardly, over and over again.

"So he's decided then? He's agreed to our little plan?" the orange-shirted chap asked, his smirk turning more sinister. Cammy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep! Jed's getting everything sorted out for us outside!" she replied, all abuzz with pride at her brother's hard work! "He's already bought the property and all!"

Jerry Willis was now grinning in a such way that it looked more predatory than human ... something that would scare most people.

"Excellent. Once our preparations here are finished, we can finally implement our escape plan and move out from this ... hellish 'hostel', so to speak", he stated.

The serial killer chief gave a grateful nod to Cammy, who flushed and nodded back. Jerry then turned completely around in his seat, looking at a young, dark-haired man on his direct left.

The chap in question was looking out at the dark night through the nearby window.

"And how about you, our newest friend? What do you think of my sketch here?" the orange-shirted guy asked, holding his drawing out to the young man.

The aforementioned fellow instantly whirled around to face Jerry and Cammy, revealing his complexion.

The young man was fairly handsome ... not drop dead gorgeous, but good-looking enough to catch quite a number of gazes! His grin was 100% charismatic, and his eyes were dark, lively and very intelligent.

If anything, they reminded the other two of a magpie ... a clever and devious one! The chap was also holding a little tortoise in his left hand, and stroking its shell gently with his right.

"I like the picture just fine, amigo. And anything beats community service", the young guy said, smiling. Jerry smiled back as he stood up from his chair, still holding the clipboard and drawing in his right hand.

The orange-shirted man then walked slowly over to the other chap, glancing down at the tiny tortoise in his hands.

"I like your little friend. Cute fellow, isn't he?" Jerry Willis purred as he reached out to stroke the reptile's shell with his left hand. "What's his name?"

"I found him in the backyard this morning", the serial killer chief's new friend replied. "Just like the ones that I would find when I was in the forest. I call him 'Tito'."

The aforementioned man looked smug and pointed to himself.

"After myself, of course." Tito's smirk quickly faded after a couple of seconds though, and he turned back to look out of the window again.

"I wish that I was back on community service though. At least I was moving around, even though it was a bit boring", the young chap mumbled.

It was obvious that Tito missed the freedom that the asylum had been taken away. Something that Jerry and Cammy understood only too well. The orange-shirted man raised an eyebrow as he put his left hand on Tito's right shoulder.

"Oh really? Was it boring before, or after you slaughtered of all your co-workmates as they slept in their bunks?" Jerry questioned, smirking.

Tito flushed as he remembered what happened ... a week before ...

What do you think of this version of Tito: a blend of the movie and comic versions? Vote and comment if you like it! 👍