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It happened a long while ago. Back when “Capt. Spaceboy” was its holder’s only name. Way before he met a donut called Sweetheart. At that time Space Pirates were at its peak, they travelled across Headspace, gathering interesting souvenirs from everywhere.
That day was another day of adventure. Mercury Retrograde flew across the universe, passing by the beautifully drawn constellations. Occasionally, enemy battleships would show up and open fire at them, but they were no match to the Captain's pilot skill.
*BAM!*
A sudden shake rocked the whole ship. The movement was ground to a halt, sending everyone to the floor with the inertia. Siren beeped loudly in the cockpit, and the lights blinked on and off for a moment. The engine rumbled, but the ship remained stationary.
“Capt. Spaceboy!” Space Pirate Buddy yelled, his eyes fixated on a screen. “Something caught the side of the ship. We can’t move forward!”
“Don’t worry, everyone!” Spaceboy took control of the situation. When emergencies happen, the leader must remain calm and level headed.
At least, this was how “he” did things. The other “Capt. Spaceboy” would lose his temper, yell at the crew for messing up, and waste everyone’s time instead of fixing the issue. “Stop the engine, Buddy. I’ll go check on it.”
Spaceboy made sure his laser handgun was loaded before teleporting out of the ship. He carefully set his feet on the hull so that he wouldn’t drift away. Although he and his crew could live without air for days, getting lost in space was not fun.
A part of the ship was caught in a… fissure in nowhere? It was suspended in the air, supported by nothing. As if the space was a sheet of cloth, and the ship accidentally tore a hole to it. From a distance, it was jet black that wouldn’t even allow light to escape.
Spaceboy moved closer to the fissure. Chill air came out of it, suggesting that it led to somewhere. Like a wormhole without the worm and several times bigger in size. He stared into it, it was not as dark when looking up close. He could make out some kind of forest landscape on the other side.
He had heard of strange places showing up for a brief moment before disappearing. Those places had many names, like the Dark Void, the Deep Pit, the Abyss, and so on. This one appeared in space, so should it be called the Black Hole? There were many tales surrounding their existence, and none of them were good.
The ship was caught so tight in the gap, Spaceboy couldn’t pry it free from the outside. Almost one fourth of the ship was engulfed by the Black Hole. He could have sworn that the ship wasn’t that deep into it a moment ago. At this rate the whole ship would cross the border and into the danger zone they were not prepared for.
Spaceboy made a difficult decision, he had to unstick the ship from the other side. Out of caution, Spaceboy poked his laser gun into the hole and pulled back. It didn’t seem to be damaged just by crossing it. If he made it quick, he might be able to get out fine.
I’ll just go through, give the ship a push, then teleport back on board, simple as that. Spaceboy took a deep airless breath and crawled through the fissure.
Spaceboy lended on a soft grassy ground. He pulled out his laser gun and pointed around, making sure nothing was going to jump on him. When he decided that he was not in any immediate danger, he put the gun away.
This place was… peculiar, to say the least. It was a forest that was emptied of saturation. He and the corner of the ship were the only splashes of colour in here.
Space Pirates came across many dangerous situations before, like wormholes throwing endless U.F.O.s at them, space bunnies flocking, centipedes made of dead Sprout Moles, or an overwhelming amount of heart-shaped spaceships. This place, however, was different. He was making the correct call not to risk his crew.
Spaceboy examined the rift again, he could see the starry sky from here. A black box was lodged in the gap between his spaceship and the fissure, about the size of a music box. This must be what caused the ship to be stuck.
He grabbed the box and pulled. He fell backward and landed on his butt when the box broke free. The ship slipped out of the gap and fully returned to the outside world.
Grumbling, Spaceboy got on his feet, box in hand. The ship is freed, he should go back before-
The fissure was gone.
Spaceboy jolted on his legs and hopped to where the fissure was, his feet landed on the fuzzy grey gress. Calm down , he told himself, repressing the bubbling dread.
Maybe I can teleport out of here. Spaceboy jumped, focusing his teleportation power. His form fizzled for a split second, before solidified and landed on the exact same spot. He persisted and tried again, this time he just jumped. His power was not working.
Speceboy trembled. Fear and anxiety gave birth to frustration, which converted into anger. He hunched over, he couldn’t hold the emotions in anymore.
“Ugh...AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
Spaceboy’s other self surfaced with the scream. His bright pink hair shifted into a green tone, and his dark iris glowed in a red hue.
“Now where the fuck am I?” The other Spaceboy said as he stood up. He was not in the mood of making a grand monologue. There were no audiences around, and the emotion his lamer self left him with was an oppressive sense of dread.
He looked around. It seemed like he was in the middle of a forest trail, and the ugliest one to boot. Everything was in monochrome, and many of the trees were dead. Amongst the trees, long, stringy arms reached upward to the sky that had nothing in it. How could he see anything clearly without any light source was a mystery he did not want to dwell on.
In his hands was a black box made of strange wood. Same as the trees grown here. He tried to open it, but it was locked shut. Sound of paper rattling came out when he shook it.
“OMORI” was faintly engraved on its cover, was that the name of its owner? He never met a person with that name, but it felt familiar somehow. Like a group of Earthly scums who dared stand in his way-
He blinked. The thing he was holding was no longer a box. Instead it was a black trapezoid cube of around the same size. A white “E” was neatly written on its top left corner. It looked like someone plucked a key from a chiclet keyboard and made it bigger.
Shrugging the oddity off, Spaceboy held on to the cube. He really had to get going.
As he moved forward, he noticed that he was not alone here. Tall and deformed figures stood around, completely still. He wasn’t even sure if they were still alive. Well, except for the little ones that made squishy yelps under his boots.
Spaceboy crouched down next to one of those little ones. “Hey, you know how to get out of here?” he asked.
The little eye shifted on the ground. Spaceboy heard whispers. It was very quiet and intelligible. Then it got louder. Loud and clear and wouldn’t STOP.
Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.
The words set the hot headed Spaceboy into a fit of rage. “SHUT UP!” He raised his boot high and stomped on it with all his strength. The tiny blob of a creature was flattened and disappeared from the surface of the ground.
Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.
The whispers didn’t stop. It was when Spaceboy realized where the voice was coming from. It was the entire forest. He finally understood what was his other half dreading for.
Spaceboy dashed, he couldn’t stand this place for a moment longer. The scenery grew more demented the further he went. More black hands stretched out from the dense wood, and those dead trees in the middle were slowly replaced by stumps.
Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.
“You are not making any sense!” Spaceboy shouted back. His hands pressed his headphones tighter. This was the only way he could fight against the formless enemy. The effect was limited, because he was holding a black cube in one of his hands.
He was almost tripped over by a hole on the ground. The forest trail was slowly disappearing, by that it meant the ground broke off more and more until there was a cliff. What he thought was solid ground was nothing but a thin layer of grey grass, floating high away from the shifting chaos below.
This way was a dead end. Spaceboy thought of turning back, even though that meant he had to stay in this damn forest and listen to the unforgiving sound of whispers.
“🗆🗆🗆🗆🗆… I love you…”
A new voice shut the accusing whispers off. Spaceboy’s eyes opened wide and looked at the single source of the voice. He regretted that decision.
On one of the tree stumps near the cliff floated a black figure. It opened its single eye to meet his eyes. A chill went down his spine.
“What did yo- gah, ahh...” Spaceboy couldn’t finish his sentence, his throat was shut tight. He was lifted off ground by the neck. He doesn’t need to breathe but his body struggled to. His eyes were watering up as the bloodstream to his head was cut off.
He put a hand on his neck, tried to pry whatever was strangling him off. Strings of black hair tied close to his throat, like a gallows executing the Space Pirate. His other hand trembled with the black cube in it, for some reason he could not let go of it.
The Something on the stump got closer. “Sunny… I love you…” it said again with a calming voice of a woman. It was talking at him, but not to him.
Who is Sunny? Are they the liar this place is shunning?
In his darkening vision, Spaceboy saw a pitch black tendril reaching into his right eye.
“...!!!”
It hurts it hurts IT HURTS!!
Spaceboy’s feet kicked in the air as a futile effort to escape. The right side of his vision was covered by complete darkness.
He thought he was going to die here. Alone, surrounded by monsters beyond his comprehension. The thought of how his crew and Dad would react to his death wasn’t able to enter his mind as it was getting heywire with a dying man’s survival instinct.
The grip on his neck suddenly went loose. Gravity pulled Spaceboy’s body down. He stayed grounded for about three seconds, before his wobbling feet slipped off the ledge, sending his body to the chaos over the cliff.
Spaceboy never hit the ground. After falling for a while, the gravity pulling him slowly disappeared and leaving him in a weird space of nothingness. Had him not able to see his own body with his left eye, he would think he had gone blind.
The vision of his right eye returned, but… different. Clips of events flashed through his right eye. Vision of a person falling into water, a house with interior that’s similar to his (or was it the other way around?), a big ugly grin mocking one’s fears, a young lady laying dead at the bottom of the stairs…
He was wailing. This was too much. The true nature of Headspace was crudely inserted into his brain. He didn’t need to know that, he didn’t want to know that, he wanted to gauge his right eye out.
He knew those visions did not belong to him, these pain did not belong to him. Yet it didn’t make it less tortuous.
Afterall, Dreamer’s anguish was everyone’s anguish.
He couldn’t stay here any longer. This personality was born from the other one’s overflowing emotion, but even he had his limit. He could feel his very fabric of existence coming loose, staying here for any longer and he would turn into one of these abominations above. He wanted to leave this place, but there was no way out.
No, there is always one, but...
When the realization clicked, he stared at the black cube in absolute horror.
It changed shape again, this time it was a kitchen knife with a shiny surface. He couldn’t see his own reflection on it.
Spaceboy hesitated for a second to overcome his survival instinct, before replicating an action Dreamer’s empty self had done so many times.
He plunged the knife deep into his heart. Everything cut to black.
Spaceboy felt the comfortness of his bed surrounding his body. It was nice. His other self must have found a way back.
He wanted to sleep in, his body was heavy as rocks. But he had to get up. He still has his crew to take care of. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
One of the Space Pirates - this one was Guy - rushed to the bedside and held his hand. “Capt. Spaceboy! You are finally awake!” he said with relief.
“What? What happened to me? How long have I been sleeping?” Spaceboy looked around, he was in Dad’s old ship, which he used as his mobile house when he was not travelling around at high speed.
“My guy, you have been knocked out for a week!” Space Pirate Guy frowned. “We were worried that you are not going to wake up!”
“What?” Spaceboy quickly sat up. “How can I sleep for- Ow, my chest!” The sudden movement sent out a sharp pain from his left chest, which was patched up with some bandages.
Another Space Pirate came to him with a glass of water. “After you vanished from the fissure in space, Captain Pinkbeard and Chief have been flying around looking for you. They found you collapsed near the barn in Otherworld so we parked the ship here at the campsite.”
Spaceboy slowly drank from the glass while Space Pirate Pal continued. “There was a stab wound on your chest, and you kept muttering ‘I’m sorry’ while being unconscious. Do you remember what happened?”
“Well, I switched out soon after I went through the hole.” Spaceboy put the empty glass aside. “Stand back, I’ll call in my other half, you can ask him about it.”
It was rare for either of them willing to hand the control over. He closed his eyes and held a hand on his forehead, taking a deep breath and letting his consciousness fade without falling asleep.
Spaceboy’s left eye suddenly snapped open, greenness washed over the pink on his head. All the other Space Pirates tensed their body, ready for their leader’s angry outburst.
The Captain was panting. He grabbed himself with his right hand, face twisted with pain. However, his hand wasn’t on his chest. He was covering his right side of face.
He looked around, comprehending the situation he was in. When he realized that he was in the old ship, his shoulders relaxed a little, yet his expression was still tense.
“Ca… Capt. Spaceboy?” one of the crew asked with concern, “How are you feeling? Is your eye-”
“THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!” Spaceboy interjected. “Now fetch me an eyepatch and get lost!”
“Yes Captain, right away!” The Space Pirates knew not to further irate their leader when he was in that state. They all hurried out of the room, leaving Spaceboy alone.
Spaceboy got down from his bed and walked to the vanity. It was a good thing that his two selves didn’t share memories. Such horrible things only needed one of them to know of.
He removed his right hand, his right eye was devoid of colour and brightness, and the shape of it looked nothing like his left eye. As if the Something on that stump was plastered on his face. He covered the eye again. Bits of that vision was coming back, but he could repress it as long as it stayed covered.
He was able to get away from that fabled place this time, but sooner or later it would call him back.
One of the keys to that place resided inside him for the time being. When the time was right, it would be removed from his body and for Dreamer to reclaim.