Chapter 1: Tom & Jerry
Getting hit by a truck is not a fun experience.
Being reborn with all your memories inside a baby's body is even less fun.
Getting called "Tommy Riddle" by a woman looking like she was from the 1920s, on the other hand…
Heh heh.
There were two things I could do at this point.
One was be the moral compass that Tom Riddle never got and make the world all sunshine and sparkles and rainbows.
Or two…
Hell yeah. Let's eff up this place.
X-x-X
Tom Riddle, age 11
Tom didn't know how long Jerry had been inside his head, or if Jerry was even Jerry's real name.
Depends on what you consider a "real name." It wasn't the name my parents chose for me when I was born, but it's the name I chose for myself now that there's no pesky government papers to limit what I can put as an alias.
What, Jerry?
"Tom and Jerry" has a rather nice ring to it, doesn't it?
If you say so.
All he knew was that there never had been a single moment Jerry hadn't been there for him.
Of course, no one really knew Jerry was there, because by the time his language skills had developed enough for Tom to actually tell other people about Jerry's existence, his intelligence had also shot to the point where he realized that such actions would probably get him shipped off to the madhouse.
According to Jerry, he was actually from 2025, nearly a hundred years into the future, and got killed when a truck hit him.
He seemed to have this idea that Tom had the capability to conquer the world, as long as he didn't do anything stupid. Which was fine with him.
Tom decided that the idea of becoming an evil overlord was rather fun, and with his natural intellect and Jerry's help, it was very possible.
Not that he knew how much of his intelligence was actually his and how much was Jerry's.
He remembered from infancy these random undecipherable noises in his head that eventually, along with his development, formed into actually understandable language. Jerry was an adult; had always been an adult.
A rather educated one, too, given the complexity of his thoughts. Tom didn't quite know what to think of Jerry. Maybe he really was crazy, and this was a split personality.
Although, a highly convenient one. There were certain benefits that came with having the personality of a grown man inside your head, and having an unusually expanded vocabulary and an understanding of integral calculus before you could walk was one of them.
There were a few drawbacks. For one, Tom was rather unwilling to socialize with other children his age, simply because he was so far ahead of them that Jerry was just such better company.
And the more time he spent in Jerry's company, the more mentally distanced he became from his peers. In fact, he was so used to conversing inside his head with Jerry that in the first few years of his life he forgot to speak out loud in order to demand things from the matrons.
He eventually got better as he became used to Jerry's presence, and the constant reminders of Speak out loud; they're not in your head like I am.
There was also the slight chance that this was one of those crazy science fiction novels where the person's mind was eventually taken over by the split personality.
So far, however, Jerry was little more than a voice of reason and a helpful companion. Tom didn't really think that Jerry would be stupid enough to try to pull off anything like that. Jerry, if anything, was a rational being, and seeing as he felt the same things as Tom, like hunger or pain, using Tom's body to commit his own crimes was really not a good idea.
Also, if Jerry ended up getting Tom killed, his own future would probably be rather iffy, too – not that Jerry hadn't survived death already.
Speaking of death…do you think this is what happens to all dead people?
If so, then there should be more people with voices in their heads, Jerry reasoned, but since you're the only kid I know with the consciousness of a mature adult, I don't think so. Who knows. Maybe you'll be able to figure it out in the future.
I don't intend to die, though.
Just make sure that whatever you sacrifice for immortality doesn't drive you insane or make you rely on regular rituals involving the blood of virgins.
What's a virgin? Are you talking about that lady that they always make us read about? Because I don't think you can get blood from someone who's been dead and decomposed for nearly two thousand years…
Never mind. You'll find out when you're older.
…How much older?
When you no longer think "girls are icky."
I've never been puerile enough to think that. All children are equally disgusting. Except me, of course. Tom glared at the children jumping about on the playground from his bedroom window, completely oblivious to his internal conversation.
Now, be nice.
You mean "don't let them know exactly how much you hate them."
Fine. PRETEND to be nice. Except to the obvious bullies. If you absolutely have to take out your anger on someone then use some scapegoat whom you can easily justify fighting back against. That way you won't draw any suspicions of psychotic tendencies until after you've gained too much power for anyone to fight back.
Yeah, yeah, no strangling bunnies, even if their owners are just about the most annoying people in the world. I understand.
And no torturing people without mind-wiping them afterwards.
Speaking of mind-wiping, any help on that? Because I can make things float, glow, break, burn, grow, shrink, and change color, and I can summon things to me, and I can talk to snakes, but I can't make people forget things for some reason. Well, I can, but they forget the wrong things, and act weird for days, and that really isn't...good.
Sorry. Haven't got a clue. This "magic" business is all your doing.
Hmph.
Yes, Jerry was a very interesting entity, and a very helpful one. Except when it came to assisting Tom in controlling his own odd powers.
Jerry had nothing to do with that, except suggesting ways on how to maximize use of his rather limited repertoire. So far, he had gained the simpering loyalty of most of the orphanage children, as well as the rest of his schoolmates, in that he always seemed to have snacks stashed away.
-------
Want to jump 30+ chapters ahead right now?
You can read the advanced chapters and support me directly on p 4 treon.
Link in the synopsis & profile: p 4 treon > ForgottenDaoist