[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian.

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Y/N thought he had gotten used to this.

The feeling of running away from Phantoms was nothing new, considering he did it for months, every single night. Yet, at this point, the fear and confusion shot tenfold. It was like the adrenaline on his body was keeping the fatigue away, because even tired from sleeping so little and on the run, he continued to run through the streets. Everyone followed right behind, or just in front of him, all together in the alleys.

Sure, the environment he was more than familiar with were the trees and the branches surrounding the graveyard, as well as the forest around the facility that they were contained on, so an urban scenario was the last thing he had explored in the Phantom World. Phantom World that he had always gone to during the night, and never during the day as it was now. So many questions that he didn't even know where to begin.

As if to scold himself for getting distracted about what could wait, he shook his head harshly, keeping his focus on the road ahead. Dirty and dark alleyways were as welcoming as the aggressive-red of the sky burning above himself and the group, but it was either that or facing the horde of ever-increasing Phantoms chasing after them. Even with the pistol in his hand, Y/N decided that running was a much better option.

He glanced over to the side, almost oblivious to the voice of the others thanks to the spike of adrenaline in his stream telling him to survive first, and listen to words later. Still, there, he could see Aiden's smile, and oh boy did he want to scream at him to stop. The situation was serious, way more serious and way scarier than anything they've ever faced before, and that smile... Y/N hated how much he felt at ease.

The distraction of such came to an abrupt end when Ben tackled Ashlyn out of the way when a Phantom came striking at her. It was immediately dropped by Logan, who pulled his own gun from his waistline and shot it dead with a single bullet to its head. Y/N looked over at Ashlyn, seeing the state of the girl being carried — She was not alright. He approached as they went back to running, following just-behind Ben.

Y/N: ["Ashlyn, what's wrong?!"]

Ashlyn: ["I don't know... ... I'm dizzy... Something must have happened when I got tased..."] The girl's brow furrowed as she held her hand against Ben's shoulder, clearly struggling to keep a clear head ["The shift felt different than usual. We aren't in our combat outfits... So are we in our real bodies? Then what about our other bodies...?!"]

Y/N continued to run, until something caught his eye. He turned to look at Aiden who helped Logan who had fallen to the ground, but something was strange. It took Y/N just enough time to realize that something was wrong, as it took "Logan" to hold onto Aiden and pull him into an alleyway, his scream causing the group to halt and turn around. As they followed as quickly as they could, Y/N noted something else, too.

Y/N: ["Where's Logan?!"]

Taylor: ["I don't know... Let's split up and look for them!"]

Y/N wanted to argue so bad about how that was a terrible idea, but he didn't have time. He just shot a look towards Ashlyn, and with a firm nod, he went on his way. As everyone split forward ahead, Y/N ran back towards where they had just come from, frantically running while looking around everywhere. At one point, he stopped, taking a glance at a set of stairs from the fire escape, narrowing his eyes at the idea he had.

He quickly made his way up, standing on top of the rooftops and looking around. They were close enough to where a small jump was enough to get him across them, so he went running looking for Logan or Aiden. He felt the seconds tick by like minutes with each breath he drew, every thump of his heart echoing on his ears like an eardrum. He was no fortune teller, but even he could smell that something was definitely wrong.

He had been caught in his mind again, thinking back to the officers and wondering if now they were Phantoms in the body of people walking around in the real world. He didn't have much time to ponder his question before a sharp pain spread through his body, pushing him from the back and face-first against the top of another roof. He looked over his shoulder, and there he saw it, clutching at his back tightly — Himself.

Except it wasn't. There was something odd. The white eyes, the large smile on his face, it was like he was more of a Phantom wearing his skin than anything. Y/N struck his copycat's face with an elbow hard enough to create the minimal amount of space between them. Turning chest-to-chest, back to the ground, Y/N reeled a leg back to kick the creature away with enough strength so that he would have space to stand.

He reached for his gun, only to realize it had been knocked out of his hands when he got tackled. A glance over his shoulder, and he scoffed at seeing it nowhere, and a gap between buildings not to far away. The sound of the Phantom caught his ears again, and as he turned to face it, he saw the creature taking a swing at him. It was wild, animalistic, but still fast enough to where Y/N could barely react in time to it.

He stepped back, one slip away from falling down the rooftops, before planting his feet. He kicked at the creature's leg hard enough to put it into a knee, proceeding to roundhouse it against the side of the head to put it back down. He took a few steps away, circling around and on the opposite end of where the fall between buildings was. He just stared at the monster, who glared back at him with that same smile.

Should he keep fighting it? Should he kill it? If he did, would he also die? Now that Y/N looked closer, that was not just himself, but the body he used in this dimension. The black clothes, the weaponry and the gear it wore, everything matched perfectly. It was not time to daydream, the frantic breaths of his only seemed to serve as fuel for the Phantom that dashed at him again, leaping with ferocity towards Y/N one more time.

He was stopped dead in its tracks when Y/N pushed his knee against its face, causing the creature to fall. He was quick to act, legs around the creature's waist, standing on it from behind, both arms tightly locked around its neck, pushing his body on top of the monster's so that it would remain on the ground. Y/N groaned and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood at the strength he was putting, especially with the thrashing.

The monster kept throwing its body around, its nails scratching at Y/N all over. It felt almost as if he was trying to choke out a lion that would never stop moving around. Still, the animalistic strength of the monster was not enough to overwhelm Y/N's technical prowess, and, as the creature stopped moving after a few moments, Y/N released it, kicking it away, but still keeping up the same fight-ready stance he had.

A few seconds of silence, and he decided it was enough. Turning around he went back to running, making sure to keep in mind what had just happened. That is, as he stumbled on top of another building, he fell to the ground in confusion when distracted. The sky shifted colors, back to the beautiful blue covered with clouds, enough to make one believe it was just yet another regular, boring day of normalcy.

With a bleeding nose, Y/N put himself up, looking around the place. Breathing heavily still, he tried to calm himself down, narrowing his eyes — First, he had to locate the others. So, wiping away the crimson from his nose, Y/N looked around the place from the rooftop he was on. Amongst the alleyways, the staircase, anything and any glimpse of others he could catch. At first, there was nothing, until a blur passed.

He rapidly made his way down, jumping down the steps of the fire escape steel staircase while following hot on the tail of the two figures he had just seen. He followed behind wherever they went, not letting himself get too far behind. Y/N only came to a stop when he heard the loud sirens of a police car in the street. Putting his head down and calming his breathing, he calmly returned back towards the alleys.

Y/N was ready to try and locate those figures again, when the sound of a click echoed through the place and made him stop dead in his tracks. It was no mere sound of rattling or the whisper of words, no. He grew up around that sound. In the past months he spent with everyone else, he only got himself even more used to it. It was no mere click like that of a tongue, or someone's shoe against the ground — It was a gun.

Y/N froze in place at the sound. Turning slightly to look over his shoulder, he saw a cop aiming his firearm at him. Y/N, trying to figure out how the man could have found him, slowly turned around and raised his hands. He swallowed the knot on his throat as the man stepped closer, his firearm still aimed directly at Y/N. He pushed himself, trying to think of something, ANYTHING that would allow him to escape that situation.

His gun had been lost, so maybe he could strike the officer when he was putting Y/N in his handcuffs? His grip was tight and firm, almost commanding and telling Y/N that he had nowhere to go now. Of course he didn't, and as the steel locked around his wrists, Y/N's panicking eyes could only spot one thing. The gun. And then, a flash in his mind made him remember the sight of Ashlyn being tased, and what happened.

The girl clearly was not normal, now that he thought about it. She, too, appeared to have something to do with this world, just like his family. And if she could have induced the shift in their bodies because everyone had been pulled here, then maybe so could he. Florentino did say his family had ties with the Phantom Dimension afterall. And so, as the officer was ready to put Y/N's hands behind his back, he acted.

He rapidly snapped around and struck the man with both cuffed hands. Sharp and quickly, he reached for his firearm, pulling it out of its holster, and putting the barrel up to his head. He had no time to doubt himself, hesitating meant something terrible. "Father". The word of the officer echoed in his mind, and Y/N did not wait a second to pull the trigger, only fueled by the adrenaline and desire to escape his situation.

He fell to the ground, feeling his stomach churning.

Y/N: ["That was so fucking stupid of me..."] Y/N thought to himself, letting his body slump against a wall, looking up at the red skies once again ["But then again, acting stupid seems to be the only thing that I have been doing lately — Fucking hell..."] He sighs while glancing down at his cuffed hands, clicking his tongue as he raised his hand ["I can't be wasting time, I gotta find the others, we gotta reunite and figure out something"]

He slammed down his hand against the ground hard enough to where his thumb was pushed out of its socket, allowing him to push the cuffs out from one hand. Putting it back in place before dislocating the other and repeating the action, he grunted at the feeling. Standing up and tapping himself of dust, he went back to running, looking up at the skies. Now that he was back, he had to figure out a way to escape it again.

Ashlyn: ["Y/N?!"] The voice made him stop and turn around, meeting the gaze of the girl ["Have you seen the others?! Ben and I have been running around but nothing!"]

Y/N: ["No, I haven't either... I only met myself, or, the body of the Phantom Dimension"] Y/N explained while stepping a bit closer, breathing out heavily and wiping some sweat from his forehead ["I seem to have figured out a way to bring ourselves here at any point I want. It's stress, it seems... Or pain. Something along those lines, I'm not too sure just yet"]

Ashlyn: ["Explains why we shifted when I was tased. Since I was the one who brought you all here..."] The girl trailed off, looking at Y/N, and Ben nodding behind her, before she faced him again ["But now we gotta find a way to leave again. What did you do that time?"]

Y/N: ["I... Was stopped by an officer, and when he got close, I put him down and shot at myself with his firearm"] Ashlyn's eyes widened and she looked at Y/N as if he was crazy, much as Ben, behind her, did, but he raised his hand to stop them ["I figured out that since my body of this Phantom Dimension seemingly took life and attacked me, and I was here with my regular body, that's the one I should shoot, since no harm would be done"]

Ashlyn: ["It was still very reckless of you... Don't do that again"]

As the girl looked him directly in the eye, he could almost feel how scared Ashlyn was, though her leadership exterior would not allow herself to show it. All Y/N did was smile and nod, bringing the girl in for a quick hug with her face to his shoulder before parting, and also giving Ben a friendly, and quick hug. Stepping back, he looked up at the skies, narrowing his eyes before looking around and towards them again.

Y/N: ["What if it's distance? We have never been too far away from one another as a group, just an individual or two"] Y/N said, prompting Ashlyn to also look up, and narrow her emerald eyes ["But this would mean that everyone else is, somehow, also very far..."]

Ashlyn: ["But the distance-... No, we can't afford to think that right now. Alright, so maybe their real bodies are in the Phantom Dimension as well?"] The girl thought, putting her hand to her mouth and looking down while thinking, narrowing her eyes ["If that's the case, we should maybe find a place to wait around and see if we return to the normal world. If that happens, then maybe they're only getting farther and farther away from us..."]

Y/N: ["Not to mention how I was attacked by my Phantom Dimension body, which may mean that, in here, we are Phantoms... Conscious ones, maybe?"] He sighs and shakes his head again, just as the girl had done and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath ["Doesn't matter. We need to find a safe place to rest up... Maybe on top of here?"]

Ashlyn: ["Sure. It's high, has only one access... And we seem to be mostly undetected by the Phantoms. We can keep low"] She turns to look at Ben again, facing up at him and, thanks to their massive difference of height, he needed to look down ["Can you do it?"]

Y/N: ["Did something happen? Are you alright?"]

As he signed to let Y/N know it was sore and hurting, Y/N nodded. He helped Ben up, putting an arm of Ben around his shoulder and helping him move up the stairs. As they did, and got to the top of the building, they sat down. Everyone looked at the steps they had just climbed in case they were being followed by Phantoms, or worse. Yet, Y/N just looked up at the skies after a few minutes, letting out an exhausted sigh.

The clock ticked and not a single word was shared, just nervous, tired glances. Ben sat not too far off, arms crossed and looking up at the red skies, tapping his foot impatiently. He was not alone, however, as Y/N, too, seemed anxious with the way he kept fidgeting around. The only one who seemed mostly composed was Ashlyn, who kept her knees to her chest, arms around her legs to keep herself a bit comfortable.

That is, until a new wave seemed to wash over them again. They looked up at the skies, and noted how everything turned blue once again. The sound of traffic and people coming and going on the streets below, too, had returned. They looked at one another once again, eyes narrowed in careful suspicion, not letting themselves panic, as much as they wished to. The first one to act, the leader as always, was Ashlyn.

Ashlyn: ["That theory of yours might be true, but we aren't sure just yet... We might not be too far off"] The girl said while looking at the ground, her eyes narrowing thought ["The most important thing we need to do right now is find somewhere to escape the police from"]

Y/N: ["I think we found a way to shift whenever we want, too, so that's useful... And dangerous"] Y/N put himself up, helping the girl and Ben stand before he began making his way down the metal staircase, tapping his pockets ["Before things get ugly, let's go back to the hotel and collect our stuff — There are a couple of things there still"]

Ashlyn: ["Do you have the money with you still?"]

Y/N: ["Yep, but Logan had the phone, so we might need to buy another one of those..."] Y/N muttered under his breath with a click of his tongue, turning to look over his shoulder at Ben, and his worried face ["Hey, man, don't worry. We'll get 'em all back, alright? Especially Aiden. After all the stress and anxiety that he has been putting me through..."]

Ashlyn: ["Make that the two of us..."]

They got down from the building entirely, and walked off with their heads mostly down, sneaking away through the alleys until making their way to their hotel again. Thankfully, the uninterested clerk barely even gazed at them as Y/N shook his key to let them know they were renting the place. As they made their way upstairs, opening the door, and crashing in, Y/N locked it behind them before going towards his bag.

He picked the spare gun he had, mentally scolding himself for losing his Brixia, before putting the current firearm in his waist. He also handed one to Ben and Ashlyn, though they were both nothing impressive, and neither was his. As he sat down on the bed, putting stuff away into his bag, he watched Ashlyn from the corner of his eye. The girl remained slumped against the wall, glancing at the floor, deep in thought.

Y/N: ["If we wake up at the location our Phantom Dimension bodies were on- No, more importantly, they never moved around by themselves before"] Y/N said while looking at the ground, his eyes narrowing as well while he tapped his foot on the floor ["What happened for them to suddenly wake up and target us like this? Is it because we were using our real bodies in the Phantom Dimension, as opposed to being in control of them?"]

Ashlyn: ["And if that's the case, does that mean we are taking over those bodies as opposed to being simply transported there? Or maybe having our regular bodies copied?"] The girl also mused out loud, her emerald eyes turning to look up at the ceiling with narrowed curiosity before she shook her head gently ["No, no, we keep circling back to this, but it will do us no good — First, we need to find where the others are, and reunite"]

Ben (Signing): ["Maybe they got caught?"]

Y/N: ["It's a possibility, though the worst-case scenario... At best we are lost, and will wake up in the Phantom Dimension once the natural shift happens"] Y/N looked outside for a moment, observing the sun before turning to face Ben one more time ["This is the closest thing we have to a "sanctuary" of any sort, so we should maybe wait here a bit"]

Ashlyn: ["That clerk is always on the TV or his phone, so he definitely will end up finding out sooner or later, since the clerks on the joint did"] The girl continued, also packing her bags and turning to look at Y/N and Ben ["Let's get changed and bolt. We'll try and make camp somewhere, but it's definitely not one bit safe to be around any cities at this point"]

Y/N: ["Hm... We can try and hop another train, but I think that, at this point, they may have already caught up that we are in the area, and stop everything from running"] Y/N murmurs while laying back, bringing a hand to his chin and closing his eyes with a huff ["Our only option so far seems to be running on foot, but that would be extremely dangerous"]

Ashlyn: ["Right, and slow. Not to mention how Ben's leg is hurting, so we can't make much distance at the moment..."] The girl pulled herself a chair, with Ben doing the same for himself right after ["Not only that, but it leaves us vulnerable in the Phantom Dimension"]

Y/N: ["The three of us are more than capable of taking a horde or two of Phantoms, especially since those bodies have gear... But the problem is endurance"] Y/N continues, laying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling with his hands falling by the side of his body ["This is a grinding war. They keep throwing themselves at us, dying, but eventually, sooner or later, we'll be overwhelmed with their numbers, no matter what"]

Ben (signing): ["So is there nothing we can do?"}

Y/N: ["I wouldn't say that... There is something that has caught my interest. They mentioned my father, so he definitely knows what's up at this point"] Y/N's words caught Ashlyn by surprise as he sat up, a single leg crossed, staring the two of them in the eye with a serious gaze ["There is no telling what he wants, or what he might do. From what I understand of the little Florentino told me, everyone in our family had the ability to join the Phantom Dimension, but it's getting weaker, with me, at first, not having nothing with that"]

Ashlyn: ["So now that you do, he would definitely want you back as a sure way to keep his business going"] The girl concluded, prompting Y/N to nod and her thoughts to continue running ["But if he really is so bad that Florentino of all people was willing to help you escape... I don't think we should even think about starting to use that guy in some way"]

Y/N: ["Worst-case scenario, we can use Florentino as a bargaining token alongside our Phantom Dimension prowess"] Y/N shrugs while still facing the girl, his soft eyes still firm as he spoke ["He's been a thorn on dad's side for years now, even if I don't understand the entire thing I can tell that both hate one another. If we offer him up, then maybe..."]

Ben (signing): ["Should we really betray him like that?"]

Y/N: ["Florentino is a dog who eats dogs. If he can benefit 1% from stabbing you in the back, he will. He's scum... Using him is the only thing we can do for a man like him"] Y/N spoke, and the tone and coldness in his voice took Ashlyn and Ben both by surprise ["... I don't like him, and you all shouldn't either considering he beat us up. So don't worry"]

Ashlyn: ["I guess that offering him up would be wiser... Plus, we have no one else to trust aside from our group. We don't know what happened to Elio"] At the mention of the name, Y/N's eyes moved to the ground for a moment before they flickered back up ["So maybe trying to use your father with the knowledge that either of us can use the Phantom Dimension in some way would be for the better. Of course, should the situation call for it"]

Y/N: ["Father is as clever as he is ruthless. He wouldn't do anything unnecessary... And I can earn our freedom from Maverick and his groupie with him, since you are the catalyst of all this"] Y/N rationalized while turning to face Ashlyn, his last words sending a small spark of sadness in her chest — It didn't go unnoticed ["I didn't mean anything by it, Ash. Just that, I myself have no powers regarding that place, only you do. However..."]

Ashlyn: ["... He wouldn't know that..."]

Y/N smirked at the girl and her quick thinking, an action that she repaid with a smirk on her own. It quickly faded, however, as she turned to look at the ground, allowing her thoughts to take over once again, same with Y/N and Ben, who were facing the ground without even sparing a glance at one another. A few minutes later, Ashlyn took a deep breath and stood up, nodding her head and taking on a serious gaze again.

Ashlyn: ["It's settled, then. Let's wait for things to clear down a bit, and we'll run through the window. After that, we'll think of something to do — Now, we just have to focus on staying safe"] The girl said while picking up her bag and starting to pack up everything she had, something that Ben started doing, too, and that Y/N had already done ["In the case we get caught, we'll use your father as a get-out-of-jail card. Maybe you tell him that I'm the one who did all of this, or that you'll only cooperate if you bring us all together with you"]

Y/N: ["There is no telling what he might want us to do, but I know it wouldn't be pretty. Let's just hope it doesn't end up to that..."] Y/N sighs and stands up like the other two, raising his fist towards them with a smirk on his face again ["And if it does, like hell I'll let this group be gone. You are still owing me months worth of sleep and time, you know that?"]

Ashlyn: ["True, you're all owing me the normal life of a teenager... But I suppose that, even in the end, it was nothing too bad to actually make some friends"] The girl puts her fist against his, both turning to look at Ben with a smirk present on their faces as they did so ["Let's go get back that idiot of your cousin, Logan, and the twins, how about that?"]

Ben (signing): ["I think I would like that"]

With a smirk present on his face, Ben stepped forward and put his fist against Y/N's and Ashlyn's, the three of them sharing looks of determination with one another, and confident grins in their faces. The girl, in particular, turned to look Y/N in his eyes, and he smiled softly at her, a gesture that made the girl's cheeks warmer and redder, and also caused her to open up her own smile. Pulling back their fists, she yelped softly.

Y/N's hands wrapped around not only her shoulders, but also Ben's. Bringing the two in for a tight hug, he kept his head down. He appeared somewhat scared, but with a fire burning in his eyes that shined brighter than his fear. Ashlyn, meeting his gaze, softly raised a hand to his face, bringing him in closer and laying his forehead against his. Her face down, and eyes closed, her lips parted, and her soft words came out.

Ashlyn: ["We'll figure out a way out of this... I promise you..."]

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[Published in - 05/02/2025]
[Word Count - 4.815]

Shorter-than-usual chapter, I know, sorry about that.
Talk more in detail about everything in the Author's Note up next.