*Hey guys! How are you doing?! Good? I hope so! I just published another part for this fanfic. The next part will come out either later on today or tomorrow. I had no idea at this point. My upload schedule has been a little wonky. This is published on June 15, 2020. I really hope that this will brightened up the moods of everyone here. If you like this part, please vote and/or comment. That would be much appreciated. Have a blessed day! Enjoy! Warning: Gore and Violence. You have been warned!*

The fire crackling was all Guy heard. He had his eyes closed and his body was resting on the red couch in someone's house.

"Guy...wakey, wakey," He heard a familiar voice immaturely trying to wake Guy up. He felt something tingling underneath his nose, which caused him to sneeze.

"Ha! The tail trick is working," the same voice yelled in victory while Guy squeezed his eyes shut for a little longer.

"Just wake him up," Another voice, a calming smooth voice, simply demanded.

A puff of fur tickled Guy's nose as he groaned irritably. He fluttered his eyes open to notice Cat leaning over with a victorious smile planted on his face.

"Yes! You are awake! Finally!" Cat shouted in victory.

Guy looked around the strange house with his brow arched up. "Uh...where-where are we?"

"You're in...someone else's house." Grinch appeared besides Cat in the Hat.

Guy noticed the bricked up fireplace that had the fire burning the wood and warming his body.

"Someone else's house?" Guy questioned, still confused.

"Yeah, We don't know who he is...but the Lorax does...for some reason," The Grinch stated awkwardly while clearing his throat. "Are you doing okay? No nightmares or hallucinations?"

"Um...I-I don't know," Guy responded, recovering his head. "I felt like I've been in the dark for too long. At first, I--wait, where's Sam?! There's something that I got to tell him--!"

"Whoa, calm down. Sam should be--" Grinch glanced behind him but realized that both Sam and Gabriella were gone. "Uh...Gabriella is gone too."

"Oh no, Thanos better not snap his fingers," Cat groaned a bit.

"What does this have to do with Thanos? And who the heck is Thanos?" Grinch replied, confused in his tone.

Cat gave a deadpanned stare at Grinch. "Apparently, you're never a big fan of Marvel."

"Guys, can we please focus on finding Sam and Gabriella?" Guy requested while groaning a bit irritably.

"We're right here," Gabriella spoke up as both she and Sam entered the room from the small library by the living room.

Grinch raised a brow at both of them. "Uh, why are you guys at the library?"

"We're trying to study more into that book," Sam explained to the group.

"What book?" Guy probed, flicking a glance back and forth between Sam and Gabriella.

"The forbidden book that I told you about in my library," Cat answered with his arms crossed. "Back in my fantasy island."

"Oh...that book. W-What's so important about it?" Guy asked, stuttering.

Grinch gestured Guy to sit up so that he could sit next to him on the couch. Guy sat up on the couch and the Grinch sat next to him, exhaling slowly.

"Okay, Guy. That 'forbidden' book is somehow...connected to you," Grinch answered, careful with his words with such precision.

Guy nodded his head anxiously. "Uh-huh."

"Well, apparently, there are two chemicals inside of you...not just one. There are the red chemical and the golden chemical inside of you. They are both fighting for control over your body, causing headaches, hallucinations--"

"Recurring nightmares," Cat added to the list.

"All of those recent experiences," Grinch finished his explanation while flicking a small stern glare at Cat for interrupting him.

"Then...how can we stop those chemicals from fighting each other? Do we take one of them out?" Guy questioned both the Grinch and Cat.

"That can kill you, Guy," Cat informed.

"The red chemical is the cult's preference," Sam added the information.

Karlos popped out of his fishbowl, which had been sitting on the coffee table beside the red couch. "Wait, a cult?"

"Yeah, catch up, Marlin," Cat uttered abrasively.

"Apparently, this cult worships the whispers...whatever the whispers are," Grinch responded with a slight groan.

"Why do they want the red chemical?" Guy inquired both Sam and Gabriella.

Gabriella inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Well, Guy, the red chemical is said to help them make the world 'a better place'. There were dead people in that book, Guy...there were a lot of dead people."

"Huh, no wonder they said something about 'persuasion'," Cat brought up his encounter with the priest.

Sam tilted his head up in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"They said that they wanted Guy to join their cult...but for some reason, they said that Guy needed a little persuasion. What kind of persuasion? I-I can make an assumption but I might be wrong," Cat replied.

"What assumption?" Guy probed further, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Well, since you're being hunted along with Sam...I think they are going to use the people you love and--hmm...kill them in front of you," Cat explained carefully.

"I didn't think you would assume that," Grinch answered with a brow raised.

Cat frowned and glanced at Grinch. "Well, again, it's just an assumption...I-I made it since...since...since it happened to me." His ears drooped down and his gaze was lowered on the floor after he said this.

"What?" Gabriella inquired while scooching closer to her father figure.

"What do you mean, Cat?" Sam asked his question.

Cat looked at the group, who's gazing at him with interest in his story. He exhaled slowly. "Well...I've encountered those cultists before...and it's not a pretty story to tell."

"Please, tell us," Grinch remarked softly.

Cat sighed and took a moment to gather himself before bursting into tears while taking off his hat. "Well, it started out with a burglary gone wrong."

Flashback: Five Years Ago

I, apparently, went to the wrong town to do this crime. Thing One and Thing Two helped me with the burglary. But...we were caught. And when we're caught...they-they just took my hat away.

Chains were tied around Cat's wrists as the buff men guided him down the dark hallway.

"Fellas, let's talk about this," Cat ignited the conversation with a light-hearted laugh, feeling unease of being without his hat. "I was just looking around the house because I thought it was a museum...I mean, your houses are huge like museums."

"Shut it, Cat," One of the buff men growled at him.

Cat twitched his ears back with fear in his eyes.

Do you know what's funny? I didn't even realize that these people were the cultists. No wonder they were glaring at me and my children like we weren't supposed to exist. And yes, both Thing One and Thing Two are my adopted children. However, they weren't with me when those men were guiding me into this...dark and cold room. And I figured out why.

As the guards guided Cat into the dark room, the light switched on and there were two small child-like people strapped onto the metal tables behind the glass in front of him, separate from each other. They had red jumpsuits on with the circle in the center of their chests that labeled one as "Thing One" and the other as "Thing Two". Cat's heart dropped when he saw Thing One and Thing Two strapped onto the metal table with their blue hair frizzed up.

"Oh no, don't separate them! Let them go!" Cat ordered the guards but they left him in that room, locking the door behind him. He shivered underneath his black fur and gazed softly at his sons. "Don't worry, I'll get you guys out of here!"

"Hurry, Dad!" Thing One shouted, his voice petrified.

Thing Two nodded his head rapidly in agreement. "Daddy, I'm scared!"

"Don't be scared! I'll get you boys out of here!" Cat noticed that there were two levers in front of him, although he had no idea what they were for. He glanced up above his children and noticed three saws above his sons. It automatically turned and lowered slowly towards Thing One and Thing Two, threatening their lives with them sobbing and struggling out of their bonds.

"Choose, Cat." A priest appeared out of nowhere in between Thing One and Thing Two.

"What the--?" Cat gasped as he pounded on the glass. "Let them go!"

"You should've thought twice before committing a crime," The priest growled while the cursed familiar symbol glimmered in the light on his necklace.

Cat had his eyes widened. "Wait! If you want to kill me, then kill me! But don't kill them! These Things do not and will not bite! They just want to have fun with their dad! Let them go!"

"Oh...so they're your children? Well, in that case, make your choice, Cat."

"What? No!"

"One of your children will go free and the other will die. But you must make a choice."

"This is sick!"

"Pull one of the levers of which one you will save. The saws will kill the other one."

"I-I can't make this choice...I-I love them both the same," Cat sputtered, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"A father always has a favorite between his children...in this case, which one?"

Cat's heart began to ache to stare at both of his adopted children.

I-I had to make a choice. If it weren't for the fact that they were my children, it could've come easy to choose...but, as a father, I had the hardest time to choose...then, I came up with a simple answer.

Cat glanced between both levers and took his decision upon himself. He pulled both of the levers to save both of his children. He held them and noticed that the saws stopped coming towards his children.

There's a brief pause as Cat smiled in relief at both of his children as they smiled back at him. When he shifted his glare at the priest, the priest cornered a smirk for some specific reason.

Thing One screeched in pain instantly after the pause, blood dripping out of his mouth, which scared both Cat and Thing Two. Thing One's small body shook on the metal table as something cut through his chest. It turned out to be another saw but it's-it's underneath the table. Cat covered his agape mouth with teary eyes. He immediately whipped a glance at Thing Two, who's also screaming out in pain.

"DADDY! DADDY! WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" Thing Two cried out as his body was shaking the same way his twin dead brother did.

Cat strode up to the glass and pounded on it. "NO! NO, STOP IT!!! STOP HURTING MY CHILDREN!!"

From behind the invincible glass, Cat witnessed his other son's chest being cut through, blood splattering everywhere.

I-I never realize that the simple answer could lead to a heavy consequence. I never forgot about it. What they did to my children...I could never--

Cat began to sob non-stop as he realized his children were dead...there's no way to revive them. He immediately ran to the door, scarred from what he witnessed. He bolted through the door without struggle and sprinted down the hallway.

"After him!" He heard the priest's voice echoing down the hallway. Cat didn't hesitate to keep running. By the time the robots jumped out in front of him, Cat busted into the library next to him without being spotted. He heard them hovering by the library without second-guessing where he was.

By the time the noises and the commotion faded, Cat began to weep while wrapping his arms around his knees and buried his head into his thighs. He wept silently, trying not to alarm the enemies nearby with his sobbing. His heart shattered into a million pieces when he thought about how Thing One and Thing Two died. How innocent they were before their death.

This is all my fault...I-I shouldn't have put them through this.

Cat lifted his head up to look around the library with his heart clutched. He slowly stood up on his feet, wiping the tears away. He glanced around the library and saw his hat lying on the table beside him.

"There you are." Cat chuckled sadly and put his hat on his head. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and wiped the remaining tears from his face with his gloved hands. He exhaled deeply, opening his eyes up automatically.

Cat's mood changed like a switch when he put his hat back on. He took a deep breath and noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. He saw the container with the purple liquid with a mischievous smile.

Present: Five Years Later

Cat slowly put his hat back on while wiping the remaining tears away from telling his story and then plastered a sympathetic smile.

"Well, it was my fault...and I won't make the same foolish mistake again," Cat responded with a light sigh that a weight had finally been lifted off of his chests. "So, any questions?!"

Everyone was silent for a moment, shocked that Cat's mood switched entirely.

"I have one question...um, when you put on that hat, does that change your whole mood?" Grinch observed while pointing casually at the striped hat on top of Cat's head.

Cat stared at him awkwardly with a plastic grin. "What made you think that?"

Grinch silenced himself as he jotted some notes on his small notebook. "Nevermind."

Guy thought about the heartbreaking story Cat had told to everyone. It instantly reminded him of Michellee and E.B, along with Sam. He slowly took out his phone from his fur pocket that he had been keeping the whole trip and noticed that he missed a call from Michellee.

"Michellee!" Guy gasped, not sure why or how he missed a call from her. He bolted outside to talk privately with her. But when he went outside, he saw all the decay around him and the smog in the air. Sam followed Guy outside and glanced around their surroundings.

"Di-Did the bombs--?"

"No, this happened a long time ago," Sam explained to Guy.

Guy went out of the porch and strode through the decay Truffala Forest and got better reception on a small hill nearby the house that he woke up in. He flipped his phone up and dialed Michellee's number. He quickly put the phone up against his ear and heard it ring. He sat on the hill, waiting anxiously as Sam approached him from behind.

"Uh, Guy," Sam called gently.

"Not now, Sam," Guy responded instantly, not sure of what Sam was about to say but he didn't think it's important yet. The phone finally stopped ringing.

"Hello, you've reached Michellee. If I missed your call, that means that I'm at work. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you," Michellee's voicemail spoke up on the phone.

Guy groaned a bit. "Come on, honey."

After the beep, Guy inhaled quickly and then exhaled. "Hey, honey, this is Guy. I'm so sorry that I missed your call. Please, please, call me back as soon as you can. I love you so much and I miss you. Bye."

Guy closed his phone with a heavy sigh. He took a moment to ponder what's going on.

Sam raised his finger for permission to speak.

"Yes, Sam?" Guy inquired, knowing Sam had something to say.

"Michellee didn't use her phone when she called me," Sam informed plainly.

"What do you mean? Why did she call you?"

"You missed her call. She, um, called from McWinkle's phone."

"From whose phone?!"

~.~

McWinkle, Michellee, and Chad sat in the car in complete silence, trying to process what was said to them while McWinkle was still driving the car through the forest in the afternoon.

"So, are we all going ignore the fact that someone said that Guy is going to become a monstrous beast?" Michellee questioned, talking to McWinkle mostly.

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Guy has flipping superpowers?!" Chad screeched at the end of his sentence.

McWinkle slowly turned his body slightly to flick a glance at Chad. "We've known this for a long time, Chad. Catch up."

"Oh...okay," Chad uttered, immediately discouraged from what he said.

"Oh man, I hope Guy is going to be okay," Michellee muttered mostly to herself.

"I think Cat is just being dramatic," McWinkle added with a shrug.

Chad pondered for a moment about something else. "What do they mean that there are two chemicals in Guy?"

"It just means exactly what it means, Chad--"

"I know that but is one of them is evil and the other one is good? Are they both evil? Are they both good? There have to be two sides to having superpowers. I mean, there's always two sides to every superpower that one has. The question is...will they accept both or keep them separate?" Chad explained while adjusting his glasses to fit a bit better on his nose.

"Where did you learn about having powers?" McWinkle arched a brow and became interested in what Chad was talking about.

"I read comics, sir," Chad answered with a smirk.

McWinkle chuckled lightly. "Looks like we got a nerd in here."

"A nerd and a geek, sir. Loud and proud," Chad admitted with a small smile.

Michellee pondered up a question for a moment. "So, what if those two chemicals clash...? Does that normally happen in the comic books you read?"

"Oh yeah, I mean...I guess it really depends on how you use your powers. If Guy had the intention of not hurting anyone, then his powers have more of the good side but...if someone evil accidentally or purposefully gave an evil power then--"

As Chad trailed off in explaining about the powers to Michellee, McWinkle's phone buzzed in his fur pocket. He took his phone out of his pocket and noticed a number that was calling him. He furrowed his brow and then opened up his phone, putting it up against his ear.

"Hello?" McWinkle uttered into the phone. A familiar voice began to freak out as McWinkle cleared his throat. "Whoa, slow down. Calm down, Guy."

Michellee and Chad whipped their heads to look at McWinkle and stopped talking.

McWinkle nodded his head. "Yes, she's safe. She's here with me right now. Alright." McWinkle handed Michellee the phone. "It's for you."

Michellee grabbed the phone without hesitation. "Hello, honey?"

"Michellee!" Guy's voice spoke in utter excitement from the other end of the line. "What happened to your phone?"

"I-I threw it out."

"Why?"

Michellee exhaled deeply. "Honey...we're being hunted."

"What?! Not you too!"

"Yeah."

"You didn't do anything. Where are you guys at?"

Michellee glanced at McWinkle, who shook his head to tell her not to tell Guy.

"Honey, I'm sorry but I can't tell you that...we're...we're--"

"We're what, honey?"

"Someone might be listening to this conversation...I can't tell you where we're going...for the sake of safety."

"Oh...okay...is E.B doing okay?"

"She's been kidnapped."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, we're going to find her right now."

"Let me help you--!"

"No! Stay with the group where you're safe. Please."

Chad peeked over Michellee's shoulder. "Can I talk to him?"

Michellee shook her head while mouthing, "Not yet."

"Wait, hold on...why would you say that?" Guy questioned, not understanding what's going on.

"Look, honey...Sam told us everything about what's going on with you guys. About the trip and how you guys are being hunted. About your powers and recurring nightmares...everything. I-I just want you to be safe."

"I want you to be safe too, honey," Guy uttered from the other end of the phone.

"I know...and we are--"

As Michellee trailed off about her situation to Guy, Chad turned his head to notice headlights shining bright behind them. He leaned forward towards McWinkle.

"Uh, McWinkle, I think we're being followed," Chad whispered to McWinkle.

McWinkle adjusted his rearview mirror to see the shining headlights gleaming into the truck. He knew that they were following closely behind him while staring ahead of the road. The headlights swerved beside McWinkle's truck and rolled up to match the same speed as McWinkle was going. McWinkle noticed the buff men, the same looking buff men who had been hunting them, glaring at them.

"Chad, duck your head," McWinkle instructed sternly without looking away from them.

Chad ducked his head quickly and covered it quickly.

"Michellee, you might want to end your call with Guy," McWinkle uttered.

Michellee stopped talking for a second and glanced over to where McWinkle was looking at. Her eyes widened when she noticed the people hunting them were glaring at them while one of the buff men were talking in their walkie-talkie.

Michellee slowly turned back to her phone, her breath shaky. "G-Guy...I'm going to have to call you back."

"Uh, honey, what's going on?" Guy asked from the other end of the phone line.

McWinkle shifted his glance over at Michellee, hearing their conversation clearly. "Nothing to worry about, Guy--"

"MCWINKLE!"

McWinkle immediately slammed on his brakes as the truck screeched to a stop. The other truck attempted to hit them from the side but the attempt failed since they were tossed over on the small ditch on the side of the road. The three of them had their eyes enlarged while staring at the scene, the truck completely stopped.

"Michellee! McWinkle! Are you guys okay?!" Guy shouted from the other end of the line.

Michellee put the phone back against her ear. "Guy...we might have to call you back."

"Wait, what?!"

Chad perked his head up with a shout. "Hey, Guy! Can't talk right now!!"

"Chad!" Michellee scolded a bit for talking randomly.

"CHAD?!" Guy recognized the name.

"It's a long story, honey! We're going to be fine--"

Something crashed into the rear end of the truck they're in, shoving the truck forward and jerked the group back in their seats, causing Michellee to drop the phone by accident and Chad to scream.

McWinkle grunted and growled to himself when he noticed another truck hitting them. "Agh, Fudge." He then shifted the gear to drive and stepped on the gas pedal harshly to drive away from the other truck behind them.

"Are you guys okay?! What's happening?!" Guy's voice shouted in full panic. "Where are you guys?! I'll come find you!"

Chad heard the voice from the phone and noticed it on the floor next to him that Michellee accidentally dropped.

"Hello?! Hello?! Michellee?! Chad?! McWinkle?!" Guy's voice became louder and fearful.

Chad picked up the phone and put it up against his ear. "Hey, pal. Uh...we're fine. We just got hit from the rear-end. It's just a minor accident."

The bullets from the machine gun on top of the truck behind them blasted through the back window, scaring the three of them.

"You got to be kidding me!" McWinkle barked as he took a glimpse at the other path ahead of them that would lead them to the stone drawbridge across the narrow river. He drew his bushy brows in determination. "Hold on!"

McWinkle steered the truck onto the other path leading to the drawbridge ahead. The vehicle followed after while firing bullets at them.

"That doesn't sound like a minor accident, Chad!" Guy shouted from the other end of the phone.

McWinkle heard Guy's yell and immediately turned his head to look at Chad. "Chad, hang up! Now!"

Chad chattered his teeth nervously. "Can't explain! Got to go! Bye!"

"CHAD!!!! WAIT--!!"

Chad closed the lid of the phone to hang up before Guy could say anything further.

~.~

"CHAD!" Guy shouted, his voice echoing through the decay Truffala Tree forest. His grip on the phone trembled violently while he stood idly on the hill.

Sam stood beside his briefcase buddy while noticing the horror look on Guy's face. "Is everything okay--?"

"No!" Guy blurted out, his hand trembling. "No! I don't know what's going on! Or why there are two chemicals inside of me! Or why Michelle, McWinkle, and Chad were being hunted! Or what those people want from me! I-I-I just...don't know what's going on...with me."

Guy's voice broke when he uttered his last sentence. He plumped himself down on the hill, with tears streaming down on his cheeks. Sam sat beside his friend and glanced at the smog air around them.

Guy closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry, Sam."

Sam perked his head up and gazed at Guy to listen to him.

"I-I wanted to go on this trip because...I thought that--I thought that the nightmares would be clearer. I thought that I would understand what's going on. Maybe a cry for help from somebody or maybe a calling to something greater than where we are. But...those people." 

Guy paused for a brief moment, opening his eyes softly to stare ahead of him.

"I think I know why they want me. I think I know why they want me to join their 'cult'. They want me to help them kill people...and that's something that I'm not willing to do. But, they kept telling me that everything will be restored after people died...after everyone died but--I'm still not willing to do it. I guess that's why I've been having these recurring nightmares. Or it's not even the nightmares and the hallucinations. When you guys said that there are two chemicals inside of me, I guess I knew deep down that there's this other me...and that other me...I-I don't know."

Sam scooched closer, still listening to his friend. "Do you think there's an evil side of you?"

Guy flicked a brief glance at Sam. "Is there an evil side of me?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know...I wish I knew."

Guy gazed down on the ground, pondering deeply. "Maybe there is...and I just didn't know it."

Sam placed his hand on Guy's to catch his friend's attention while wearing a warm smile. "Whether you do or you don't have an evil side, I'll always be there for you."

"But...if I hurt you--"

"Guy, we're briefcase buddies. And we'll always be briefcase buddies...right?" Sam asked innocently, not realizing that he triggered a memory in Guy's mind.

Guy remembered that nightmare he had the other day while they were hiding out in Cat's fantasy island. The one where he saw his other self killing his family right in front of him. Sam pleaded his other self to stop hurting them...but he wouldn't listen.

Thinking back on that dream gave Guy the chills in his spine. He glanced over at Sam and picked him up. He cradled Sam into a hug as if he's holding a baby.

Sam snuggled up against Guy's chest with his warm smile widened. "I take that as a yes?"

"Always," Guy uttered without tearing up as he held Sam closed to his chest like he's going to lose him tomorrow. And the scary thing was, he had no idea what tomorrow would bring.

To Be Continued...