"Hey I'm Jar-- Merric and I heard you needed help restringing your base. Let me guide you through the process."

He wondered when he stopped referring to himself as Merric.

The customer in front of him paid no mind to the slip-up, more concerned as to how to set the strings on the instrument than the name of their helper. It gave him pause however. There was a point where he'd been very keen on the fact that Merric and Jarosite were too very different things. He was only Jarosite when he was powered up, and even then he wasn't different than he was while being Merric. He just had a different name, to protect himself and his family. While he'd devoted some of his life to patrolling and draining energy, Merric was still "Merric", a sort of happy base player with a cutie girlfriend and the ability to jump across buildings. Very superhero-esk, very alias-like.

Then, of course, his cutie girlfriend turned out to be the senshi he helped bring to the Negaverse and that personality vanished, leaving him furious at the White Moon and their magic. He distanced himself from everything and spent most of his time as "Jarosite", leaving himself enough time as "Merric" to keep his studio apartment and phone paid for, as well as insurance on his bike and gas for it. Food was in there somewhere as well.

Das Gift happened and he tried to focus on making sure his family was okay. In doing so, though, he also distanced himself so much that his little sister even noticed. The kid almost walked through the entirety of Destiny City just to see him, for crying out loud. Plus, he'd distanced himself from Nina, who needed him the most in the wake of her corruption, and completely screwed that from Hell and back. So Mer tried to stay "Merric," while still being "Jarosite."

In the future he was only "Jarosite." He powered down to sleep and shower, but he was Jarosite. He'd lost Merric somewhere in the timeline, in memories he didn't have. It gave him pause, especially when he slipped up like this.

He went through the motions of restringing the base, reciting lines he could do drunk and still come out perfect. He wondered what had changed, and why it felt like he was one, but not the other. Did he spend too much time in the Rift or patrolling? He didn't have a band, so beyond this job and any dates Nina wanted to go on or hanging out, he really didn't have anything else to be "Merric" for. Seemed silly, too, if in the future he was never going to have to power down, anyway.

"That's all you need to do to restring it. You'll need to tune it, but you're otherwise good to go. Bret will ring you up at the counter. Have a good day," he told the customer once he was done. He slipped gave a nod to Bret and took his break. In the bathroom, he stared at the mirror, unsure of the young man who stared back at him.

Toned and filled out, with messy blue hair and tired looking grey eyes. Skin too pale from a lack of sun exposure, but an easy smile on his face. A pair of size 10 orange gages in his ears. He couldn't tell you who the guy was in the mirror. He let Chaos flare around him for a moment, the familiar weight of his coat and headphones on his shoulders. This face, almost near identical to the other, he could recognize. He was Jarosite, Captain of the Negaverse. He let the Chaos recede.

He couldn't remember who "Merric" was. It was a name he used, simple as that.

It occurred to him much later, almost as an afterthought, that it should have scared him that he couldn't remember who "Merric" was.

What scared him more was that it didn't.

[ WC: 662 ]