He leaned on the pink bathroom tiled wall and rolled on it, his new best friend, caressing it, telling it that they could be new friends because you can't trust anyone.
While telling the wall never to trust women or men, they'll all break your heart eventually, forgetting his reason for entering the bathroom, Amy came in, and Ace was so inebriated it took him a few seconds to register what was happening.
"You're going to pay for what you've done, Ace," Amy said.
"This is the men's room," Ace mumbled. "You gotta leave."
Amy's eyes glowed a soft pink and suddenly the room changed. Instead of a bathroom, they were in an octagonal room, with no windows or doors.
"Stop it. Change it back."
"No. You're going to stand here, and listen to what I have to say."
Amy's body shook in anger and she started to yell, shaking the red walls, and they fell down, one by one, a loud crash shaking the ground, each and every time.
"You have no right to be here," she yelled. "No right at all after what you did!"
"I didn't do it," he mumbled. "It wasn't me."
"Yes you did," she screamed. "You did! You don't understand what it's like to lose everything."
She fell to the ground on her knees, her grief overwhelming her. Slowly the room faded away and Ace started to relax as they returned to the bathroom they were in earlier.
"You're a horrible person," Amy sobbed. "You knew she was horrible and you did nothing !"
Ace tried to help her get up from the ground but she smacked his hand away, and he couldn't understand what he had done wrong this time, his drunk brain still not comprehending the danger of the situation.
"Don't fucking touch me, you're shit," she screamed.
"I know. I'm a horrible person," he said. "I took Levi from Mary Jane . "
"What? What does that even- What? "
She stood up from the ground, chest heaving, and wiped the tears from her face as Ace used her as his confessional, airing all the bad things he had done and all the bad things he thought he had done, but really weren't.
"I don't give a shit about your personal life," Amy said. " This is about Mark. "
"This isn't about our...me and Levi?"
" Gross. No!"
Amy made a face , a look of disgust, and Ace was ashamed, and his pain made her feel so much better because now, it was someone else's turn to hurt.
"When Candice's thugs attacked me, they hit me in the head. I get migraines almost every fucking day ," Amy shrieked. "Every day!"
Ace nodded and listened to the verbal assault. Amy wasn't the first person to blame Candice's crimes on him, and she probably wouldn't be the last.
"When he died I didn't know what to do with myself," she said. "He was my everything. We met when we were eight and dated since we were thirteen. We were gonna get married the summer after he died."
Amy walked up to Ace and he backed up into the wall trying to make himself as small as possible. Amy somehow grew bigger and bigger and soon he realized that Amy was using her ability again to trick him.
She towered over him, eight feet tall, so tall she had to bend over to fit in the room.
"You took him from me," she bellowed.
Her face became grotesque, warty, and wrinkled. Her hands had long fingernails, sharp and pointy. Ace started to shake and sweat as she no longer sounded human, but like a demonic beast.
Her pink hair turned into long slithering snakes that crawled along the floor of the room. They wrapped around his legs and he fell to the ground, too terrified to move.
A devilish grin spread over her face when she saw how scared he was. Her teeth had many rows, like a shark, and were just as sharp. He blinked, and suddenly Amy was down to normal size, albeit still with snake hair and shark teeth, standing over him, basking in the glow of her victory.
Ace shook his head vigorously and tried to stand but every time he tried the snakes pulled him back down. He cried as they bit into his ankles and he tried to crawl but his hands started to change.
Little tiny fingers sprouted from the ends of his, with their own mind of their own, wriggling and flicking about. He looked down at his skin, crying as he saw it melt right off of his body. Ace was too drunk to realize that none of the pain was real, that it was all in his head, but the guilt and terror were all too overwhelming.
"I'm going to take everything away from you," snarled Amy. "You will never be happy."
The door opened and Ryle walked in.
Suddenly Ace remembered where he was.
Ryle glared at Amy and walked over to Ace. He helped him stand up and tried to help him calm down.
"You're going to be fine Ace," he said. "She's the one that's fucked up, not you."
"Shut your mouth Ryle," Amy screeched. "You have nothing to do with this. You didn't lose anything."
Ryle promptly walked up to her and pointed at his leg.
His prosthetic was top of the line, the most realistic on the market. It had no scars, and the thin overlay of skin was realistic to the touch, texture, and even looks. Yet he still sometimes noticed the thin line where it would bend and twice a month he would have to upgrade its software.
"You're a conceited bitch Amy. You're not the only one who lost something that night."
"You're fine," Amy replied. "You got a new leg. You got Kyle. What do I have?"
"A horrible fucking attitude."
Amy pushed him in the chest but he stood there, unmoving, unwavering.
"You're so angry that you are too blind to even realize that he lost his dad. Why would he work together with Candice if she killed his dad? "
Amy's eyes flitted back and forth as the simple fact was revealed to her, that she was not the only one that felt pain.
"I still, I still-"
"Amy, you need to leave."
"This is the women's bathroom," she shouted. "You need to leave!"
"Is it," the drunken idiots asked.
She flared her nostrils and long furls of fire came out, wrapping around the room. Ryle walked right through them and flicked her in the nose. The illusion stopped as she grunted in surprise.
"That doesn't work on me," Ryle sneered. Amy ran out of the bathroom, saying she was going to have her day , leaving Ryle and Ace alone.
"Thanks," Ace mumbled.
"It's nothing," Ryle replied. "But there is something that's bothering me."
Ace stood up straighter, using his best friend, the wall to keep him up.
"Whatzit," Ace slurred.
"Are you really with Levi? "
Ace mumbled yes incoherently several times until Ryle could understand what he was saying and then Ryle groaned really, really man, and now Ace was using someone else as his confessional.
"Everyone thinks I'm weak cuz my ability can't evolve, and now you know what I like," Ace said. "Don't tell anyone."
" Wait . Is that why you never came out? You think liking men makes you weak," Ryle asked.
" You knew?"
" I mean, yeah? We all thought Fenton and you were together for a while, to be honest."
Ace opened his mouth, made a loud, groaning noise until Ryle told him he needed to sober up, and Ace covered his face, wondering how long everyone knew.
"Do you think Fenton is weak," Ryle asked.
"Are you trying to fight me," Ace mumbled. " I'll fight you. I don't care!"
"No! I mean, if being different makes you weak, do you think Fenton is weak?"
"No," Ace said quietly.
"Then why do you believe this?"
"I don't know , okay, it's just something inside of me telling me that I'm bad ."
Ryle laughed and scratched his goatee, as Ace mumbled more words incoherently, starting to sober up, realizing what he had said and done, his face turning as red as his hair.
"Come out when you're done having your meltdown," Ryle snickered. "I don't care what you're into, but why Levi? Really man? He's an angry ghost. "
Ace made more drunken groans and grumbles to himself as he walked into a stall, sat to pee because he was worried he would miss if he tried to aim, washed his hands, and went back outside, the cool ocean breeze forcing his mind to come back to full speed.
A giant plume of fire burst into the air, on the other side of the bay, far in the distance, and Ace sighed because this would be another crime pinned on him.
At least he had more than one alibi this time.