The long-awaited jelly beans

“...No fucking way.” The words had escaped John before he stopped to think about them.

He had actually seen something, even if he only wanted to go check it out as a distraction from Velvet. There was a flashing light further down, on the end of one of the candy-piled countertops, which had led them on a little trip through all the sections of the store, as far as John could tell. Hard candy, soft candy, gum, pastries, sugary treats, cookies, muffins, pancakes, gummy bears, and the list went on. The only thing he hadn’t noticed, somehow, in the giant store that was devoted entirely to enabling those with a sweet tooth, was jelly beans. He had no idea how that was even possible in a store this large, and with this much variety, but that was the one thing he couldn’t spot on the arrow-guided trip through the store. There was even a giant jar full of little cork stoppers for glass jars, which was bizarre considering the paper bags at every corner that were intended for storing your chosen confectionary.

John had just begun to give up on the idea, despairing of not finding the jelly beans to treat the blind girl beside him, when he saw them. It was a truly giant jar, easily twice John’s height. At the top, instead of a cork, was some kind of copper contraption that most closely resembled a water mill, which turned through the mass of jelly beans and scooped some up. From the wheel, they tumbled erratically into a series of different miniature glass slides, supported by copper struts, where they slid around in circles and loops and erratic patterns, before eventually reaching the countertop at the base of the jar. There sat a large basin, where the jelly beans were gathered so that customers could scoop some up.

And John would have done exactly that, were it not for what was just in front of the basin, on top of the pile of paper bags next to the plastic scoop. Throughout the store, he’d been looking at the large posters of the store’s mascot that Velvet had found adorable, wondering if there was some way that he could get Gaia to help him find one to gift her, like she’d done with the little roomba. Speaking of which, he still hadn’t given that to her yet.

Regardless, what had stopped John in his tracks was the remarkable tiny green dinosaur that sat on top of the paper bags, wearing a small brown acorn top on its back. It couldn’t have been larger than the end of his finger, and it was just sitting there blinking at the pair of them, and wiggling slightly at Velvet’s excitement.

A high pitched squeak came from the blind girl whilst she shook with excitement, which was only extended by the creature wiggling more and returning the squeak with an incredibly small sounding one of its own. Velvet squeaked again. Timmy squeaked back.

That particular back-and-forth continued for most of a minute until John gently placed a hand on Velvet’s shoulder and stopped her from squeaking again. He knelt down to be closer to the tinysaurus, though he couldn’t have reached eye-level without crouching much lower. Then, feeling like an absolute fool for speaking to this adorable yet ludicrous little creature, and blushing fiercely at the knowledge that Velvet was listening to every word, he said, “...Timmy?”

Timmy squeaked back. John continued speaking, “Okay… Timmy, uhm, can I get to the bags you’re on, please? My, uh, my f-friend here, Velvet? She really, really likes jelly beans, and you’re stopping me from getting her some.” He ignored the little gasp from behind him and focused on the tinysaurus.

He tilted his miniature head slightly, then squeaked and trotted across the counter far faster than those little green legs should have allowed. He stopped on top of an empty section of countertop. He did a tiny and ineffective jump. And again. Then looked at John, squeaked, and jumped again. John moved to that section of the counter, and looked closer. Just underneath the little green dinosaur was a barely visible panel that looked like it might open. Maybe if he… John reached down and pressed the panel in. Timmy climbed onto his hand as he did so, whilst the wooden surface clicked slightly and slid open.

Inside, there was a glass jar that was much, much larger than the bags, and was full of jelly beans, complete with a cork to close it. John lifted his hand up to look at the tinysaurus on it. “You want us to take this instead?”

Timmy squeaked, assumedly in affirmation.

“It’s a lot more than-” John was cut off by another incredibly small squeak. “Well, alright. If you insist.” He lifted the jar out of its little cubby hole, and turned to Velvet. “I, uh, I remembered that you mentioned losing your sweets? When they- Uhm…On Monday, I mean, so I guess these are for you.”

Velvet took the jar, surprised at the weight and size for a moment, then snaked a hand up, popping the cork off just enough to slip into the jar, taking a few of the jelly beans and popping them into her mouth. She ate them for a moment with a satisfied ‘nomnomnom’ and a happy smile.

They’d left the store, since the exit turned out to be just behind the giant jelly bean display contraption. John had quickly realised that Velvet couldn’t effectively carry the jar and do anything else, so he’d offered to put that into his inventory. Of course, this came with having to intermittently stop to give her some of the sweet treats; John had yet to decide if this was a negative or a positive.

Similarly, he wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or not, but the tinysaurus had decided to come along. John wasn’t quite sure how Timmy did it, but after four times of going back to return the little green creature, only to have it appear in a pocket or something after leaving, the Gamer had given up, and just let him stick around. He hadn’t done much, really, besides climb over John and occasionally squeak at Velvet.

As for the dungeon itself, it had become almost… boring? They still went through the same mall corridors, interspersed with stores of various different themes. John had eventually stopped paying attention to the different stores when he realized that each one had a mascot. Considering the fact that Timmy refused to leave, he didn’t want to get to the end of the dungeon with a menagerie of mascots in tow. Besides, the stores seemed to be as empty as the corridors now. It was almost eerie, if he was quite honest. If not for the squeak and return of Timmy and Velvet, then John absolutely would have been on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

‘Wait…’ John looked at the tinysaurus perched on his shoulder. The small creature looked back at him, slowly blinked, and then squeaked at him. ‘No, no. There’s no way he intentionally came along to keep me calm. That’s just ridiculous.’

John was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of a distant cry. Well, cry might be a bit dramatic. In reality, it was an enraged shout. John looked at Velvet. “That must be Erica, right? She’s the only other person here.”

Velvet nodded sharply, her sightless eyes trained in the direction the sound had come from. “Yes. Whatever creatures the barrier may create, there were only the three of us there upon entry.”

John hesitated for just a moment, before letting out a sharp exhale. “Okay. Yes. We need to go and help. Let me just-” Trying his best to be gentle, John reached to his shoulder and picked up Timmy, then put him in a pocket of his jacket. “Timmy, stay in here, okay? Don’t want you to get hurt… if that’s even possible.” Timmy squeaked in what John hoped was affirmation.

With the tinysaurus in his pocket, John and Velvet began jogging towards the shout. After a minute, John started feeling confused. They could still hear the occasional shout, always further down the corridor, or around the corner. After three minutes, though, John was absolutely sure something was fucked. “There’s no way we heard her from this far away, right? She was definitely clos-” He heard the shout again, this time as if it were on the opposite side of the store shutter they were about to pass.

“She’s in here? H-how are we meant to get in though?” Velvet asked. “It’s loc-”

A cry of feminine pain came through the wall. John had had just about enough of the mall at this point. His patience was thin, and whilst none of the muscle pain had stuck with him, the mental fatigue of fighting every ten minutes for the past hour or more had. Not to mention that something about hearing Erica’s shouts made his skin itch. When he recognised the pain in her voice, it was all he could do not to see red.

Without a word, his axe popped into his hand, gleaming silver, and he simply lifted it, then slammed it into the metal shutter covering the storefront with a laboured grunt. Once, twice, again and again. Slowly but surely, he began to shred through the steel cage mesh that blocked their entry, shearing away jagged slivers of metal that fell to the ground with harsh clatters.

The hole in the shutter was almost half the size of a person when a dry, rasping voice interrupted John’s demolition, "I hear it's you that's been making all the mess in my mall." It was rough, like sandpaper and cigarettes. "I’m going to have to call the off-site repairman in for the mall cop bots, you know? And worse, you destroyed my little violent roomba helpers."

John turned to see him, standing further down the corridor, as Erica's shouting came again from behind him. Through the shutter’s mesh, and the holes John had left in it, the occasional flash of blue and red reflected off the glass inside and illuminated the janitor’s face. Rough, jagged ridges along his cheekbones, with skin so dry it looked like parchment that might catch fire any second. He shouldn't have been an imposing figure, considering he was shorter than John, without any muscle or fat on his bones, and a hunched spine. However, as they turned to face him, weapons at the ready, the rough hands suddenly became nimble, spinning the mop he held in frail hands around himself, almost too fast to track. The hunched posture suddenly shifted into a combat stance akin to how Velvet stood, and the wire-thin frame bulged with corded muscle. The eyes, through it all, kept the iron grey sharpness full of disdain, piercing the two teens. John cast Observe at the man quickly, feeling that a fight was imminent.

“Aw fuck. He’s a boss.” John couldn’t help it slipping out.

The Janitor slowly took a step forward, then another. "I hate making a mess, blood is a damned pain to clean…"

Then, he exploded into movement.