Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You open your eyes as the light begins to fill the room. It’s your last day in Faraway. You lazily get up from bed and make your way to the phone that sits on your desk, with a new voicemail on it. You press the button to listen to it.

“Hey Sunny, it’s Mommy. I’m waiting for you outside, so just come out when you’re ready. Mommy loves you! Bye, honey!”

You stare at the phone a while longer, before turning and walking towards the door leading to the rest of the house. The door closes loudly behind you, not that anyone would care. You glance at the stairs as you move towards the bathroom door, stepping inside and making your way towards the mirror, staring one last time at your monochrome reflection before you depart. You’re not sure why you bother at this point. Nothing changes. Same blank expression, same hair, same black tank top, same…

You pull out the steak knife from your pocket, letting the light of the bathroom shine off of it, almost making it glow. You begin to stare at the reflection on the knife, the faint image of Ś̶̯̟̠̭͍Ȍ̷̗̥͈̣ͅM̷̼̋Ë̸̡͔͇͓̣͔́̊͛̓T̷̛͈̙̜̙͙̏͜H̸̢͐̇I̶͙̦͑̈́̾͜N̸̟̦̩̝̣͑̏͠ͅG̵̼̱̮̻̜͌ staring back at you. After a few seconds of staring at it, you hold it out and point the blade towards yourself, your eyes locked onto it as you begin to point it away. Your hand begins to shake as you begin pointing back at yourself and it shakes even more as you once again. In the blink of an eye, you drive the knife into your abdomen.

You stay standing as your hands become caked in blood, unable to move away from the knife handle. Your breaths are short and brief as each one brings about greater pain. The pain. The pain is unbearable. Your stomach aches and your body feels heavy, as if gravity is starting to increase tenfold. Your vision blurs and darkness begins to creep in from all sides. With a final, painful breath, you collapse onto the cold tile floor and everything goes dark.

D̷̳̹͝o̵͍͒n̷͚̙̎̅'̷̡̜͌ṭ̸̛̳ ̶̨̭̀ẅ̶̬͔͂o̵̬̟͒̓r̴͇̗̎̇ṟ̸̄ý̵̟̲̽.̷̡̠̏̄.̶͍̌̈́.̶̝̊͝

̴̢̠̍͌

̶̩͚̏͌Ë̷̜͐v̸͇̟̈e̸̺͕͒͂r̷̠͚̈y̶̞̋͋ẗ̴̯h̷̩̟͋̑ị̸͛n̴̝̑̌g̵̟̈́͒ ̶̞͇̇i̷̯͑s̷̯̪̊͊ ̴̦͝ĝ̴̮̜̏o̷͇͔͊̕i̸̛̹̚n̷ͅġ̶̳ ̸̮̔͝t̴̗͚͛̈́o̸̫̣͠ ̴̳̔b̷͍̫̚e̶̛͈͂ͅ ̷̘̔o̷̜̮̐k̸̮̘͋a̷͉̔y̵͕̪͝.̵̹̇.̸̤͙͂.̸̓

The image of a boy crying fills your mind.

̶̙̻̊̅N̴͓̄̇ö̴̞̺́ ̴̪̩͂̔ṁ̶͍͙͆a̸̫͕̎t̷̲̹͊t̶̨̯̽̀ë̴̻̾r̵̤̞̉͠ ̴̪̜̋w̸̡̛̜h̸̥͜͝ȁ̷̝̣t̵̼̜̒́ ̶̗̪͝h̶̠͙̆a̷̳̭̽͝p̶̭̒p̴̫̺͒e̶̛̙͂n̶̻̬͋̾ș̴̃.̸̳͚͂.̸̹͉̈́.̵̡͂ͅ

̷̹̽͠

̵̪̋͜P̸̣̺̊͛r̷͖̋o̵̭͂̏m̶̱͓̒i̶̺͘ś̶̝ė̶̻͚ ̵͙̿̊m̶̕͠ͅé̸͔͉̾ ̷͍͕̓t̷̪͖̅h̶͇̓a̷̤͑ͅt̷̼̰͑ ̸̟̄̓ẘ̴̧̹ḛ̵̈́'̶̧͑͘l̵̠͈̾̽l̸͍̣̆ ̵͇̈a̵̬͒͝l̵͎̓w̶͔̅͐a̵͓̕y̵̞̎ş̴͚͘ ̶̣̱̇̀b̸̜̽̐e̶͈͛ ̴̣͘ţ̵͔͗h̷͖̉è̷͈r̵̼̅ě̸̦̿ ̸̼͝f̵͍͗o̸̢͙̍r̵̨͎͂͝ ̴̗̻̈́ẹ̶̾̂ȃ̸̱͈͠c̸̲̕h̶͛̄ͅ ̵̜̙̾̇o̷̗͍̐̅t̵͍̆h̶̖̍e̶̟̼̓r̴̡̛.̴̠̭̒.̶̣̅̍.̷̣

The scene changes, revealing another boy with a flower in his hair, trying to comfort the other in front of a black door.

̵͔̒͜

̷̛̯̎P̸̢̡̕r̸̝͑o̸̬͝m̵̢͚̈́ï̵͉̃ŝ̴̝e̶̬͚̋̅ ̶̧̼̉͠m̶̜͐ͅė̵̗̬̋.̶̬͚̕.̸͌̌ͅ.̵̩̘̊

Your eyes open. A familiar, white emptiness is all that surrounds your vision. You sit up and glance around. You know this place. White Space. You’ve been living here for as long as you can remember. You get onto your feet and take a quick glance around. Your sketchbook is still in it’s place, parallel to the tissue box and perfectly aligned with your laptop. Mewo is laying just a few feet away, and the black light bulb is still hanging from the ceiling, wherever it is. 

You sit back down and place the laptop on your lap, turning it on and staring at the screen. The slight image of a piano filled the screen behind a thick static. You blinked once and the image disappeared. You turned the laptop off afterwards and set it back into place. You really only use it for the warmth, so something like that wasn’t worth theorizing over. You turn your attention to the sketchbook and scoot over to it.

The sketches inside never changed from when you last saw them. Most pages were a mess of red and black filling the white pages with cats, hands, a cake filled with eyes, a drawing of you sitting in a bath, a page of a drawing that kind of looked like a cartoon steak and the page next to that one, for some reason, now held a drawing of a flower. A loud rumbling filled the room, along with the sound of something metal hitting the floor. You raise a brow and reach for your pocket, only to find nothing inside of it. You simply shrug and stand up, moving forward towards the noise, which was undoubtedly your knife.

Your thoughts were confirmed when you find it a few feet away from your safe space. You pick it up and put it back in it’s rightful place in your pocket. You turn around only to get ambushed by one of the many hands that crawl around White Space. It lunges at you and your vision turns white as you return to your safe space. It’s then you remember about the door. A brief flash of Aubrey, Kel, and Hero fill your head. Going on an adventure as you all looked for Basil, with Mari showing on occasion with a picnic. You walk up to the door and stare at it for a brief period of time. You decide to not waste anymore time and open the door, walking through it as was routine.

Through the door was a now familiar sight to you. A giant yellow cat stares down at the bright room, with a couple of eggs lying on the ground, a table that held a single bean on a plate, a TV in one corner playing a movie with 4 boys walking down a railroad track, one of Abbi’s tentacles drifts from a nearby puddle, with a watermelon right next to it. You pause and look at the tentacle and watermelon. They should be gone. You got Aubrey’s stuffed toy for her, and Abbi gifted you Aubrey’s baseball bat, so why were both of them still present?

“Oh!” Your attention snaps back to the middle of the room, where Kel, Hero and Aubrey were currently playing cards. Aubrey stood up and ran over towards you, trampling over the cards. “Hi Omori! We were hoping that you’d come by soon. Wanna play cards with us? We were just about to start another game!” Aubrey smiled brightly as she spoke. You leaned to look behind her at Kel and Hero. Aubrey raised a brow and looked back as well, noticing what she did. “Oh! Whoops...Nevermind…” Aubrey began twirling some hair around her finger nervously.

“Aww, man...What the heck, Aubrey!?” Kel turned towards Aubrey, gesturing his arms towards the ruined pile of cards. “You messed up all the cards! I was winning, too.” 

Hero raises his hand towards Kel cautiously. “Hey there, Kel. There’s no need to get angry. It’s just a game, after all.”

“Don’t give me that, Hero!” Kel pointed a finger at the older boy. “You only say that ‘cause you were losing.” Kel folded his arms as Hero sighed and began fixing the cards.

Aubrey let out an annoyed huff. “Why is Kel always so mean to me!?” Aubrey turns towards you with an angry expression. “You know, the other day, that good-for-nothing stole my Stuffed Toy and hid it somewhere in this room.” She folds her arms and growls. “Why would he do something like that? He’s so immature…” You look towards the watermelon in the corner of the room and sneak past Aubrey towards it. You notice a discolored stem at the top of the watermelon and pull on it, freeing a plush purple eggplant with a small body attached to it. You turn back towards Aubrey while holding the toy in front of you. Aubrey glances in your direction with a confused look, not noticing that you snuck off. Her eyes then snap towards the Stuffed Toy and her eyes sparkle at the sight of it. “I-is that…? Could it be?” 

Aubrey rushes over to you and snatches the toy away with a slight twirl as she hugs it close to her. She gains a smug smile as she walks over to Hero and Kel, holding out the toy above her. “Hey, Kel! Look, it’s my Stuffed Toy!” Kel looks up at Aubrey and gasps.

“”W-What the heck! Where did you get that?” He stands up and runs towards Aubrey to try and snatch the toy away, but Aubrey steps to the side just as Kel gets close, throwing him off balance. You hold out your arm to catch his fall and just barely succeed.

“Omori found it! Lucky for me, I’ve got some real friends!” Aubrey sticks out her tongue and Hero chuckles from the sideline.

“Serves you right, Kel. You should know better than to pick on others.” He sets down the last of the cards and stands up as Kel backs away from your arm.

“But Aubrey started it…” Kel groans. “She was the one making fun of me for the mole on my…” Kel abruptly stops and rubs the back of his neck. Aubrey turns towards him with a smug smile.

“On your...What?” She quirks a brow and waits for Kel to react. Kel stayed silent and walked over towards the TV.

“Aubrey…” Hero says sternly as he walks past her.

Aubrey pouts a bit but ultimately sighs. “Fine…” She squeezes the toy closer to her as Hero makes his way towards your line of sight, placing a hand on your shoulder and smiling.

“Hey, Omori! I’m glad that’s all settled.” He sighs and looks over to the side with an unamused expression. “Those two always seem to be bumping heads.” Your expression remains unchanged but you nod in agreement. Hero smiles and pats your shoulder while pointing a thumb over his. “Mari and Basil invited us for a picnic at the playground!” He returns his arms to his side and looks at you expectantly. “Did you want to go see them?” You nod instantly and Hero’s face brightens up as he turns towards the others. “Alright everyone, let’s go see Mari and Basil!”

Kel and Aubrey immediately jump in joy and the three line up behind you as you start moving towards the stairs at the top right portion of the room. You climb up six steps before a snake lying on the railing perks it’s head up at you. It hisses, but you understand the meaning behind it. (Going out, Omori?) you nod once and the snake nods back, lifting it’s tail towards you with another hiss. (Here is your allowance for today.) The snake uncurls it’s tail and drops 100 CLAMS into your hands. You stare at the clams for a second before pocketing them and continuing up the stairs and through the doorway leading out of the room and to the rest of Headspace.

You step out from a hole inside of a tree stump and walk forward a bit to give room for the others. Trees are all that fill your sight from all directions aside from the paths on the sides, front and back of the tree stump. You turn around to see Kel and Hero behind you, the former taking in a deep breath. “OH, YEAH!! FRESH AIR AT LAST!!” Kel shouts out as he exhales. He stretches an arm over himself as he takes another breath. “Gotta love that nature.” He nods his head towards the path behind you. “Well, let’s go!”

You shake your head and point back towards the stump. Hero and Kel look back just in time to see Aubrey appear from the stump, getting her leg caught by some loose roots. She looks over at you three and shouts. “Help me up, guys! I’m stuck.”

“Only if you say please!” Kel says in response. You roll your eyes and walk over to Aubrey, extending a hand out for her to grab, which she does without hesitation. You pull with all your strength and free Aubrey from the stump in a matter of seconds. Aubrey straightens herself out and gives you a smile.

“Thanks, Omori!” You nod in response and turn to the others, where Kel was giving you a look. You simply shrug and move forward on the current path with the others in tow. Kel and Aubrey start bickering from behind you but you block out most of what they say to each other as you all move past and beneath some trees until you reach a small flight of stairs. You look ahead at the playground, seeing Mikal swinging on the swing sets, Berly and Van playing tetherball, Bun watching Nose go down the slide, only for them to run back up it and go down again, Sharleen was standing idly by in the distance while Bangs was watching Happy and Brows play. Neb was working on a puzzle with Daisy watching them from a distance. Shawn and Ren were exercising as they usually do and the final two people to catch your attention were Mari and Basil, chatting on a picnic blanket.

You step down the steps into the park, where your eyes begin to wander towards a tree behind the swing sets. You feel a hand on your shoulder and you turn around to see Aubrey, who was pointing over to the picnic. You snap your eyes back to Mari and Basil, where Mari was waving towards everyone. All of you walk over to the picnic blanket, where you take your spot by the picnic basket while Aubrey takes a seat next to you. Hero sits behind Basil and Kel sits next to Hero.

“Hello, everyone!” Mari said cheerfully. “How are you doing today?” Aubrey immediately stood up and pointed a finger at Kel.

“KEL’S BEING MEAN TO ME AGAIN!!” Mari made a playful gasp at the accusation. 

“Oh, no! Not again...How could he?” Kel stood up and pointed a finger back at Aubrey.

“I’m not being mean! Aubrey’s just being all whiny.”

Mari hummed and tapped her chin. “Well, Kel! You’ve just made a very convincing point.” She looked between Aubrey and Kel. “Now I don’t know who to believe.”

Kel pointed a finger towards himself. “BELIEVE ME!!”

Aubrey stomped her foot. “NO, BELIEVE ME!!”

Basil looked over at you, to which you simply shrugged. You block out the rest of the conversation and gaze around the rest of the playground. Not many took interest in what your group was talking about and went about their own day. The only one who did stare at the group was Berly, but she quickly turned her attention back to playing tetherball. Suddenly, Basil’s Photo Album was placed in the middle of everyone. You already know the photo’s inside, but you decided to look anyway.

The first picture is one of you and Kel holding a flower crown that Mari made as an example for everyone else. Kel seemed to be marveling at the creation, while you kept you blank, emotionless stare. Hand picked flowers of blue, pink and purple give the photo an extra dose of color that needed to be filled with the absence of your own. You don’t quite remember the names of the flowers, but maybe you could ask Basil sometime for a refresher. Below the photo was a caption that read: Mari is teaching everyone how to make flower crowns! Omori and Kel are holding up Mari’s example. So pretty...

The next photo was of Mari setting a flower crown on Basil’s head, while Aubrey stood in the background gushing over how it suited him and Basil agreed, seeing as he never leaves home without it. You don’t really quite remember what anyone in the photo were talking about during or after it was taking, since you and Kel ran off to do something else in the playground at the time, which was touched upon in the caption: Omori and Kel gave up and ran off, but Aubrey and I got the hang of it really fast!

The third photo was one of Hero, who was still working on a flower crown, except, all the flowers were many of a single type. A White Tulip. You rub your eyes and the flowers regained their multi-color and types. Hero’s eyes were so glued to his work, that he didn’t notice Mari put one of the flowers in his hair before the photo. By the time Basil captured the moment, Hero was about halfway done with it. The caption read: Hero’s still making his flower crown. It’s taking a little while, but he’s getting it. You have to admire his persistence. Now that you thought about it, you never did see those other flower crowns again. You wonder what happened to them.

You silently gaze around at each photo while the others would make comments on each one. Those being further insights to the context behind the picture or small disputes on why Basil decided to take said picture, mainly Kel complaining about the one where Hero was trying to make Kel feel better about something by leaning in for a smooch. Kel didn’t like it then and he definitely didn’t like the reminder of it. The last photo was of everyone’s feet lined up in a circle, with Basil giving a small challenge to guess who was who. You’re the only one who wears socks, so you were easy to guess. That’s when you noticed something. The picture Basil took of you, Kel, Hero and Aubrey when you all got to his house was missing. Sure, it was blurry, but Basil had kept it despite that.

You thought back to the watermelon and Abbi’s tentacle back at Neighbor’s Room. Those should’ve been gone for good, so how did they come back? Why wasn’t the photo in the Photo Album? Why didn’t you have your knife from the get go when you reappeared at White Space? “Omori?” Aubrey tapped your shoulder, breaking you out of your thoughts. “Are you good? You kinda spaced out there for a second.”

“Probably got lost somewhere at memory lane!” Kel chuckled to himself while Aubrey gave him the stink eye. 

“Anyway, we’re gonna head to Basil’s house. He wants to show us some sprouts he planted!” Aubrey stood up and offered a hand to help you up. You shook your head and got up on your own, much to her disappointment.

“You remember the way, right Omori?” Basil asks. You nod and point south of the playground. Basil smiled and clapped his hands together. “Correct.” He quickly raised a brow and looked at you nervously. “Oh, if you’re not ready to leave, we can stay a little longer.” You shake your head and begin moving away from the picnic. Basil hurriedly picked up his Photo Album and everyone besides Mari followed you south of the playground.

You only made it a few feet in front of the Jack-in-a-box before a voice called out to the group. “Hey, wait just one second! Where do y’all think you’re going!?” You and everyone else turned around to face Berly, who was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for an answer. “You can’t leave without joining us for a game of hide-and-seek!”

Van walked up next to Berly and looked at your group with pleading eyes. “Stay and Play with us! The more the merrier!”

Hero scratched the back of his head and sighed. “You want to play hide-and-seek again?”

“But...You know how this turned out last time…” Kel muttered through his teeth.

“Y-Yeah...Sorry, Berly. I think we’re going to have to pass.”

Kel pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “We’re going to Basil’s house now...So…” He waved Berly off and he and Aubrey turned back towards the south. “We’ll catch up with you later!” Kel and Aubrey were only able to get just a step behind you before you took hold of the collars of their shirts and moved them back towards the playground despite their complaints. Berly chuckled and walked up to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

“See, Omori wants to play hide-and-seek!” She lightly jabs you in the side as her way of showing good faith, before stepping away and putting her hands in her hoodie pockets, taking on a serious expression. “At least Boss isn’t going to be around since I banned him after what happened last time.” The others still looked unsure until Basil walked up next to you and smiled.

“It’s alright guys! There’s no rush to get to my house after all, so if Omori wants to play hide-and-seek then the least we could do is join, right?” Kel and Aubrey stayed silent while Hero hummed and tapped his chin. 

“Well, I guess since Boss is out of the picture, we won’t have too much to worry about.”

“Perfect!” Berly smiled widely and then took a whistle out from their hoodie pocket. She blew the whistle and shouted as loud as she could. “TEN-HUT!” Aubrey and Kel sighed in defeat as you and a few others began to line up in front of the tetherball pole. The people lined up were Van, Sharleen, Mikal, Happy, Brows, Bangs, you, Basil, Aubrey, Kel, Hero, Nose, and Bun, with Berly standing a few feet in front of the pole like a drill sergeant. “Alright, maggots! Here’s the rules! We’re gonna be entertaining ourselves with a little game of hide-and-seek!” She takes out a handful of straws from her pocket and held them up for everyone to see. “Here in my hands I got some straws, see? Everyone here’s gotta pick a straw. The one with the shortest straw is going to be ‘it’ and will have to find everyone else! Sounds easy enough, right?”

Everyone nods in agreement and Berly walks up to each player for them to pick their straws. From what you understand so far, if the toy, tentacle and photo were all reversed to their original state, then this should play out as it did a few days ago as well. When Berly gets to you, you pick a straw at random and Berly moves on to Basil. You look at the straw in your hand and sure enough, it’s the shortest one from the pile.

“We all got our straws?” Berly glanced around at everyone and nodded. “Good.” She walked back to the front and turned towards everyone. “Now, let’s see who’s going to be ‘it’!” She starts at Van and makes her way towards Bangs, keeping an eye on everyone’s straws. When she reaches the end, she nods once more. “Well, well, well! Looks like the one with the shortest straw is Omori!” Shee gestures towards you and your friends react immediately. 

“Wait...Omori is ‘it’?” Kel looks towards you with a shocked expression.

“But Omori doesn’t like to be alone…” Aubrey mutters in disbelief.

Hero looks at you with a concerned look. “Are you going to be okay, Omori?” You swiftly turn your head towards the others and nod, moving away from your spot and up to the tetherball pole. Berly nods and faces the others.

“You all worry too much. Omori will be fine.” She turns back towards you and gives you a stern look. “Just remember, peeking is against the rules!” You nod and place an arm on the pole, covering your eyes with it as everyone else begins to look for a hiding place. You count down for most of the time in your head, keeping an ear out for the movements to try and hear at least some sort of difference. You hear something step in front of you on the other side of the pole and a couple of footsteps from behind you and the other person. After making sure all movements have ceased, you nod to yourself to signify to anyone nearby that you're done counting, you then reach an arm out in front of you and place your hand on someone’s-Kel’s-shoulder.

“Woah, you found me! And without looking too!” Kel chuckles as you uncover your face and remove your hand from his shoulder. “Now I can help you find everyone!” He quickly glances around and leans closer to you. “Just don’t tell Berly about this, got it? Heh heh…” You nod and Kel walks away from the pole. You turn around and instantly spot Van, who doesn’t really have a good range of options, so you can’t really blame him. You glance to your left and see Bun and Nose beneath the slide and point them out to Kel. He nods and walks over towards the two while you walk up to Van and pat him on the back.

“Turns out...There’s not many places to hide for a guy my size.” He sighs solemnly but quickly puts on a smile. “But this was still fun! As long as Berly is happy, I’m happy.” You nod and step aside for Van to walk over to the swings. Kel waves at you and points towards the hopscotch area and you nod for him to go on over to where Bangs is, out in the open. Without waiting for a response you go to the other side of the trees to the jack-in-a-box and wind it up. The springs inside launch Happy out from her hiding place.

“Boing! It’s me, Happy!” She says upon being found. She looks up at you and smiles. “You found me, so that means I gotta do something else now…” She hums in thought for a beat. “Oh, I know! I’m gonna count the alphabet backwards!” You give Happy a thumbs up and meet up with Kel, who was walking away from Bangs.

“Guess he wasn’t feeling up to it today.” You and Kel both shrug and continue looking for the other hiders. Sharleen was trying to hide by some trees, but from where you were, you saw them right away. Sharleen just stared at you and sighed before walking away, accepting defeat. You move on to the next person, Brows, who was running in circles around a tree. Walking up to them resulted in a scream and them running off. 

You could see Aubrey peeking from behind a bush, but nearby was Mikal, whose head was sticking out from a tree. A good hiding spot all things considered, but Mikal had fallen asleep, causing his head to peak out from the leaves. You look to Kel and he takes out his rubber ball and tosses it at Mikal’s head. Mikal shot up from his nap and promptly fell from the tree with a loud thud. “Huh!? Where am I?” He looks around the area before his eyes land on you and Kel. He sighs and sits up. “I was dreaming that I was on a private beach with servants fanning me with palm tree leaves on every side…” He stands up and stretches his arms above his head, then drops them to his sides and slouches as he looks towards the swings. “I guess that’s game over for me.” He walks off towards the swings while you make your way towards Aubrey, who was now just standing up from behind the bush.

“Aww...You found me...Darn…” Aubrey giggles as she steps away from the bush joins your search. “Let’s go find everyone else together, Omori!” You nod and then turn towards where Shawn and Ren are jogging in place with a third member, that being Hero. The three of you walk up to him and he stops when he takes sight of you, trying his best to keep himself from collapsing.

“Hey guys!...You know...I found a really good hiding spot but…” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Shawn and Ren. “Shawn and Ren...Invited me to join them in their...Exercise routine!”

“It’s fun!” Ren commented.

“And good for you!” Shawn added.

Hero nodded and took in a few deep breaths. “You guys should really try this! It’s really...A workout...Oh man, I’m so tired…”

Kel shook his head in disapproval. “Wow...You really don’t know how to say ‘no’ to anyone, do you Hero?” Hero looked up and glared at Kel.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and walked up to Hero, pulling at his arm to get him to move. “Come on, Hero! We gotta help Omori find everyone else!”

“Alright, alright! I’m coming!” Hero turns around to face Shawn and Ren. “Bye, Shawn! Bye, Ren! This was fun!” Shawn and Ren wave Hero off as you wander back towards the tetherball pole, where a lump of dirt is now visible with a straw poking through. You tilt your head on how you weren’t able to see it before, just like last time, but you simply pull the straw out from the dirt. 

Berly suddenly burst from the dirt pile shook off any dirt sticking to her clothes, as well as coughing some out. She turns towards your group and slugs you in the arm. “Took you long enough, I thought I was going to suffocate in there!” She smirked and gestured to where the dirt pile was. “How’d you like my hiding spot? Pretty good, eh?” You and the others stay silent as Berly looks around and sees the other players all gathered around the swings. “It looks like you pretty much found everyone else too! Unexpected...But I like it!” She pulls out her whistle and nods her head towards everyone else. “Let’s do a final roll call!” 

You shake your head and hold up one finger. Berly quirks an eyebrow while Kel glances around. “Oh yeah, we still need to find Basil.”

“I think I saw him go hiding behind that tree over there.” Hero points to the tree behind the swing set and your group approaches it. 

“Basil! Can you hear us?” Aubrey shouts as you get closer. 

“Basil! You can come out now! At this point you pretty much win by default.” Kel goes around to the side to try and spot Basil. He quirks a brow when he doesn’t find anything. “HELLOOOOOOO!? BASIL!?!?” The tree begins to shake. Everyone except you takes a cautious step back, before slowly approaching the tree. “Basil, are you okay? Are...Are you stuck?” You get up closer to the tree and grab it, yanking down the hyper-realistic drawing covering up the large, round and purple rhino-like Boss, who was currently holding Basil captive in his right arm.

Upon being revealed, Boss assumes a fighting stance and lets out a laugh. Berly steps closer and growls. “Boss! I should’ve known you wouldn’t follow the ban!” She points a finger up at him and shouts. “Let Basil go, you good-for-nothing scoundrel!”

Kel takes out his Rubber Ball and gets ready to throw it. “Yeah! What did Basil ever do to you!?” 

“Basil is our friend! Don’t you dare hurt him!” Aubrey holds her Stuffed Toy and threateningly as possible.

“Let go of Basil, Boss!” Hero whips out his Spatula and points it at Boss. “He didn’t do anything wrong!”

Boss lets out another laugh and looks at your group as if you all said something insane. “You stupidheads! You think this is about Basil? Don’t play dumb, you know why I’m here!” You briefly glance at the sign next to the tree that declares the playground a ‘NO-BOSS ZONE’. “How dare you not invite me to hide-and-seek! I’m the one who showed you all how to play in the first place! You’re not even playing it right!” Boss stomps his foot on the ground in a fit of anger. “How can you call it hide-and-seek without any body-slamming!?” After one last stomp on the ground, Basil’s flower crown flew off of his head and onto the grass.

“My flower crown!” Basil tried in vain to wriggle free from Boss’ grasp. You roll your eyes and take out your knife, taking notice of it’s scarlet red glow. You quirk a brow and begin to look the knife over. The gaze of Ś̶̯̟̠̭͍Ȍ̷̗̥͈̣ͅM̷̼̋Ë̸̡͔͇͓̣͔́̊͛̓T̷̛͈̙̜̙͙̏͜H̸̢͐̇I̶͙̦͑̈́̾͜N̸̟̦̩̝̣͑̏͠ͅG̵̼̱̮̻̜͌ staring back at you as you inspect the scarlet blade. This was Abbi’s gift to you, but in White Space, it looked like a normal knife. In fact, why did you have your Red Knife, while the others didn’t have their gifts?

“Omori, look out!” Hero calls out to you. You break your gaze from your knife and get blasted by a cloud of dirt, courtesy of Boss kicking the ground in your direction. You begin to feel ANGRY at the action and HACK AWAY at Boss.

“You weakling! You call that an attack!?” Boss laughs at the attempt and cracks his knuckles. You stare in silence at the fact that Boss shrugged off an attack from your knife. A Sprout Mole goes down in a single hit from it, yet Boss isn’t even close to halfway done. Kel throws his Rubber Ball at Boss’ face while Aubrey and Hero whack his legs. Boss yelps and stomps his foot on the ground. “Hey, that kinda hurt! Hmph, this isn't fun anymore!”

You shake your head and snap your fingers. A large group of red hands appear from behind you and launch themselves towards Boss, trying to throw him around and bash him into the trees, but they could barely lift him up, o they settled for scratching Boss, who shortly afterwards begins to glow red. “Now you’ve made me ANGRY! It’s time for my special move!” Boss puts one foot in front of the other in some form of running stance. “BODY SLAM!!” Boss broke out into a run and crashed into Aubrey, knocking her back and toasting her, along with Kel and Hero. When Boss slams into you, you get knocked back and your HEART and JUICE run empty, but you did not succumb. Boss stares at you in shock. “HUH!? HOW ARE YOU STILL MOVING!?” You raise your knife and lunge at Boss, slashing the arm holding Basil and finally getting Boss to drop him.

You got 44 CLAMS!

Once Basil hit the ground, Kel, Aubrey and Hero returned to their natural state and rushed over to him, while Boss stomped on the ground in a tantrum. “THIS ISN’T FAIR!! REMATCH!! I WANT A REMATCH!!” Kel walked over and kicked Boss in the shin and returned to the group. Aubrey picked up Basil's flower crown and put it back on him.

“Basil...Are you hurt?” 

Basil waved a hand and shook his head. “Ah, don’t worry about me. I’m just fine.” He turned to Boss and sighed. “Boss...It must hurt to see people have fun without you...But that doesn’t mean you can ruin other people’s fun.”

Boss huffed and folded his arms. “I know that!” You shake your head and walk over to the ‘NO BOSS ZONE’ sign and rip it off like a bandage, crumpling the paper up and placing it in your pocket. The group, minus Basil, look at you like you grew a second head.

“Omori, are you sure it’s okay to do that?” Aubrey asks.

Kel walks over to you and grips your shoulders tightly. “Boss is bad news! If you hadn’t held on during that final attack, we would’ve been TOAST!” 

“It’s alright guys!” Basil announces. “When you all were fighting, Boss tried really hard to make sure I didn’t get hurt.”

Hero’s brows raised in shock and he looked up at Boss. “Is that true, Boss?” Boss turned around and huffed.

“That’s a load of baloney...I don’t need to hear these lies!” He turned back towards the group and grabbed the hyper-realistic tree drawing. “This is my spot! No one is welcome here!” He covers himself back up with the paper and goes silent. After a second or two, Hero spoke up.

“Well...He probably won’t be a problem as long as he stays like that.” He smiles and faces the group. “I guess that means we can go to Basil’s house now.” 

“That sounds good to me!” Basil turned to the tree and patted it. “We’re leaving now, Boss. Don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

“Oh, he won’t. I’ll be sure of it.” Berly glared at the tree while your group waved everyone off. But first, you grab some candy from Mari’s picnic. Gotta get everyone’s HEART and JUICE back up after that fight.

After walking through the path to Basil’s house, re-listening to his explanations on the flowers he grew, as well as some repeat lessons against some Sprout Moles, you come across another picnic Mari set up. Everyone was talking about how Mari always seemed to have things under control, while you were busy rummaging through your pockets to see if anything had changed and a few things had, for better and for worse. 

For the better portion, you found you kept most of the items you had from when you last went through Headspace. Aubrey’s Baseball Bat, Kel’s Basketball, Hero’s Ol’ Reliable, all of Abbi's gifts, even the CLAMS and items you had remained. The worst part was, the important items were no longer in your possession. Considering the signs, it was clear that the quest for Basil was going to happen again once more and even though you have your strongest weapons, the sprout moles took as many hits as they did when you first started. Despite your arsenal and skills, everything else was back at square one.

Now there was something you didn’t understand. You stabbed yourself. Sunny stabbed himself. So why? If that happened, then why is everything back to how it was a few days prior? Is this what happens after death? A repeat of the events before? Is that what Hell was? If you were going through this again, then would Sunny…?

“Omori?” Basil tapped your shoulder, breaking you out of your thoughts. “You spaced out again.”

“You’ve been doing that a lot today. Are you sure everything’s good?” Hero asked with concern. You nod and stand up from the picnic blanket. Hero and the others follow suit while Basil pointed down the path.

“My house is right down this way.” He turned to you and quirked a brow. “Are you sure you’re ready to go? We can stay a little longer if you need to.” You shake your head and begin walking down the path.

“That’s Omori for you.” Kel muttered under his breath.

“See you guys soon!” Mari waved you all off and soon disappears from your line of sight. You reach into your pocket and pull out everyone’s ultimate weapons. You hand Aubrey the Baseball Bat and she takes a few practice swings. Kel bounces the Basketball as he walks and when you hand over Ol’ Reliable to Hero he twirls it in his hands. You also hand them the charms Abbi gave, slipping on the Cough Mask as you handed the other charms to your friends. A large cluster of trees soon appear in the distance and the ground soon begins to shake. You head over to the other side of the trees and find the source of the noise, Ye Old Sprout.

You take out your book of poems and read one, making yourself SAD in the process while Aubrey cheers on Ye Old Sprout and makes him HAPPY. Kel throws his Basketball in Ye Old Sprouts face, which didn’t do all that much. Hero whacking the Sprout with Ol’ Reliable didn’t do hardly anything either. Ye Old Sprout rolls on the ground, the shockwave causing everyone to lose balance and fall over. When you stand, you run up and STAB the Sprout and hit directly in the heart! Aubrey aimed for the Sprouts face and managed to get a hit whilst moving. Hero and Kel braced themselves for Ye Old Sprouts next attack, which was him rolling on the ground again.

When everyone got back up, Hero muttered under his breath. “Oh man, this fight is pretty tough…” He looked over to you and the others and smiled brightly. “But don’t worry! We can do this if we work together! It looks like I’m going to have to teach you all a little something about teamwork!” He chuckled and stared Ye Old Sprout down. “Let’s try again, Omori! We’ll get him this time!”

You all nod and return to your battle formations. Before Hero could explain his plan, you shoot him a look as you take out your poetry book. A plan already in your mind from the last time this happened. You read yourself a poem and become SAD, while Aubrey once again cheers on Ye Old Sprout, making him HAPPY. Kel throws his ball at the Sprouts face once more and Hero takes the time to guard for the enemies attack. You all lose balance and fall over from the Sprouts rolling around. You take out your poetry book again and read a poem to Aubrey, who begins to tear up. She swings at the Sprout with her bat and deals more damage due to the emotional difference, while Kel and Hero attack the Sprout with their respective weapons. You stand up and ready your knife, taking a single slice at Ye Old Sprout before nodding to the others. They nod back and all together you rush at the enemy.

Aubrey swings her bat at Ye Old Sprout eight times, quickly nodding to Kel after the eighth swing to signify his turn. He runs around and throws his ball at the Sprout five times before Hero ran in and whacked the enemy with Ol’ Reliable nine times. Finally it was your turn. You run up to Ye Old Sprout and slash away at him wildly the same amount of times. At the end of the attack, Ye Old Sprout falls over and disappears from existence.

You got 100 CLAMS!

Basil clapped from behind you. “Wow, you guys! That was so amazing!

Kel chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, that was nothin’...”

“Yeah, although, now I feel kind of dumb for interrupting the fight like I did…” Hero winced and scratched his head. “Omori already had a strategy planned out…”

Kel walked up to Hero and patted his shoulder. “Ah, cheer up Hero. If it wasn’t for your lessons on emotional states, we wouldn’t have been able to deal nearly as much damage.” Kel turns to you. “Ain’t that right, Omori?” You nod your head. Technically speaking, Kel was telling the truth. Kel smiles and pats Hero’s shoulder again. “See? You still helped!”

Hero chuckles and scratches his cheek. “I guess that does make me feel better.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small book. “I guess it just kinda stings a bit, since I wrote a whole book on battles and everything…”

“Oh, that sounds useful!” Aubrey’s eyes sparkled at the prospect. “Maybe we could all study it sometime!” She turned to Basil. “I know you’re not the type to fight Basil, but it’s still good to know how to defend yourself!” Basil fidgeted a bit at the idea of himself getting into an actual fight.

“Well, I’ll give it to Omori to hold onto for now.” He hands you the Self-Help Guide and you stick it in your pocket. “If I ever feel  the need, I’ll make a few updates to it.” You nod.

“Cool, cool...Can we go to Basil’s house now?”

Aubrey sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re so impatient, Kel…” You can see Kel getting ready to start something, but before he can, you walk up the steps into the cluster of trees. Up ahead was Basil’s house. A giant shoe in the middle of a lake surrounded by trees. Basil ran ahead of your group and turned towards with his camera out. 

“Say cheese!” Hero, Kel and Aubrey quickly gathered around you in a pose, just as Basil took the picture. He took the polaroid and looked it over. “Aww, it came out kinda blurry…” He made a small, upset hum before putting on a smile. “Well, that’s okay. That gives it character.” He looked in your direction and waved the polaroid. “Hope you don’t mind the photo.”

Aubrey bounced in joy. “Of course we don’t mind! I wanna see it!” Aubrey broke off from the group and walked over to Basil, who seemed a little nervous to show the picture. 

“O-Oh, sure thing.” He held up the picture to Aubrey and squealed at the sight of it.

“We all look so cute!”

Hero joined the two and glanced at the photo while hovering his hands near his head. “How’s my hair?”

“I WANNA SEE!! I WANNA SEE!!” Kel ran up to Basil to look at the photo. You stroll up to the four silently and Basil turns to face you.

“Did you want to look at the photo too?” You nod your head and Basil holds up the photo to you. Just as it did when this first happened, the blurry photo featured you in the middle, emotionless as always, with Kel resting his arm on your shoulder with a wide smile, Aubrey leaning into you and Hero waving from behind you three. “It’s too bad that it came out kinda blurry, but you all still look so cute.” Basil takes out his Photo Album and smiles. “I should add it to my collection!”

“Woo-hoo! Another shot for the Photo Album!” Kel high fived himself and started to try and see where Basil was placing it. He groaned and pushed Aubrey out of the way. “Move over, Aubrey! I can’t see!”

“HEY! STOP PUSHING!” Aubrey pushed Kel back. You roll your eyes at their antics and move Basil away from them.

“Omori?” Basil turns to face you and you respond by pointing at the bickering Kel and Aubrey, who haven’t even noticed Basil’s movement. “Oh…”

“I think Omori did you a favor.” Hero muttered. “If they kept going they would’ve bumped into you…” Finally, as if Hero’s words activated some sort of voice recognition command, Kel and Aubrey stopped pushing each other, noticing that Basil was further away from them.

“Wait, when did you move?” Kel wondered.

Hero pointed a thumb in your direction. “Omori moved him out of the way.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. “You two really need to learn how to get along.” He looked to Basil. “Let’s head inside. We can all look at it better then.”

“That sounds best.” Basil got a head start and made it to the door of his house. “Remember to wipe your feet before you come in!” He walked inside. You glance at the others, who were waiting for you to start moving. It’s a thing with them, so you just start on walking to the door and head inside. Basil was looking over the Photo Album in the middle of the room and you sat down to join him, with the others following suit. The Photo Album was opened on it’s second page, with the new photo taking place as the 12th one. Basil pulled out a pen and tapped his chin with it. “Hmm, what do you think I should write down for it?”

“I think you should mention the fight!” Kel suggested eagerly. “Something like ‘Omori and Co.’s victory after fighting a huge Sprout Mole!’” You and Aubrey both shake your head.

“Wouldn’t that caption make more sense if Basil took the photo directly AFTER we fought the Sprout Mole?” Aubrey quirked a brow and waited for Kel’s response. After a few seconds of Kel struggling to think of one, Aubrey folded her arms and smiled at Basil. “Just write what’s going on and where. Like ‘Omori, Aubrey, Kel and Hero outside of my house.’ with your own little touch.”

Basil looks between Aubrey and Kel before glancing at you for any kind of input. You shrug and Basil chuckles. “I suppose I can take the two suggestions into consideration.” He puts the pen away and closes the Photo Album. “Thanks again, Omori for moving me out of the way. I don’t know how that would’ve ended if I had stayed put.”

“With how they were going, they probably would’ve knocked you over.” Hero muttered. Kel and Aubrey hung their heads low while Basil hummed.

“Maybe. But they just wanted to see my Photo Album. If something happened to it, we could’ve just fixed it!”

“Yeah, maybe, but I still would’ve felt bad about it!” Aubrey replied. “

“Same here.” Kel added.

“Well, at least you guys are acknowledging that your fight could have ended badly.” Hero folded his arms and put on a stern look.

Basil stood up and pocketed his Photo Album. “Well, now that that’s through, let’s take a look at those sprouts! They’ve been growing really well since I first planted them.”

Aubrey jumped up and winced. “Oh, right! I forgot about that.” 

“It’s fine. I got a little sidetracked myself.” Basil began to walk towards the door as the rest of you all stood up. A lone polaroid fell from Basil’s pocket and you begin counting down in your head. Basil looked down and picked up the photo. “Huh? That’s strange. A photo must have been loose.” He stares at the photo and begins to freeze up. “What is this? Did I take this photo? Something about it seems...So familiar.” Basil begins to tremble. “N-No...That can’t be…” He turns to the group. “M̷͎͈̓̃ȃ̵̘̂ŕ̵̰̇i̴̤̐.̴̛̺̈.̴̙̹͑̉.̸̩͎͆͐S̶̖͈̽h̷̝͛̅e̶̛̪'̶͍̝̌s̶̺͘.̴̘̣.̷̨́͠.̷̞̈́̇͜”

Ò̵̩̕n̵̩̞̓̀e̴̬̾̉.̷̪͉̃̔ ̸̖̟͒B̷̩̏̍ỷ̷̠̱̏e̵̟̖͊͠-̶̘̩B̷͔̕ȳ̴̪̓ȩ̸͈̃͊.̶̦͛̓.̵̘̞͐̾.̸̠̼̚

A sudden flash of a broken Violin fills your sight and you find yourself back in White Space. A heartbeat begins to fill the area, like many times before. You quickly pick up your sketchbook and flip through the pages, until you stop on the final one. The one of Ś̶̯̟̠̭͍Ȍ̷̗̥͈̣ͅM̷̼̋Ë̸̡͔͇͓̣͔́̊͛̓T̷̛͈̙̜̙͙̏͜H̸̢͐̇I̶͙̦͑̈́̾͜N̸̟̦̩̝̣͑̏͠ͅG̵̼̱̮̻̜͌. You close the sketchbook and tap your foot on the ground.

W̴̻̾̿h̵̢̝͑͝o̴͉̔ ̵͙͚͝͝ạ̸͝m̸͓̰͠ ̴̖͉͊I̴̩͐͒ ̸͍̜͘k̶̪̖͌͊i̶̜̓̈́ͅd̸̦̤͒̾ḍ̵͇͋i̴̝͑̃n̷͚̦̈́̉g̶̤̭͂?̵͎͛ ̸̰̿̆N̸̦̦̉ȍ̵̰̐n̴̡̽͗ͅȅ̷̠ ̷͓̥̾ǫ̸̱̆̐f̴̰͙͒͋ ̷͚͘t̴̪̞̐h̵̑͜ą̸̇̎t̵̻͌ ̸̲̳̌i̵͚̫̓͂s̵͓̊͝ ̶͉͇̇͝g̵̥͑o̷͇̿i̶̛͚n̵̺͂g̴̙̗̊͒ ̴̠̙͐t̸̩͙͑͂o̴̝͋̽ ̴̘̳͐͊m̴̛̙̰̄a̸̬̹̐t̶͕̘̏̒t̴̤̃͠e̶͖̙̊̐r̶͇͐̈.̸̥͖́͘ ̵̩͛̑A̷̘̚ḟ̴̞ẗ̴̹́̈́e̷̱̯͝r̴̼̍̈́ ̷̯̂̈́a̵̘̘̾l̴̬̃ḽ̴̨̑.̵̥̞̕.̷̬͊͆.̶͚̫̌̒ You take out your knife and twirl it in your hand. N̸̪̳o̵̺̐t̷̿̿͜h̷͎͙̏ḯ̵̡n̸͉̕͝g̷̢͉̍͂ ̸̙͋i̴̲͚̎̉s̶̡̱̈́̇ ̷̺̜̄g̸̘̉ŏ̸̭̗̓ǐ̴͕̦n̵͚̞͒g̴̬͌ ̸̰̅t̸̫̕o̵̭̻̽͠ ̸̛̯c̸̩̒ȟ̶̘̤͐ā̵̲̑n̶̝͋̉g̸͖͉̏͠e̸̬.̶̖̃͗.̵̼̦̊.̵̠͎̔͌ You stab yourself in the abdomen and twist the knife around, collapsing onto the floor.

L̸̛̥͠ò̵̫͋o̴̙̿k̷̻̖̃͘ ̵͖̿̿a̸̭̯͗ṭ̷̲͛ ̷̘͎̆a̷̙̹̒̃l̸͔̿l̶̼̱̎ ̵̢͇̄̈ö̴̹͍́͑f̷̋͗͜ ̸͖̺̈́u̷̗̔s̴͓̐̚ͅ.̷̝͙̄̕.̸͇̣͌.̵̣͊

The two boys are sitting next to one another, looking over various photos.

̸̖̋

̸̮̳̾T̴͇̏͆h̶̼̪̐e̴̢͎͆ś̸̠̳e̶̩̅́ ̶̙͆a̸͉̥͂r̷͇̋e̷̬͑ ̷͆ͅà̷̘l̸̘͗l̵̫̾ ̴̗̼́o̴̘̿̈́͜f̶͕̖̓ ̸̖̗̇͘o̷̺̿͝u̷͈̕r̴̜̂̉ ̶̧͔̿̔m̷͖̓è̵̖̭̚m̴͖̠̊̂o̴̧̾r̸̛͕i̸̧̧͌̊ė̷̥͒s̸̳̾̓͜ ̸͙͕t̵͓̽̓ő̷͇͘ǧ̴̰͠ę̸͖͊t̴̯̖̔͆h̷̊̽͜e̸̼͆͑r̸͎̤͛͛.̷̮̲̿.̷̥̌.̴̬͋

The scene pans out, focusing solely on the photos littering the ground.

̵̨̈́

̸̳̭̈́̓T̴̠͝h̸͎́͌e̵̯͓͘y̵̤͌'̴̺̏ṟ̵͌̂e̷̹̬͛̓ ̶̭̤̈́ă̶͚̒ ̵̛͙̒ḽ̶͠i̴̻͘t̴͖̋t̷̡͋̌l̶͓̭̔e̸͍͖̋ ̶̙̯̊ş̶̙͋̆a̸͓͠d̶͈̫̎ ̴̢̟͠n̸̦̏̽ö̵̲̲w̶̛͙̞͂.̸̧̣͋̚.̴͖̤̓͐.̶̧̥̀͝

̴̭͖̊

̶̟̈́͌B̴̪̓ǘ̸͈̱͝t̵̘́ ̵̨̢̔̒w̵͖̣͊e̶͉̗͂͒ ̶̢̩̾̆s̸͕̞̔h̴̩̥̆͘ơ̴̬̚ͅu̶̡͂l̴̞̓d̶̳̥̂ ̷̩̾b̵̟̯̆̑e̷̮̓ ̸̠̦̽h̶̗͛͐a̸͇̟̎̽p̵͕̣̋̂p̸̠̻̄y̵̱̍͝ͅ ̶̧̥̈́̇t̷͕̊̃h̵͇͠a̴̭̾t̸̞̅ ̵͖͐̾t̵̳̍h̸̳͖͐͝e̷̱͛y̶̛͓̯̿ ̶̱̈́͑h̷͈̑a̸͉̋p̶̼̩̎p̵̳̒e̷̪̱͑̑n̶̠̏ē̵̼̜̓d̴̗͘ ̵̪a̷̟̙̓ť̸͎̺͊ ̸̝̻̆̾a̵̖͛͋l̸̪̃͜l̷̡͑̄.̵̩̏.̷̰̜͌͝.̵̠͒

The two stand up and hold one another’s hand for comfort, still looking over the littered photographs.

̴̞̈

̵͙̭͛Ḻ̴̚e̸͍̘̐͑t̵̙̓'̸͚̳̊s̵̨̛͈͊ ̴̥̞̏m̷͖̒͂á̶̝͈k̶̩͠ĕ̶͕̺́ ̷̳̯̓̂s̶͈̗̑͝o̵̮͓͛̃m̸͉͌̿ê̶͖ ̴̝̆̽n̶̩͝e̸̩̟̓w̷̟̻͐ ̵͇͝m̶̖͓̂e̸͚̦̅m̸̠͛o̴̘̊r̴̖̓i̵̢͂e̷͖̣̽͗s̶̞̙͑ ̸̬̏͝t̷͈͕̄͗õ̵͚̩g̴͔͇̽̕ę̶̜̇̐t̶̼͕͛h̷̗̬͑̓ĕ̸͈r̵̫̂̕,̴̯͈ ̷̬͊o̵͔̗͆ḵ̶̋̚a̷̦̞͊ý̴̡̱?̴̩̩̓

The scene begins to get engulfed by darkness, until there is nothing visible. One thing however, stood out amongst the darkness. The glow of a lone, White Tulip.

Chapter Text

Sunny woke up in the dead of night. Not peacefully mind you, he actually nearly fell out of his bed, clutching his abdomen as a sharp pain surged through it, but he managed not to and was sitting up on his bed. He ran a hand down his face and moved towards the edge of the bed, where he took in a deep breath and sighed. That was both terrifying and odd at the same time. He scratched his head and began to think. I didn’t think dreams could get that realistic...Or dark… He tapped his foot on the ground and glanced around the dark room. At least...I hope that was a dream. A chill was sent up his spine at the thought. Actually, he was freezing, like his entire house was placed inside of the fridge. He tilted his head and hummed. That actually sounded interesting. Minus the part where it’d be so cold that the heat would barely do anything.

Sunny stood up from his bed and was struck with hunger pains immediately. Sunny sighed and walked over to the light switch of his room. Well, if that’s going to be a thing, I might as well have the ability to see where I’m going. He reached over one of the many cardboard boxes scattered about his room and flicked the light switch, only for nothing to happen. Eh? He flicked the switch up and down to no avail. Now way...Is the power out or...? He took another glance around the room and noticed a blinking light from his phone. Quirking a brow, he walked over and saw that he had a voicemail.

“Hey Sunny, it’s Mommy. I’m still in the city setting things up for our new home. Did you finish packing yet?” Sunny did a quick mental recap of all the things he has done so far and winced. He was nowhere near done at the moment. “The movers are going to be at our house in a few days, so I left a list of things for you to do before they arrive.” 

Wait...This all sounds- 

“Also, sorry! Mommy messed up! I forgot to tell the electric company that we need a few extra days before we’re ready to move, so the lights might cut out sometime tonight.” 

She said all this in my dream...Does that mean…? 

“Anyway...I know moving to a new place can be a little nerve-wracking right now, but I think a change of scenery will be positive for the both of us! I know you haven’t talked to anyone in a while, but you might want to say goodbye to your old friends before we leave. Kel has been trying really hard to get a hold of you ever since we put our house up for sale. He’s been calling us every week for the past few months!”

Sunny frowned.

“He seems a little lonely...Maybe you should pay him a visit. Ok, that’s it for now! Mommy loves you! Bye, honey!” The voicemail ended and the lights of the phone went dark. 

Sunny walked over to a desk by the door and picked up a piece of paper sitting on it. Despite the fact that the house was shrouded in darkness, Sunny could read what was written on the paper clearly. Sweep the floors. Clean the dishes and organize his belongings. His stomach growled as he set the paper down. Ok, I know I’m known for my imagination, but if I had a dream that featured the light scenario and the explanation from the voicemail, then does that mean… His stomach growled again. He sighed. “Okay, fine, food first...”

Sunny walked out of his room and into the hallway, cloaked in darkness. Great… Sunny groaned and walked over to the bathroom door so he could walk inside and just stare at his reflection for a bit. It became a habit of his for awhile but he can’t remember when or why. The moment he entered the bathroom, he got colder. He shivered more and more as he got closer to the mirror. What the hell is happening? He glanced up at the mirror and flinched at the sight. His reflection was caked in blood and paler than he normally is, with a hole in the middle of his torso. Sunny turned away from the mirror and let out a shaky breath.

Somehow, I find that more disturbing than anything else I’ve seen in the mirror. Sunny rubbed his hands together to try and warm them up as he stepped out of the bathroom. Actually, when was the last time I actually reacted like that…? Sunny hummed as he approached the stairs, trying to keep his gaze from peering down. His stomach growled once again and he sighed. God...Damn it… He glanced down at the steps and dug his fingers into his head. Downstairs is the only way to get food. If you don’t get food, you won’t be able to fall asleep and if you don’t get some sleep you’re going to be miserable all day and possibly pass out during one of your chores! 

Sunny looked down and could make out the faint image of Ş̴͊̃̒O̵̟̎M̶͈̲͇̙̉̐E̶͚̰̥̳̐̽Ţ̴͎̅̆̕H̶͍͔͛͂̓͒͜ͅI̴̱̝̠̮͛̉N̶̨̮̯̆Ǧ̸̫̘̚͜ moving in the dark at the bottom of the stairs. Hands began tracing the height of the stairs and a twisted smile began to take shape in the darkness. Sunny could feel the world starting to spin and making him lose balance, collapsing onto his knees as gravity seemed to increase solely on him, as Ş̴͊̃̒O̵̟̎M̶͈̲͇̙̉̐E̶͚̰̥̳̐̽Ţ̴͎̅̆̕H̶͍͔͛͂̓͒͜ͅI̴̱̝̠̮͛̉N̶̨̮̯̆Ǧ̸̫̘̚͜ tried to pull him down towards it's gaping maw. Sunny began to hyperventilate and bite into his fingers. Sunny was AFRAID.

Sunny...Take a deep breath...Don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think.

Sunny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just like in your dream...Keep calm, and nothing bad will happen. He took another deep breath and stood up, grasping onto the railing as tight as he could. With one last breath, he opened his eyes and began to walk down the stairs, focusing all his attention on each step to avoid missing a single one. When he reached the bottom he let go of the railing and sighed in relief. Nothing to be afraid of…

Sunny turned to his right and grabbed a first aid kit that was sitting on a table just in case. With that in hand, he walked into the living room and turned right into the kitchen. The first thing Sunny did was look in the fridge, finding a Cold Steak sitting alone inside. He grimaced at the sight of it.

Sunny took the Steak out of the fridge and set it in the microwave. He wasn’t sure how long to cook it for, so he set a random time and waited.  The microwave beeped after a few minutes and Sunny took the Steak out and set it down on the counter top. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a fork and grabbed the Steak Knife that was placed near the sink. Another hunger pain struck and Sunny wasted no time on devouring the Microwaved Steak.

He didn’t eat it slowly, nor did he eat smaller portions to avoid risk of choking. He stabbed the fork into the Steak meat and carved a piece larger than his entire mouth, a red liquid flowing onto the plate as he did so. He didn’t chew the portions until the entirety of it was gone from the fork. He had already started carving the next portion out as he was still chewing the previous one, the food still too whole for him to swallow. In a matter of minutes, the Steak was gone, leaving nothing but red liquid and insignificant pieces left on the plate. 

Sunny set the fork onto the plate and pocketed the knife, not bothering to wash it. Suddenly, even worse sounding than when he was hungry, Sunny’s stomach growled and he could feel the Steak starting to come back up. He clutched his abdomen and hovered a hand over his mouth as he rushed out of the kitchen and through the living room, going back up the stairs towards the bathroom. His vision started to get obstructed by tears welling up in his eyes and his throat felt like it was closing in on itself with each breath. He burst through the bathroom door and made his way to the toilet.

He closed the fridge door and shook his head. “I’ll find something else.” He could feel himself gagging at the...Memory? Dream? He still didn’t know. It felt so real and yet...A hunger pain interrupted his train of thought. “Right. Food.” Sunny made a quick glance towards the Steak Knife and shook his head. No...I’ll find something that doesn’t require that… He crouched down and began rummaging through all the cupboards and where he could stay on the ground. After about a minute of searching and finding nothing, he ran a hand down his face and sighed angrily. There’s gotta be something she didn’t pack! 

Sunny grabbed the chair that was sitting in front of a couple drawers and placed it in front of the fridge, using it to boost himself up and check the cupboards above the fridge. C’mon...Anything? He reached far into the cupboard as best he could with what he had. Patting down on the bottom of the cupboard, his fingers brushed past the corner of a box. Bingo! He stood on the tip of his toes and managed to tip the box over for him to drag it out. With his prize in hand, he closed the cupboard and sat down on the chair like it was made for.

Let’s see, these are…? Sunny examined the box, needing to squint in order to see the label. Saltine Crackers? Eh, better than nothing. Sunny opened the box and took out a pack of the crackers, ripping it open and eating the crackers two at a time. The only flavor present being that of the salt. He didn’t mind though, just as long as he ate something that wouldn’t disagree with his stomach. At least the salt should help with that. Unfortunately, one pack wasn’t filling enough, so he ended up eating another one. He threw away the plastics in the trash and left the box sitting on the counter in case he needed to come back down for more. He moved the chair away from the fridge and began to leave the kitchen, when his eyes once again fell on the knife.

The bladed tool seemed to both beckon and taunt him. Sunny had always felt that the knife would keep him safe, which, ignoring his dream-memory-thing, it had. The last time he had used it was when his hair had gotten long enough to reach past his shoulder blades. It wasn't that big of an issue for him, the heat being the only downside, but when he had looked in the mirror one time, he saw Ş̴͊̃̒O̵̟̎M̶͈̲͇̙̉̐E̶͚̰̥̳̐̽Ţ̴͎̅̆̕H̶͍͔͛͂̓͒͜ͅI̴̱̝̠̮͛̉N̶̨̮̯̆Ǧ̸̫̘̚͜, instead of himself. He ended up using the knife to cut his hair back to it's original length. Looking back on that, it wasn't his best idea. He had a few small scars on his forehead as well of a few near his ears and a slightly larger one on his neck that all made a split in between his hair. Not to mention it made his hair feel all scratchy, with several split ends that annoyingly rubbed against his ears. He rubbed the scar on the back of his neck absentmindedly as he stared the knife down.

As if running on autopilot, Sunny walked over to the Knife and reached a hand towards it. The moment his fingers brushed up against the handle, the world around him seemed to go even darker, with the handle of the knife feeling warm and wet. The countertop it rested on was now a mess, stained in some kind of dark liquid. Sunny backed away from the knife and everything went back to normal. He took one last glance at the Knife before shaking his head and leaving the kitchen, the Knife left behind on the counter. Sunny only made it to the doorway, with the stairs in sight, before a knock on the door made him freeze in his tracks.

Sunny walked out of the bathroom, with the sound of someone knocking on the front door echoing throughout the house. Sunny raised a brow and walked back downstairs to the front door. The moment he stepped foot near it, the knocking stopped. “Hey, Sunny! It’s Mari!” Sunny’s eyes went wide. “I’m finally back home, but I forgot my keys…” Sunny shook his head. “Could you open the door for me?”

Sunny was at a stalemate. A part of him wanted to open the door. After all, she was his big sister. But, he knew deep down that something was wrong. That this was too good to be true. Sunny drew in a breath and placed his hand on the doorknob, his senses screaming at him to run back upstairs and go to bed, but he needed to know. 

He cracked the door open slightly and began to slowly survey the outside, looking for a trace of Mari. His gaze fell on the slight image of a white nightgown. His mind was running on overdrive, telling him to close the door and leave. Sunny didn’t listen to it. In a swift motion, he opened the door and quickly shut it. Opening it was a mistake. That wasn’t Mari on the other side of the door. It’s neck was crooked and hanging over it’s right side, it’s mouth was extended to an inhuman amount and it’s eyes...There was nothing there. Just a hollow emptiness.

Sunny shook his head and bolted away from the door and up the stairs. He tried to make it to his room, but in his haste, he accidentally walked into the bathroom. He didn’t care though. As long as he didn’t see it again. He walked up to the mirror to collect his thoughts, only to see it standing right behind him in the mirror’s reflection. He shook his head and left the bathroom, entering his room proper and lying down in his bed.

Another knock echoed throughout the house. Sunny choked on his own breath as he rapidly shook his head. He knew better this time. Fool me once, shame on you… He nodded to himself and walked on forward and up the stairs, keeping his gaze fixated forwards. He opened the door to his room with as much force as he could and closed it in the same manner, practically sprinting to his bed and jumping in.

He took a deep breath and gazed around the room. A strange sense of dread washing over him. It was safer inside of his house than outside of it. That’s how it was for four yours. Yet in just this one occurrence, he started to question that. Was that really a dream? There's no way I could have dreamt three whole days...Especially that voicemail. I couldn't have dreamt that she would say that, nor could I have dreamt about the lights. There's too many coincidences...

Sunny's chest began to feel like it was being crushed. Every breath he tried to take ended up choked and brief. He managed to lift his hands up to his face and dug his palms into his eye as he tried to sort his thoughts. With every breath, the crushing sensation grew, soon leaving him pulling at his hair as best he could, ripping out a few strands with each pull. Soon, his hands fell limply to his sides as his mind began to draw a blank. With a final strained breath, Sunny, rather forcefully, fell asleep.

WELCOME TO WHITE SPACE.

YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING HERE FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN REMEMBER.

Chapter Text

The moment you open your eyes you turn your attention to the laptop and boot it up. The black and white brick wallpaper quickly glitched away, leaving in it’s wake a game of Hangman, where the needed Key’s were blank once again. You sigh without any sound leaving your mouth. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. If it was, you wouldn’t have to look for Basil again. You turn off the laptop and stand up just in time for another rumble to occur. You walk over to where you found your Knife earlier and find a Map of Headspace. Thankfully, all the area names were filled out, so there’s a plus.

You pocket the Map and walk towards one of the hands crawling about White Space, letting it take you back to the door to Neighbor’s Room. With the Map in hand and knowledge of which Keys were important, you open the door and head into Neighbor’s Room. Aubrey, Hero and Kel were in the middle of a discussion, no doubt about where Basil had gone, when Aubrey noticed and ran up to you, with Kel and Hero following suit shortly afterwards. “Omori! Thank goodness you’re here!” Aubrey sighed in relief.

“Have you seen Basil?” Kel asks. “We can’t find him anywhere.” Kel and Aubrey looked at you expectantly, but when you shrug in response, they both make a noise of frustration, concern and nervousness and back away to the cards. Hero sets a hand on your shoulder.

“We should tell Mari you’re okay. She’s been worried sick!” You nod and make your way to the stairs, with everyone shadowing your movements. The snake slithers by and stops you.

(Going out Omori?) You nod in response, and the snake nods back, lifting it’s tail towards you. (Here is your allowance for today.) The snake deposits 400 CLAMS into your hands and you pocket them happily. Double the CLAMS gained is the one thing you're not complaining about.

When you step out of Neighbor’s Room, the first thing you notice is a trail of what appears to be blood leading up to the first important Key you need for Black Space. When your fingers graze the Key, your vision darkens and only the Key becomes visible, with a loud blaring echoing in your ears. You blink and everything returns to normal. Looking down where the Key was, instead of the usual hole, a Tulip has grown in it’s place. Weird, but not important. Walking into the playground, you approach Mari’s picnic blanket and Mari smiles at you. “Omori! You’re Okay!” She walks up and gives you a hug. “Don’t worry me like that.” She backs away and looks at the group with a raised brow. “Where’s Basil? He’s not with you, Omori?”

Hero scratches his head. “No...I’m afraid not. The last thing I remember was Basil showing us the new photo he took when we got to his house.” Hero folded his arms and sighed. “And the next thing I know...I’m waking up in Neighbor’s Room with Aubrey and Kel.”

Aubrey and Kel nodded before the former looks in your direction. “At least we found you, Omori…But I hope Basil is okay. Who’s going to protect him if we’re not there?”

Kel playfully slugs Aubrey in the arm. “Don’t be such a downer, Aubrey! We’ll find Basil for sure!”

Mari clapped her hands together. “You’re absolutely right, Kel. It’s at times like these when we gotta stay positive!” 

Hero turned to the south end of the playground and hummed. “Why don’t we go back to Basil’s house? There might be something that we missed.”

“That’s the spirit, Hero.” Mari nodded and sat back down on the picnic blanket. “And as always, I’ll be here if you need me!” You and the others nod, making your way south. You pass by a mirror and decide to look at your reflection. Your friends gather behind you and smile at the reflection. After a second or two you walk away from the mirror and exit the playground.

Walking down the southern path, leading to Basil’s house, you stop at Basil’s Sunflowers, with one group looking dry and near death. You pick up the watering can and water the dry flowers. Before you did it out of concern, but now it’s mainly for the HEART bonus you seemed to get from watering the flowers. You set the watering can down and continue walking down the path, passing by all the other flowers and cacti as you go, making a mental note to come back after a certain period of time. When you happen upon  Mari’s picnic, you decide to have a break with your friends.

“Do you think Basil is okay?” Aubrey asks, staring down the path. “I feel like maybe we should be more worried…”

Hero taps his chin and hums. “His disappearance is concerning...But it won’t help anyone to get too worked up over it.”

Aubrey starts fidgeting and tearing up. “Basil is really trusting...He’ll believe anything anyone says!” She sits down and pulls on the grass in front of her. “What if someone tricked him into something? Or maybe he’s fallen into a trap!”

Hero scoots up to Aubrey and pats her back. “Calm down, Aubrey...I’m sure we’ll find him!”

Mari perks her head up and claps her hands together. “I know! Why don’t you all water his flowers while he’s away? I’m sure he’ll be super thankful once he’s back.” You nod your head in agreement, mainly because that’s what you were already planning on doing. Aubrey sniffles as she tries to hold back tears and Kel frowned.

“Aww...Aubrey, come on! I don’t like it when you cry!” He sits up and fist pumps the air. “Cheer up! On the outside, Basil may seem really soft, but he’s actually pretty strong on the inside. Basil can take care of himself! You should believe in him a little more!”

Aubrey sniffles and wipes her eyes. “Well, when you put it that way…” Aubrey goes silent for a second and then nods. “Okay, I’ll try and believe in Basil…” She turns to Kel and smiles. “Thanks, Kel.”

Kel groans. “Ahh! Don’t smile at me! It’s creepy!”

“You’re creepy!” Aubrey huffs. You roll your eyes, both because of Aubrey and Kel’s antics and because you know that believing in Basil is not really working out so well. You stand up and continue down the path, waving Mari goodbye as she leaves you line of sight. You walk through the large cluster of trees and up to Basil’s house, opening the door just in time to see S̷̳͕̆̾̔Ô̷̐̚͝ͅM̶̞̫̆E̷̛̟̲̹T̷̖̰̬͛̊̕Ḣ̶͖I̸̢͉͑̃̚N̴̤̈́͋̚G̵̖̎̓̄ͅ hovering over a hole in the floor and disappear from your sight. You and the others walk in, looking around for any sign of Basil.

Hero scratches his head and sighs. “Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.”

Kel whines. “Do you think Basil just left somewhere without telling us?”

Aubrey shakes her head. “I don’t know...That doesn’t sound like him. He’s usually so considerate about these things” A moment of silence passes before Aubrey speaks again. “Guys, I’m really worried. Is there nothing we can do? What if we can’t find him? What if he’s in danger?”

Hero sighs and sets a hand on Aubrey’s shoulder. “Stay calm, Aubrey...I’m worried too, but that won’t solve anything.” He looks towards you. “Let’s go look around the forest. Maybe he wandered off and got lost.” Kel walked up and patted Aubrey’s back. 

“Yeah! Cheer up, Aubrey! We’ll find Basil!”

Aubrey wiped her eyes and nodded. “You guys are right...Okay! We gotta keep our hopes up! Let’s look for Basil in the Vast Forest!” You nod and exit the house.

Walking into the Vast Forest, Kel rushes ahead of everyone and shouts. “BAAAAAASIIIILLLLLLLLL!!” Aubrey walks up behind Kel and follows suit to a much lesser degree.

“BASIL, WHERE ARE YOU?”

You all look around before Kel perks his head up and reaches into his pocket. “I know! I bet my pet rock will know what to do!” He runs further ahead and primes himself to throw. “Hector Jr, be a good boy. Go find Basil!” He throws Hector Jr ahead of everybody else. Hector Jr lands in the dirt and remains still. Kel walked up to Hector Jr and picked him up, giving him a small pet. “You tried your best buddy.”

Aubrey huffed and walked up to Kel, slapping him upside the head. “This is no time to fool around, Kel!”

Kel turned to Aubrey with an angry look, rubbing the spot where she hit. “Why you...Hector Jr was just trying to help!”

Hero sighed and stepped in between them. “Let it go, you two...We need to keep ourselves focused.” You walk past them and further into the forest. You see a trail of blood leading up to the Pinwheel Forest that resides above the Vast Forest. You make a mental note to check back soon, but for now, you make your way to the Foggy Bridge that connects the two sides of the Vast Forest. A couple of bunnies block your path, but you make short work of them using your FINAL STRIKE, piercing through their defense.

You got 16 CLAMS!

You maneuver past Bunnies and Sprout Moles, crossing a small bridge and soon coming across another blood trail, leading onto the Foggy Bridge. You start crossing the bridge when Kel hums. “I don’t know, guys...I don’t think Basil is in this forest.”

“But we haven’t even searched the whole forest yet! We can’t stop now!”

“Cheer up, Aubrey. We’ll keep searching until we find him.” Hero smiles and then pats Aubrey on the shoulder before walking up to you with a more serious look. “If we don’t find Basil soon, Maybe we should meet up with Mari at the playground and figure out what to do from there.” You nod and continue forward, grabbing at the next Key and go through the whole process once again. When your vision returns to normal, you notice yet another Tulip has grown where the Key was. You raise a brow but continue without any more interruptions.

Sprinting across the bridge, you end up on the other side, where a root was blocking your path. You strike it down and get ambushed by a Lost Sprout Mole, who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You use that advantage to MOCK the enemy’s emotion for more damage. Kel throws his Basketball and it curves towards the Sprout Mole, finishing it off.

You got 4 CLAMS!

With that little interruption out of the way, you continue walking through the forest, opting to ignore the Train Station, since it has no use for you at the moment. You come across Life Jam, Cherry Soda, Tofu and even some Jacks before you wander back at the crossroads. Instead of heading back up to the playground, you go to the other side of the Vast Forest once again and decide to follow the blood trail up to Pinwheel Forest.

Getting in your way were a couple of SAD Lost Sprout Moles. You attack one of them, taking the opportunity to ready your blade and attack a couple more times. Aubrey HEADBUTTS the weakened Sprout Mole and it falls over, fading from existence. Kel hits the second Sprout Mole with a SNOWBALL and Hero finishes it off with a hit of Ol’ Reliable.

You got 4 CLAMS!

You continue following the trail, cutting down some roots blocking your path and come across a tall ladder leading far up into the sky. “This is a pretty long ladder, huh?” Aubrey comments.

“Eh...It’s pretty tall…But not as tall as the one east of the stump!” Kel raises his hand above his head for emphasis. “That one goes all the way up to space!”

Aubrey taps your shoulder. “You’re really afraid of heights, aren’t you Omori?” You turn towards her. “It’s okay...We don’t have to look up there.” You shake your head and grab onto the rungs, causing concerned looks from the others. “Are you sure you want to?” You nod your head. Kel walks up and pats your back. 

“Don’t worry, Omori! If you fall, we’ll be right there to catch you!” Kel then gets slapped upside the head by Aubrey. “Ow! Hey!”

“Don’t talk about falling! That’ll make things worse!” Hero steps in between the two before things get out of hand and looks at you. 

“It’s your call, Omori. Mari always says you’re stronger than you think, so if you want to try, we’ll be right behind you!” You nod to Hero and he smiles and nods back. Turning back to the ladder, you take a soundless breath and start climbing. After all, you stopped being afraid of heights a long time ago.

You hear the others follow suit and you all climb up. The trees soon leave your sight and are replaced by thick clouds with the stars just barely visible behind them. Soon, a large rock formation enters your field of view, with the sounds of wind blowing on pinwheels. At the top of the ladder is another forest of trees and rife with pinwheels. Pinwheel Forest as it’s called, despite having about the same amount of pinwheels as Vast Forest does. You walk up to a tree as the others climb up right behind you. Aubrey runs up to you with sparkles in her eyes. “Omori! You did it! You conquered your fear!”

Hero walks up and gives you a congratulatory pat on the head. “Good job, Omori! Wait till Mari hears about this, she’ll be ECSTATIC!” You nod and look over to Kel, who was patting his pockets with a worried expression.

“Shoot...Where is he? I just had him!”

Hero tilts his head. “Where is who?”

“Hector Jr, my pet rock! I swear I just had him in my pocket!” Kel turns back to the ladder and knelt down next to it, looking at the bottom below. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! HECTOR JRRRRRRRRRR!!!!” Kel starts to tear up. “He must have fallen out of my pocket when I wasn’t paying attention…” He sniffles and holds his hand to his chest. “I’m sorry, Hector Jr…I should have been more careful…”

Aubrey blinks and folds her arms. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a rock, right?”

Kel jumps up and turns to Aubrey with an angry expression. “Don’t you dare say that! He’s not just a rock...HE’S FAMILY!!!” Hero walks up to Kel and gently pats his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry! I’m sure he’ll turn up soon, Kel. Probably…”

Kel wipes his eyes and nods. “I sure hope so…” He turns back towards the ladder and looks out into the distance. “Wait for me, Hector Jr! I’ll find you...I promise!” You and Aubrey look at each other and you just shrug. Going further into the forest, you come across a pinwheel that is unmoving despite the wind.

“Huh? That’s odd.” Hero scratches his chin. “How come this one isn’t moving?”

“It looks like something is keeping it stuck.” Aubrey points to the back of the pinwheel, where a watermelon is jamming the pinwheel.

“Oh, I bet I could get it unstuck!” Kel looks at you. “Hey, Omori! You know how you can cut roots with your knife? Well, you’re not the only one with a special ability! With the right elevation, I can throw my Rubber Ball at an object that might block our path! Aubrey and Hero have their own special abilities too!” Kel holds up his hand. “Just tag me in and I can fix that pinwheel up!” You walk over to Kel and touch his shoulder. Kel holds his hand above his head and chuckles. “Hey, I’m getting taller!” He runs up to a nearby platform and climbs it, closing one eye and holding out his thumb to aim. He takes out his Rubber Ball and chucks it at the pinwheel, hitting it dead-on in the middle. The watermelon comes loose and falls to the ground, letting the pinwheel blow in the wind.

You walk up to the watermelon and pick up a plate of Spaghetti from it. Kel runs up and tags you. You give him a thumbs up and continue walking around the forest, coming across another Key sitting on a bench. You grab it and go through the process one more time. Nearby, another Tulip had grown, with a smaller Tulip growing next to it. By this point, you’re starting to get even more curious and walk up to the Tulips, touching them lightly with your fingers. Nothing happens. You furrow your brows and tilt your head. Ō̶͙͆̆̈́̚d̶̯̭͙̂̉͝ͅḑ̸͙̚͘͜.̵̱̰́.̸̲̪̟̽.̶̩̩͎͚̃͂

You leave the Tulips and begin walking down the path, leading up to a cliff face with Mari’s picnic a few feet away from it. Upon seeing you, Mari stands up and approaches. “Omori!” She gives you a quick hug before backing away to the picnic blanket. “If you’re here, I guess that means you conquered your fear of heights! I knew you had it in you!” She faces the others. “So, how’s it going? Have you found Basil yet?”

Hero shook his head. “No luck so far, I’m afraid…”

“Oh…” Mari sat down on the picnic blanket and held her head low. “I’m sorry, guys. I wish there was a way I could help more.”

“We’re all doing our best…” Hero looked out towards the cliff and hummed. “Maybe we should start looking outside the forest.” 

Kel suddenly gasps. “I know! Why don’t we try climbing that really long ladder? The one east of the stump! Maybe Basil is somewhere up there! Omori conquered his fear, so we shouldn’t have too much trouble!”

Aubrey winced. “I don’t know, Kel...Omori just barely started, so that might be too much for him still.”

“We gotta take our chances, Aubrey.”

“I know...But…”

“Omori is growing stronger and stronger every day. If he can handle the ladder leading to here, he can handle the ladder east of the stump, can’t he?” Mari smiled gently.

Hero turned to Aubrey. “I know it’s natural to feel nervous for Omori, but we need to show that we believe in him!”

Kel walked up and patted you on the shoulder. “Come on, Omori! It’s just one more measly ladder! What’s the worst that could happen?”

Aubrey sighed and looked your way. “Are you going to be okay for another climb, Omori?” You nod your head and Aubrey brightens up. “Okay! If you’re up for it, then I’m up for it too!” She leans in close and you lean away slightly. “But if you get scared, you can always count on me to back you up!”

“Thanks, Omori. You got some real courage.”

Kel fist pumped the air. “WOO-HOO!!!” He started gesturing back to where you all came from. “Let's go! Let’s go! To the ladder east of the stump!”

Aubrey held a finger over her mouth. “Shh! Keep it down! It’s not just us here!” She pointed over to a kid flying a Kite. “Can’t you see that boy with his Kite? He looks like he’s concentrating real hard….”

“Oops...Sorry Kite Kid…” Kite Kid looks back towards the group for a split second before turning his attention back to his Kite. You walk up to the kid and tap his shoulder, much to Aubrey’s dismay.

“Omori! Not you too!”

“Actually, now that I think about it, he might’ve seen Basil!” Kel runs up next to you and you can hear Aubrey groan in the distance. “Excuse me, Kite Kid? We’re looking for our friend Basil, have you seen him? Green hair, wears a flower crown?” Kite Kid stayed silent, keeping his gaze locked onto his Kite. Kel raised a brow and spoke louder into Kite Kid’s ear. “HELLOOOO!?” Another beat of silence. Kel turns towards you, hoping you had any ideas. You shrug and Kel turns back to Kite Kid. “Can he even hear us?” Kel wondered aloud. He started to poke Kite Kid’s cheek in an attempt to grab his attention.

A sigh escapes Kite Kid’s mouth, before his Kite swooped down and scared Kel away from him. You and Kel back up towards the picnic blanket and Kite Kid fully turns towards you, his Kite floating idly behind him. “I’m just a boy with his Kite. We may not look like much, but we have an unbreakable bond.” He tightens his grip on the Kite string as his Kite closes it’s eyes and nods. “It’s not something just anyone would understand.”

Aubrey went wide-eyed and held her hands up. “N-Now hold on, we didn’t mean to-”

“We’ll show you how strong we are when we work together!”

“Dang it, Kel!” Aubrey shouts as you all take up battle formations. Hero DAZZLES Kite Kid, making him HAPPY, while Kel’s Basketball bounces everywhere, damaging Kite Kid and his Kite. Kite Kid brags about his Kite while you deploy a Rain Cloud to make you and your friends SAD and Aubrey swings her Bat and deals extra damage to Kite Kid due to the emotion differences.

Kite Kid puffs his chest proudly and throws a few Jacks at Aubrey, reducing her speed. Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS, dealing damage a few times to Kite Kid, one of which hitting right in the heart. You TRICK Kite Kid and reduce his speed as he takes damage. Aubrey throws her bat and it flys back to her, hitting Kite Kid on it’s journey and Hero takes out his Tenderizer and uses it against Kid’s Kite.

Kel uses his speed to his advantage and throws his ball at Kid’s Kite before it struck first. Kid’s Kite swoops down towards Kel, causing some damage and Kite Kid throws some Jacks in your direction, reducing your speed. You take that opportunity to STAB Kite Kid, dealing extra damage thanks to your emotion. Aubrey runs up and HEADBUTTS Kid’s Kite and Hero takes the Kite down using Ol’ Reliable. Kite Kid quickly repaired his Kite.

Kite Kid throws some Jacks at Hero and Kel throws his ball at Kite Kid. You slash at Kite Kid and Aubrey whack him with her Bat. Kite Kid shakes his head. “No...This can’t be...The wind...It’s getting weaker!” Hero throws a couple Jacks at Kite Kid as revenge. Kel throws his ball at Kid’s Kite and you take the chance to slash the Kite. Aubrey whacks Kite Kid again and Hero attacks the Kite as well. Kid’s Kite swooped down at Hero in retaliation. You, Kel and Aubrey attack the Kite and knock it down again, while Hero attacks Kite Kid.

After repairing his Kite again, Kite Kid throws some Jacks at Aubrey and Kel attacks the repaired Kite. You slash at Kite Kid and nod at everyone, signaling to them to rush at Kite Kid and his Kite. Aubrey whacks the both of them a few times with her Bat and Kel’s Basketball hit the two back and forth before Hero rushed in and rapidly attacked with Ol’ Reliable, ending with you slashing away at the two with your knife. “But me and my Kite have an unbreakable bond…How could we lose?” Kite Kid collapses onto his knee and sighs.

You got 1,050 CLAMS!

After that little confrontation, you head back down the ladder and backtrack your way to the playground, where a trail was leading north to the stump and the ladder to Otherworld. As you walk back into the playground, you notice Berly pacing next to the tetherball pole, which was missing the ball. Aubrey already knows how to HEADBUTT, but you decide to approach anyway. Hero cleared his throat and turned to Van. “Hey, Van? Is something wrong with Berly? She seems a little...Upset.”

Van scratched his cheek. “Oh...About that...Well, you see…”

Berly sighed and approached your group. “Let me explain…” She gestured to the pole angrily. “LOOK AT THIS POLE!! Can you believe it?” You all look at the tetherball pole and Kel scratches his head.

“What are we looking at?”

Aubrey shook her head. “Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“Exactly! The tetherball is missing.” Berly exclaimed. “Van here used his arms and swung too hard, and now the ball’s gone far off somewhere…” She folded her arms and huffed. “Never to be seen again.” She turned to Van and sighed. “I told you not to use your arms, Van. You gotta use your head…Like this!” She bolts towards Van and HEADBUTTS him straight in the abdomen.

Van sighs. “Sorry Berly...Using my head all the time gives me a headache.”

“That’s cause you don’t have a hard head like I do!”

Van nods his head, then goes wide-eyed. “Oh! Something just hit me! I’m sure I saw it flying off somewhere in that direction!” Van points to the Vast Forest. Berly looks to where he’s pointing and groans. 

“Into the Vast Forest? Ugh...We’ll never find it now. It might as well be lost forever!”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Berly. We’ll look for the ball for you!” Hero offered.

Berly stared at your group for a second before chuckling. “You sure you want to do that? Vast Forest is a pretty dangerous place, y’know? One time, I even got into a super grizzly brawl with this ugly plant creature with dead, empty eyes and a gaping mouth.” Berly pushed up her glasses and smirked. “I outwitted it, of course, being cool and smart and all. There’s no monster in all of the universe that can outrun me!” She starts laughing while you compile a list of foes that could, in fact, outrun her. Humphrey’s at the top. Van turns to your group.

“Say Omori, why don’t you and your friends go with Berly and keep her out of trouble? I’d go myself, but…”

“VANNNNNNNNNN!!” Happy suddenly yelled out. “Brows ran over Bangs again!”

“Oh geez, that’s my cue...I’m coming, Happy!” Van looks over to your group again and gives a quick smile. “Be safe out there, you guys. I’ll see you when you get back!”

Your friends wave Van off and Hero points a thumb over his shoulder. “Come on, Berly. Let’s go find your Lost Ball. We don’t have anything to worry about as long as we’re together!”

Berly shrugged. “Sure. Just don’t get in my way when I show off my totally amazing HEADBUTT skills!”

Aubrey rolled her eyes and groaned. “Let’s just get this over with.” You turn around and head back south of the playground, making a right at the crossroads and headed back into the Vast Forest. You already know where it is, so you keep your focus on the path needed to find the ball. A Lost Sprout Mole and a Forest Bunny block your path, both of them being HAPPY. Kel throws his Basketball at the Sprout Mole and then passes the ball to Hero, who throws it back to him, allowing Kel to dunk on all the enemies. Show off...You, Aubrey and Hero each attack the enemies until they both fall.

You got 18 CLAMS!

Crossing a small bridge, you find the ball next to a bench. Berly pushes past you all and fist pumps the air. “SWEET! THERE’S MY LOST BALL!!” She walks up to the ball and picks it up. “YOINK! Finally!” She turned to your group and tapped her foot impatiently. “Let’s take this bad boy to the playground! I’m itchin’ to play some tetherball!” You give a thumbs up and backtrack to the playground.

Once back at the playground, Berly faces your group. “Well, that was fun...Not!” She tosses the tetherball in the air and catches it with a grin. “I’m gonna go play some tetherball!” She turns around and waves. “See you later, alligators! I’m outta here!” She takes a few steps into the playground before turning back to your group. “But seriously, come see me before you go. I got something special for ya.” She continued walking over to the tetherball pole and began reattaching the ball. You walk up to her and Van as soon as she finishes reattaching the ball. “Hey, dudes! Thanks for getting my Lost Ball back. I’ll be putting it to good use soon!” Van nodded and Berly folded her arms. “Y’know, I was thinkin’...Since you were all so kind to help me out...I’m going to be generous and teach you something about my special Skill. But first, a question. Do any of you know how to HEADBUTT?”

Aubrey sheepishly raised her hand. “Um...I do…?”

“Heh, that sounds about right!” Berly straightened herself out. “Alright Aubrey, I’m gonna teach you a little something about HEADBUTT.” Van turned to face Berly and she took a few steps back, before rushing full speed and HEADBUTTING him. Afterwards she turned to Aubrey and grinned. “Notice anything?”

“No, not really…” Aubrey deadpanned.

Berly rolled her eyes. “I’m not disoriented! Normally, HEADBUTTING someone would cause some damage to the user as well, but with enough practice, you can avoid that! Like me!” Berly took a step back and gestured her arms to her previous spot. “Come on, a little practice won't hurt! Too much…”

Aubrey took a small step back. “And how do you know that I don’t get disoriented?”

Kel laughed. “Oh, you definitely get dizzy from it! It’s kinda funny!” Aubrey slugged Kel in the arm and sighed.

“Fine...Just know that I’m gonna give this all I got!” You move aside as Aubrey walks up next to Berly. She runs up and HEADBUTTS Van, stumbling back to Berly after the hit. “Erughh…” She started spinning in circles. “Still...Feel...Dizzy…”

Berly took hold of Aubrey’s shoulders to stop her from spinning. “Nice hit, but not what we’re going for. Try again.”

“Huh…? Again…?”

“AGAIN!” Berly turned Aubrey around towards Van and patted her shoulders. “You’re on the verge of greatness! Now, strike!”

You, Kel and Hero watched on as Berly kept forcing Aubrey to HEADBUTT Van. Kel was laughing up a storm while Hero looked worried. You, on the other hand, were bored. It was essentially the same as watching Aubrey whack Van multiple times with her weapon, except Aubrey could feel a third of the hits. This continued on for several minutes until Aubrey got tired and decided to hit Berly with a HEADBUTT instead. Berly took a step back, but instead of feeling angry, she had the widest smile on her face while Aubrey tried to collect her breath.

“Huh...That actually didn’t hurt as much…”

“NICE ONE, AUBREY!! I knew you had it in you!” Berly clapped her hands and cheered. “CONGRATULATIONS!! You passed the intermediate test with flying colors!” Berly pulls out a piece of paper from her hoodie pocket and begins scribbling on it. “From this day forth...I hereby declare you a bonafide 2nd tier HEADBUTTER!”

Aubrey’s HEADBUTT improved!

Aubrey gained 50 HEART!

Aubrey gained 20 JUICE!

Berly hands Aubrey the paper with a smile. “Take this certificate. Show your friends. I’m sure they’ll be proud!” She pats Aubrey on the shoulder before shoving her back to your group and starting a game of tetherball with Van. Aubrey looks at you with defeat in her eyes, but you simply walk off towards the stump, stopping briefly at Mari’s picnic for some nutritious candy.

Finally getting back on track, you make it to the ladder leading up to Otherworld. Without any hesitation, Kel runs up ahead of you and begins climbing up. You shake your head and follow suit shortly afterwards. The world below slowly leaves your field of view and the stars become more visible than before. “Man...I know there’s a reason we never climbed this ladder, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Hero mutters as you all climb. “It’s on the tip of my tongue...Oh, well...Here goes nothing!”

You climb and climb and climb. Around this point is where Hector Jr would have been lost, had it not been for you climbing up the Pinwheel ladder. You don’t mind it though, since the climb won’t be interrupted now. A snake wearing a space helmet slithers past your group. (What a thrill!) The snake leaves your peripheral and you continue climbing up, with the stars soon disappearing behind a thick layer of rock and dirt. 

A light at the top soon makes itself known and Kel jumps out of the hole with a giant smile. “FIRST!!!” You pop out soon after and walk up next to Kel as Aubrey soon joins. The three of you all stare at the ladder as Hero finally comes into view, sweating bullets and collapsing onto the floor as soon as he makes contact with it. 

“The ladder...It just...Never ends…”

Kel bursts into laughter and pulls out a flag from his pocket, placing it onto the dirt of Otherworld. “That’s one small step for Kel and one large step for Kelkind!” The flag flows through the wind. So majestic...So beautiful…

“That’s not how it goes!” Aubrey mutters.

“You don’t get to decide how it goes...You weren’t here first!” 

Aubrey rolls her eyes and glances at the flag. “Wait, hold on…” Her eyes widened when she noticed that the flag used was a familiar thin piece of paper. “IS THAT MY BUTT CERTIFICATE??” Her eyes went red with anger. “TAKE THAT THING DOWN RIGHT NOW! What if somebody sees it?” You don’t really see the point in being embarrassed about someone seeing a piece of paper declaring that the person knows how to HEADBUTT.

“No way!” Kel declares. “Look at this thing fluttering in the wind.” Kel holds a hand over his chest. “So majestic...So beautiful…”

Aubrey scowls and turns to Hero. “HERO! DO SOMETHING!”

Hero, still lying on the ground catching his breath, raised a shaky finger. “One...Sec...Just...Catching my breath... Actually... Give me a minute…”

Aubrey folds her arms and sighs. “Nevermind.”

Chapter Text

Walking up into the Otherworld campgrounds, the first thing that catches your eye is the crescent moon shaped building on the top of the hill. Slowly gazing down from the hill is a house in the shape of a head, a house that looks like a sleeping dragon, towards your right you see a giant TV and of course, when you gaze straight ahead, you see Mari’s picnic basket. You continue down the path until Mari herself can see you. When she does, she smiles brightly and waves an arm over her. “Welcome to Otherworld...An unofficial pitstop for weary space travelers and a popular family-friendly camping ground!” She takes a deep breath and sighs longingly. “Don’t you just love the smell of firewood? And the sound of running water? And the crisp space breeze? It all makes the vast emptiness of space a little more bearable, don’t you think?” You nod your head and sit down on the picnic blanket for a small rest. The others soon join you.

Kel plopped onto the picnic blanket, looking up at the stars with an ecstatic smile. “When I grow up, I’m going to be a Space Pirate and I’m going to travel all around the universe!”

Mari chuckled. “Well, our search for Basil has taken us pretty far from home. If travelling the universe is what you want, you definitely have a head start!”

Kel’s smile grew wider as he held his hands up in the air. “I wonder what kind of friends we’ll meet! What foes we’ll face...It’ll be an epic journey to end all journeys!”

Aubrey shook her head. “You’re way too carefree about this, Kel…” She turned to face him. “Did you forget that we’re looking for Basil? Remember? Our dear friend Basil, who needs us?”

“Yeah, I know, I know...I’m just trying to be positive. I have complete faith that we will save him! Besides, the heroes always win...Isn’t that right, Hero?”

Hero rolled his eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh. “Very funny, Kel…” 

You stare up into the sky, freely watching the stars lazily drift overhead, noting in your mind at how horribly aged the conversation is going to become in the coming days. After a few seconds pass you stand up and begin heading towards the steps. The others follow closely behind and you stop once you reach the top of the steps, looking to your left at Pluto, who is currently trying to hide behind a tree.

The rogue planet turns to you with a hum. You tilt your head as Pluto examines you and your friends with a glint in his eyes. “You four seem strong…” Another hum escapes Pluto’s mouth before he smiles. “Pardon me if this sounds strange, but perhaps you would all be interested in a quick spar?” You stare blankly at Pluto for a few seconds, taking in the fact that he actually requested a fight. It wasn’t that he requested it that surprised you, since he did it before with Earth alongside him. What took you off guard was the fact that he requested it right here. Where you first met him last time and started a battle without words being exchanged. But, you always did find the few times you fought Pluto captivating, so in the end, you nod and take out your knife. Pluto lets out a heart laugh. “Very well! Let the battle commence!”

You and the others stance up for battle. Hero jumps into Pluto’s field of view and flashes a dazzling SMILE at the planetoid. Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS off the tree, to a nearby wall, and the lamppost, hitting Pluto every time. You reach into your pocket and pull out a RAIN CLOUD, making you and your friends SAD while Aubrey uses a POWER HIT to weaken Pluto’s defense. “Hmm...Not a bad strategy, making yourself SAD to increase your defense. However, you’re still vulnerable against an ANGRY opponent!” Pluto takes out a present and tears it open, making him ANGRY. Using his right arm he chops Hero upside the head and uses his left arm to poke Kel in the eyes, making him ANGRY.

Kel throws his ball and it curves towards Pluto, hitting him from the back. Pluto laughs afterwards, becoming HAPPY. You tilt your head and keep your focus on Pluto, taking note of how his left arm is primed to attack Aubrey, who shortly WRECKS Pluto’s MOOD, dealing increased damage. Hero walks up behind Kel and MASSAGES the tension away from his shoulder, making Kel NEUTRAL again. Pluto tries to use his right arm to poke you but whiffs the attack, moving on to his left arm to chop Aubrey, hitting her on the head. 

Kel runs around Pluto, chanting ‘CAN’T CATCH ME!!’ all the while. While Pluto is distracted you run up and STAB him, hitting right in the heart. Aubrey runs up afterwards and HEADBUTTS Pluto. Hero makes up a cookie and throws it over to Aubrey, who promptly eats it. Pluto lets out a heart laugh. “What a splendid show of force!” Pluto’s body begins to expand, raising his defense and attack, but also slowing him down.

“COME ON, GUYS!! WE GOT THIS!!” Kel shouts out, making you and the others recover JUICE and ENERGY. You straighten yourself out and look at Pluto. Your peripheral darkens as shadowy hands reach towards the planetoid, seemingly rotating the world around him rapidly and throwing him off balance, knocking him over. Aubrey took the chance to BEATDOWN on Pluto, who after the third strike, stood up and nodded.

“Hm, not bad…” Pluto hummed to himself and soon jumped into the sky, leaving nothing but a cloud of dirt floating in the air. You stare both at the dirt cloud and at the sky, before putting your knife away. 

You got 696 CLAMS!

With that little distraction out of the way, you continue climbing up the steps that lead to the crescent moon building, ignoring the houses and other paths. Most of which don’t have what you need or aren’t where you need to go, so you don’t bother with them at the moment. Reaching the top of the hill and to the building, when a blue bird-like humanoid, a Space Pirate, approaches you. “Halt, children! You are now entering the vicinity of…” The Space Pirate begins making small poses. “The Captain of the Space Pirates...The Master of the Solar System...The Prince of the Universe...The one-and-only Capt. Spaceb-” The Space Pirate stops himself. “I mean...Err...You are entering the house of…” The Space Pirate begins to cringe. “Space...Boyfriend…”

“Woah, the Captain of the Space Pirates lives here? THAT’S AWESOME!!” Kel runs up to the Space Pirate and begins to bounce with joy. “I wanna be a Space Pirate too!”

“Yeah, well…” The Space pirate rubs the back of his neck. “So did I...Once.” He sighs. “Space Boyfriend doesn’t do much these days, so most of the Space Pirates got fed up and left with the main ship.” He points towards the building absentmindedly. “It’s just us stragglers here doing Space Boyfriend’s chores and whatever. Yesterday, me and the guys spent the day cleaning and throwing away all his trash.” The Space Pirate grumbles a bit under his breath and sighs disappointedly. “I didn’t leave my old job for this...I ain’t no babysitter!”

Aubrey walks up to the Space Pirate and pats his back. “I’m sorry...That sounds awful.” Her eyes widened with an idea. “Maybe we can talk some sense into him.”

The Space Pirate quickly turned towards your group with panic in his eyes. “Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Capt. Spacebo- I mean...Space Boyfriend’s got two sides to him, you see.” The Space Pirate winces a bit.

“We should at least try!” Hero offers. “You never know...He might know something about how to find Basil!”

Kel perks up. “Or maybe he knows where to find my pet rock, Hector Jr!”

“Y-yeah s-sure, that too…” Hero mutters.

Kel tugs on your arm while moving towards the building entrance. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go see him already!”

Aubrey sighs and gives the Space Pirate an empathetic look. “Sorry about your job, sir. But, it’ll get better soon, I promise!”

The Space Pirate sighs and pats Aubrey’s head. “Thank you, little lady. I sure hope so.” He takes a step back away from the stairs to the building and gestures to your group to head on in. You nod and climb up the stairs and into the building.

Inside, you see 6 other Space Pirates at work with various chores. Well, 5 Space Pirates at work. One of them is asleep standing up in the corner. One of the Space Pirates notices your group and grimaces. “Buddy, it sucks that you had to come at a time like this…” He shakes his head and gets back to doing one of the chores while another Space Pirate takes notice and nods in agreement to what the other one said.

“Yeah. Capt. Spaceb- I mean, Space Boyfriend hasn’t left his bed since…” His face contorted with anger. “ SHE stopped coming around…” Another one rolls his eyes and glances in your direction.

“Things are a little tough now, but I don’t care what anyone says, pal...I believe in the Captain!” 

“Space Boyfriend, what can we do for you, bro?” Another Space Pirate mumbles. “Why won’t you leave your bed?”

A Space Pirate holding a spray bottle and paper towel looks around the room with a raised brow. “Am I the only one who kind of enjoys cleaning around here?” 

You roll your eyes and ascend the stairs, soon reaching the bedroom of Capt. Spaceboy. You don’t care about calling him Space Boyfriend, you already know how this routine is going to go, having seen it about a million times, so why not just cut out the middle man? The room is nothing that fancy from a glance, with there only being a few potted plants, a couple bookshelves, a boombox, a computer, a keyboard just out in the open and of course, Capt. Spaceboy’s bed, positioned in front of a backyard view of the planets. One spot in particular is empty, with the silhouette of Pluto left behind. You and your friends gather around Capt. Spaceboy’s bed.

He lets out a few dry coughs, leaving the others worried. “Uh oh, Capt. Space- I mean Space Boyfriend doesn’t look so good.” Hero mutters.

Kel pats Hero’s arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this!” Kel then jumps onto the bed and shouts. “HEY, SPACE BOYFRIEND!! WAKE UP!!!” Kel jumps up and down the bed to no avail. 

Hero facepalms. “Kel!”

Kel stops jumping and turns to Hero. “What?” He jumps down from the bed and Capt. Spaceboy lets out a few more coughs, alongside a groan and a longing sigh.

“My...Precious...Sweetheart…” You shake your head in disapproval. Sweetheart is not precious. You can attest to that. You can still hear her laugh ringing out in your head, making your right eye twitch.

“Aww...He sounds so sad.” Aubrey mutters. “There must be some way to help him.”

Capt. Spaceboy coughs a few more times. “Oh, my Sweetheart...Where have you run off to now?”

You and your friends turn to the stairs upon hearing them creak as the Space Pirate who greeted you outside walks into the room and sighs at the sight of Capt. Spaceboy. “Oh no...Not again…Space Boyfriend’s feeling the heavy blues.” The Space Pirate walks around the bed and to the boombox. “Here, my guy. This’ll cheer you right up.” He crouched down and pressed play on the boombox, but nothing happened. “Huh? Why isn’t anything playing?” He stands up and quickly searches around the room, before freezing in place. “Oh no...The boombox...It’s empty!” He grips his head in panic. “He’s never going to wake up now! Or even worse...He’s going to wake up…” He swallowed. “Angry…” The Space Pirate begins pacing back and forth. “Oh, man...Oh, man...Where could that Special Mixtape be?” He pauses and turns to your group in a panic. “Someone must have thrown away his Special Mixtape when we were cleaning!”

Kel tilted his head and hummed. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a cassette, right?”

The Space Pirate shook his head. “Well, you see…” He circled his hand around trying to think. “Whenever Space Boyfriend is away from Sweetheart, he gets really sad and lies in bed all day...The only way to snap him out of it is by playing his Special Mixtape.” He held up a finger. “There’s only one in the universe like it.”

Aubrey held her chin and nodded. “I see, Space Boyfriend isn’t sick...He’s lovesick.” You pondered about whether or not being lovesick still applied to being sick-sick.

The Space Pirate sighed and buried his face in his hands. “If Space Boyfriend stays like this, the once-great coalition of Space Pirates will be lost for eternity…”

“Oh...Man...That sucks.” Kel muttered, before turning towards the stairs. “Well, let’s go!” Before Kel could take a step closer to the exit you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. “Ack! Omori!”

“I guess that means Omori wants to help.” Hero surmised.

“I’m okay with that!” Aubrey declared, before glaring at Kel. “Besides Kel, you should know how it feels to lose something important to you.”

“Don’t you dare bring Hector Jr into this!”

“I was talking about when you stole Mr. Plantegg!”

Kel raised a brow. “Huh? I don’t remember anything like that.” A cough echoed throughout the room and everyone turned their attention back to Capt. Spaceboy, who was still muttering something about Sweetheart. 

“I think he’s getting worse…” She turned to the Space Pirate. “What can we do to help?

“You really want to help?” The Space Pirate turned to you and you nod your head. Not like you have much choice at this point. “Thanks, my guys. I really appreciate it.” He takes out a key from his pocket and tosses it to you. “That key unlocks the Junkyard. The Special Mixtape should be somewhere in there.” He walks around the bed and over to the wall and places his hand on it, opening up a backdoor. “You can get there through this secret entrance to Space Boyfriend’s backyard. Pretty convenient, eh?” He claps his hands together and gives a slight bow in thanks.

You nod and enter through the backdoor, entering a long pathway in the middle of a field of planets. Walking down the path, you pass by Earth. You debate in your head on whether it’s worth it to fight it now, but you didn’t head back to the picnic to restore any HEART and JUICE and you don’t feel like heading back just for that. You leave Earth alone, seeing as it doesn’t have anything to do with your current goal at the moment.

Continuing down the path, a couple of Space Pirates block your way, staring intensely at the silhouette of the missing Pluto. One of them sighs and turns to the other. “We’ve really done it now, dude…I hope the Captain won’t be too mad when we tell him his favorite planet is missing. You know how he gets when he’s angry.”

The other Space Pirate glances at the first and rubs his eyes. “Buddy, you’re not supposed to call him Captain anymore. You have to call him Space Boyfriend, remember?” 

“Oh yeah, that’s right…” The Space Pirate kicks some dust off the path and groans, before letting out a hefty scream. “You know, dude...Sometimes I wonder if we’re even Space Pirates anymore…” He sat down on the path and rested his head on his hands. “Ever since that Sweetheart came along, we haven’t done anything cool!” He sighs and looks up at the stars. “We should just quit and get real jobs.”

The other Space Pirate knelt down and rested a hand on the first one’s shoulder. “Don’t talk nonsense, buddy! What is life for us if not the Space pirate life? I’m sure the Captain will come to his senses one day and we’ll fly again. We just have to believe in him!”

The first Space Pirate sighed and looked up at the other with a smile. “Thanks, dude. You’re always there when I need you.” The Space Pirates stood up and walked the rest of the path, finally unblocking it and allowing you to continue.

Reaching the end of the path, you end up at a yellow door. Opening it and walking through, you end up on the other side of Otherworld, near the junkyard. You walk continue down and walk past a Wormhole, reaching the entrance to the junkyard. You insert and twist the key, the door sliding into the ground and opening up the Junkyard. You take a breath through your mouth and step inside.

Chapter Text

The sight of the Junkyard is not a pleasant one. That’s to be expected of course. Abandoned cars, storage units littered with trash, the painful memory of collecting can to get the Universal Remote. On the bright side, you still had it, so no need to worry about that again, even if you don’t use it anymore, because of the Cough Mask. Walking further into the Junkyard, you stop by an open storage unit and Kel wastes no time in prepping. “Time to start digging!” He cracks his knuckles and practically jumps into the nearby storage unit, moving aside several pieces of garbage. “By the way, what are we looking for again?”

“Space Boyfriend’s Special Mixtape…” Aubrey deadpanned.

“Right-o!” Kel increased his efforts, digging faster and throwing bits of trash around, sometimes outside of, the storage unit. Aubrey gagged while Hero pinched the bridge of his nose. Kel soon stopped and emerged from the garbage heap. “Hey look, I found a can!”

Aubrey sighed and backed away from Kel, who was covered in garbage. “I guess that’s a start.” Aubrey motions to move forward and you comply, kicking aside a few stray pieces of trash as you move away from the unit. In the middle of your trek, you run into a Doombox. Kel runs ahead and hits it with his ball while you rush in afterwards and HACK AWAY at it, downing the enemy.

You got 42 CLAMS!

Kel found a Rubber Band!

Continuing forward, you run into a giant block that was, well, blocking the path. “Awww, man! There’s a big block of junk in the way!” Kel groans.

“You might even call it-” You quickly turn to Hero and STARE at him. He remains silent before nodding his head. “Yeah, I guess that joke would’ve been too obvious…” You turn away and hold out your hand to Aubrey. She smiles and high fives you, quickly walking up to the large block and rendering it into dust with a single swing of her bat. She looks back at you but you gesture for her to continue leading. Further in, there were more giant blocks on the path and Aubrey, as usual, smashed them all to bits. Before Aubrey could get rid of the next one, a Dial-Up and a Mixtape decided to start a fight. Kel and the others focused on the Dial-Up while you summoned RED HANDS to tear apart the Mixtape.

You got 60 CLAMS!

Finally getting past the block, your group comes across a robot controlling the conveyor’s. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, you tapped Aubrey’s shoulder and pointed to Hero. “Huh? Oh! That’s a good idea! Hero, can you get this one?”

“Sure! Shouldn’t be too hard!” Hero said with confidence. Aubrey tagged Hero and he approached the Conveyor Bot wearing a dazzling smile. “Greetings, sir Conveyor Bot. My companions and I require your assistance in changing the direction of your conveyors. Will you and your friends please help us?”

The Bot beeped as it took in Hero’s request. “Ahh...Hmm...Nice person...Okay...” A few beeping noises rang out from the Bot before the image on it’s screen changed from left to right, changing the conveyors to match. 

Hero bowed. “Why thank you, kind sir! Your assistance is greatly appreciated.” You and the others got on the shortest conveyor belt, quickly grabbing some Ramen and following the direction of the longer conveyor before you came across another Conveyor Bot. As you approached it, it beeped and changed the direction of a nearby conveyor belt. You feel as though you're forgetting something. A rumbling from a nearby storage unit jogged your memory. Right...The Life Jam Guy…

The Storage unit burst open with a large jar of jam with arms, legs and a cartoonish smile jumped over to your group. “Hey, kids! I’m the Life Jam Guy! I sell Life Jam! It really works!” He holds up a jar of Life Jam. “Would you like a free demo!” Hero and the others turn towards you for your opinion and you shake your head no. You already know how it works and you have plenty of Life Jam and some Life Jam Packets, as well as Hero's HOMEMADE JAM skill. The Life Jam Guy laughed, however. “Don’t be ridiculous...Of course you do!” 

F̷̢͖͕͆̾̑ủ̸͕̬͖̾͘c̸̲̥̍k̸͇̩͑͂̐.̶͍̼̋.̷̯̦̹͋̀̾.̵͕͓̾̃

The Life Jam Guy started a ‘demonstration’ of a product you already knew about. You guard and the others follow your lead, as you wait for that one multi-target strike. In the blink of an eye, you feel your HEART decrease quickly and drastically, but you did not succumb. The same could not be said about the others, however, as they were all TOAST. Life Jam Guy hands you a few jars of Life Jam. “Use Life Jam! It really works!” You roll your eyes and take out a Jam Packet, using your Red Knife to spread the Jam on your TOASTED friends, who all pop back from their TOASTY fate. “Enjoy your free sample!” Life Jam Guy says cheerfully. “How did you like my free demo? Haha, I’m kidding. I know you loved it!” Zero stars. Would not recommend. “Oh! I see you are still hurt. No worries! I’ll heal you, haha!” Life Jam Guy waves his hand in the air and your HEART and JUICE recover. “Very good, yes? Now...Would you like to buy some Life Jam? It will only cost you 250 CLAMS.” You shrug and buy a jar. Might as well humor him.

Finally getting on the conveyor, you grab the key that is tucked into a corner in a lone storage unit. You backtrack to the door near the first Conveyor Bot and unlock the door, opening the next section of the Junkyard. You walk into an open storage unit and climb the ladder to the second level. Tucked in between two heaps of garbage was a small table with a photo of someone familiar. As soon as you glance at it, however, S̸̺̲̏̈́O̴̘͐͆M̸̟͙̏É̵̯T̷̛͔̼H̴̭͋I̶̝̞̿̕N̸͓͝G̷̤̀͊, briefly flashes in your mind and the table is gone. You exit the storage unit from the other side and begin climbing down some ladders.

A Mixtape cornered you after you climbed up to it’s level. The feeling of spiders watching your movement fills the area, as well as the image of them crawling in your peripheral. The Mixtape started floating limply in the air afterwards, just barely able to move. Kel throws his ball at it and it fades away.

You got 42 CLAMS!

Kel found a Can!

You climb down another ladder and walk forward, soon coming across another open storage unit. You walk straight through and out from the other side, where Mari had a picnic set up. She waves at you guys and you waste no time in sitting down for a rest. As soon as Aubrey followed suit, she started groaning. “This place is so gross and stinky! My nose can’t take it anymore!”

Kel grabbed one of the Roasted Chicken legs. “What’s the rush, Aubrey? There’s so much treasure around!” Kel took his place between the picnic basket and cooler. “I’m gonna swipe as many Cans as I can find!” Kel takes a bite of the chicken while Hero nodded. 

“And then afterwards, we should recycle them at a Recycling Machine! I’m sure we passed by one on the way to Capt. Space- I mean, Space Boyfriend’s place.” You did. The song is playing in your head. You both hate and enjoy it.

Aubrey gagged. “Forget Cans...We gotta find that Special Mixtape and get out of here.” You nodded in agreement.

Mari patted Aubrey’s shoulder. “Awww...Hang in there, Aubrey. You’ll get past this.” Mari hummed. “If anything, just think about all the good recycling will do for the environment!”

“Yeah, Aubrey! Do it for the environment!”

After a few more minutes of eating Perfectly Roasted Chicken, you stand up and continue down the path, cutting through some traffic cones and getting to a small pathway in between some storage units with a Battery on the very top, waiting to jump down and block the path. You turn to Kel and point up to it. He looks up and tilts his head. “Hmm...Yeah, I think I can get that! Tag me in!” You pat Kel’s shoulder and he finds a platform to throw his Rubber Ball at the Battery. He winds up his arm and throws with all his might, hitting the Battery dead on it’s weak spot. The Battery fell in front of the path and...Stood up? 

Sparks flew in between it’s head as it stood up, looking at Kel angrily. “Huh…? It’s still kicking!?” Kel jumped down from the platform and rejoined the group as you all got into battle positions. “I thought for sure that I hit it’s weak spot!”

“Maybe that just means it’s weaker than it was?” Hero muttered. Before any more words could be exchanged, the Battery roared and shot electricity all around, starting a battle.

Hero flipped his hair with his hand, DAZZLING the enemy and making them HAPPY, only for Kel to throw a CURVEBALL at them and make that SAD. You reach into your pocket and pull out an Airhorn. You hate these things, but it’s perfect to get you and the others ANGRY for an advantage. After a quick honk, everyone complained and growled, Aubrey especially, taking her anger out on the enemy and HEADBUTTING them. Sparks flew between it’s head, before a bolt of electricity shot out at you and Kel, draining some JUICE along with your HEART.

Kel FLEXED and felt his best, priming for his next attack. You keep your gaze focused on the enemy, STARING until they begin to feel uncomfortable. Aubrey ran up and gave the enemy a BEATDOWN and Hero made some Tea for Kel. The Battery was charging it’s next attack, giving you the next round. Kel ran by the enemy, quickly throwing his ball at it, hitting right in the heart as well. RED HANDS appeared and grabbed the enemy, bashing it into the walls a few times before dropping it roughly back onto the ground, where Aubrey ran up and MASHED the enemy as soon as it recovered. The Battery sparked everywhere, before it finally burst into nothing, defeated.

You got 800 CLAMS!

You got an Electric Orb!

Electric Org: A copper sphere. Has a slight static to it.

JUICE: +30

ATK: +10

SPEED: +50

LUCK: +5

HIT: +30

You held the orb in your hands and stared into it’s surface, a slight buzzing dancing across your fingers as you hold it. It’s not as good as Kel’s current weapon, but the fact that you got a new one at all is noteworthy. Setting the orb in your pocket, you make a mental note to keep an eye out for new weapons and charms, even if they’ll go unused. Walking in between the storage units and climbing up a ladder to the top of some others and climbing back down from the other side, you walk into yet another cave-like unit. 

Inside, you manage to walk past a Dial-Up and out the side of the path that was blocked by foliage. Continuing down the path, you end up at a part of the Junkyard that’s mainly surrounded by fences. Blocking the way forward, was a giant wheel of cheese. It seemed perfectly fine, so why someone threw it out was beyond you. Aubrey walked up and hit it with her bat, hoping to destroy it, but nothing happened. “It’s no good. I can’t even dent this thing!”

Hero walked up to the wheel and hummed. “Hold on a second.” He ran his hand across the surface of the cheese wheel. “This is cheese, isn’t it?”

Kel walked up and tapped it with his fist. “Woah, your right! It is cheese!” Kel turned to the group with his hands clasped together by the palms. “Okay, guys. Hear me out. This might sound crazy but…What if...We eat the cheese.” He pointed his hands to the group and then to the wheel of cheese behind him. “If we all start now...We can probably finish this in a couple of hours or so!” Kel did a seesaw motion with one of his hands. “Just a warning, though.” He pointed to the group with a serious expression. “Cheese gets me kind of gassy…”

Aubrey recoiled. “EWWWWW, KEL!”

Hero raised his hands. “H-Hold up, Kel. There’s no need for that.” Hero smiled and pointed a thumb at himself. “I think I may have the perfect solution!” He pulled out a whistle and blew it. After a second or two, a hamster began floating down on top of the cheese, spinning in circles all the while.

The hamster, EMS, stopped and waved at the group. “Hello, friends! It’s me...EMS, the humble hungry hamster!” EMS looked down at the cheese and jumped for joy. “Oh wow, is this all for me? What a treat!” She looked up at Hero. “How’d you know that cheese is my favorite?”

Hero chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t have to guess, EMS! Everything is your favorite.” Hero turned to the group. “Everyone, this is Emily the hamster, but I just call her EMS! She’s a good friend of mine.” He turned back to EMS and gave a thumbs up. “You know what to do, EMS!”

“I sure do! Be done in a jiffy!” EMS, at supersonic speed, began devouring the cheese. The wheel disappeared from the top down, barely keeping up with the rate EMS was eating. In the blink of an eye, EMS was done with the cheese. 

Kel gaped at the sight. “Woah…”

“How does all of that even fit in her body?” Aubrey asked the real question.

Hero shrugged. “Beats me. I try not to think about it.”

“That was incredibly satisfying! If you’re ever in need of giant cheese-eating services again, you know who to call!” EMS waved at your group. “Goodbye, friends!” EMS started spinning in place, launching up to the sky where she came from. Farewell, EMS. You were useful exactly this one time. From the now unblocked path, you spot a Sprout Mole with a pink bow. Your right eye begins to twitch again.

“Okay…? That was weird…” The Sprout Mole, Rosa, left the unit she was searching and continued down the path, as your eye twitched further. You were not looking forward to this next part, for many reasons...

Chapter Text

Continuing forward, you hear Rose digging in the trash while Aubrey pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing. “How are we supposed to find anything in here? There’s just way too much junk!”

Kel’s head shot up. “Wait, were we looking for something?”

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH~!!” The laughter Rosa emits is like sandpaper in your ears, causing your other eye to twitch alongside the first one. “At long last, I’ve finally found it.” Rosa jumps from the trash heap and into your field of view. “After countless hours of digging and digging…” Rosa holds up the Special Mixtape proudly. “This one-of-a-kind, ultra-exclusive Special Mixtape finally belongs to me! Rosa! The #1 Sweetheart fan in the world!” She holds it close to her as you contemplate if using BREAD SLICE on her right now would work in one hit. “With this one-of-a-kind addition to my collection, I will finally surpass all those lame posers out there.” 

Before Rosa could ruin your eardrums and day any further, you walk up and tap her with your foot. Rosa looks over to you and rolls her eyes. “What do you peons want?” You start grinding your teeth together.

“Um, we couldn’t help but overhear you found a Special Mixtape.” Aubrey answered. “And, we just happened to be looking for it so-”

Rosa held the Special Mixtape away from your group. “Hmph! Just as I thought, owning something so valuable is already getting me into trouble. “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH~!!” You furrow your brows. “What’s the matter? Are you jealous??” You take a deep breath through your nose and try to snatch the Special Mixtape from Rosa, but she quickly runs off when you begin to pounce. “This Special Mixtape is mine! I’ll never give it to you! Not now, not ever!”

“Hey! We didn’t come all the way out here for nothing!” Kel shouts out in Rosa’s direction. “After her! We can’t let her get away!” You nod and chase after Rosa through the narrow path. 

“You’ll never catch me, stick legs!” Rosa calls out further along. You finally break and become FURIOUS, running full speed after Rosa, climbing up a few ladders to corner her near a radio tower. She runs off and you try to block her path, only to get spun in a circle as she speeds past you and back up the ladder. She jumps over onto some more storage units. Instead of climbing down the ladders, you take a step back and jump the distance, fumbling a bit on the landing.

You run across the units and back down a ladder as the others take the long way to catch up. You have to wait for them anyway, since a giant block fell from the sky and, well, blocked your path. When the others finally catch up to you, you hold your hand up, to which Aubrey gladly high fives before using her bat to smash the block away. Once the dust clears, you continue running down the path until a yellow and black line comes into view, as well as a large cluster of unused TV’s, with Rosa in the middle.

“Rosa...We’ve finally caught you!” Kel declares, pointing a finger at Rosa, who was unresponsive. “Now give us back the Special Mixtape!” Still now response. Kel straightened himself out and looked at you. “What’s with her?” Before you could gesture a response, Kel turned back to Rosa and cupped his hands near his mouth. “HEY ROSA, CAN YOU HEAR US!?” Still nothing.

Hero scratched his head. “Huh? I wonder why she isn’t responding.” He returned his hand to his side and hummed. “Let’s take a closer look.” You take a step forward past the line without hesitation and take out your knife before the world seems to lock in place. A giant downloading window pops up above you. Your surroundings change into a grassy field with a single tree in the background. You and your friends regain your movement and the others take up arms behind you against the enemy.

Downloading: Attack.omo 99%

Hero flashes a SMILE at the enemy, reducing it’s attack while Kel’s ball RICOCHETS, hitting the enemy with each bounce before you summon RED HANDS to throw the Download Window around. When they’re done, Aubrey runs up and uses a POWER HIT to cripple it’s defenses.

Downloading: Attack.omo 99%

Kel runs around the enemy and launches his ball at it’s face, while you take the chance to STARE the enemy down. Your eyes land on the ‘X’ in the corner of the window and you raise a brow. It can’t be that easy, can it? Hero takes the chance to guard while Aubrey BEATSDOWN on the enemy. Afterwards, multiple Download Windows appear all around the group, before they combust and explode into a giant ring of fire that nearly knocks everyone down. You summon another knife in your hand and run up to the enemy, slashing the ‘X’ with both knives. The button flashes red and the Window disappears from your sight, the surroundings returning to normal.

I̷̙͗̒t̸̻̲̉͝ ̵͇̹̍w̷̯͎a̸͙̪̓s̷͇̋ ̶̳͍̏̄t̵̖́h̶͓̆a̴̕͜t̷̤̾ ̸͎̂e̴͇͉̎a̵̱͒̄s̵̡̫͐ȳ̴̧̟!̸͇̓́͜?̶̬͂͘!̶̹̆̂?̵͙̱̔

You got 84 CLAMS!

You hear stumbling behind you. Hero looked around with cloudy eyes, blinking at every little thing. “What...Just happened?” You didn’t bother waiting for the others to pipe up. You walked up to Rosa and snagged the Special Mixtape from her while she was still dazed and put it in your pocket. Kel walked up next to you and smiled. 

“Mission accomplished!” He raised his hand in the air for a high five and you indulge him. The resulting clap finally broke Rosa out of her trance. 

“Huh? What in the world?” She pauses as she takes into account the missing cassette. “Hey!” She turns to you and growls. “That’s mine! Give it back!”

You shake your head no and Kel leans into you, resting an arm on your shoulder with a smug grin aimed at Rosa. “Nope! Finders keepers! We’re going to put it back where it belongs, in Space Boyfriend’s boombox!”

“Space...Boyfriend?” Rosa lets the words sink in. You count down from three with your fingers. Once you hit one, Rosa laughs. “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH~!!” You take a deep breath, trying to block out the sound. It’s not really working out. “Oh, you ignorant child. Haven’t you heard the latest news? I have a very reputable source who tells me that Space Boyfriend and Sweetheart have long since parted ways! Why do you think that Special Mixtape was in the Junkyard in the first place? It’s because Space Boyfriend threw it out himself!”

“Space Boyfriend threw out the Special Mixtape himself!?” Hero echoes. “Uh oh...That’s not good.”

“But...If Space Boyfriend and Sweetheart aren’t together anymore, how will we ever wake up Space Boyfriend now?” Aubrey asks. “The future of the once-great coalition of Space Pirates is depending on us…”

Rosa huffs. “That sounds like your problem, not-” You decide to get a move on. “Wha-HEY! LET ME FINISH!” You ignore Rosa and the others follow you out of the Junkyard, pushing down a cardboard cutout of a construction vehicle.

“Was what Rosa said really true?” Aubrey wonders aloud. “Did Space Boyfriend and Sweetheart really break up?”

Kel waves a hand and scoffs. “Please, she was probably just saying that so she’d get the Special Mixtape back! Besides, the only way to know for sure is from Space Boyfriend himself!”

“That’s...Actually a good point, Kel.” Aubrey muttered. “That’s a first!”

“Hey!”

You block out the resulting argument and keep walking, straight out of the Junkyard and into a small field of meteors. Upon entering the field, the ground shook and a shout had rung out. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!”

“We’ve finally found you, Pluto! THERE’S NO ESCAPE!!”

Pluto had ran down the same path, knocking away that one Otherworld inhabitant. Stanley? That sounds about right. Anyway, Pluto rested his hands on his knees as he panted for breath. “Oh no...My gigantic, well-defined arms and legs are giving out…” He shakes his head and stands up straight. “No! I can’t let it end like this! I need a place to hide!” He looked to your group and relief flashed through his eyes. “You four! Please, lend me your assistance!” Hero turned to face Pluto, trying to think of an excuse, but kept tripping over his words. “HURRY! I DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME!!”

Kel nods. “You need a place to hide, huh…” Kel looked around the area. You walked up to an empty hole and looked at Kel, who had the same idea. “WE’VE GOT IT!!” He turned to Pluto. “You can rest easy now! Me and Omori got this all under control!” Pluto nodded and followed Kel to the empty hole. You and Kel gesture to it and Pluto jumps in, sinking to the bottom and Kel somehow finds a potted plant and places it on Pluto’s head. “Okay, that should do it!”

Hero looks over to where Pluto came from and looks panicked. “Shoot! They’re coming! Quick, everyone act natural!” You remain as you are while Hero and the others go in different directions to pose, twirl and whatever Kel is doing. The Space Pirates you encountered in the backyard soon come into view, looking around wildly for Pluto. 

“Dangit, we lost him!”

One of the Space Pirates looks to your group. “Hey, you kids! We’re looking for a high-profile and very expensive rogue planet  named Pluto. He’s a big, circular, gray-ish guy with huge, bulging muscles. Kind of hard to miss...Have you seen him?” You shrug in response. 

“N-No? can’t say that we have…” Hero responded.

The Space Pirate raised a brow. “Really?...Well, that’s life!” He turned to the other Space Pirate and nodded his head towards his left. “Come on, dude! Let’s keep searching. We’ll find him eventually.” The two Space Pirates left the area and once they were far away enough from the group, Kel walked up to the hole.

“Okay, sir...The coast is clear.”

Pluto rose from inside, the potted plant slipping off his head and shattering onto the ground. Pluto jumped out of the hole and let out a hearty laugh. “Such quick thinking! I’m impressed! You have my eternal gratitude, for both this and for the brawl earlier. If you don’t mind me asking, what are your names?”

“I’m Hero.” Hero waved and then gestured to you and the others. “And these are my friends Aubrey, Kel and Omori.” Aubrey and Kel waved while you simply nodded. 

Pluto nodded as well. “I see! such fine names for fine young people!” Pluto made a slight bow. “My name is Pluto, and I am a rogue planet…A vagabond, if you will. I do apologize for any trouble I may have caused for everyone, but...I feel it is not my purpose to act as a mere yard decoration…” Pluto turned away from your group and looked up at the sky longfully. “I want the freedom to roam the sky as I please, like the birds and the stars!” Pluto held a fist close to him as he chuckled softly. “If that makes me a rogue planet, then so be it. They can call me as they please-” He turned back to the group with a wide smile. “So long as I’M free to do as I please! My soul YEARNS for freedom!...You understand, don’t you children?”

A sniffle came from nearby and Hero turned to see Kel wiping his eyes. “W-Woah! Kel, are you crying??”

“Such raw emotion...I’m touched...That was beautiful, Pluto…”

Another sniffle came from Aubrey. “You said it, Kel.”

“Wait, you too, Aubrey??” Hero was confused. Meanwhile, the yearning for freedom from Pluto seemed to stick out in your head, unlike the last few times. A voice that was familiar you never heard before started to echo in your thoughts.

This place is a prison you made for yourself to hide away from...in order to gain freedom, you must -

“Now, at long last...I am finally free to follow my lifelong dream...Of running my own transportation company!” Pluto suddenly said, freeing you from your thoughts. “I’m going to call it, ‘PLUTO’S SPACELINE’!” Pluto once more let out a hearty laugh. “This realization has reinvigorated me! And since you have helped me in such a selfless way, I must return the favor!” Pluto cleared his throat. “I am Pluto of PLUTO’S SPACELINE now. Please pretend you have just arrived at a transportation station.” Pluto turned away.

Hero scratched his head and looked at you. You shrug and he takes that as a sign to go along with it. “Okay! Uh...Hello? Pluto?”

Pluto turned around. “WELCOME TO PLUTO’S SPACELINE!!! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TODAY, YOUNG TRAVELLERS??” Hero flinched back and Pluto winced at the response. “Was that too much? Hm, i should try to tone it down...Let’s try again!”

Hero waved his hands. “No, it’s okay! We’d just like to go back to the campsite, please!”

“So, you want to go to the Otherworld campsite?” Pluto took in a breath and sighed. “Ah...My first request...How exciting!”

“Oh, no here it comes…”

Pluto burst into laughter. “One ride to Otherworld campsite coming right up! I won’t let you down, young travellers! Leave the rest to me!” You walk up behind Pluto and climb on his head while Aubrey and Hero climbed up onto Pluto’s arms. Kel on the other hand, couldn’t find a spot to climb up on. “Is everyone strapped in?”

“Wait! Hold on, I’m not ready yet!” Pluto crouched down and jumped up into the air, leaving Kel to hurriedly clutch onto Pluto’s leg as you all travelled to the campsite, which, admittedly, didn’t take all that long. When Pluto landed, Kel let go of Pluto’ leg and rested his hands on his legs, catching his breath.

Pluto laughed at the successful transportation. “How was that for a smooth ride?”

“Comfortable environment and relaxing music.” Hero hummed. “I’d give it a five out of five stars!”

“Says you!” Kel piped up. “My arms are killing me!”

“I have to say, Kel, I’m impressed. You did a great job in hanging on to dear life back there. You have the potential to be even stronger.”

Kel looked up at Pluto with hopeful eyes. “R-Really!?”

“Indeed! In fact, allow me to teach you a SKILL that could be beneficial to you. First things first, show me your best FLEX.”

“Um…” Kel lifted up his arm and FLEXED, a wide smile plastered on his face. “Like that?”

“Precisely. Now, a FLEX can boost your attack, but sometimes having a good defense alongside your offense is needed when in a battle. Follow my lead.” Pluto quickly FLEXED, letting out a giant roar as he did so, increasing in size before shrinking back down to usual one. He gestured to Kel. “Now you try.”

Kel tilted his head before replicating the same steps Pluto did. His roar was a little weak and he only increased in size a small amount before going back to normal. “Woah! That felt amazing! I feel ready to take on anything...Although I also feel a bit heavy now…”

Pluto hummed. “It could use a little work...But nevertheless... You’ve definitely got the power within you! Take this lesson, and use it well!” Pluto saluted your group. “Farewell, children. Until next time!” Pluto jumped into the air heading off to...Somewhere. You never really knew where he would end up.

Kel’s FLEX has been replaced by EXPAND!

EXPAND: Kel deals more damage next turn and increases HIT RATE for his next attack as well as boosting his DEFENSE and ATTACK, at the cost of lowering his SPEED

“Well, I’ll be! You kids really did it!” The Space Pirate looked ECSTATIC at the sight of the Special Mixtape. “It’s a little dirty, but that’s our missing Special Mixtape for sure!” He patted you on the shoulder. “Thanks a lot, my guy. With this we’ll finally be able to wake up Space Boyfriend!” Aubrey walked up to the space Pirate while Kel took the Special Mixtape and walked over to Space Boy-Capt. Spaceboy. You decide to follow Kel.

“Hey! Space Boyfriend! We got your Special Mixtape back!” Capt. Spaceboy remained silent, leaving Kel without a congratulations. “Hmph...You can at least thank us!” You shake your head and turn to the others, still discussing the ‘rumor’ of Capt. Spaceboy and Sweetheart’s break-up. “Oh, I know! I’ll blast the Special Mixtape in the boombox. He’s gotta wake up to-” 

You quickly turn to Kel and try to take the mixtape from his hands, but he’s quick on the draw and moves it away from you. “What the heck, Omori? Don’t you want to wake up Space Boyfriend?” You remain silent as always and keep trying to take the mixtape away from Kel. He keeps the mixtape from your grasp on each attempt, before he manages to push you away long enough to insert the cassette into the boombox and press play. “Ha! I win!” You facepalm as a cheery tune begins to echo throughout the room.

“KEL!”

“NOOOOO!”

You part some of your fingers to glance at Capt. Spaceboy, noting that the tips of his hair are starting to turn from bubblegum pink to a deep sickly green and that the sheets covering him are beginning to shake. 

“What…Is...That… INFERNAL RACKET!?!?”

Chapter Text

“What...Is...That... INFERNAL RACKET!?!?” Capt. Spaceboy quickly rose from his bed, wrapping the sheets around him and covering his right eye as the Space Pirate ran down the stairs in a panic. Your mind thinks back to when you fought him on the mountain, with how he looks with the sheets covering him. He soon threw the sheets off of him. His right eye was still covered by an eye-patch and his normally green suit had switched palettes with his hair. If you squint, you can make out a faint stain of blood where his bandaged HEART is.

“Darn it, Kel! Look what you did!” Aubrey shouted out.

“FWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! FEAR ME FOR I HAVE AWAKENED!” Capt. Spaceboy’s angry demeanor fell short a bit thanks to the music. He quickly huffed. “One second…” He teleported to the boombox, pushing you and Kel away from it as he took out the Special Mixtape and put it in his pocket, inserting a different cassette as he did so. An atmospheric sci-fi-esque tune played as he turned away from the boombox and hummed. “FWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Much better! Now, where was I...” He teleported back onto his bed and waved a hand towards your group.

“Foolish Children! I must thank you for bringing me out of that pathetic state. I grew tired of lying in bed, pretending to be sick. Like I always say…” Capt. Spaceboy began chuckling menacingly. “I must guard my HEART. I must become one...With the ice...FEELINGS ARE FOR LOSERS!!” You shake your head slightly at the sudden flashback. No one seemed to notice. “That wench, Sweetheart...She’s going to pay for leaving me! I did everything for her! I gave everything to her! EVERYTHING! YOU HEAR ME!?!? That ungrateful little…” Capt. Spaceboy growled and took out his laser pistol, firing it at his bed in rage. “JUST FORGET IT!! FORGET EVERYTHING!! I’m going to find Sweetheart, AND I’M GOING TO MAKE HER PAY!!”

Aubrey approaches Capt. Spaceboy with her bat drawn and ready to swing. “Sorry, but we can’t let you do that, Space Boyfriend…” You’re willing to let Capt. Spaceboy do it. “Or should I say, SPACE EX-BOYFRIEND!!” You’re still going to refer to him as Capt. Spaceboy.

“Interesting.” Capt. Spaceboy cooed. “You want to challenge me?” He chuckled and then pointed his laser pistol at Aubrey. “DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!? I AM CAPTAIN OF THE SPACE PIRATES!! I control all the planets in the solar system and have the ability to fly through space at will! The power of the entire universe is at my command!”

“Blah, blah, blah!” Kel mocked. “Talk all you want...We’re not scared of you!”

Hero walked beside Kel. “If you plan on going around and causing trouble, you’re going to have to get through us first!”

Capt. Spaceboy scoffed. “So that’s how it’s going to be...If you still insist on stopping me...Then I’m afraid we’re going to have to settle this the hard way.” He threw his hand behind him and his cape flowed from the resulting force. “I’LL TAKE ALL OF YOU ON!! FIGHT ME, EARTHLY SCUM!!” He charged at the group. Hero quickly flashed a SMILE at Capt. Spaceboy, lowering his attack, while Kel snuck up behind the enemy and began tickling him on his sides. “WHAT ARE YO-HAHAHAHA!!! STOP IT!!” Capt. Spaceboy tried to swipe at Kel but missed. You STARE directly at Capt. Spaceboy, making his eye twitch. “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?!?”

“We got this, guys!” Aubrey shouted out while throwing out some Confetti, resulting in you and the others becoming HAPPY. In the excitement, Capt. Spaceboy managed to kick Hero in the gut. Kel roars and starts to expand a bit and an idea pops in your head. Reaching into your pocket, you pull out a coffee and give it to Kel, increasing his speed. Aubrey BEATSDOWN on Capt. Spaceboy and Hero manages to get some SPICY FOOD into Spaceboy’s mouth.

“HOT!!! HOTHOTHOT!!!” Capt. Spaceboy yelps and begins to fire his laser pistol wildly in the process, hitting everyone in the process. “YOU FOOLS! MY RAGE CANNOT BE CONTAINED...YOU CANNOT PLACATE ME!” Capt. Spaceboy's ANGRY status became permanent. 

“Just a little more guys!” Kel yells out, restoring some JUICE and building up the team's ENERGY, whilst also becoming ECSTATIC. You glance at Capt. Spaceboy and make a dumb ANGRY face with your eye closed, MOCKING him.

“WHY YOU LITTLE-” Before Capt. Spaceboy could finish, Aubrey lands a POWER HIT on him. 

“Quick, SNACK TIME!” Hero calls out, handing a snack to everybody to recover lost HEART. Capt. Spaceboy pulls on his hair and wails loudly, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. Kel RUN ‘N GUNS, throwing his ball at Capt. Spaceboy and hitting right in the heart, dealing massive damage. 

“GAH! How are you all still moving!? I...I won’t let you defeat me!” Capt. Spaceboy glows a darker red, becoming ENRAGED. You run up and slash him with your knife, before nodding to everyone to unleash your ultimate attack. Aubrey manages to fling Spaceboy into the air while Kel’s ball ricochets off various objects to knock him back down where you and Hero take the chance to whack and slash at him. When the attack is done, Capt. Spaceboy screams in rage, glowing an even deeper, almost blood red. “Out of my way, earthly scum! This is your last chance!” He became FURIOUS.

Kel throws a CURVEBALL at Capt. Spaceboy, dealing extra damage and you remain still as inky, black tendrils appear from behind you and rush towards Capt. Spaceboy, wrapping around his neck and SUFFOCATING him. A small cracking sound soon echoed in your mind, followed by an image of a tree with a rope tied to it flashing in your mind. You jump a bit, the tendrils letting Spaceboy go and disappearing from sight. You can feel the piercing stare of Ș̶̣Ȏ̶̹M̸̢͊E̵̡̖̓̌T̶̟̎H̶̢̺͑̃I̷̯̠̍Ǹ̵̲̦͌G̴͍͛̋.

Aubrey takes the chance to BEATDOWN Capt. Spaceboy once more before Hero ran up and smacked the Captain in the face with Ol’ Reliable. Capt. Spaceboy stumbled back a bit and stood up, clutching his chest, the bandage falling off and revealing a broken heart. “Ugh...My heart...It...Hurts…” Capt. Spaceboy let out a choked sob, tears falling down his cheeks. “Why…?” A blue glow surrounded Capt. Spaceboy, giving him a slight purple appearance. Your quirk a brow at the sight. Capt. Spaceboy became DESPAIRED. 

Capt. Spaceboy recovered some HEART!

He pulls out a second laser pistol and fires at you. The blast stings and numbs your left arm. Kel makes a SNOWBALL and throws it at Capt. Spaceboy, taking out some of his JUICE alongside his HEART. You stand up straighter and summon RED HANDS to throw and bash Capt. Spaceboy around the room. Once that’s done, Aubrey TWIRLS and hits Capt. Spaceboy in the process, becoming ECSTATIC. Hero makes some snacks and passes them around for everyone.

Capt. Spaceboy clutched his chest tighter and sang a low, somber melody that affects Hero, making him SAD. Despite that, Hero manages a SMILE and lowers Capt. Spaceboy’s attack. Kel hits Spaceboy with his ball and passes it to you afterwards. You catch it and throw it at Capt. Spaceboy, becoming ECSTATIC in the process. Aubrey rushes in and lands a POWER HIT on Capt. Spaceboy. He retaliates with a kick to your abdomen, which stung far worse than it normally would have. 

Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS around the room, hitting Capt. Spaceboy each time. You grit your teeth and rush in for your FINAL STRIKE, slashing at Capt. Spaceboy multiple times, ending with a giant slash against his chest, hitting right in the heart. Capt. Spaceboy falls onto one knee, dropping his gun and letting his eyepatch fall off his face. “My...Sweet...Heart…” He collapses onto the ground, his hair returning to it’s bubblegum pink color.

You got 416 CLAMS!

After a few seconds, Capt. Spaceboy managed to push himself off the ground and onto his knees, looking around the laser scorched room, scratching his head. “H-Huh? What happened? W-Where am I?” He looks up at your group. “W-Who are you?”

Hero walked up and knelt down with a hand extended to Capt. Spaceboy. “Hey, there! How are you feeling?”

Capt. Spaceboy took the hand and Hero helped him up. “I’m fine, I guess.” He cleared his throat. “My name is Capt. Spaceboy! It’s a pleasure to-” He hissed in pain and clutched his chest, the broken heart having a faint stitching on it. “Oww, my...Chest!”

Aubrey panicked. “Oh no, are you okay? You got a little angry earlier, so we had to-” She walked forward a bit but Capt. Spaceboy motioned for her to stop and he sat down on the edge of his bed. 

“I see...My other half must have gotten the better of me.” He sighed solemnly. “I must apologize. Your actions were likely well-justified. I just hope I didn’t cause you all too much trouble.” He gazed up at the ceiling and leaned back a bit onto the bed. “I’ve been having a hard time controlling my emotions lately. I try my best to keep them at bay, but it’s becoming much more difficult.”

He gripped onto the edge of the bed. “Sweetheart...She was the love of my life...It’s almost impossible for me to imagine life apart from her…” He chuckled softly. “I guess I’m a bit lost.” He pulled out the Special Mixtape and rubbed circles on it with his thumb. “This Special Mixtape is full of mine and Sweetheart’s favorite songs. I put so much love into making this for her.” He smiled and pocketed the cassette. “Thank you all for returning it to me. It’s still full of precious memories, after all.”

Kel walked up to Capt. Spaceboy and patted his shoulder. “Eh...It’s no problem...Well, not too much, anyway.”

Aubrey nodded. “Yeah, we’re glad to help!”

“You just go ahead and get some rest.” Hero advised. Capt. Spaceboy looked at his bed for a beat, before sighing and shaking his head.

“I’m afraid no amount of rest can truly heal a broken heart. I must find another way to get over this…” He perked his head up at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. You and the others turned around to see the two Space Pirates who were chasing after Pluto. You move out of the way so they could approach Capt. Spaceboy, rather nervously.

“Capt. Sp-I mean, Space Boyfriend!” One managed to stammer out before shakily clapping their hands together and bowing. “I am so, so, so sorry, but I have very, very terrible news. Your favorite planet, Pluto has escaped and we can’t find him anywhere!”

The other Space Pirate mirrored the first’s pleading stance. “Don’t be mad at us! We’re sorry!”

“P-Please be gentle!” The first muttered. Capt. Spaceboy turned towards the window to the backyard, staring up all the way to where Pluto’s silhouette resides. You notice him make a small smile. He seemed proud. Eventually he turned back to the two Space Pirates.

“Ah, I see.” He gently patted their heads. “It’s okay, you two. Even the planets get bored turning slowly all day. Perhaps...Pluto was never meant to be a planet.”

The first Space Pirate looked up, very confused. “H-Huh? Really?? So...You’re not angry at us?”

The other one looked up as well, more relieved than anything. “Do you mean it, Capt. Sp-I mean, Space boyfriend?”

Capt. Spaceboy smiled and nodded. “I sure do. In fact, gather the rest of the crew. Let’s go to the Frozen Lake and get some Sno-Cones.” He glanced to the bed. “Resting in bed may not fix a broken heart, but eating Sno-Cones with my friends might help! Also...you don't have to call me Space Boyfriend anymore.” His smile grew wider as he pointed his thumbs at himself. “I’m Capt. Spaceboy!”

“W-Wat, does this mean…?” Capt. Spaceboy nodded and the Space pirates grew elated. “WOOOOO...HOOOOOOOOOOO!! The Captain is back! I can’t wait to tell everyone! Let’s go dude!”

“Right behind you, buddy!” The two Space Pirates left through the back door. Capt. Spaceboy chuckled and turned to your group.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Who knows what would’ve happened to me and my crew if you all didn’t show up?”

Aubrey waved a hand. “Aww, it was nothing! We’re just glad you're feeling like yourself again.”

Capt. Spaceboy chuckled. “Well, you have my thanks. If you ever need anything from me or the Space Pirates, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Hero’s eyes widened. “Actually...I can’t believe I forgot this, but we’re looking for our friend Basil. He wears a Flower Crown and always carries his Photo Album on him. Have you seen him around?”

Capt. Spaceboy hummed and made a quick nervous glance towards his bed, before rubbing the back of his neck and sighing. “I’m afraid I haven’t...But, if I do see anything, you’ll be the first to know!” You, Kel and Hero gave a thumbs up while Aubrey turned to the stairs.

“Basil...Where could he have gone?” She started tearing up. Capt. Spaceboy panicked a bit.

“Ah...Please don’t cry, little lady!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here, take this.” He handed Aubrey the Sno-Cone Ticket. Aubrey didn’t stop crying however and Capt. Spaceboy panicked further. “Uh-oh...Please, little lady, don’t cry!” He glanced around the room. “Errrr...Here, take these too!” He walked over to one of the bookshelves and opened one of the lower drawers. He took out a couple of items and walked back over to your group and handed Aubrey a Train Pass.

“I used to travel around on trains when I was a child...Long before I became a Space Captain.” He chuckled softly. “If even I can go from travelling on trains to flying my own spaceship, then I’m sure you’ll be able to find your friend.” Aubrey sniffled a few more times before nodding. Capt. Spaceboy turned to you and held out a...Knife? “And take this too. It may seem arbitrary, but given what you had to deal with...I’m sure it’d be of use to you.” He handed you the knife. The overall color scheme was the same as Capt. Spaceboy’s other half, with the blade and the handle separated by a round guard with a hole in the middle of it. The blade itself seemed to be glowing slightly red at the edges. You twirl it around before stashing it in your pocket.

You got a Space Pirate Knife!

Space Pirate Knife: A bladed tool most commonly used by Space Pirates. It’s main purpose is to carve off smaller pieces of meat.

ATK: +14

DEF: +8

SPEED: +5

LUCK: +4

A Space Pirate peaked in from the backdoor. “Hey, Captain! Are you ready to go? Everyone’s waiting for you!”

“Ah, yes! Hold on, I’m coming!” Capt. Spaceboy walked over to the backdoor and looked back at your group. “You must keep your hopes up, little lady! If it gets too hard to bear, try eating a Sno-Cone! It might make things a little easier.” He looked back to the door. “I mustn’t keep my crew waiting. Good luck with everything, and thanks again!” Capt. Spaceboy left the room and a Key shortly appeared on his bed.

You move aside the pillow and take the Key, once again, Tulips form over where the hole would be. You let out a sigh and brush your hands against the petals. You don’t know why they’re replacing the holes, but you don’t see the point in wondering abo-You feel something moving up your arm. You look down to see the Tulips climbing up your arm. You try to pull your arm away but it’s stuck. You try to walk away but you get pulled back to the bed. Eventually, one of the Tulips manages to touch your forehead and your vision is obscured by white.

“Hey *****! Look what I got for you!” **** walked into hers and *****’s room. ***** was laying on his bed, reading a book when **** walked in, holding something behind her. ***** put down the book and sat up in his bed.

“What is it?” He asked. **** simply held up another book and handed it to *****, who raised his brows when he read the title. “Duets for Piano and Violin?”

**** nodded. “Mhm! I figured it’d be a good guide!”

“Guide?” ***** tilted his head. “For what?”

“Well~!” **** Sat down on her bed across from *****. “Y’know how I’ve been practicing for a recital?” ***** nodded slowly, still unsure of where **** was going with this. “Well I was thinking that maybe you could join me! Y’know, show everyone how good you are on the Violin!”

***** set down the book next to him and scratched his head, looking rather shocked that **** even offered. “I don’t know...I haven’t played it in a while. I think the last time I did was near the end of summer a-and even then it wasn’t for that long…”

“It won’t be so bad!” **** reassured. “I’m sure once you pick it up, your muscle memory will kick in! You do have a better track record on that field than us, after all!”

***** couldn’t deny that. He could remember a random thing that *** would say out of the blue and he remembers every plant related fact that ***** would share, most of all he remembers every session he had with ****** where she would vent about her home life. He knows for certain that the others would be excited to know that he would be joining ****’s recital. He glanced at the book and sighed. “This isn’t just your idea, is it?”

**** shook her head. “Nope! ***** was the one to suggest it, but I thought it sounded like fun! *** is all for it as well, not to mention ****** and ****!” **** smiled. “It won’t be that bad, I promise!”

***** felt a pit in his stomach. He’d never been able to say ‘no’ to his friends. If it was just **** he could’ve had some leeway in saying he’ll think about it, even if he inevitably agreed to it an hour or two later, but since everyone is on board, he feels he has no choice but to accept. He’s not even sure if he could keep up with ****. She’s been practicing for almost a month now and her perfectionist nature would keep her at it till the middle of the night at times. ***** gripped his knees and sighed. “I’ll...Try my best.” 

**** Clapped her hands together and smiled widely. “Perfect! And, if you’re really worried about being rusty, we can hire a tutor to help get you up to speed!”

“That...Sounds good.” ***** screamed inside his head. Why can’t he just say ‘no’!?

Another cracking sound echoes throughout your mind, with the image of a boy crying next to a bed. You’re finally able to back away from the bed, the Tulips lingering, almost taunting you. You walk away from the bed and head downstairs and out of the building, marching all the way to Mari’s picnic. Mari turned to your group and waved. “Hello everyone! How’s the search for Basil going?”

“Well, Mari…” Hero scratched his head. “It seems that we’ve taken a little detour. Just trying to help those in need, you know?”

Aubrey ran up to Mari, holding her ticket. “Look, Mari! I got a Sno-Cone Ticket!”

“Well, that’s very nice, Aubrey!”

“Thanks!”

“Hey, Mari!” Kel called out. “Look what I can do!” Kel quickly demonstrated his new EXPAND ability.

“That’s...Very nice too, Kel!” Mari scratched her cheek.

“I know! Isn’t it!?” 

Hero tapped his foot. “It’s so strange. We’ve searched all over the place, but we haven’t seen a hint of Basil anywhere.” You turn to Hero and raised a brow, because you definitely did NOT search the entirety of Otherworld.

“Oh Basil…” Mari muttered. “I wonder where he could’ve gone. There must be something we’re missing.” Mari turned to you. “Do you have any leads, Omori?” You shrug and walk out of the campsite and to the ladder leading back down to Vast Forest. There, you see Stranger. You glare at the shadow and it simply walks into Cattail Field. Knowing the song and dance by now, you begrudgingly follow suit.

Clouds cover the sky, blocking out the stars, allowing snow to effortlessly flutter to the ground below. You don’t bother to look behind you, knowing your friends are nowhere in sight at the moment. You take a few steps forward when a bright light clouds your vision once more.

“Watermelons...Are my favorite part of summer…”

Your vision returns to you. You glance around, as if you were lost and confused, the latter holding true. You shake your head and march forward, meeting Stranger part way through before your vision becomes obscured again.

“A wish? But what should I wish for? I have everything I could ever want right here.”

You grit your teeth and continue marching for the Barn that Stranger is walking towards. When your vision is blocked out again, you try to march forward, but a sharp pain suddenly shoots through your head, stopping you in your tracks.

“Are you going on ahead? Don’t worry about us...We’ll catch up in a minute.”

“Mari’s cookies...Mari’s cookies have much more love baked into them.”

The pain subsides and your vision once again comes back to you, albeit unfocused and with colors flying all around. You shakily stand up and continue moving forward, the snow feeling firmer and less cold. You pause and manage to catch some of it in your hand. Holding it closer to you, it’s revealed that the ‘snow’ is no longer snow, but white petals. The ground is getting completely covered by them. You drop the few that fell into your palm and continue. 

Unsurprisingly, the moment you find Stranger again, IT happens again.

“We’re still young...We should dream big, right?”

You shake your head and practically sprint towards the Barn, still leagues behind Stranger, who despite only walking, is faster than you. When you reach the Barn, the door is already open, a bright red light shining through the cracks. You walk inside and see Stranger standing in front of the giant mirror. You walk through it and end up in a black hallway. You sigh and walk down the frankly ridiculously long stretch of nothingness.

Finally, you come across a Key. Not one of the ones you need, but a Key nonetheless. However the moment you hover your hand to it, S̴̟͘O̶̦̞͐́̕M̵͈̗͊́̅̕Ë̷̼́̽Ţ̶̮̥̻͐̑͘Ḩ̶̙̤̲̔̑́Ḯ̷̦͂̈́͘N̵̩̮͈͠G̴̳̀̊ morphs from the Key, staring you down with it’s single judgmental eye. You're thrown for a loop, and it takes the opportunity to rush and surround you, it’s eye multiplying and filling every unused space until all you can see is white.

“This year, you get just one present...From all of us.”

You find yourself back in White Space, the sound of a heart beating louder and louder. Taking one last look around, you notice a slight haze over where the lightbulb is, the light shining ever so dimly. How odd. You try to walk over to it, but the haze somehow threatens to take hold of you and darken your vision. Taking your knife out of your pocket, you hold it out and prepare to leave for the day, but something holds your arm back, for just a split second before you drive the blade into your gut.

Papers fly all around. Their destination is nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time.

A̵̳͔̤̍͝ͅṫ̵͙̂̈́̅ ̶̧̬̲̳͒͊t̶̗̹͋ḩ̵̠̦͓͊͘ȁ̶̺̲͕̠t̵͚̹̉̆ ̴̲̦͍̇͒t̸͕̼͍͒̏ĩ̵͚̺̔̽̀m̶̙͊̅̇̈́ē̸̢̛̮̝̠͠.̵̠̉̈́̄͆.̵͇͚̟̌̃.̸͖̞͆I̴̢͕̞͊ ̶̻̹͉̖̍͠s̶͓̜̋͂̉ǎ̷͎̈ͅẃ̸͍̭ ̵̧̤̥̅e̷̳̒̈́̃v̷̥̝̳͐e̴̞̣͑̐̊ṟ̴̃̚y̶̬̝̥̳̍͋ț̵̰̙͗̈́h̴̨̗̟̟̉i̶̧̓͗͝n̴̬̍͋͠g̵̨͙̊̌̃.̷̗̘̟̒͠͝.̵̨̘̪͂͜͠͝.̵̛͎̞̳̈́̉̿

̴̧͓͆̍

̶̧͇̅W̶̩͛h̴̖͊̏̑̓e̸̪͖͌̓̈̾n̶̼͖̍ ̸̢͖̫̖͋̇̌y̴̧͓͙̍o̷̭͔̟̐̈̎͝ͅu̴̖̙̗̝̕͝ ̵͔̍̌̚s̷̤̒ṱ̵͂̒͜͠ȍ̶͈̟͉̞ȯ̷͉̪̌͗d̸̨̧͋͊ ̸͚̾̎h̸͇̱͓̆̾e̶͓͚͇̞͊̚r̵̯̥̗̔ͅe̶͈͍͖̅ ̴̼̠̕b̶̙̀͜ē̴̠͎̲̘̚f̸͎̫̯̋̌͋̅o̸͓̗͋r̵̤̈́e̵͈̠̊̈.̴̨̖̃.̵̧̣͙͈̂́́̚.̸̣̃̓̈́̿D̵͖̫̽̇i̶͖̇̋̑d̶̦̺͑̽ͅ ̷̙̯̹̇̍ỷ̵̨̮̠̆ŏ̶̝̫̌̽̔ủ̸̬̩̰ ̶̥̐̈̅s̴͖̑̒e̵͍̪̖͊͗͘e̸̤͗ ̷̛̘̲͎͂̒͝i̴̧̼͉͑͜t̴̢͔̲̹̾͝ ̸̢̬̼̐ț̸͋o̸̪͎͍͗̽o̷͓̗͗͜?̴͎͖̥͔͆̓̕͘

The two boys stare each other down. Behind one of them, the blonde one, was a mass of darkness. Roots threaten to pull him away and drag him to the earth below.

S̶͓̮͛͐ó̸̢m̸͓̰̎͌͒e̴̤̺͍̐̀t̵̗̝̄̿̂ḫ̴̛ḯ̸̼͌̄͒ͅn̸̯̬̩̤͑g̶̨̣̉̀̽͒.̴̯̥̠̿.̷̦̄̀.̴̗̠̣B̴͍̮͑̈e̷͉̲̅͂h̴͖̫̜̔͂͝͝i̴̥̲̘͑̄n̶̲̎̏͗d̷͙̱̏̀͒ ̵̡̻̰̱̇y̷̨̞̭͕͌͊ơ̷͎̿̈͊u̴̥̔̈̄.̴͈̪͚̊.̴̗̮̗̇̓̀.̷͎̍̑̾̚

3 DAYS LEFT

Chapter Text

Sunny woke up with a gasp. He clutched his abdomen as a sharp pain ran through it, twisting his insides like knots only to forcefully undo them afterwards. His entire body felt like it was sinking further into his bed, threatening to break frame and his left arm had pins and needles. His breaths were strained and served to make the pain worse. He tried to sit up, but his body retaliated, worsening the pain as he moved not even an inch upwards. He gritted his teeth and shot up in a flash, like he was ripping off a band-aid. It worked, as the pain was beginning to die down. He took a few deep breaths and wiped his eyes, as small pricks of tears were starting to form.

“I’m fine...I’m fine.” Sunny moved to the edge of the bed and ran his hands down his face. “Everything’s fine...It was just…” He sighed. He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t like it. He glanced up towards the window and raised a brow. He got up and looked outside, keeping his gaze locked onto the sky. It was morning, but the sun was just barely starting to creep over the trees. “Well...This is new…” He backed away from the window and walked over to the phone, where he had one voicemail waiting for him.

“Hey Sunny, It’s Mommy. How are you doing? Are you eating well?” Sunny rolled his eyes.

First answer: Mostly the same. Second answer: Hell no...

“I was hoping that I could make it back to see you today, but it’s the last day of a big furniture sale and-”

“I just can’t resist a good bargain!”

“You just can’t resist a good bargain…” Sunny sighed and deleted the voicemail before it could continue. Just like the last one, it was exactly the same as his dream(?) and all it really did was remind him that he was alone and had chores. He rubbed his eyes and checked the time the message was sent, which was around 6:30 AM. Both just one hour before he woke up and a horrible lack of foresight from his Mom. He pressed himself against the wall and slid down, wrapping his arms around his knees as he tried to recount his thought process before falling asleep.

Right. The ‘dream’ he had. This was probably the most he’s ever going to be confused. Sure, if there was someone who was going to vividly dream up 3 whole days, it would be him. But so far, the contents of said dreams included, waking up in the middle of the night hungry, getting a voicemail from his Mom that was a word for word description of his Mom talking about the lights, moving away and...Kel, and then Sunny walking down to the kitchen to get something to eat and then going back to bed. The only differences were that, in his ‘dream’ he wouldn’t walk down the stairs again until he tried going back to bed, he ate the Steak in the fridge which didn’t work out at all and...That creature behind the door.

Sunny sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is too much…” He let go of his knees but remained sitting, staring up at the fan turning slowly. Now comes the counter to that first thought. Headspace. He’s had Headspace for as long as he could remember. It was an added accessory to his constant daydreaming. The catch was, Headspace didn’t imitate Real Life to a ‘T’. It was wild and chaotic at times. Most of the residents are caricatures of the stuff he’d read or the people he’d seen once or twice. He knows this. That’s why he likes it. Headspace was just...Better than reality at times, even as a kid. So Headspace perfectly mimicking Real Life like that would be a contradiction to itself, since the ‘dreams’ involved Sunny doing chores with nothing exciting except for...

He stood up and rubbed his temples as his head was beginning to ache. “Let’s put that on the shelf for now…” He brushed himself off and headed for the bathroom, feeling the need to wash his face. The result was essentially the same as when he had gone in there during the night. Freezing cold and a paler, bloody, hole in torso reflection of himself standing in the mirror. He raised a brow. “Same thing? That’s...Huh…” Most of the time, after something like this happened in the mirror, it’d be gone the next time he checked. Why was this time different? He didn’t know and frankly he wanted to wash his face first before theorizing, so that’s what he did.

He dried his face off with a towel and stared his reflection down, resting his hands on the sink. He knew one thing for certain, it wasn’t just a creepy hallucination to unnerve him. If that was the case, then it probably wouldn’t be tracing his movements like a normal reflection would. Or maybe it would, he didn’t know. This was still a new one for him. He clutched his sweater vest where the hole would be and his reflection did the same, it’s fist hovering where the wrinkles of the vest would be. Sunny let go and stared into the hole of his reflection.

“Why? What’s the point of that…And why is it so goddamn cold in he-” He hissed in pain and held onto his head as it began to ache. Brief flashes of Sunny standing in front of the mirror with a knife in his stomach. The ache subsided and Sunny turned away from the mirror, hugging himself in an attempt to warm up. It wasn’t working. He walked out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom, leaning against the table that held his list of chores. He clutched his stomach and sighed. “This just keeps getting more confusing. Why would THAT stick in my mind? It happens all the time in…In...” He stopped and glanced around the room. “But...This isn’t White Space or...The other one. Nor was whatever...That was…”

Sunny found himself at a stalemate at the moment. He wanted to lie back down in his bed and ignore everything, but he was also hesitant. Unsure if what had happened earlier would happen again if he tried to fall back asleep. If he was going to be awake, then he should get started on those chores, but he feels unmotivated to do so. He glanced out the window, where the sun finally appeared above the treeline and looking at the answering machine told him it was somewhere around eight at the moment. He clicked his tongue and stared at the cardboard boxes. “3 days left…” He cringed a bit. He wasn’t used to saying anything in voice louder than a whisper, even if it was just him talking to himself. His voice sounded more mature though, so he’ll pat himself on the back for that. He sighed and glanced once more at the boxes, raising a brow and humming as a thought came to him. “That book…”

He stood up and pulled the larger cardboard box out from it’s spot in the corner, placing it in the middle of the room. He got onto his knees and opened the box, revealing a large, disorganized array of his old belongings dating back to when he was younger. Toys of Capt. Spaceboy and Sweetheart, the latter of which he doesn’t remember why he had it at all, a plush Sprout Mole that smelled like dirty laundry, a small pinwheel, a mini toy piano, dry clay which again, he wasn’t sure why he kept it and finally, a large array of books. Children books like Hungry Humphrey and The Kid and His Kite to informative books like The Food Pyramid book and the reason why he even looked in here, Duets for Piano and Violin.

He opened it up and flipped through a few pages. It went through detailed instructions on how to incorporate the two instruments together. Sunny looked back into the box and stared at the toy piano then back at the book. He repeated this action a few times before he closed the book and set it back in the box, closing it back up. He sat against it and looked up at the ceiling. “‘Duets for Piano and Violin’...It wasn’t for the toy, that’s for sure. I don’t even play the piano...Did...Did I have a Violin?” Sunny hummed. “A Violin...Yeah...I did have a Violin. I...I played it with Mari-” He hissed in pain as a sudden ache struck his head. “Again!?”

He put a hand up to his head, but stopped and rubbed his fingers together, taking in the feeling of dirt on his hand. He scoffed. “Seriously? I haven’t been outside in four years, how does dirt even get in here!?” He sighed and stood up, setting the box back in it’s place. Sunny took one last glance out the window and tilted his head. Since that ‘dream’ featured the cut off electricity, voicemails and...Other things, then sometime in the afternoon, Kel should end up knocking on the door. He clicked his tongue and grabbed the broom, getting started on the sweeping with his room. He kept glancing out the window as he did so. His mind thought back to that ‘dream’.

The person on the other side of the door was persistent, Sunny will give them that much. Marching down to the door, he stopped as he heard a voice on the other side. “Hellloooooo...Hellllooooooooo? Sunny? Are you there?” Sunny remained silent, letting the other person speak. “Do you remember me? It’s your old friend, Kel!” Sunny raised a brow. Kel didn’t sound like that. The voice was different, deeper, more mature. Kel’s voice is high pitched, kinda squeaky at times and happy, even when he would hear a soul touching story. This voice was sad, despite sounding cheerful.

“So...I, uh...I noticed the ‘FOR SALE’ sign in the front of your house…” ‘Kel’ continued. “And I...Err...Heard from my Mom that you were moving away soon.” Sunny folded his arms and tapped his foot. This was a trick. Like with that ‘Mari’ hallucination. It had to be. “I was wondering...If you wanted to hang out one more time before you go...Or whatever...For old time’s sake, y’know.” Sunny shook his head. It was a trick. That wasn’t Kel. They’ll leave soon, given time. Sunny rubbed his eyes as he retreated from the door. Maybe he’ll take a nap. Not long enough to retreat to Headspace, but enough to wake him up. Yeah, that sounded nice.

Sunny walked into the kitchen, just finished with the dining room. He’d leave the living room for last. That way he’d be right there when Kel should arrive. “Kel…” The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to kick himself. Dream or not, his reasoning was stupid. He heard what his Mom said. He seems a little lonely… Sunny knows what that’s like, he should’ve...He took a deep breath. He can fix it. He’ll answer the door this time...Sunny stopped sweeping and looked out the window. “Four years...Would I even be going out into the same world as four years ago?” He bit his lip. “It’s intimidating…”

He glanced at the knife that was still sitting on the counter. A part of him wanted to take it. As a way to protect himself. But when he gets closer to it, he instantly steps back like it’ll jump at him if he gets too close. “I can’t just leave it there though…Can I?” He glanced at the drawer under the knife and pulled it open, every other kitchen utensil sitting neatly inside. He took a deep breath. “In and out. Just grab it, put it in the drawer and you’re done…” Another breath. He set the broom nearby and braced himself.

“3...2…1!” In a flash, Sunny grabbed the knife, ignoring the world going dark around him and set it in the drawer roughly. He didn’t care, just as long as the drawer would close, which it did. After the deed was done, Sunny grabbed the broom and leaned on the doorway that led to the living room, panting as if he had just run a marathon. Looking out into the room, he groaned as he took in the sight of the amount of dirt that was in there. “How? Just how?” He shook his head and sighed, gripping on the broom handle tighter as he walked into the living room, ready to sweep.

Sweeping away the dirt from the rug was the hardest part. Whatever he didn’t get would hide in the fabric, taunting him. No matter how hard he tried, the dirt remained. Eventually he gave up and leaned on the broom, resting his head on his hand, which was resting on the end of the broom handle. His feet were killing him from standing, but there was nowhere to sit other than the dining room, but he wanted something soft and he still didn’t want to chance the bed, so here he was. He was really missing the couch. 

“It’s strange…In most cases, everything being packed away would make the house seem larger, more spacious...But somehow, it feels...Small…” He looked out the window near the fireplace. The blue sky and fluffy white clouds seemed to beckon him. He changed the focus of his staring to the clock. “10:12 AM, huh...I got done faster than expected.” He shifted his gaze to the floor, tapping his fingers on the broom handle and swaying back and forth gently. He was getting restless. Keeping his gaze to the floor, he glanced at the stains that plagued the rug. Sunny couldn’t help but chuckle, even if his face didn’t show that amusement.

“WHOOPS!” *** dropped his juice box. He fumbled around trying to grab it, but when it finally succumbed to his grip, he squeezed it too hard, a geyser of juice spraying downward onto the rug. *** stared at the puddle with wide eyes, occasionally risking a glance up at the others. ***** just stared at *** in disappointment, not even bothering to check if the others were doing the same. *** let out a small, shaky chuckle. “Hehe...My bad…” After a few more seconds of disappointed stares, *** bolts out of the house. Before anyone could register, a tiny meow was heard. A small black cat, Mewo, had walked through the stain while pronouncing around. ***** took a drink of his juice while ****’s face went red.

“***! Get back here now!” ***** knew it was pointless. *** was already long gone. **** walked into the kitchen and the sound of water could be heard. *****, ***** and ****** all share a look at each other.

“So...That happened” ***** muttered.

“I wonder how that confrontation is going to turn out once they find him.” ****** said to no one in particular, taking a drink of her juice.

“Here, let’s get this cleaned up before it stains.” **** walked back in with wet paper towels, handing one to ****. “We’ll deal with him later.”

***** leaned closer to *****. “What flavor of juice was that?”

“I think it was orange.” ***** replied, taking another drink of his juice. “Even if it didn't have a deep color, I don’t think they’ll be able to stop that from staining. Pretty sure Mewo already ruined any chances they have.”

“Ouch. ***’s really in for it.” ****** chuckled softly.

“Looks like it.” ***** replied, taking a drink from his juice.

Mewo brushed up against *****’s leg. The boy knelt down and began to gently pet the kitten, earning a small purr of appreciation. “Don’t worry. **** won’t be mad at you. ***’s gonna have it the worst.” The kitten looked up at him curiously and meowed. ***** nodded. “Exactly.”

Another sharp pain in Sunny’s head. He dropped the broom and clutched his head as hissed and growled from the pain. “What keeps causing that!?” Sunny started to feel ANGRY, but calmed down the moment the pain subsided. “God...Just...God…” He glanced back up at the clock. 10:13 AM. Sunny sucked in a large amount of air through his nose. “Fuck it!” He walked over to the shoe rack and slipped on his shoes, tying the laces tight enough that they don’t come loose while walking. Once he was done, he approached the door, hovering a hand over the door knob. “You got this, Sunny Suzuki. You got this…” Sunny took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Green grass, a blue sky with minimal clouds, trees as far as the eye could see and fresh air. Sunny closed the door behind him and drank it all in. He was outside, after four years of what was essentially radio silence. He breathed slowly, taking his time to appreciate the air around him. He looked up at the sky, lifting an arm near his face to shield his eyes from the sun. Four years. He spent four years inside, hiding away from the world. Now that he was outside, something began to stir within him. A sense of longing to just...Exist. To walk around and watch the little things. To lay in the grass and watch the clouds drift in the sky, on an aimless adventure. 

Sunny finally stretched his arms over him, resulting in several popping sounds to ring out. After another breath of air, he stepped away from the door and onto the grass. He couldn’t feel it because of his shoes, but he could just tell how soft it was. He didn’t want to step off of it, but he had too. The sound of his shoes colliding with the hard concrete was like music to his ears. Despite waking up at the time he did, he didn’t feel tired. Sure, he didn’t have doubts that he looked tired, but once the outside air hit his face, his senses just heightened. He felt more aware of things. He stopped the beginnings of his venture when he finally took notice of the ‘FOR SALE’ sign. A big red ‘SOLD’ sticker clinging to it like a rash.

“3 days, Suzuki...Only 3 days left…”  Sunny wiped his eye with his thumb as he felt tears beginning to build up. Staring down the sign, he clenched his fist. “Make them count…” With a nod, he walked down the sidewalk, a new sense of determination building up inside of him. He was going to make these last few days count. “First order of business, Kel.” He didn’t have to walk very far before he reached the Vidal house. He didn’t even need to step inside it’s vicinity, since the moment he came into view, Hector, the family’s dog, ran up to Sunny and knocked him over, licking his face.

“Alright! Alright, I get it! It’s good to see you too, Hector!” Sunny sat up and began petting the dog behind the ear with one hand while wiping away the slobber from his face with the other. “Sorry for being away for so long…” He muttered before petting the dog with both hands. After a beat or two Sunny stood up and made his way to the front door with Hector running circles around him and barking, impeding his process a little. Once at the orange colored door, he raised his fist to knock and held it there for a few seconds.

Breathe...Just breathe. Kel was trying for a few months, the least you could do was try this once. Sunny took in a deep breath, taking in the sound of Hector’s barking and finally collided his fist with the door once, then twice and then a third time. Sunny could make out the faint sounds of someone rushing to the door. 

The door flies open with a middle aged woman on the other side. “Sorry about Hector! He gets excited when-” She pauses and finally takes notice of who’s in front of her. “Sunny!?”

“Uh…” Sunny cleared his throat. “Hello, Mrs. Vidal!” He tried his best to sound cheerful, but he was kind of disappointed that Kel didn’t answer the door first. Before he could say anything else, Kel’s mom pulled him into a hug. Sunny was taken aback at first but quickly reciprocated.

“It’s so good to see you again!” Kel’s mom released the hug but kept her hands on his shoulders, looking Sunny over with a disappointed, yet worried expression. “Dear...You look so thin...Have you been eating properly? And...Why do you feel so cold?”

“Um…” Sunny knew there was no right answer to those questions. He wasn’t even sure where he stood in regards to the last one, so he thought of a counter. “Uh, my Mom said that Kel was trying to get a hold of me...I only have three days left here and I finally decided that I’d rather spend them with my friends.”

Mrs. Vidal's expression softened up a bit, before it went right back to disappointed. “Oh for Pete’s sake, Kelsey! Of all the times…” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Kel isn’t here at the moment. He’s probably at the park with his friends, ignoring his chores.” 

“Oh…” He’ll admit, he should’ve figured Kel wouldn’t be at his house. He never did like chores. “So...The park, huh?”

“Most likely…” She takes a glance at Sunny and her expression softens up once more. “I hope you don’t mind grabbing him for me? Drag him back here so he can do his chores?” Sunny raised a brow. He was kind of expecting her to invite him in. But he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he nodded. “Thanks.” She patted his head. “Do me a favor and visit often after you move, okay?”

“I will…”

“Good. Now, do you remember the way to the park?”

Sunny tapped his temple and began to back away from the door. “I know my way. It was good to see you again!”

“It was good to see you too! Now hurry along and find Kel!” She waved Sunny off and closed the door.

He gave Hector a pet and began walking down the sidewalk once more. A car passed by, driving a little too fast for such a small town. “I should probably avoid the street if people are going that fast.” He muttered to himself. His objective was clear, go to the park, find Kel, have a heartfelt reunion-His stomach growled. “And get some breakfast afterwards.” He stared up at the sky as he walked down the cement path, stopping as soon as he caught sight of a Shark Plane flying towards him. He rubbed his eyes and checked again. It was gone. “That was…” He shook his head. “Focus Sunny...Focus.” He took a deep breath and marched onwards.

He couldn’t bear it anymore. After Mari died, after he desecrated her corpse by hanging it on hers-Sunny’s-their favorite tree, nothing was the same. He never saw Hero after that day, Kel wouldn’t give him the time of day and Aubrey...He deserved everything that happened to him. The bullying, the loss of his Photo Album, Sunny locking himself away. All of it happened because of him, because of some horrible accident that he made worse in some kind of twisted attempt to help...And he was paying for it. 

He wanted to end for the longest time. He didn’t deserve to live after what he had done, but he waited. Until the one person he had left, his Grandma, was gone. He didn’t want her to outlive him, with the knowledge that he took it upon himself to end it all. He couldn’t do that to her. So, he waited and it’s finally time. S̸̼̈́̉͋̈́Ö̶̙͜Ṃ̷̛͇͐͋͝E̴̡̘̽T̶͚̘̈̑H̵̟͝I̵̯̰͋N̵̳̓Ǵ̸̢͈̤͘ kept enveloping the world around him as he took hold of the Garden Shears near his bed. The ability to end it all was in his hands. He could end it right then and there. He could end it quickly. He didn’t. He chose to make it hurt.

He started with his wrists. Opening up the Shears and placing the edge down onto his skin, slowly making a thin line that was only visible thanks to the blood that began to ooze from the cut. A small thin line. That’s all it was. But with the speed he made it, it felt like he was drawing a mile long line, like a kid separating their side of the playground from the others. It stung, but it’s what he deserves. He repeated the action, again and again, one for every mistake he ever made.

By the time he was done, both of his arms were bloody and marked with several lacerations. He started to feel lightheaded from blood loss. But he wasn’t done yet. Making sure the Shears were still open, he pointed the tool at his stomach. “I’m sorry...for everything…” He pushed the Shears into his stomach. He starts to choke up, his breath making the pain increase further. He still wasn’t done. Using the last remnants of strength he had left, he closed the Shears, connecting the two wounds into one giant one. 

He fell back onto the wall, and slid down onto the carpet, staining the wall with his blood. He hoped Aubrey wouldn't blame herself for this. After all, she wasn't in the wrong. The last thing he heard was the faint sound of a door slamming open, before everything went dark.

And then he opened his eyes.

Chapter Text

Basil blinked a couple of times, his eyes locked onto the ceiling. “Oh...It was just a dream…” He sighed and rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand sleepily. “It felt so real…” He lifted his hand off his face and, for whatever reason, glanced at it. He froze at the sight. Starting from his wrist, he looked at the small, thin scars that were scattered about his arm. “W-What…?” He lifted his other arm and saw the same sight. “T-these weren’t…” He rubbed his eyes again, the scars were still there. He dug his palms into his eyes and rubbed them as hard as he could until they hurt. The scars remained. A sense of dread, far greater than that of S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊, took hold. 

“It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.” Basil’s breath began to hitch. “Everything is going to be okay...M-Maybe I’m just...Seeing things. Yeah, yeah! I-It’s just my mind playing tricks on me! Everything i-is f-f-fine!” He threw off his sheets and sat up at the edge of the bed, hugging himself. “S-so cold. Maybe it r-rained sometime during t-the night.” He stood up and walked a couple of steps away from his bed before he began to feel dizzy. Stumbling around a bit, Basil managed to prop himself up against the wall. “I...W-Why is everything spinning around?” 

He stays by the wall until he notices everything is stationary. With a groan, he moves away from the wall and towards the door, still hugging himself. He lifted his hand to the door knob when his eyes wandered over to the calendar nearby. At first it was just a glance, but he ended up doing a double take and took a closer look. “W-Wait, n-no, I could’ve sworn…” The last time he went to bed was yesterday, but the day isn’t marked on the calendar, nor is the day before that. S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ began to take root all around him, threatening to tangle him up. His breath became rushed and brief, as he curled up in himself. “Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” He stood and opened the door, quickly rushing out before S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ could follow.

First things first, Basil needed to check on someone. Rushing past the doorway to the living room, he walked up to the door at the end of the hallway. Carefully opening it, he quietly went inside and gasped at the sight. His Grandma was lying on the bed, unresponsive but there, with a White Egret Orchid sitting on the desk right next to her. “I-I…” He quietly made his way to the bed and stood by his Grandma’s side. “G-Grandma?” He lifts his hand up to her face and remembers the last time he did the same. It was at the hospital, when she died. His eyes widened and he backed away, hyperventilating. “S-She died at the hospital...S-S-So w-why…?” S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ appeared in his Grandma’s room. “N-No! G-Get out here! Y-You s-sh-should’t b-be here!” 

In the blink of an eye, Basil rushed out of his Grandma’s room, past the living room and into the bathroom. He ran over to the sink and turned it on, cupping his hands so he could get enough water to wash over his face. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. He turned off the sink and glanced up at the mirror. Everything is...Every...E-Ev-Eve… 

Basil’s reflection was drenched in blood, with a giant gash on his torso and the scars on his arms became much more noticeable. His reflections expression looked neutral in a way, with the only discernible feature being the half-lidded eyes. Basil backed away and pulled on his hair, closing his eyes. It’s okay! It’s okay! It’s not real! It’s not real! Everything is okay! Everything is… Tears were rolling down his face as he looked back up. Despite said tears, he could see it clearly. S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ wrapping itself around his reflections wounds. 

“O-Of course! It’s that! This is all Š̶̰͉̙̩͐̔O̵̡̜͙̬̓̾͠M̷̮̱̤͉̿̊E̶̬͚̖Ṭ̶̮͓̒H̸̟̩̪͝İ̷̮́͂N̸̻̓̕G̷̝͉͖̫̉͋'̴̧̛̟̩͕̓͗S̶̭̅̿̾ doing! I...I just need to get rid of it! The Garden Shears! Those'll work! S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ won’t survive against those! It’s perfect!” Basil turned away from the mirror, but remained in place. “But...If I try to fight S̶̙̤͂͊̔͜͝͝Ǫ̶̿͐̒͆͘M̶͇̯̝̭͖̌̈́E̷͉̍̒̇͘͠T̴̟̈́H̴̩͍͖̞͎̀͌I̵̡̼̗̘̦͐̂͘N̸̮͍̫̽̈́́͘G̴̠͗̎̿͊ off like that, then I might...And then Grandma will…” He gripped his hair harder and fell onto his knees. “God...Why…?”

A knock echoed from the other side of the door. “Basil? Are you okay in there? I heard the water running earlier but, well, you’ve been in there for a while now.”

Polly… Basil released his hair and looked down at his arms. She can’t know. There’s too much that could go wrong if she knew.

Polly sighed on the other side. “And, well, I heard you rush past both to and from your Grandmother’s room. I know stuff like that can be nerve-wracking and…” Something hard pressed against the door. “I know I must’ve said this a million times but, if you need someone to talk to, I’m always willing to listen.” Polly’s voice was low and somber, almost to the point where Basil couldn’t hear it over his own heartbeat. “Um...Anyways, breakfast is ready when you are...Just, thought I should let you know...” Footsteps echoes from the other side.

Basil shakily stood up and approached the door, making the conscious decision to not look back. I should get ready for the day… He walked out of the bathroom and quickly went back into his bedroom. The moment he stepped away from the door, a wave of lightheadedness washed over him. Stumbling forward, he fell onto one knee and managed to stop himself before he collapsed further. “My head...Why…?” He blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision, when his eyes drifted to something beneath his bed.

To a pair of Garden Shears. 

He dropped his other knee down and rubbed the scars on his arms. Everything started coming back to him. His final vain attempt at getting his Photo Album back from Aubrey, only to have the air knocked out of him and get pushed into the dirt. Staying by his Grandma’s side before and during her time at the hospital, before watching her pass away. Locking himself in his room, crying his eyes out until… “I...Killed myself…” He turned back towards the calendar. “But then...Why am I…?”

Tears rolling down his face, Basil crawled over towards the wall and sat against it. “It was over...So why? Why am I back? I don’t deserve it after…” He buried his face in his arms and sobbed.

‘FARAWAY PARK: THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE DREAMERS!’

Sunny hummed at the sign. “Good news for me then.” He clicks his tongue and walks into the park proper. As much as he wanted to just wander around, he kept it in his mind to look for Kel first. Afterwards he can wander around. “Wait...Would...Would Kel even look the same?” The last time he saw Kel, not including Headspace, was four years ago. “How much would he have changed since then?” He sighed. “Great. I have to talk to strangers, don’t I?” 

He glanced around for anyone nearby he could talk to, but paused at the playground when he saw Brows running around the slide. He shook his head and looked away. This isn’t Headspace. Focus on what’s real. He took a breath and looked back at the playground, no Brows in sight. Sunny nodded and resumed looking around for anybody to talk to. Of course, he didn’t need to look for long, as someone tapped his shoulder. 

“Pardon me, but you look a little lost.” 

Sunny turned around, a man with light brown hair and wearing black robes looking at him with a slight concerned expression. Judging by the cross on the man's book and robes, Sunny figured he was some kind of holy man. “I wouldn’t necessarily say lost. More like, looking for an old friend.”

The man hummed. “Ah, well I’d be glad to help.” The man held the book under his arm. “Do you know what they look like?”

Sunny winced. “That’s the tough part. I haven’t seen him in four years since I, uh, became a shut in.”

“Oh, so this is your first time outside since?” The man raised a brow. Sunny nodded and the man held his chin. “Hmm...Well, how about his name? Do you remember that?”

“Uh, his name is ‘Kelsey Vidal’. His mom said he’d be here, so…”

“Kelsey Vidal.” The man hummed. “I think I know who you’re talking about, but I’m afraid I can’t really give a description.” He frowned. “Even after I calm my nerves by strolling through the park, I can’t really keep eye contact with the church goers during my sermons.”

Sunny raised a brow. “Stage fright?”

“Ever since I was a child.” The man chuckled. “And yet, I’m a preacher at the church. I suppose even God can have a cruel sense of irony.”

“It seems like it.” Sunny replied. “But, I understand the stage fright. I don’t have it personally, but I can imagine how it feels.” Sunny stared down at the grass, his eyes becoming glazed over. “Hundreds, maybe thousands of eyes staring at you, each and every one of them having high expectations, meanwhile you haven’t perfected what you’re doing, so the chances of mistakes is high, meaning that you’ll never be able to fully meet the audiences expectations and-” A slight shove broke Sunny out of his trance and he rested his hand on his head as a small wave of lightheadedness hit him.

“Are you alright? That sounded...Scarily specific.”

“I...W-Where…” Sunny looked around the park. “W-What happened?”

The Preacher raised a brow. “You...Don’t remember what you were saying?”

Sunny shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I don’t. What was I talking about?”

“You…” The Preacher paused and hummed. “It sounds like something is eating away at you. Even if you don’t realize it.” The preacher sighed and held his chin. “Perhaps…” He straightened himself out and looked at Sunny with worry in his eyes. “There’s a sermon happening this afternoon. I’m not sure what it is that’s eating you, but perhaps you might be able to make peace with whatever it is if you attend.” 

“Um…” Sunny rubbed the back of his head, very confused. “I-I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask.” The Preacher smiled and turned around. “Best of luck with finding your friend. Sorry I couldn’t be of any help. And...I do hope you attend the sermon. Whether you have faith or not, it may prove helpful.” The Preacher waved. “I’ll take my leave.” He walked away towards Sunny’s right, just a little ways from the playground.

“Well, that happened.” Sunny shrugged and turned to the opposite side of the park, but kept still when he felt something fluffy brush against his leg. “Huh?” He looked down and saw an orange Tabby Cat looking up at him. “Oh. Hello there.” He knelt down and began petting it, unable to resist it’s fluff. A laugh rang out from the direction he was facing, but he didn’t look up until he heard the voices. 

“I’m serious! It really did only feel like a few minutes!”

“I know, I know but your reaction!”

Sunny stood up and kept his gaze locked onto where the voices were coming from. A couple soon emerged from the trees. One was a blue haired girl wearing a pink shirt with a checkerboard design on the front, with black pants and grey shoes. The other one was a tall, tan-skinned boy with long hair wearing an orange jersey and sports shoes. The latter looked vaguely more familiar. The couple turned towards Sunny’s direction and froze when they caught sight of him. The tan-skinned boy’s eyes widened. “S-Sunny?”

Sunny raised a brow and tilted his head. He blinked, a small piece of Headspace masking over the real world, replacing the boy with a young Kel. Sunny’s eyes widened as he snapped back to reality. “Kel?”

Kel smiled as wide as he could and ran up to Sunny, wrapping him in a tight bearhug for about a few seconds, before he dropped onto the ground with a yelp, which caused the cat to run off with a yelp. “Wow! Ok! Sunny, I’m happy to see you, don’t get me wrong, but you are COLD! Like FREEZING COLD!”

Sunny sat up on the ground and moved his head around, cracking his neck a bit. “Yeah. I’ve been told.” He lifted a hand in the air and Kel took it, helping the smaller boy off the ground. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too!” Kel patted Sunny’s shoulder. “I’m just...Kind of in shock. I’ve been trying for months to get you out of that house and now here you are, at the park, without me doing anything!”

Sunny winced. “Yeah...I’m sorry about that. I just wasn't in my right mind, y’know?”

Kel chuckled and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I know a lot’s happened so…” Kel rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “But, hey, let’s make the most of what time we have left!”

Sunny nodded. “Right.”

The blue haired girl giggled a bit before holding her hand out. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m Cris!”

Sunny hesitated a bit before taking Cris’ hand and shaking it. “Sunny.”

“Oh, I know!” Cris retracted her hand and brushed aside some hair from her face. “I ran into you a couple of times when we were younger. You probably don’t recognize me, both because of the hair and the period of time.” She looked Sunny over from head to toe and frowned. “You...Haven’t really changed from when I last saw you, except…”

“I look thinner?” Sunny raised a brow but nodded before Cris could answer. “Yeah, Kel’s mom said the same.” He rubbed his arm nervously, missing the worried look that briefly passed on Kel’s face.

“Um...Yeah.” Cris and Kel exchanged a look before they turned back to Sunny. “Uh, anyway, Kel told me that you were moving away soon.” Sunny nodded. “Well, I know that being away from your friends may seem pretty tough at first, but change is a fact of life. As long as you have memories of your friends that you can cherish, you’ll be alright!” Cris smiled brightly.

“Oh, have you done some moving?”

Cris nodded. “My family has always lived here in Faraway, but I was sent to boarding school for a few years. I came back three years ago.”

Sunny tilted his head and raised a brow. “Boarding school? What was that like?”

“It wasn’t that bad, honestly! I’ve definitely made some new friends there and the experience wasn’t really all that different from a regular school.” Cris hummed. “Although, I think the real highlight of it all it’s location!” She waved her hands in the air for emphasis. “It was on this island out near the ocean! Everything about it was amazing! The beach, the waves and even the smell of the seaweed…” She chuckled and rubbed her arm. “Heh, I probably sound a little weird, now.”

Sunny shook his head. “It’s fine. It definitely sounds a lot better than staying inside for four years doing chores and homeschooling.”

“Oh, you’ve done homeschooling?” Cris’ eyes widened. “How was that?”

Sunny shook his head. “Nothing special, honestly. Just a few explanatory sheets with some work ones. But at least if I ever want to go back to regular schooling, I won’t be behind so that’s a plus.”

“Speaking of school-” Kel spoke up. “Cris is the fastest swimmer there.” He smiled widely. “When she’s in the water, people compare her to a mermaid...Or a shark...Or even a torpedo!”

Sunny raised both brows. “Wow…”

Cris chuckled and playfully punched Kel in the arm. “Oh, Kel...You’re never short on compliments, haha…” She held her arms behind her back and leaned towards Kel. “Besides, aren’t you trying out for the junior varsity basketball team this year? I’m sure you’ll be a shoe-in!” She giggled.

Kel rubbed the back of his neck, with a slight dust of pink appearing on his face. “Well, I’ll try. I’ve been playing with people here at the park every now and then! I think I’m getting better, but it’s hard to tell. Although, if I practiced basketball as much as you practiced swimming, I’d have a higher chance…”

It was Cris’ turn to blush. “Aw, I’m not that hard working! It’s just fun for me, honestly! Don’t be too hard on yourself!”

Sunny raised a brow and kept glancing between the two as they conversed. After a few seconds of watching them talk, adding on how they’re acting around each other, as well as seeing them together just before they met up with him, Sunny’s eyes widened. Holy shit, Kel!

“Oh! You know what, I just thought of something!” Cris suddenly exclaimed. “If you guys see any Seashells, can you bring them to me?”

“Seashells?” Sunny questioned.

Cris nodded. “I know it may sound odd, considering where we are and all, but I know you can find some around town! If you find any, please bring them to me! It’ll be worth it, I promise!”

“Um...Ok?”

Cris beamed. “Great! My house is right next to Kel’s so you know where to find me!” Cris started walking towards the park entrance but turned back around to the two. “I’ll leave you guys alone so you can catch up! Have a good day you two!” She waved them off and Kel waved back.

“See ya later, Cris!”

Sunny waved after Kel and the two watched Cris exit the park. Sunny hummed and scratched his head. “Looks like spending the last four years inside wasn’t worth it. It made me miss out on you getting a girlfriend.”

“WHA-” Kel choked on the air while his face went completely red. “It-You-It’s not like that I swear!”

“Mhm.” Sunny hummed while keeping his deadpan expression.

“Sunny, I know what you’re thinking and I am telling you, it’s not what you think!”

Sunny nodded, still keeping his deadpan expression. “Sure.”

Kel groaned and glared at the smaller boy. “You’re enjoying watching me struggle, aren’t you?”

“It’s not my fault you dug yourself in that hole further by acting like that. If you acted oblivious I would’ve let it go. But you trying to deny it has only cemented the truth even more.”

Kel and Sunny just stared at each other for a beat, before Kel broke down into a fit of laughter and wrapped an arm around Sunny, bending down slightly to be at an equal height. “Man, I missed this!” His laughter died down into chuckles as he patted Sunny on the back. ”So, what should we do for your first of three days out of your house?”

Sunny quirked a brow. “You didn’t have a plan, did you?”

Kel winced. “I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think you’d actually come out until a few minutes earlier when I was hanging with Cris.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Actually, looking back on it, I didn’t really have any sort of plan when I was calling and knocking on your door.”

Sunny sighed and pinched his nose. “That sounds like you.” He looked up and glanced around the park. “You wanna just wander around here until we think of something?”

Kel nodded. “That sounds like fun!” He looked over Sunny and hummed. “In fact, I think I see another one of my friends over at the basketball court!” He pointed over Sunny’s shoulder and the smaller boy looked over to see a young blonde teen running around the court. Sunny hummed as Kel started moving the both of them towards them. “Come on, he’s really cool!”

“Uh, ok?” Sunny followed Kel as they walked past the playground, his eye wandering over to the giant metal cat on the edge of it. It was smaller than he remembers. They reached the court and Kel waved enthusiastically. 

“Hey, Jay!”

The blonde teen stopped in front of the two, panting heavily for breath as he checked his pulse. “Hey! What’s up, Kel?” His gaze turned to Sunny, and he raised a brow. “Who’s this? He from around this part of town?”

Kel pushed Sunny forward slightly from the force Kel used to pat his back. “This is Sunny. He’s my childhood friend. He’s leaving town in a few days so we’re planning on spending them together until then.”

“Ah, that’s pretty admirable.” Jay reached out his hand towards Sunny. “Like Kel said, I’m Jay. Nice to meet you Sunny.”

Sunny shook Jay’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.”

“So, Jay. Whatcha up to?” Kel asked.

“Oh, I’ve just been getting some running in. The court is a good place to do that and-”

Sunny turned away from the two and looked at the nearby picnic table, having heard something bounce off the wood. He walked over and picked up an empty plastic bottle. Wow...Whoever just threw this into the park is a prick. He looked around the park for a recycle bin and took notice of an old lady running an environmental stand. He hummed and walked on over, leaving Kel and Jay to their discussion, which he honestly tuned out after Jay mentioned running.

When he approached the stand, the lady running it gave a welcoming smile. “Well, hello there!”

“Hi.” Sunny held up the bottle. “I noticed this near one of the benches.” He placed onto the stand counter and the lady took it with a slight grimace.

“No good litterers.” She placed it down next to her and looked back at Sunny. “Thank you for that! There’s been a lot of trash around here recently and not a lot of people care enough to pick them up.” She smiled and tapped the counter of her stand. “If you don’t mind, if you see any more trash lying around, would you care to bring them to me?”

“Oh, sure.” Sunny nodded. “Anything for the environment!”

“WELL SAID, YOUNG ONE!” Sunny jumped back with a yelp and turned to see two men in business suits wearing recycling bins on their heads. One of them held his hand up in a passive gesture. “Ah, pardon me! I didn't mean to scare you!”

The lady behind the stand pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Not you two again…”

One of the bin wearing men held a hand to his chest. “Why the hostility, Matilda? We all share the same goal here!”

“My compatriot is correct!” The other bin wearing man said. “We all do what we do for the sake of the environment. Whether you accept it or not, your work holds you high in the eyes of The Holy Bin!”

“The...Holy Bin?” Sunny raised a brow, still holding his startled stance.

“The Holy Bin guides us to a trashless world!” One of the two said. “It is the sacred duty of The Recycultists to fulfill The Holy Bin’s wishes!”

“As all have littered, all must accept that they are TRASH!” The two Recycultists held their fist to their chest. 

“REDUCE!! REUSE!! AND RECYCLE!!” Each word was followed by their fists beating on their chest.

“Sunny, there you are!” Kel ran up to Sunny, who was still frozen in place. “Are you okay? You just kinda disappeared!”

One of the Recycultists turned to Kel. “Ah, is this a friend of yours?”

“Truly a remarkable choice! Truly, he is what The Holy Bin seeks in a person!”

Kel turned to Sunny, who managed a shrug. “Um...That’s good, I guess? Sorry, I have no clue what’s happening here…”

The old lady sighed. “You two do realize that not everyone who cares about the environment is going to join your little group, right?”

One of the Recycultists scoffed. “Whether one wishes to join our cause is up to them!”

“Although, he would make for a fine member…” One hummed while looking directly at Sunny. Well, maybe he is. The bins don’t have eyeholes. “He does have the heart of a true Recycultist.”

“However, since it seems that we are not welcome, we shall take our leave!” One remarked with a growl.

“Yes, let us.” They turned to Sunny. “May The Biodegradable Fork watch over you, friend!” The two Recycultists left the area, which prompted Sunny to finally break free from his paralyzed state.

“Um...What exactly happened?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

The old lady sighed. “Those two... They’re people who have the right idea, but not the right execution. Don’t worry too much about them.”

“Um...Okay…?”

Kel cleared his throat. “A-Anyway, you just kinda disappeared on me and Jay.”

Sunny turned to Kel and winced. “Oh, sorry! I just heard a bottle get thrown onto and off the picnic table over there. So I picked it up and turned it in here.”

“Oh. Well that was thoughtful of you!” Kel smiled. “Still kinda wish you said something though. I got worried there for a second.”

Sunny sighed. “My bad…”

“It’s fine. Honestly it’s good to know that you still have your little quirks!” Kel patted Sunny’s shoulder. “So, you think of anything to do or…?”

“Not at the moment.” Sunny replied, taking another glance around the park. He spotted someone in a grey jacket, diligently sketching away in their sketch book. With an inquisitive hum, he carefully walked up to them and looked at what they were sketching. It was a landscape portrait of the park. Though the sketch was still far from finished, what the artist had done was an impressive feat. Sunny could make out the small details like the gradient sand of the playground and the strands of hair on the person sitting on the bench in front of them.

Kel joined Sunny and glanced at the sketch. “Whoa! That’s a cool drawing of the park you have there!” 

The artist yelped and jumped back, closing their sketchbook and turning to the two with a shocked expression, which was fair. “O-Oh! Hi, there. Um...Thank you for the compliment, though it’s just a practice sketch.” They brushed aside some hair from their face, revealing more of their red glasses. 

Kel’s eyebrows heightened. “That’s what you call practicing!? But, it looks so real…” He let out a small chuckle. “I bet you could sell that for money!”

“Only if you wanted to.” Sunny quickly added. “But Kel has a point. Even I couldn’t get that much detail in a drawing with a reference.”

Kel gestured to Sunny. “See, even Sunny agrees with me! Heck, I’d be willing to buy that right now!”

The artist blushed and rubbed the back of their neck. “Haha, thanks...That’s nice of you to say, but I’m afraid it’s not for sale. It-It’s for my portfolio. So I could get into art school next year.”

“Aww, darn. That would’ve looked great on my bedroom wall!” Kel replied with a slight pout.

“You really think so? Huh…Uh, my name is Mincy. What about you two?” Mincy reached her hand out to the two.

Kel took her hand and shook it. “I’m Kel!” 

Sunny simply waved. “Sunny.” 

“Well, Kel and Sunny, it was nice to meet both of you!”

“Nice to meet you too, Mincy!” Kel smiled widely.

Sunny peaked from behind Kel and noticed that Mincy seemed down. “Is something wrong? You look kinda upset.”

Mincy looked at Sunny and hummed. “Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just...You two are the first ones to say something positive about my drawings…”

Sunny raised a brow. “Really. We’re the first ones?”

“Well, the first strangers to, anyway.” Mincy sighed. “My friends and family think they’re nice but, sometimes it’s hard to tell if they’re being genuine. With that in mind, I start to feel down and I start to question myself. It gets hard to move my pencil after that.”

Kel huffed. “No way! I don’t believe that at all! I really think your drawing is great.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t be able to do that in a million years.”

“Me neither, though, I really only draw as a hobby.” Sunny muttered.

Kel chuckled at Sunny’s response. He turned his attention to Mincy and held up two thumbs up. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mincy! Me and Sunny believe in you!”

Mincy hummed in thought, before sighing and nodding her head, face full of determination. “Y-Yeah! You’re right! I just gotta shake off those bad feelings!” She opened her sketchbook back open. “I’ll...I’ll try to buckle down and finish this now!” 

“That’s the spirit!” Kel beamed. He then grabbed Sunny’s wrist and waved goodbye to Mincy. “See you around Mincy. Remember, you got this!” Mincy nodded and waved back as Kel pulled Sunny to the entrance of the park. “Also, thank you Sunny for mentioning the word ‘Hobby’.”

“Um...Why, exactly?” Sunny was very confused.

“Because I just remembered, Hero is coming back sometime tomorrow and I thought I should get him a gift.” He turned to Sunny with a wide smile. “And do you remember where the best place to get a gift was?”

Sunny gulped. “It’s...Uh…”

Kel rolled his eyes and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “Hobbeez!”

Sunny’s eyes widened. “Huh? Oh!”

***** felt ansty while waiting in line. He’d never seen so many people inside of Hobbeez. Of course, everyone there, including him and his friends, had a reason for crowding the place. That reason was currently in ****’s hands. The latest edition of Capt. Spaceboy had just come out. He was sure that only people in a town like Faraway would get this excited over a comic anymore, unless they were a giant comic book nerd. That’s fine though. It gives this place character.

*** was bouncing up and down, patience wearing very thin, despite it being almost non-existent at times. “Come on!!! What’s taking so long!?”

“Be patient ***. We’re not the only ones that have been waiting for this long.” **** said calmly. ***** always found that impressive. How **** can stay calm at almost every inconvenience.

“I hate to say it, but I’m with *** on this one.” ****** said suddenly, surprising literally everyone in the group. She took notice and huffed. “I know that’s shocking, coming from me, but come on! Look around us! There’s too many people in here and I’m starting to get claustrophobic!”

**** giggled. “Well, I suppose that is a valid concern. But it’s not like we can speed up time to get to our turn faster!”

***** quirked a brow at that thought. Speeding up time sounded cool, but how would it work? Would it be like a press of a button or just a simple thought? How would you slow time back down? If you focused, could you stop time? So many questions. It was honestly kind of terrifying, but ***** couldn’t help but ponder. Or at least he would’ve pondered on it, if it wasn’t for the chuckle of a certain plant loving *****.

“It looks like you just gave ***** some ideas ****!”

**** chuckled alongside *****, while **** and ****** were able to keep theirs down to snickers. *** on the other hand, was just full blown laughing. “Oops!” Was all **** had to say to that.

***** never understood why his daydreaming would sometimes get that response. Was it his face? Did he make a face while daydreaming? He was sure he kept his same neutral expression, but then again, he does get sucked into his fantasies to the point that he sometimes forgets where he is. Oh man, maybe he did make a face!

“And ***** ended up doing the same!” *** said jovially, breaking ***** out of his thoughts again. The group chuckled at the fact again, still leaving ***** confused. Afterwards, everyone was back to impatiently waiting. ****** was so impatient, that she snagged the comic from ****’s hands.

“******!”

“Sorry, ****! But if we’re going to be waiting here for what feels like an eternity, I want to know if the reason is worth it!” She opened up the comic with *** and **** leaning in to read over her shoulders. **** sighed and let them be.

As much as ***** wanted to squeeze by **** to read the issue, he would rather wait. Partially because he’s patient like that, but mainly because when he saw the cover, he noticed it was following the canon where Capt. Spaceboy ended up being betrayed and stranded on a remote planet. From what he could remember, the storyline first started with the issue where Mercury Retrograde landed on a planet full of Space Elves, after following a distress signal from the planet asking for transportation off of it, due to some world ending event that was due to occur. 

Capt. Spaceboy had wanted to help the inhabitants as best he could, sending the signal to his father to get the rest of the Space Pirate fleet to help everyone. The Space Pirates however, ended up disagreeing with Sapceboy, saying how the planet was a lost cause and how the fleet wouldn’t be able to make it on time. The issues following the arc had Capt. Spaceboy face the struggles of a mutiny, having to deal with several acts of betrayal from his previously loyal crew, that ended up costing Spaceboy his right eye and at the end of the arc, having his bubblegum pink hair turn a sickly green from the eerie, radioactive swamps of the planet where he was left to die while his crew finally took control of the ship and leaving the planet.

It ended off hopeful, with the rest of the fleet finding out what happened and rejecting the traitors, hunting them down to execute them for their treason. After that, the final panels showed a pod leaving the planet before it’s demise with the last Space Elf inside, as well as Spaceboy managing to crawl out of the swamps and gaining a new teleportation ability, that left him on an uninhabited forest planet.

The storyline is decent enough, he supposed. A darker tone of story could work depending on how it’s done and people seemed to like it a lot, but ***** had some qualms with it. He personally didn’t find it believable that Capt. Spaceboy’s crew would just turn on him like that. They were loyal to a fault as evidenced by the issues beforehand, including the one where Capt. Spaceboy’s father, Pinkbeard, ended up getting his ship destroyed by one of the generals for the Andromedan Empire, which happened to be Capt. Spaceboy’s uncle. ***** thought that storyline was more intriguing, with Capt. Spaceboy needing to learn how to fulfill his father’s role as the Captain for the entire fleet and not just Mercury Retrograde. Which the current storyline completely ignored, seeing as Pinkbeard was alive and well.

His second qualm was that in every issue afterwards, Capt. Spaceboy was almost always angry. ***** didn’t like it. He found it kinda scary, actually. Capt. Spaceboy shouldn’t be yelling like that. He was joyful and childish at times. Even when he was stealing from an empire. He also thought that the new green hair he had was kinda lame. It just didn’t look right on Capt. Spaceboy.

A flash of a camera got *****’s attention. He looked past **** to see ***** lowering his camera down while ***, **** and ****** were too engrossed in the comic to notice. At least they like it.

Sunny hissed and leaned against the vending machine as that pain in his head flared again. Kel looked panicked. “Sunny!? Are you okay!?”

Sunny took a deep breath and nodded. “M’fine. It happens sometimes.”

That didn’t alleviate Kel’s worry. “Are you sure? We can stop by the Pharmacy before we head to-”

“I’m fine!” Sunny motioned for Kel to stop and he stepped away from the vending machine. “Really, I am. It doesn’t linger for too long and I don’t feel it afterwards.”

Kel gripped Sunny’s shoulders and looked at him with a kind of seriousness that Sunny had never really seen Kel have. “Sunny, look me in the eyes and tell me that you’re really fine.”

Sunny rolled his eyes and compiled, brushing away Kel’s hands from his shoulders all the while. “I really am fine. It’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just go to Hobbeez and-” His stomach growled, prompting a faint blush to appear on his face. “And, maybe get some food…”

Kel sighed and backed away with his hands in the air. “Alright, fine.” He hummed and patted his pockets. “Do we have enough for...Aw man!”

“What?”

“I left my wallet at home!” Kel groaned and leaned against the vending machine. “And I’m sure Mom would make me do my chores if I went to get it.” He turned to Sunny with an apologetic look. “Um...How much do you have?”

Sunny reached into his pocket and pulled out a $20 dollar bill. Kel groaned louder while Sunny pocketed the money and hummed. “My Mom usually leaves some money in her room if I ever feel like using it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She did that for two years, adding more money each time she leaves. I think once the third year started, she gave up.”

“How much would be in there?”

Sunny shrugged. “I never checked, but when she started, it was usually fives or tens with an occasional twenty if she got paid extra the previous day.” He turned to Kel and nodded his head towards their street. “I left the door unlocked, so I can hurry and get it.”

Kel patted Sunny’s shoulder with a smile, his earlier worry now dissipated. “Nah, I can get it. Be back in a jiffy!” Before Sunny could protest, Kel bolted across the street, leaving Sunny in shock of how fast he was.

“Wow…If Cris is a torpedo, then Kel is a bullet.”

Chapter Text

(BGM)

Sunny and Kel walked into Hobbeez. The store's upbeat and stylized jingle that played constantly made the place seem like, rather fittingly, a shop from a video game. On a table right in front of the two were multiple cases of music CD’s, with comics to Sunny’s left and movies to his right with multiple Pet Rocks, figurines, video game cases and consoles scattered about. Above the Shopkeep was a row of different colored electric guitars and right in front of said Shopkeep was a cardboard cutout of Capt. Spaceboy, with his green hair, blood red eye and eyepatch. Sunny frowned at the sight of it. 

Kel stretched as soon as he walked in, taking in a deep breath of the smell of plastic cases and musk of comic book paper. “Well, here we are at Hobbeez!”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in here…” Sunny mused.

“Yeah, it has.” Kel turned to Sunny with a wide smile. “But honestly, nothing has really changed! It’s still the same stuff as usual. Capt. Spaceboy games and comics, Sweetheart movies, a few Pet Rocks...Except now, they’re vintage!”

Sunny nodded. “Neat.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced around the store, rocking on his heels. Thanks to the money left by his Mom, adding on his own twenty, the two had about a hundred or so dollars to spend. “So, what do you think Hero would like?”

Kel hummed. “I’m not really sure. He’s studying to be a doctor, so maybe...Some medicine?”

“In that case we should go t-” Sunny heard a record scratch. “Wait...He’s studying to be a what!?”

“A doctor.” Kel turned to Sunny and snickered at the smaller boy’s expression. “Ah, right. The last time you saw him, he was still wanting to be a chef.” He turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s...It’s complicated.” He sighed. “Everything after Mari...Well…”

Sunny just looked down at the floor, shocked still evident on his face. “But...Hero’s always been the cook...”

Kel turned back to Sunny and cleared his throat. “A-Anyway, let’s look around and see what there is! I’m sure we’ll find something!” Sunny nodded and motioned for Kel to take the lead. “Right, ah…” He turned to the table with the music CD’s and hummed. “These music CD’s look pretty cool.”

Sunny shook his head. “They do, but maybe we should get something more sentimental.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” They backed away from the music selection and walked around the store. Sunny stopped by a few figurines sitting on a table near the window and picked one up, inspecting it. Kel smiled fondly at the sight. “I’ve always been fond of these little guys!”

“They have their charm.” Sunny replied.

“But, I’d rather not remind Hero about how I would spend my lunch money on these guys.” Sunny nodded and set the figurine back down onto the table. Going further back into the store, Sunny moved past Kel and walked up to a poster depicting a giant brute with chainsaw hands and a weird mask. Kel whistled at the sight. “Wow! The monster on that poster looks so realistic!” He chuckled. “I bet fighting something like that would be a challenge, huh Sun-” Kel went wide eyed. “Oh. Oh no, you’re thinking about fighting it now, aren’t you?”

Jackson slowly inches towards Sunny, dragging their chainsaws on the ground, creating a noise similar to nails on a chalkboard. Sunny was backed into a corner, unable to escape. The only option he had was to fight back as best he could, punching and kicking at the approaching menace. The attacks barely did anything to slow Jackson down. Soon, the monster raised their hands up above them, revving the blades of the chainsaws. Sunny took the chance to make one last attempt to stave off Jackson, running up to them and pushing them away, knocking Jackson down.

“Sunny!” Kel shook Sunny until he himself shook his head and gazed around.

“Where…?” He looked at the poster, then to Kel and then finally, at the scenery around him. “Oh right, Hobbeez.” Sunny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry about that.”

Kel patted Sunny’s back. “It’s fine. That one’s on me for mentioning something like that.” He chuckled. “But it’s good to know that after four years, you still have your moments!”

Sunny shrugged. “I guess…” He moved away from the poster and glanced at a nearby bookcase. His eyes widened and he pulled out a book. “‘Papa Chip’s Chip-Off-The-Old-Block Cookbook’!”

Kel perked up at the name. “Oh hey, I remember that! Hero had one when we were kids, but Hector ended up chewing on it!” He patted Sunny on the shoulder. “Good find, Sunny! Hero’s going to be so happy when he sees this!”

Sunny turned the book over and looked at the price. “$20…” He pulled the $20 from his pocket. “I’ll pay for it.”

Kel quirked a brow. “Are you sure? I can-”

“I got it!” Sunny walked over to the counter and set the book down.

The Shopkeep picked it up and read the cover with a smile. “Ah, Papa Chip’s Chip-Off-The-Old-Block Cookbook! You have good taste, my friend!”

“Oh, thank you, but it’s actually for a friend.” Sunny replied, handing over the $20.

The Shopkeep hummed. “That doesn’t matter. Though, it is rare to see a fan of Papa Chip’s work!” The Shopkeep took the twenty and set it in the money machine. He then took out a bag and placed the book inside, handing it back to Sunny. “Here you go sir! Hope your friend enjoys it!”

“I hope so too.” Sunny wrapped his arm through the straps of the bag and turned to Kel, nodding his head towards the exit. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, uh...Okay...” Kel and Sunny exited the store. Nearby the music selection they pass by a man with a wrinkly forehead. The man turned towards them and stopped them.

“Hey, you two! You look pretty young-”

“An astute observation.” Sunny muttered.

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright, that one's on me. B-But, could you help an old guy like me out?”

Kel hummed. “Sure! It wouldn't hurt to help! Whatcha looking for?”

“A gift for my son, Jesse.” The man replied. “It’s his 10th birthday tomorrow and I want to get him something he’ll actually like.” He rubbed his neck. ”I’ve, uh, been having a bad streak.”

“Do you know what he likes?” Sunny asked.

“Uh…” The man tapped his foot. “He, uh, is really into video games. I believe.”

Sunny nodded. “Alright then. That shouldn’t be too hard…” He glanced around the general area, looking for something that could look interesting. Let’s see. If I were a ten year old, what would I… Sunny walked over to a game table and picked up a stray video game box. Super Ultra Sprout Mole Eater-Revenge Of The Moles III...That’s almost as big of a mouthful as Papa Chip’s cookbook. He hummed and handed the game over to Wrinkly Forehead, as he will now call him. 

“‘Super Ultra Sprout Mole Eater-Revenge Of The Moles III’.” Wrinkly Forehead hummed. “I can’t say I understand the appeal, but okay!” He reached into his pocket and handed Sunny a Seashell. “Here, I found this while sweeping earlier. I thought it was cool, but you can have it.”

“Um...Thank you.” Sunny inspected the Seashell while Wrinkly Forehead went up to the counter.

Kel looked over Sunny’s shoulder at the Seashell and nodded to himself. “We should give this to Cris later!” Sunny nodded and pocketed the Seashell. Wrinkly Forehead soon walked back up to the two.

“Hey, thanks for the help, pal! Shame about my wallet though.” He sniffled. “Murdered at such a young age.” 

“It’s no problem.” Sunny replied. “I hope your son enjoys it.”

Wrinkly forehead sighed. “I hope so too.” He hummed and tilted his head. “You know, I could use a consultant for these kinds of things.”

“What do you mean?” Kel asked, raising a brow.

“Oh, my son doesn’t really share his hobbies with me. It makes it hard to keep up with these newfangled things!” He held the bag in his hand up in the air and shook it for emphasis.

“So, you’re asking for more help?” Sunny asked.

“Not at the moment, but…” Wrinkly Forehead pointed to the southside of town. “I live in a small house on the street south of here. The one with the brown roof. Feel free to come by and visit!” Wrinkly Forehead waved the two off and exited the store. Sunny and Kel just looked at each other.

“Did we just get invited to a random person’s house?” Sunny asked with a raised brow.

“I think we did.” Kel chuckled, only for a rumbling to interrupt. He looked over to Sunny, who was scratching the back of his head. “Oh yeah! We were going to get food after this!” He grabbed Sunny’s wrist. “Let’s get going then! Gino’s is right next door!”

Sunny’s stomach growled again. He looked up at Kel with a serious expression. “You’re paying.”

(BGM)

The moment the two stepped inside of Gino’s the smell of greasy, golden crusted Pizza hit Sunny’s nostrils like a truck. Usually, he was just hungry, with any food he ate barely kept down. Now? He was starving. Starving for something other than undercooked Steak or day old crackers. Sadly, he knows he wouldn’t be able to keep down a slice of Pizza. Too greasy. He needed to stick to something light at the moment. He also needed something to quench his throat due to speaking in a tone louder than a whisper. He should work on that.

“Hello and welcome to Gino’s Pizza! What can I get for you?” The man at the counter greeted as soon as Kel and Sunny walked in. Sunny walked up and looked at the menu while Kel approached the counter immediately. 

“Heya! We’ll take a couple slices of Pizza and a couple of Orange Joe’s!”

Sunny quickly looked away from the menu and towards Kel. “Kel, trust me when I say, I’m not going to be able to handle a slice of Pizza.”

Kel scoffed. “Aw, come on Sunny! It won’t be that bad!”

“Yes. It will.” Sunny deadpanned. He turned to the man behind the counter. “Add on a Salad and replace one of the Orange Joe’s with a bottle of water.” 

The man behind the counter nodded and tallied up the cost. “That’ll be $17! Sit down wherever you’d like and I’ll get those to you as soon as possible.”

Kel glanced over to Sunny, who already managed to grab a table nearby the windows. He sighed and pulled out a $20. “Here you go.”

“Thank you!” The man opened the money machine and set the bill inside, pulling out a few $1's. “Here’s your change!”

Kel grabbed the ones and walked over to the table Sunny was seated at, currently staring out the window. “Are you sure you don’t want a slice of Pizza? You always jump on the chance for it.”

“I’m sure. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.” Sunny tapped his finger on the napkin dispenser. “A few nights ago, I tried eating some leftover Steak and as soon as I got it all down, I ended up having to throw it back up.”

“Oh…” Kel sat down and sighed. “That must’ve sucked…”

Sunny sighed. “It did. Why must Steak betray me like that?”

Kel snickered. “Okay, I understand where you’re coming from, but I wouldn’t go as far as to treat Steak like an ex.”

“Buzzkill…” Sunny rolled his eyes and Kel started laughing. Sunny kept staring out the window, though after a few seconds, Sunny’s lips curled upward slightly with a small, soft chuckle escaping from them. From anyone else's perspective, Sunny's reaction did seem rather humorous.

DING…!

Kel looked over to the counter and smiled. “Food time!” He stood up and rushed over to grab the couple of plates of Pizza, as well as the plastic container of Salad, holding the water and Orange Joe in between his arms. Kel made it back to the table and set everything down without dropping any of the items. 

“Wow...Who are you and what have you done with Kel?”

Kel stuttered. “What did I do to deserve that reaction!?”

“Nothing.” Sunny opened the Salad container. All he could really make out from it was the green sea of Lettuce, with only the barest hints of Cherry Tomatoes and Carrots peaking out at certain areas. There was a small container of Ranch in the corner, but Sunny just took it out and set it aside. “And that’s the problem.” He lifted the plastic fork and pointed it at Kel. “The real Kel would’ve dropped everything on the way here!”

Kel blinked a few times and then snickered. “Alright, that’s fair.” He sat down at the table and opened the Orange Joe, shaking it lightly in his hand. “You sure you don’t want one? Or even just a soda?”

Sunny sighed and looked down at his Salad. “I’d rather not risk it.” He pointed his fork in a random spot of the Salad and pushed down, piercing the lettuce with a crunch that was oddly satisfying to him. He lifted the fork up, seeing he got a few carrots and a tomato in the mix. With a hum, Sunny took his first bite.

This was probably the most focused Sunny’s been while eating something. From what he could recall from the Steak, even if he was still slightly on the fence about that experience being real, he just ate it all in a sleep haze, not really pausing to take in the...Anything of it. With the crackers, he didn’t really bother to focus on anything. They didn’t have any real flavor other than the salt, which admittedly wasn’t there all that much.

With the Salad, he focused on everything. The crunch of the ingredients, the flavor of the Cherry Tomato and Carrots, the natural water that seemed to burst out with every bite, mixed with the juices of the Tomato. He chewed slowly and concisely, until the taste died down, prompting him to swallow. For once, not counting the crackers, Sunny didn’t feel the food trying to force it’s way back up. Progress!

“So, what do you want to do after this?” Kel asked.

Sunny looked up at Kel and just froze. The two Pizzas were gone and the Orange Joe can was resting sideways on the paper plates. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. “One bite. I just took one bite...Of my Salad, yet here you are, already done with two slices of Pizza and two cans of Orange Joe!” He looked back up at Kel, who was chuckling and scratching the side of his head sheepishly. Sunny rolled his eyes and grabbed another forkful of Salad. “I’m not sure. Maybe just wander around town, do some stuff here and there if something catches my interest.”

Kel nodded. “I see. Get familiar with Faraway again before you move.” He held up two thumbs. “Sounds like a plan! Maybe we could go through Othermart or Fix-It and just look around.”

Sunny took a bite of his Salad and hummed. Fix-It…

“This place is impossible!” A man wailed out. “Nothing is in the right place! Like, look at this!” He turned to *****, **** and their mother, gesturing his arms out to where a few Shovels were placed haphazardly with some Drills, which were all in the Plumbing section. **** and the siblings mother chuckled, while ***** nodded in sympathy, also irked at the mis-arrangement.

“It’s not that bad [̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓!” The mother said as her laughter died down.

“Yeah! Just tell one of the workers about it!” **** suggested. 

***** looked around at the employees, who were all wandering the store in a sleepy haze. “I don’t think that’ll help…”

[̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓ pinched his nose and sighed. “It’s worth a shot, but…” He looked at the same employees ***** was looking at and winced. “Maybe we should look for one who’s awake…If there is one.” [̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓, **** and siblings mother all walked away from the section, while ***** took the opportunity to do some rearranging.

He grabbed the few shovels and walked over to the Gardening section, setting them in their place while gingerly removing a few power tools. He then took said power tools and went back over to the Drills to pick those up and went on over to their proper section, which was filled with bags of fertilizer. ***** sighed and began moving the bags away to set the tools in their proper space.

“*****!” The boy looked over to see **** rushing towards him with a worried look in her eyes. “There you are! I turned around and you weren’t with us!” **** hugged ***** tightly, slightly crushing him. “Don’t do that again!”

“It’s a small store, ****.” ***** choked out. **** let him go and he took a moment to collect his breath. “We’re literally only a few feet away from the exit!”

**** chuckled tearfully. “That doesn’t matter! We still could’ve left you behind!” She then glanced at the power tools and raised a brow. “Wait, why were you here?”

***** shrugged. “Fixing Fix-It.[̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓ is never going to find an employee who’s helpful here...”

**** stared at ***** blankly, almost mimicking his expression, before she broke out into a laugh. “Okay, I’ll give you that one! Just...Don’t disappear like that again, okay?” ***** nodded. “Good. Now let’s go back to Mom and [̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓ before they burst a vein!” She took *****’s hand and began moving to where their mother was, currently consoling [̷̧̝͑͆̑R̵̰̜͖̈Ĕ̶̯͍̈́̓D̸̠̦̫̒̓͒̃Ą̷͚͎̈́̚͠Ĉ̷̢̨̱̞͋Ṫ̴̻̺̳͑͜͠Ẻ̶̟̗̭̄̅͠ͅD̵͔̋]̵̜̠̈́̓ about the state of Fix-It.

Sunny inhaled deeply as he fought back the urge to grip at his head in pain. He took a bite of his Salad and chewed slowly, keeping his focus on the pain rather than the food. It dissipated soon afterwards and Sunny looked up at Kel, who was wearing a concerned expression for just a split second. “Let’s head to Fix-It after this. I actually need to grab something from there.”

Kel nodded. “Alright.” He blinked and then raised a brow. “What exactly do you need from there?”

Sunny shrugged. “Something for home. I’ll explain later.” Sunny closed the Salad container and stood up, walking over to the trash bin next to the counter. He moved aside for Kel, who had gotten up right after he did and bumped into a sign. He maneuvered to the front of it and raised a brow.

“HELP WANTED poster pique your interest?” The man behind the counter asked.

Sunny tilted his head back and forth with a hum before finally nodding. “Yeah, you could say that.”

The man behind the counter chuckled. “Well, it’s quick money if you need it.” He reached behind the counter and set down a few Pizza boxes. “It’s just a simple delivery job. I have the details of the houses written down. All you need to do is get them to the right house.”

Sunny held his chin. “That does sound simple.” He turned to Kel. “I’m going to do this real quick, if that alright with you?”

Kel glanced at the sign and shrugged. “You do you man. I’ll wait for ya here in the meantime.”

Sunny nodded. “Thanks.” He turned to the employee. “I’ll take the job.”

(BGM)

Sunny hopped off the bike in a huff. He really wasn’t in shape. It was quite the miracle he didn’t tip over and pass out on the way. It didn’t help that the apron he had to wear would just barely miss getting caught in the tires. Why’d he have to wear the uniform anyway? The shirt he had on wasn’t all that different! It was literally the exact same shirt, except white with a sweater vest over it! Why make a fuss over a grey version of it!? Why couldn’t he just wear the hat!? And what was with the apron!? He’s not doing anything with it!

The more questions he had, the more annoyed he felt. It was fine. All he had to do was close his eyes, take a deep breath, Calm Down and Focus. He grabbed the Pizza boxes from the insulated bag on the bike and looked over the notes taped onto the boxes. “Let’s see, this first one goes to…” Sunny inhaled sharply. “It...Uh...Um…” He squinted his eyes and read the note over and over. He clicked his tongue. “What the fuck? Am I reading?” He felt his eye twitch. Right, back to annoyed it is then. Sunny sighed and sat down on the sidewalk, lining the Pizzas in order to look through all the notes. “Right, let’s see what I understand…”

*Can __ find the house with the red r__ __ the purple flower _ the yellow window

*Take this __ to the house __ yellow roof __ the __ door with __

*__ the house __ the __ chimney and green pick_

Giving each note multiple reads, Sunny nodded to himself and stacked the boxes on top of each other as well as the notes. He knew which note belonged to which Pizza, because he stacked them in the same order. He took a deep breath and Calmed Down as best he could. “Alright, let’s do this!”

Walking around the street, Sunny relayed the notes' information to himself in his head. First off, from what I could gather, I need to find a house with a red roof… He glanced around and spotted at least two houses with that first description. The one I’m looking for has a purple flower on a yellow window...Whatever that means… He stood between the two houses to look for the difference. He spotted the flower in question at the house to his right. He still didn’t know what the man meant by ‘the yellow window’, but the occupant in the house was happy, so at least he didn’t need to worry about that anymore.

Next up, a house with a yellow roof… He walked a little ways away from the first house, coming across only one house with a yellow roof. He looked back at the note. It also needs...A yellow door with windows. He glanced back at the house, seeing it had an orange door. Shit. I must’ve passed when looking for the first house! Sunny grumbled to himself as he backtracked to the bike, hoping to pass by the house on the way there. As it turns out, the bike was parked in front of the house he needed. Sunny facepalmed and walked up to the door in a huff. The man in the house seemed to understand after Sunny gave a quick explanation followed by an apologetic bow, a habit he had picked up from his mom.

And now finally, the house with the brick chimney and green pickup. Sunny wandered around the street once more, feeling rather thankful that the last note was easier to understand than the others after a few reads. Once he knocked on the door, he was feeling particularly extra and made a pose, holding out the box in front of him as the occupants answered, with his other hand holding onto the brim of his hat and one of his legs sticking out behind him, all with a deadpan expression. He was honestly impressed that he was able to keep the pose up for as long as he did.

(SOURCE)

(BGM)

“Welcome back!” The man behind the counter greeted Sunny as he walked through the doors. “I’m impressed! The customer satisfaction rate was 10/10!”

“That’s good to know.” Sunny sighed and put the hat down on the counter.

“It sure is! Here’s your payment.” The man handed Sunny $20, which he accepted without question. “Feel free to come by tomorrow if you want to do more deliveries. You’re better than my main delivery boy.” 

“Thank you.” Sunny said, just barely able to contain his anger. He returned the uniform and was back in his regular attire, which again, wasn’t that much different. Hmm...Maybe I should wear something different tomorrow...Wait, how long have I been wearing this, anyway? Sunny hummed in thought as he walked out of Gino’s. 

“Oh hey, you’re back!” Kel ran up to Sunny, who was staring at him with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. Kel scratched his cheek. “I, uh, got bored waiting at Gino’s…Anyway, how was the job?”

“Frustrating.” Sunny answered swiftly. “The hand writing on the notes was atrocious.” He pinched the space between his eyes and groaned. “No wonder the main delivery boy has so much trouble.” 

“Ouch. That sounds rough.”

“You have no idea.” Sunny sighed and turned to his left. “Fix-It just further down this way, right?”

“Yep!” The two walked past the entrance into Othermart, passing by someone trying to promote Orange Juice. “And, here we are!” Kel gestured to the small store in front of them. Sunny’s eye twitched. A lot.

The door was painted partially orange, with the paint bucket and brush sitting just nearby, unused and probably dried up at this point. The sign was broken, with the ‘T’ at the end having fallen off, with a ladder sitting against the window, waiting for someone to climb it and fix the sign. “I really hope I can find what I’m looking for.” With a deep breath, Sunny pushed open the door and walked in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…?” The first thing that Sunny saw when entering the store was that almost everything was misplaced. There were three shovels, a wrench and a power drill where the hammers were, only one shovel where the shovels needed to be placed, who even puts tape where the saws are? “How does this happen? Who’s in charge of organizing everything!? Just...WHY!?!?” 

Kel turned to Sunny, looking extremely worried. “Sunny, are you going to be okay? It looks like you’re about to burst a vein…”

Sunny stayed silent and walked over to the counter, where the man behind it was eyeing everything with a lazy eye. When he finally saw Sunny standing in front of him, he cleared his throat. “Welcome to Fix-It...Where you can buy stuff and Fix-It yourself! What can I interest you in?”

“Some proper organization, first off.” Sunny said through gritted teeth. The man behind the counter chuckled nervously.

“Uh, yeah...We’ve had some complaints about that…” He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “Um...Well, we have a job open for anyone willing to, well, fix it…”

Sunny glanced to his left and saw the ‘HELP WANTED’ poster. He took a deep breath and turned to the shopkeep. “We’ll take it…”

“Oh, you’re going to take another job?” Kel asked with a raised brow. He chuckled and patted Sunny on the shoulder. “Well, I’ll come back later. Work hard, okay?” He turned to walk away, only for Sunny to grab him by the ear.

“Where are you going? We’re both doing this!” He pulled Kel back towards the counter, keeping a surprisingly iron grip on the taller boy’s ear.

“Owowowow!!” Kel rubbed his ear once Sunny let go, turning to the smaller boy with a pained expression. “Why do I have to help?”

Sunny looked up at Kel and held up a finger. “One: It’ll go faster that way. The faster it gets done, the faster we can get on with our day. Two: You’ll earn some money back to replace what you spent from Gino’s. Three: You need to make sure I don’t snap due to disorganization.”

Kel nodded as he took in each reason, but ultimately he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You’re not going to let me leave unless I help, are you?”

Sunny shook his head. “No, I am not.”

The man behind the counter pulled out a couple of jumpsuits, hats and four pairs of gloves. “Right, well, if you’re going to be accepting the job, you gotta at least look the part.” He placed them on the counter and the two slipped them on. At least it just had to go over their current outfits. “Now, I’m not really sure why everything gets disorganized, considering there’s a label that states what goes where.” The man sighed. “I hate working in retail. It’s a simple job. With two workers, it should be a breeze.”

Sunny nodded and the two started right away. “I’ll focus on the wrenches, shovels and tape.”

“That leaves the rest to me.” Kel sighed. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Sunny started off with the tape, grabbing each one that wasn’t in it’s rightful place. He walked over to their section and removed the shovel, wrench and saw, replacing them with the tape. He then picked up the shovel and wrench, placing them in their respective locations. Walking over to the drill section, he removed the three shovels and was handed another one by Kel, who was currently focusing on the drills. Finally, he grabbed every remaining wrench and returned them to their spot. Once everything was in it’s rightful place, they returned to the counter, where the man was reading a book about ‘How To Get Rich Quick’. Sunny shook his head as the two set the uniforms down on the counter.

The man looked away from his book and his eyes widened. “Oh shit, that was actually faster than I was expecting!” Sunny’s eye twitched as the man put the book away and cleared his throat. “Well then, uh, excellent work you two!” He handed them both $30. “Here you go. Don’t spend it all in one place!”

(BGM)

Sunny pocketed the money and sighed. “Well, now that that’s out of the way.” He turned to Kel. “Let’s go back to what we were originally doing.”

Kel rolled his eyes. “We didn’t have to do that, y’know?”

Sunny shrugged as they walked further into the store. “Maybe, but it was going to bother me, so…”

“Hey, you two! Could one of you help us out for a second?” Sunny and Kel looked over to a couple. One was a man wearing a checkered shirt with blue jean shorts. The other was a woman wearing her hair in pigtails, with a yellow apron over a white dress shirt. “It’s a simple request. We just need you to pick a color sample.” The woman said. “And it needs to be random.”

Sunny obliged and walked over to the paint samples, covering his eyes with one hand and reaching forward. His hand grasped at a long object that felt almost like paper, causing him to grit his teeth. This is wallpaper. In the paint section...I hate this place. He uncovered his eyes to reveal that he had grabbed a floral print wallpaper. He sighed and handed over to the couple.

“Huh? What’s wallpaper doing in the paint section?” Checkers Guy pondered. “Did it get misplaced?” Taking the wallpaper from Sunny, Checker Guy inspected it with a hum. “You know, it’s actually not that bad. I’m kinda digging it!” He turned to Pigtails Lady, holding the wallpaper out in front of him. “What do you think Karen?”

Karen took the wallpaper and hummed. “Well, a wallpaper does seem neat…” She nodded. “I think it’ll work just fine, so let’s do it!” She turned to Sunny. “Thanks for the help!”

“No problem.” Sunny said softly, trying his damndest to contain his anger of Fix-It. “Are you two new in town?”

Karen shook her head. “Me and Sean are both from around here, but we’re moving into a new house together! It’s the one with the yellow roof near the Church.” Karen pointed over her shoulder.

“Y’know...We’re having a housewarming party two days from now…” Sean muttered. He looked to Sunny with a smile. “It’d be a treat if you could join!”

“Well, we should pay for this!” Karen said. The two waved goodbye to Sunny, who looked over to Kel with a raised brow.

“Did...I just get invited to another house?” Kel nodded in response. Sunny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I...Why? Just why?” He inhaled sharply and motioned for Kel to follow. “Lets...Let’s just continue looking for a lantern.”

Kel raised a brow. “A lantern? Why do you need that?”

Sunny stopped just short of wandering to the outdoor section and turned to Kel with an exasperated sigh. “Mom fucked up with the electric company, so the lights and anything else that needs electricity aren’t going to work. And since I don’t really feel like getting myself injured due to not being able to see I-” He paused when he saw Kel’s shocked expression. “Um...Kel? You good?”

“You...You swore…!”

Sunny blinked. “Uh huh...And?”

Kel opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out were strangled sounds as he kept waving his hands around, sometimes pointing to Sunny and other times gripping his hair. Finally, Kel took hold of Sunny’s shoulders. “You’re the baby of the group! You’re not supposed to know swear words!”

Sunny raised a brow and narrowed his eyes. “Kel I’m sixteen. I’m not a baby anymore.” He brushed Kel’s hands away and walked into the outdoor section of Fix-It, which mostly held flowers, fertilizer and some pots for the plants but if you look hard enough, you can also find some camping supplies. “If I remember correctly, they’re mainly in the back.” 

“Dude! Mari would have a cow if she heard you say that!” Kel continued, walking right behind Sunny.

Sunny rolled his eyes. “People learn new words Kel. No matter how hard you prevent them from learning, they’ll find a way.” He stopped when they reached the back of the outdoor section, scanning the various items for what he was looking for. “Now will you please get off my back and my shoulders?” 

Kel sighed and backed a little ways away from Sunny. “Alright, fine.” He huffed. “I can practically hear her reaction now…”

Sunny lifted a finger and began tracing it through the air as he kept searching. He paused when he spotted a purple Seashell that was hiding amongst the trowels. “Huh? How’d that get here?” He picked it up and inspected it. There weren’t any cracks in it, so he could say with confidence that it wasn’t just thrown away. “Oh well. I’m sure Cris’ll like it.” He pocketed the Seashell and continued his search. 

Walking along the end table, Sunny soon found at least one lantern. He picked it up and began to test it, pressing a button to turn it on. A bright white light with some hints of blue shined soon afterwards. Pressing the button again dimmed the light and pressing it once more caused it to flash, before one last press turned it off for good. Sunny nodded his head and hummed. “Alright, this will work just fine.” He turned to Kel and nodded his head back to the inside of the store. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” The two began walking back inside. “So how much does that cost, anyway?”

“Um…” Sunny looked at the underside of the lantern. “$15. That’s actually not that bad!”

“Not that bad!?” Kel turned to Sunny. “That’s almost extortion!”

“You and me have very different definitions of extortion.” Sunny sighed and continued walking, passing by a Gruff Guy looking at duct tape and various types of pipe parts. He looked over to the two and waved.

“Hey, stranger! How’s your day been?”

“It’s been fine.” Sunny replied, albeit a little confused about the sudden question.

“That’s good to hear! My day’s been going great so far!” He picked up one of the pipe sections with a smile. “Today is the day I finally fix that leak in my house!” He turned back to Sunny and Kel. “A couple of weeks ago, i found a stubborn leak in the corner of my living room. How it got there.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. At first, it wasn’t that noticeable but as the days went by, it got worse and worse.” He set down the pipe part and sighed. “To be completely honest, I’ve gotten used to the feeling of a damp carpet and the sound of dripping water!

“But you know what? Today is the day that everything changes...Yes!” The man threw his hand in the air. “Here I am at Fix-It!”

“That’s not necessarily a good thing.” Sunny whispered to Kel, who snickered in response.

“My tools are ready, and...I’m...I’m going to fix it!” The Gruff Guy cheered loudly, before clearing his throat and straightening himself out. “Um...Sorry about that. Huh...Maybe the leak has been driving me mad without my knowledge…” He hummed and stroked his chin.

“Maybe?” Kel raised a brow.

“You know what?” The man turned to the two. “My house is southwest of here, next to the church. Stop by if you want to watch this momentous occasion!” He walked over to the counter and paid for his items, leaving the store. 

“I know this is a small suburban town, but people really need to stop inviting random strangers to their house just because they interacted with them once.” Sunny sighed and scratched his head.

“Yeah, now that you mention it, that does seem kinda dangerous.” Kel nodded and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “Anyways, what do you wanna do after this?”

Sunny shrugged. “Not sure. Depends on what pops up.” Sunny walked over to the counter. “Let’s get this paid for and leave before I snap though. I think I noticed even more disorganization.”

Once the two walked out of the store, Sunny let out a huge sigh of relief. “We’re finally out of that hellhole!” He rubbed his neck and began backtracking to the park, stopping in front of Othermart when the orange Tabby Cat from earlier made their way back up to him. “Oh, hello again.” Sunny knelt down to pet the cat.

“Oh hey, I think I recognize this cat!” Kel walked up and knelt down, looking the cat over. “It sometimes just stops by here and waits. A few people give it fish from time to time from what I’ve noticed.”

“Fish, huh?” Sunny turned to the Othermart entrance.

“You wanna feed the cat.” Kel stated matter of factly.

“Yep.” Sunny stood up and walked inside, with Kel following right behind him. They maneuvered past the cashiers and passed by the produce section, where a mother and daughter were arguing about why they couldn’t have both healthy and junk food. Sunny had to agree with the daughter on that front. Just have both, it’s not that hard. They stopped in front of some lemons. “Ah yes, Oragne’s. The yellow Orange.”

Kel sighed. “I’m never going to be able to live that down…”

Sunny shook his head. “No. You’re not.” They continued walking down the aisles of Othermart until they finally found where the fish were being kept at. Sunny walked up to a yellow sign, not really understanding what it said, since it wasn’t written in a language he understood. 

“Hey!” The lady behind the counter walked over to where Sunny was and pointed to the sign, speaking in a different language for a bit. “Job?”

Sunny raised a brow. “Um...Sure?” The next thing Sunny knew, he was wearing the Othermart uniform, which was just a black shirt and a blue apron with the store name on it. What was with these places and constantly giving him a uniform for something so simple? He will admit though, the shirt was comfortable. He really needed to change his outfit tomorrow.

“I hand you weapon.” The lady behind the counter handed Sunny a Fly Swatter. “You kill flies...Ok? Ok.” The lady gave a small smile, clasping her hands together, before slamming one of them on the glass and shouting. “NOW, GO!!!” She walked back to the money machine.

“Alright...I guess…” Sunny walked away and began searching for flies. While looking, he came across a couple pieces of paper, each one looking for a tutor. Both of them were on the same street, which was just further down the street from Sunny’s place. He hummed and pocketed both papers before continuing the search for flies. 

He came across a few flies in one of the freezer sections. He managed to hit himself with the Fly Swatter twice before he got at least one down. “Okay. One down, two more to go…” The final two flies buzz all around his head, the noise ringing right into his ear. “So...Annoying!” He swats one of the flies down, gritting his teeth before striking the final one down, taking a few deep breaths to Calm Down. “Three down... Wait...How many do I have to kill?” 

He walked out of the aisle, passing by a woman and a young man, who was currently looking at all the frozen containers in awe. Sunny raised a brow. “Is...Is he okay?”

“Hmm?” The woman looked at Sunny and to the young man, before chuckling softly. “Oh! My son, Billy is a stickler for the environment. Him and his friends are always picking up trash around town, though…” They both looked over to Billy.

“All the containers in this section can be recycled to create new containers, over and over again...Such a beautiful concept…”

“As nice as it is to see young people care for the planet, Billy and his friends are on a whole other level…”

“Seems like it.” Sunny focused back onto his job when he noticed a few flies towards some of the produce. He ran over and swatted one away while the other one kept evading his grasp. It landed on one of the signs for some grapes, leading Sunny to finally swat it dead. A little ways away were a few more flies. They all kept buzzing around his ear, leading to him angrily swatting in random directions until he got them all.

“I have to be almost done, right?” Sunny wandered around one last time, looking for any other flies. He found one near the bakery which was, unfortunately, accompanied by a wasp. “Ah shit…” Sunny took a deep breath and braced himself for what was about to happen. The fly buzzed around him, but he was able to swat it down before it could annoy him further. The wasp landed on his arm and stung him, however. “Ow!” He shook his stung hand as he swatted away the wasp, stepping on it once it hit the floor to keep it down. “Goddamn wasps!” He sighed and walked back over to the lady selling the fish.

“Good job!” She took back the Fly Swatter and handed Sunny $20. He switched back to his regular attire once again. 

“Now that I got that over with, can I get a fish?” He held up the $20.

Walking out of the store with the fish on hand, he was met by Kel, who was wearing a smile. “Hey Sunny!” Kel waved the smaller boy over. “I got bored waiting for you so I went back to the park to play some basketball for a bit. It was fun. And in case you’re wondering.” He gestured to the cat. “They're still here!”

Sunny sighed. “That’s good.” He knelt down and placed the fish near the cat, who walked over to it.

Kel chuckled. “You’ve been on a roll lately with all these jobs!”

“I didn’t even know that last one was a job posting!” Sunny replied. “It was written in Chinese!”

Kel raised a brow. “Don’t you know Chinese though?”

“You’re thinking of Japanese.” Sunny muttered. “I don’t even speak that one that much either. Usually I just stick to English, sometimes French if I want.” He reached over and pet the cat as it was eating.

“Ah.” Kel nodded. “Okay, that makes sense then.” He walked up and knelt down alongside Sunny, who was keeping his entire focus on petting the cat. Kel watched the scene with a sense of nostalgia, before chuckling. “This reminds me of how you were with Mewo. She was Mari’s cat but you kept hogging her.” He hummed.

Sunny paused. “Mewo…” 

“Hero really liked Mewo too. I wonder what happened to her.” Kel turned to Sunny. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“The...Last time I saw Mewo…” Sunny whispered. When was the last time I saw Mewo...Wait...Wasn’t it when…?

He couldn’t sleep. It was very hard to during the past few months since he first started practicing with ****. Every time he made a mistake, the Violin would make a horrible screeching noise. It haunted him. If he tried to sleep, all he would hear was that same noise. If he opened a door, any squeaks it made were replaced by the Violin. He was sick of it. It was supposed to be fun. Practicing with ****. Playing the Violin. It didn’t register to him until there first practice session, but he hardly got to see ****. She was so busy with her Piano practices and College Prep Classes.

He was apprehensive when **** told him what ***** suggested, but after their first practice, he realized that it gave him more time to spend with ****. He was glad he accepted the offer. Now? He wishes he could refuse his friends more often. What he regained in time with ****, he lost with the others. Every time he made a mistake, she’d sigh, make a comment that ranged from a simple ‘again’ to something insulting under her breath that was still loud enough for him to hear and then they’d start over from the beginning, instead of working on what he had trouble with. He had blisters on his hands and his arms began to ache from having to hold the Violin and Bow for as long as he did, which made it more likely to make mistakes due to how they shook.

He hated it. Why did he accept? Why wouldn’t **** give him more words of encouragement when he made a mistake? Why wouldn’t they focus on what he had trouble with and just start over from the top? Why couldn’t anyone see that he was being overworked? Why couldn’t he just tell anyone that he was being overworked? Why couldn’t he just-

“Meow?” 

***** sat up and looked over to Mewo, who was staring at him, almost as if she was saying ‘Waiting for something to happen?’. He got out from the bed and walked over to Mewo to give her a pet. “How’re you doing, Mewo?” The cat meowed in response and left the room towards the stairs. “Ah. Hungry?’ Sunny stood up and followed Mewo. Even though she was ****’s cat, ***** felt like he was giving the cat the most attention since they started practicing. 

‘Seems that this is getting nowhere…’

***** bit his lip as he followed the cat down the stairs, the words repeating in his mind as he went down each step. It wasn’t like he was trying to mess up. **** would play her parts to fast sometimes and *****, who was still starting out, couldn’t keep up. Of course it’s going to go nowhere if you don’t let the other person work at their own pace! Why couldn’t she see that!?

‘This is starting to feel  pointless...Why can’t he just get it right?’

Out into the living room, he saw Mewo walk into the kitchen. He elected to stay at the door frame for a bit. “‘Why can’t he just get it right?’ she asks…” ***** scoffed. “I’ll tell you why I can’t get it right, your method of practice sucks! ‘Oh hey, it looks like ***** is having trouble getting this note. Maybe we should focus on that one for a bit before starting over so he has a better grasp of what to do? Nah, that’s crazy talk! I’ll just berate him under my breath and start over from the very beginning until his arms fall off from having to hold the Violin! Maybe then he’ll get it! That’s a good idea!’ News flash ****, you're wrong. It’s a terrible fricking idea!”

‘Everyone’s going to be so disappointed…’

Stepping into the kitchen, Mewo had already laid down near her food bowl, patiently waiting for a refill. At least Mewo had patience. If any of the family needed to do something before giving her some TLC, then Mewo would wait. No fuss. No trying to rush them. Just wait. ***** liked that. If only **** followed Mewo’s example and have patience with *****. He was technically still starting out. He needed time. Time **** wouldn’t give him. She wouldn’t even give him proper encouragement. Just a simple ‘Maybe you’ll get it next time.’ when they first started. And she had the audacity to say everyone would be disappointed. It’s because of her own impatience that ***** wasn’t able to get anything done right!

‘Once. Just once. Can’t you at least get it right once? So I know we’re getting somewhere?’

***** grabbed the cat food from the cupboard and poured it into Mewo’s bowl, stopping once he felt that she had enough. He set it aside and started to pet the cat. No matter what, he’d get at least that right. The Violin? The practices? He tried. Again and again. Over and over. Before, it was because he was just starting to get more practice in. Now? He’d mess up because the blisters on his hands would occasionally pop. He’d mess up because his arms were so tired. Tried to the point that they just fell asleep on him during practice. He’d mess up because HE was tired. He was tired because he couldn’t get any sleep. He couldn’t get any sleep because all he would hear once he closed his eyes were the sounds of his failures.

He heard a door close shut. “*****! I’m going to freshen up before we start our practice!” **** shouted from the top of the stairs, towards the living room. Her voice was slightly muffled because of the distance and the walls, but ***** understood. With a sigh, he stood up and walked into the practice room. At the end near the window sat his Violin case. He opened it up to reveal the source of everything. His Violin.

‘Seems that this is getting nowhere…’

‘This is starting to feel  pointless...Why can’t he just get it right?’

‘Everyone’s going to be so disappointed…’

‘Once. Just once. Can’t you at least get it right once? So I know we’re getting somewhere?’

'̵̣Ų̷̅s̵̝̈́e̸͚̎l̶̘͋e̷̫s̵͕͆s̶̪̓ ̴͖̏k̷͔̊i̵̪d̵̩͆.̶͐ͅ.̸̧̅.̶͇̾'̷̪͛

Sunny recoiled away from the cat, falling onto his back and gripping his head in pain. It was even worse than before. Everything was covered by a thick white noise that caused the pain to worsen. It felt as though his head was starting to split open. Tears welled up in his eyes and he pulled on his hair, trying to find a way to make it all stop. The pain worsened even more. He tried to cry out in pain, but all that came out was a strangled sound that was drowned out by the white noise.

He felt himself get lifted up. Where was he again? Who was lifting him up? He didn’t know. Everything was a blur. The white noise started to decrease, little by little. Why did it feel worse this time? And why did he feel so frustrated? More importantly, why did he feel so frustrated over his Violin?

Chapter Text

“Kel, I’m serious. I’m over it now!” Sunny grumbled. After what had happened outside with his most recent headache, Kel rushed him to the pharmacy, where the moment they stepped inside, the pain had fully subsided. Kel however, wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Sunny, you were gripping your head like it was going to explode!” Kel retorted. “It was obviously worse than the last one!”

The Pharmacist at the Consultation counter tapped his fingers on the counter and sighed. “Your friend is right.” He looked to Sunny with a stern expression. “Ignoring the problem could potentially cause it to become worse. And from what I can tell, it’s already starting to.” Sunny mumbled something in response and the Pharmacist pinched the bridge of his nose. “All you need to do is explain and then I’ll give some recommendations. This isn’t an actual doctors appointment.”

Sunny relented. “Ok, fine. I’ll try my best but I don’t know much about it either.” He tapped his foot and sighed. “All I really know is that, for some reason, my head will randomly start to ache. I don’t know why but I do know that I don’t feel any after effects. It quite literally comes and goes.”

“Okay, that’s a start.” The Pharmacist cleared his throat. “Do you at least have any theories as to why it happens? Do you now how long it’s been happening?”

Sunny scratched his head. “Well, to answer the second one...It’s been happening since around…7-ish or so…”

“What!?” Kel went wide eyed. “This has been happening since this morning!?” 

Sunny nodded. “They...Were a few minutes apart at first. I was good for a few hours before it happened again in my living room. I was fine during the trip to the park until me and Kel left to head to Hobbeez, where it happened again when we were by the vending machines.” The Pharmacist nodded each time Sunny added more details. “Then at Gino’s while we were eating, but I was able to push it aside. Finally, it happened right outside of Othermart. As far as I’m aware, it’s just random.”

The Pharmacist hummed. “That could prove difficult. If it was a constant, I’d be able to recommend Ibuprofen or Tylenol, but if it’s random and short-lived then chances are it'd be a wasted purchase.”

“Okay…” Kel muttered and turned to Sunny. “What about you being cold? What’s that about?”

“How cold are we talking?” The Pharmacist asked. Kel took Sunny’s arm, with mild protest from the smaller boy, and held it up to the Pharmacist. He held up his hand and made brief contact with Sunny’s arm before recoiling. “Oh...That doesn’t feel good.” He hummed. “I feel as though it’d be best to see a doctor. They could provide better answers than I can at the moment.”

Sunny shook his head and wrestled his arm out of Kel’s grip, bringing it back to his side. “I’m leaving in three days. That’s not enough time to set an appointment.”

The Pharmacist hummed and took out a pen, writing something down. “Well, when you get settled into your new place-” He handed a note over to Sunny. “I’d show that to your parents or guardian and set up an appointment then.”

Sunny nodded and pocketed the note. “Will do.”

“Now you two have a good rest of the day.” The Pharmacist nodded to them both before taking another stern look at Sunny. “And I mean it when I say to set up that appointment.”

“I know. I know.” Sunny motioned for Kel to follow. “Come on, let’s get back on track.”

Kel sighed and followed. “Alright.” Once they were outside, he turned to Sunny. “Are you sure you want to wait? My parents would be willing to set an appointment for you.”

Sunny nodded. “I’m sure. Besides, if anyone is going to set an appointment up it should be my Mom.” He sighed and pinched the space between his eyes. “It’d be easier if she was here, but she’s still going over some things for our new place.”

“Oh. I was wondering where she was when I got the money.” Kel hummed. “Where are you moving to anyway?”

Sunny shrugged. “Somewhere in the city. I’m not sure if it’s going to be an apartment or a house near the edge of it though.” He scratched his head. “She, uh, didn’t give me too many details. Or maybe she did and I wasn’t listening.” He felt a pang in his chest. “I definitely need to talk to her more though once we move.”

Kel raised a brow. “Are you saying you haven’t been?”

“No. I haven’t.” Sunny sighed and walked a little ways forward, when the cat from earlier had popped back into view with a ‘Meow’. Sunny knelt down to pet it again. “I’ve been shutting her out too. She’s been wanting to get me help but I’ve been so uncooperative that she just gave up trying. That was a couple of years ago.”

Kel walked up to Sunny and patted his shoulder. “Wow. You...You really had it rough since…” He sighed and knelt down next to Sunny. “You should really talk to her when you get the chance.”

Sunny nodded. “I know.”

“Good.” Kel smiled for a brief second, before turning his head away with a hum. “What about your-” The cat meowed and ran away a few feet away from the two, before turning back to them with another meow. Kel raised a brow. “Uh-”

Sunny stood up and motioned for Kel to do the same. “They want us to follow them.” He walked up to the cat, which started moving once he got closer. They all stopped when they reached the side of Fix-It, where a couple bags of trash as well as a few discarded bottles were lying in wait. Sunny raised a brow and turned to the cat. “Do you want us to dispose of these?” The cat meowed and brushed up against Sunny’s leg with a purr. 

“Does that mean yes?” Kel asked.

Sunny shrugged and slipped the two shopping bags onto his shoulder. “I don’t really know with this cat, but for Mewo it would mean yes.” He turned to Kel. “And even if it didn’t, it’d be best if we handed all this to the lady at the park anyway.” Kel hummed in agreement and Sunny walked over to the pile. “I’ll get the bottles, you get the trash bags.”

A knock on the door echoed throughout the room. “Basil?” Polly’s voice answered. “You’ve been cooped up in there for almost the whole day. You didn’t even come get breakfast...Um, it’ll still be good cold. I, uh, put it away in the fridge.” A sigh. “I know you’ve done this before, but this time you didn’t even leave to water your flowers, so I know something is wrong. Basil, please just talk to me. I want to help but it’s hard to do so when…” A sniffle. “I just want to help…”

Basil was lying on his bed, staring mindlessly at his scar ridden arm, which was shaking due to being in the air for so long. Eventually he sighed and rolled his sleeve down before plopping his arm back onto the bed, opting to stare at the ceiling instead. After the initial shock of learning he somehow managed to time travel, Basil just felt...Empty. He ran out of tears to cry and the ones he did had all but dried to his face, leaving his eyes red and puffy. Why should I bother? He thought to himself. Nothing would change if I left. Grandma will still pass away. Aubrey and her friends will still push me into the dirt and call me names. So why should I bother?

Making their way back to the park, Sunny pointed out another trash bag on the sidewalk just further ahead. The two went to pick it up before heading into the park officially. “Oh, I feel like I should mention this now, but at Othermart I picked up a couple flyers, each one looking for a tutor, so when we’re done I want to head to the houses listed on them.”

“Oh cool! What street are they on?” Kel turned to Sunny.

“I believe they were-”

“Well well well! If it isn’t my arch-nemesis, Kel!” Sunny and Kel turned to see a teenager wearing a blonde wig, which was covering his eyes, pointing directly at them. He was wearing a poorly thrown on cyan dress shirt that was open enough to reveal a singular chest hair, with one half of it being tucked into his white jeans. The two stared at him for a beat before they resumed walking.

“Anyway, to answer your question, the houses are further down the street from ours, just after the crosswalk. It’s the first and third houses.” Sunny finally replied.

Kel nodded. “Ah. Did they say what they needed a tutor for?” They walked up to the lady running the environmental stand and handed over the trash.

“One house needs a Math tutor and the other needs an English tutor.” Sunny replied. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “After that, I’m stumped on what to do.”

Kel hummed. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find something.” They waved goodbye to the lady and began walking out of the park, only for the teenager from earlier to stop them in their tracks as soon as they stepped near the playground.

“Okay! Let’s try this again-”

Kel sighed and dragged his hand down his face. “What do you want this time Mikhael?”

Sunny raised a brow. Mikhael? Why does that sound…? He blinked and a small portion of Headspace glossed over the Real World, replacing the boy in front of them with the sleepy Mikal. Sunny blinked again and everything went back to normal. Ah, that’s why.

Mikhael clenched his fists. “Stop calling me that! I discarded that name a long time ago! Now, I am THE MAVERICK!”

Sunny tilted his head. “The Maverick? What are you, a cow?”

Mikhael sputtered in response while Kel started laughing. “Why, you! How dare you call me such!”

Sunny shrugged. “What? A Maverick is an unbranded animal, or more specifically cattle, which are cows.” He scratched his head. “Well, at least that’s one definition for it. I don’t know you well enough to know if you fit more for that one though. Other than the fact that you, for some reason, think a descriptor would make for a good name. It doesn’t, by the way.”

Mikhael gritted his teeth before putting on a threatening smile, which he failed at, and cracking his knuckles. “I see now.” He pointed towards Sunny. “You wish to challenge me! Well then, challenge accepted! I’ll make you regret those words!” He ran up to Sunny, primed to punch him. Sunny simply moved out of the way and held his foot in front of Mikhael, causing him to trip and lose his wig.

Kel’s laughter increased while Sunny rubbed the back of his head. “I win. Can we leave the park now?”

Mikhael stood back up and readjusted his wig, running back to his previous spot in front of the two. “That-That doesn’t count!”

“Hey, you never explained the rules.” Sunny replied. “Besides, if you weren’t wearing that wig, maybe you would have seen me dodge.”

“Well then. It seems i have no choice but to use my special move!” Mikhael made a fighting stance, which was obviously taken from an anime and took in a deep breath, only for him to turn to his right. “AUBREY!!” He shouted to the trees. “I REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE!!!”

“You’ve got to be-Wait, Aubrey?” Sunny raised a brow and turned to where Mikhael was looking. A group of 5 emerged from the trees. For a brief period, Headspace drowned out the Real World, giving Sunny just enough time to identify each of them once the Real World took over again.

In the very back was Sharleen, which Sunny still wasn’t sure if he was pronouncing it correctly. He never really did get a reference. He knew she was most recognizable from her frankly straggly hair that covered a portion of her face and her expression that always seemed SAD for some reason.

Nearby was Neb, who Sunny never really got an actual name from. From what he remembered, the kid liked puzzles and had frizzy hair. Though, that seemed to no longer be the case, as his hair was now styled into a pompadour, which Sunny just found weird. Seriously, of all the hairstyles, you chose that? He also seemed to be trying to carry himself like Mikhael was and that really just made Sunny confused.

Van, or Vance if Sunny is remembering correctly, which he hoped he was. He wasn’t sure. He just vaguely remembers hearing people say ‘Van’ when referring to him. He had a Lollipop hanging from his mouth, as well as many more in the pocket of his torn plaid shirt. Sunny could make out faint annoyance in his eyes, though it was probably because Mikhael interrupted something. At least, that’s what Sunny’s hoping for, since a flick of his finger could probably break several of Sunny’s bones.

There was Berly, or in this case, Kimberly from what Sunny remembered, who surprisingly wasn’t all that different from her Headspace counterpart. Aside from the side shave and the fact that she wasn’t a dinosaur, everything was exactly the same. Even Neb’s overall appearance was drastically different from his Real World counterpart. Weird…

Finally, at the front of the group was Aubrey. Sunny raised a brow and tilted his head, because something about her seemed off. Maybe it was the fact that her attire consisted of a white and yellow varsity jacket that covered a plain black crop top, along with a jean skirt and worn out sneakers, all of which combined giving off a sense of rebellion. Maybe it was the bat with na- Wait, why does that bat have nails in it? Why is she carrying it around so nonchalantly? One wrong movement and someone is going to end up at the hospital! Or worse! The fuck, Aubrey!? Setting that thought aside, Sunny also thought that maybe it was the pink hair. Wait...Pink hair?

***** and ***** were walking down the sidewalk where *** and ****** were talking about something. They looked deep into a discussion which surprised ***** a bit, given how those two couldn’t seem to not get into an argument about something if left alone for too long. Though, he supposed that it was also warranted, due to him and ***** getting distracted for a bit. However, their discussion was cut short when *** turned to see the two and waved at them. “Hey, *****! Hey, *****! What took you guys so long!?”

***** chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry! We got carried away playing this new game where you fight each other with these things called Pet Rocks-”

“*****, *****!” ****** interrupted with a gleam in her eye. “Take a picture of my new raincoat!”

“Oh! Uh, okay! One sec…” ***** walked around ***** and into the driveway of ***’s house, a few feet away from ******. He unzipped his coat and took out his Camera, holding it steady in front of his face as he focused on ******. *** quickly moved to under ******’s umbrella to photo bomb her as ***** took the picture.

****** giggled and turned to ***** with a smile on her face. “Do you like it, *****? It’s my favorite color...Pink!”

***** opened his mouth to answer, only for *** to interrupt with a disgusted noise. “Ewww...Pink is a gross color!”

“No it’s not, ***! You’re a gross color!” ****** kicked some water in ***’s direction.

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” *** shouted.

“*** has a point with that one, ******.” ***** finally said. “But to answer your question, I think it looks nice!”

“Thank you, *****!” ****** giggled again before she gasped. “Oh yeah, I just remembered! **** and I were talking about dying our hair together. **** said she was going to dye her hair purple.”

*** looked at ****** like she grew a second head. “P-P-Purple!?”

“That stutter feels more like something **** would do.” ***** pointed out, waiting for the photo to develop.

****** nodded and turned to ***. “You wanna know what color I chose?”

*** blinked. “Wait...Are you saying you wanna dye your hair...Pink!?” *** made a gagging sound. “That’s weird...Why would you ever do that?”

****** frowned. “I don’t know. I just thought it would be cute!” She furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. “**** thinks so too!”

*** crossed his arms and huffed, turning away from ******. “I’ll never understand you two and your crazy ideas.”

“I think pink would look good on you, ******!” ***** said after a quick chuckle at the two. He walked over to the fence and looked at *****. “What do you think, *****?”

***** hummed. On one hand, he could say something that’d give a hint of his true feelings for ******. He always thought that ****** was pretty and he could say that pink would make her even more pretty. On the other hand, he doesn’t trust himself to try flirting and he knows for a FACT that he’d never hear the end of it if **** found out if he had. ‘Ah, screw it, I’ll stick to something simple’ ***** thought to himself. He turned to ****** with a small smile on his face. “I think it’d look great!”

****** turned to *** with a victorious smile. “See, even ***** and ***** agree! You’re the one who’s weird, ***!”

*** sighed. “Whatever…”

***** moved around the fence and over to *****, who looked up at him. “What is it, *****? You want to see the picture?” ***** nodded and ***** took the photo out of his coat and held it up so ***** could see. “Y’know...You always ask to look at my photo whenever I take a picture of ******…”

“Uh huh? And…?” ***** looked up at *****, trying to keep his composure.

***** giggled. “Do I...Maybe...Sense a little crush?” *****’s mouth hanged open as he tried to think of a response, his ears turning red. ***** giggled again and patted *****’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything!” He made a zipping motion over his mouth.

“Thank you…” ***** sighed. He looked up at ***** with a hum. “Hey, since **** and ****** are dying their hair, do you think they’d let us join them?”

***** raised a brow. “Huh? What brought that on?”

“Well…” ***** huddled closer to *****. “I’ve actually been wanting to dye my hair blue for a while, but I wasn’t sure how **** would react. If she’s going to dye her hair purple, then maybe she’ll let me dye my hair blue.”

***** nodded and hummed. “Okay, I guess that makes sense, but why blue? I thought you’d go more for silver or something.”

“I don’t think my hair would react well to bleach.” ***** replied somberly. “At least with blue, I wouldn’t have to worry about it all that much. Heck, maybe my natural hair color would make the blue richer.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” ***** then raised a brow. “Wait, you said ‘us’. What do you mean by ‘us’?”

***** shrugged. “I figured you’d be all for it.” He placed his hand onto *****’s head and rubbed some of his hair in between his fingers. “Besides, you wouldn’t have to worry too much about having to bleach your hair.” ***** hummed while *****’s face went red. “I think something like mint-green would look good on you!”

“Y-You think so?” ***** asked.

***** removed his hand from *****’s head and nodded. “Yeah. I do!” He started chuckling and poked *****’s nose. “Also, your face is beet red at the moment!”

“W-Well-Y-You-I…” 

***** chuckles increased. “I know! Hehe, now I know how **** feels when she teases ****!” ***** walked back over to ****** and ***. He may not know how to confess to ****** but that doesn’t mean he’s blind to how ***** feels about him. It gave him some semblance of hope, at least.

Sunny’s eye twitched slightly as his head flared in pain. He tried his best to push it aside. No, it can’t be the hair. I’d be more surprised if she didn’t follow through with it. He made a small hum, keeping an eye on the scene as he tried to figure out what was different.

Aubrey sighed when she walked up to Mikhael. “What is it this time?” Her voice sounded older and more tired. Sunny expected the former but felt slightly sad about the latter, but it still wasn’t what he was looking for. She glanced over at the two and sighed. “Oh, it’s just Kel.”

“Under normal circumstances, that would be the case.” Mikhael replied. He pointed to Sunny angrily. “Except this time, it’s this middle schooler he’s hanging around with that thinks he can mess with The Maverick!”

“Middle schooler? I’m 16!” Sunny shot back. “I know I’m short but you’re only a couple inches taller than me! Besides, you’re the one acting like a child over a damn name!”

Aubrey raised a brow and looked back at the two with her full attention. “Wait, Sunny is that you!?” She walked up closer to the two and gasped. “Wow. It really is you…Geez, you haven’t changed a bit.” Sunny remained silent as he was still trying to find what was different. Aubrey scoffed. “How long has it been anyway? Three, maybe four years?” She smirked and leaned a little closer, her teal eyes darkening from being hidden from the sun. She patted her bat across her shoulders. "Must have been nice liv-”

Sunny went wide eyed and snapped his fingers. “I got it!” He pointed to Aubrey’s face. “You’re wearing colored contacts!”

Aubrey blinked. “I-What?”

Kel looked over at Sunny with a raised brow. “For once, I’m going to agree with Aubrey. What?”

Sunny looked between the two and tilted his head. “What, am I not allowed to point that out?”

Aubrey sighed and pinched the brink of her nose. “I have pink hair, I’m dressed like a delinquent, I’m wielding a bat that hammered nails into and the part that throws you off WAS MY FUCKING EYE COLOR!?”

Sunny blinked. “Well, you did say you wanted to dye your hair pink when we were 12, I figured the outfit was just a change of style preferences and I noticed the bat, I’m just electing to ignore it unless it becomes a hazard to my health.”

Aubrey stepped back in a huff. “Alright, fine just tell me why, after you lock yourself away for four years, did you come out of your house and decide to mess with one of my friends? I mean, I’m sure he deserves it-”

“HEY!” Mikhael shouts out.

“But just, why?”

“You obviously need to raise your standards if Mikhael is your friend.” Sunny muttered.

A couple of snickers echo from behind Aubrey, while Mikhael huffed in response. “It’s The Mav-”

“Don’t care!” Sunny swiftly interrupted, rubbing some of his hair between his fingers with a sigh. “We were just about to leave, so if you’ll excuse us.” Sunny tried to walk around Aubrey, only for her to push him back.

“Oh no, you don’t!” She sneered. “I finally get to see you after four years and you’re just going to walk away!?”

Kel rolled his eyes. “Why do you care? You have new friends you hang out with!” Kel grabbed Sunny’s wrist. “You wouldn’t have even known he left his house anyway!” They tried to leave, only to get pushed back by Aubrey again.

“Oh, like your one to talk!? You didn’t even pretend to care a few years ago! You just kept running around with that stupid smile on your face!” Aubrey growled and slammed her bat against the ground and Sunny recoiled a bit.

“Didn’t even pretend t-You wouldn’t even look at his house! You ignored his house entirely!” Kel tightened his grip on Sunny’s wrist. He tried to wrestle it out of Kel’s grip, but failed.

God damn Hikikomori physique! Sunny chided himself mentally. Why the fuck didn’t I go outside years a- 

***** blinked. He was outside with *****, walking back over to the screen door. Why was he outside? Just a few minutes ago he and **** were...Were...T̴̼̼̖͐̓͑h̴̙̺̓͘ḛ̷͌̓y̵̝̠͚̽̈́ ̴̭͐ẅ̶̖̭̱́̈e̷͔̅̉̑r̸̘͔̈̚e̵̜͂͛ ̵͇̞̾̄f̷͕͓̮͋i̴͉̾͋͠g̷̞͊ḫ̷̏̈́t̶̞͕̜͛͛͝ḯ̵̖̈́̆͜n̶̮̻̮͋̃g̷͔͋.̶̝͋ ̷̞͈̂̋W̶̺̓ͅh̷̛̞̎ÿ̷̧͈́ ̸̙͔̼͐̓͠w̷̨̦̽̿̈́e̴͈͛͒̎r̸̡̳͚̔è̸̞̜̥͠ ̸̹̌͒ţ̵̛͇͎h̴̤̱͋͆e̸̳̣̔̋͜y̸̪̝͐̐̇ ̷̡̪͛f̶̺̮̗͘i̸̙͔͝ͅg̵̤͋͑ḣ̷̢̟̋t̴͙͐i̷̗̿̃ṅ̷̯g̵̯͚̖̓̅͝?̶̤̄̐ ̴̨̎͂

T̸͔̿h̵͕̺̑͠e̶̩̩͜ ̸̤̑͜V̶̨̺̿i̶̜ơ̸͜l̶̘̅͘į̸̠͆͜n̸̫̈̿͝.̵̻͒ ̵̰̦̊Ř̸̮̤̖͝į̵̇g̸̛̼͕͋͝h̶̟̐̄͠ͅẗ̵̼͘.̵̫ ̵͓̙͐͋͛Ț̵̱̲̈́h̸̪͊̋ȩ̵̪̐̐̚y̷̼͕̥͑ ̸̞̩̯͂̈́w̸̛̻̆͜ͅe̴̬͗̍͗r̸̘̩̣͆e̴̳̕ ̶͕̋̎h̴̡̩̅a̴̞̦̫v̵̗̐̆i̴̩̺̖͛̽̚n̵̤͗́͜g̶̹͘ ̷̟̒̚̚a̵̡͈̮͂n̶̼̽̌ ̵̻͂ā̵̡̼̖͒̆r̶͖̜̭̂g̷̯̾u̶͚̠͐͆m̴͚̌̄̈e̵̤̱͋̏͝ṉ̴̎͋t̵͕̳̕̕͝ ̶̞̌̄ơ̸̻͍̂v̶̳̩̄͒͠e̷̹̿͝ȓ̸͕̟̋ ̷͙̕t̵̩̍͌h̴̡̬̒̅̽ê̶̡̜̬ ̵̤̔̕V̸̮̿i̸̞̬̎o̸͓̺̦͑̂ḻ̵̢̘̉̊ĩ̵͖̝̳ņ̸̖̄̑.̴̜͓̃ ̸̮̱͈̈͂͝H̵̟̟̀͑͝è̵͙̓ ̴͉̐̈́͠ͅc̸͈̟͑͠o̸͖͔ͅű̸̡͕̉l̵̽̕ͅd̶̼̯̿̐̒n̶̯͔̮̓̃͠'̷͔͔̹̊t̵̖̯̹͋ ̶̟̹͂̒͆g̵̼̹̣͐̚e̸̖̠̿t̵͕̋̕ ̶̥̻̀̓a̸̞͂ň̵̲̱̙͊͂y̴̜̏̊̇ͅt̵̙̒̀h̴̻̙̺͌i̴̛͍̤̿n̶̡̹̳̄͐͗g̸̨̫̈̈̚ ̵̧̯̳̓r̴̢̥̚i̶̞͝g̵͓̺͆͝h̵̩͕͘t̴͇̥̗̓̌,̶̞̒͂͒ ̶̪̈̔̚ŝ̵͔̙̈́̚ͅọ̸̢͙͐̋ ̷͕͂t̵͉̪̝̂h̸͉̞̉̂̀ĕ̵̛̞̯̈́y̷̰̐ ̶̪͕̏h̸̹̼̅a̴̘̳̱͝d̵̨̼̅ ̸̩͂̂̇a̷͓̫̓̂n̷͇̎̇͝ ̸̯̜̅̎ạ̸͈̰̐̌ṙ̴͍̱̃̂g̷̹̪̯̽͒͠u̵̯̔̉m̵̳̠̼̔̈́e̵̡̝̞͌̋n̴̝̭͝ẗ̶̞́͘ͅ.̷̡̡̢

*̵͖̎*̷͈̟̇́͆͜*̴̘̰̖͌̑͘*̵̮̪͌͐,̶̣͕̆̅ ̶͕̑ͅw̵̝̻͛̌h̵͉̒̕e̴̦̿̍̈ṟ̵͘ḙ̵̦̖̿̓ ̷̭̭͜w̷̜̾̈́͆ḁ̸̤̽͜s̴͔̋͌̏ ̸̺͒͆̒s̴͖̦̗͑h̶̛̫̥͋e̸̹̜͂?̸͚͚̈̐͜ ̵̡̼͛̊Ḣ̷̰̳̋͝ê̶̬͇͆ ̷̜̲̟̐n̵̫͈̐̽̾ȩ̵̜͛e̶̹̽͛d̴̏ͅe̵͓̍̅͘d̴̯͂͂͝ ̵͉͓̍t̵͍̼͊͝ö̸̬͠ ̶͍͎̫̈́̽a̸̪͐͒͒p̸̙͓͒ơ̵̧̧̻̈́̈l̴̥͠ǒ̸̼̩͓̏g̴̙̱̽ͅi̵̠͕̖̽̍z̴͔͊͐͜e̴̳͕͗.̵̛̳͈̆ ̷̡̠̰͆Ĥ̷͔̺͝ͅe̴͖̭͒͜'̴̨̦͆͊̾ḽ̷̱̮̅̓l̴̪͎̹̿ ̸͚̌̅̓t̴̝̔r̸̛̤̟̀͘y̸͚͉̚͜ ̷̢̧̧̔h̷̝̍a̴̪̠̣͆͠r̸̹͋d̶̥̗̒̍e̵͉͓͋͊r̶̨̧̭̊͗̚ ̷̗̌̐̓t̸̻̘̠̑͊ơ̸̯̓͝ ̸̨̻̰̂̑̊h̸̗̥͆̍ȋ̴̭̯͎̀t̸̨̅̍͗ ̷͙̥̣͆t̷̝͍́͊͆h̸̨̗̿̄ä̸̦͔͐t̴̟̐ ̴̪̇̌n̵̛̫̚o̵̺̒̎t̵̞̭ẻ̵͖̖̦̓̚.̶͕́͂̂͜ ̷̖̋̓ͅH̵̦̊̕e̴̡̥̯͂̂ ̴̯͖͚̀j̸̺̝̻̔̽ư̴̢̥͈̈́͠s̵͈̮̍́͘t̵̝͕̪͑̓ ̸̟̋ṉ̷͝ͅe̷̲̒̍ë̸̡͙͓́̈́d̷̢̊̚e̴̡̻̬̽͊̕d̵͕̥̱̾͐ ̶̢͙͆̈́t̴̺͊̄ỏ̷̹̽͝ ̴̨͔̮̚͠f̸̩̣̘͗̐̐i̸̹͋͋͌ņ̴̢̜̽̏͆ḑ̵̢̀ ̴̧͚͊̾͝*̶͚̬̬͛*̷̩̀*̴̺͚̖̾̑̚*̸̖̳̜͘.̷̟̈́̑ ̵̪̒̆S̴͍̬͋t̸̺͙̰̾̐̊ǐ̷̟̕l̵̛̟̺̇̍ľ̶̦͒,̴̡̯̪̃ ̵̢̮͆w̶̱̝̽̆h̷͙͂̾͜y̴͍̺̒͜ ̵̙̋w̸̛̰̪̩̒̈́a̶̡͕͊̓̈́s̵̟̳̬͆̾̽ ̸̹͉͔̾̄h̸͔̀̂ͅȩ̵̅͊͝ ̸͍̭̫͊͛̿o̴̭̿́̓ü̴̡̼͝t̷̞̓s̸̰̐ĩ̶͉̖̣͠d̶̠͂̒e̷̛͚̝?̷̳̼́̑

"̷͍̦*̴̞͕̬͗̄*̴̡͔̈̍*̸̛͖͔̍̚*̵͕̊̅́*̸̘̤͑̕.̸̬͕̲͊̚ ̵͈̗̱̆̏E̵̻͐v̷͍̄̚ę̴̰̖̕r̷̭̩͠y̸̙̑̒t̶̙͙̮̍̈͗ȟ̷̨͚͂̑i̸͇̠n̶̝̎g̴̠̻͈̅̎̚ ̸̯͂͝i̵̞͔̾s̴̛̞͈̄̾ ̶̧̯̯̊g̷̗̻̓͗o̷̩͖̝̽i̴͇͙͆͒̓n̶̲͈̓̔g̶̜̲̍̎͂ ̶̦̼̬̅͆ṱ̶̞̯̓̐o̵̧̯̾ ̸͚̮̍̆b̶̧͉͇̈́̈́ë̴͚̫͎́ ̴͍̌̏ŏ̷͈̰̕k̷̖̅ǎ̴͙͍̌y̷̳͈͖̓.̵͈͋̈̂.̷͙̆̉̚.̷̡̡̱̑"̷̢̩̿̕ ̵̼̏ͅ*̵̮̆͛͘*̴̼̽*̶͉̆ͅ*̴͈̽̕͝*̷̙̭̽ ̴̡͓͂͘͜ş̵̟̓ạ̷̀́į̵̗̦̈́̚d̷͎̣͛̎ ̴̝̩͗̏w̴̨̙̍̌͛ì̵̠ẗ̵͍̳͖́̋̓h̵̤̩̼̐̃̐ ̶̨̔̓ͅa̴͇̗̟̚ ̴̛̣̠̀s̵͍̏̉ĥ̸̺͚͌͝a̵̼̘̿͊ḳ̴̈͠͝y̴͖͋̍͝ ̷̩̟̈́͋ͅv̵͓̼͛̃͊͜o̷͖̚i̸̭͍̾͝ç̷͓͋̉͜͠e̶̞̋̎͘.̴̘̋

Ẅ̶̢̥́͌͜h̶͔̞͇̔y̷̢̯͊ ̶̟̜̟̆́̇d̷̢̹̙͂ǐ̴̳̲̰́̆d̴̺̍ ̷̮̿̒͝ä̸̲͚͍́̏̅n̶̡̲̯̊̈́y̴̯͛͋͑t̶͇̔h̴̰̘̻̅́ḭ̷̖̒̇ǹ̸̡̙ġ̷̢̜͚͌ ̶̱̓͜͝n̷̡̢͍̄̉̊ẽ̵̜̳̍ě̷͔̩d̵̢͈̣̑ ̶͉̣̼̽̈́̈́t̸̳͐o̵͓̖͌̓͐ ̶̞͝b̴̼̮͍̈́ė̸̹̚ ̸̻̰̳̆͝ö̷̭̰́̚̕k̴̨̫̔ą̶͌y̵̨̦͗́͐?̷̗̓̄ ̴͉̟͂̉D̶͔̂̅ỉ̶̤̜̓ḏ̴̓ ̵̘́̿ͅ*̷͙͆̋͝*̵͙͇͒*̴̩͚̑*̴̨̬̙̅*̷̥̕ ̶̻͖̲̽͋s̷̺͇͆̌̎e̷̲͒͝e̴͖̳̱̐̐͘ ̵̬̣̓t̴̻͎̭̅h̵̦̥͒͌ȩ̵̢͈̅ ̵̲̈́f̴̧͙͚̈ỉ̸̯g̸̨̖͚̔̆͋h̸̫͂t̵͜͠?̵̢̪̜̈́̐ ̴̥̆̓Ĭ̷͔͝͝s̴̜̋̉ ̴̙͌͗͜t̴̡̡̥̐͊͛h̴̫̅a̸̘̎t̴̤̤̎̓͝ ̸̘͎̭̃w̶͈̉̊͐h̶͉͓̱̎ý̷̩̌͆ ̷͍̜̇͛̇t̶̲̼̽h̴̯͍͘ĕ̵̺̥͆̚y̸̗̞̾̉ ̵̰͉̰̿̌ẁ̴̬̾͠e̷͎͆ŗ̴̪͐̄e̶̛͕̫̣͘ ̷̛̝͔̉o̷͙̣̓̓ų̶͕͋̽̈́t̵̟̦̲̔̊̑s̶̢̛̼̓͘i̴͜͝d̸̢̯̻̈́̍͠ë̵͓́̅͝?̷̢͚̏̃

W̶̳͗̂h̴͈͒͛ẙ̵̗.̵̝̟͎̀͐.̸̩̹͌͘.̶̢̳͍̊̂̋D̸̖̬̯̍͐̉o̶͇̥̘͛̉ẽ̸͚̭͛s̶͚̳͂͊ ̷̢̱̑i̶͙̰̊͑̍t̴̘́̃̎ ̷̧̈́̕f̸̦̖͊e̶̝͇͒é̷̜͙ĺ̴̲̖̝͠ ̶̟͆l̷̢̩̝͒î̸͉̯ǩ̶̨̠̘̓̚ē̴̜̳̖͠͝ ̸̫̟̐s̷̘͘ǫ̶̻͋m̷̯̤̲̍͂̎ẽ̴̤͋t̸͕͙̤́h̶̥̖̃ͅi̴̡̳͔̕n̴̯̳͆͝g̸͓̣̃ ̵͓̟̒̈̆i̶̟̯͊̍̉s̸͔͂ ̴̙͉̅s̸̤̊̊̑t̶̲͖̅͆á̵̰̘̏̈r̵̝̤̆͐i̴͚͔̓n̶̺͍̄g̴̻̲̐ ̴̻͆̃̄á̴̢͊ẗ̶̘̏ͅ ̷̛̫͎̣̓̓h̶̆̈̐͜i̷̺̍̽̚m̶̹̈́̒ ̴͈̌́f̵̤͒̈́r̷̨̛͈̩̎̂o̵̠̎̐m̵̻̦̤̀͋͠ ̴̮͠ḇ̵͊̂̈́e̸̖̭͎̎̐̽ḣ̸͉̭͊ͅi̵͙̐̉͌n̷̙̄d̶̝͂?̵̬̜̓ͅ

Š̴̨̨̺͕̰̱͙́̆͋͘͝ų̸̬̫͔̯͖̞͇̀̇͜n̴̛͍̜̾̿͗̔̉̔͗͒͝͝n̵͕͔̟̟̺͑̓̔̏͐̄͛̈́̓͝͝ẙ̷̭͕͎͖̜̱̯̞͗͛̚͝ ̴̬̻̼̒̔͊̂̑̒̒̈́͝ͅt̴̡̖͖͍͋̈́̈͐̊̂́̽̔̓͝ų̷̜̜̱͙̞̩̻̲͓̯̐͂ͅr̸̳̹̘͕͕̂n̷̨̧͙͈̣̝͈͎̭̪͕̰͂̽̐e̵̲̊̽͑d̵̫̉ ̵̤͕̓̇̉̐͋͘͜a̶̛̭̭͆̈́̄̋̆̉̚r̵̰̖̘̭̳̭͕͈̜̣̀ò̴̢̡͎̬̭͙͉͉͇̄̔ͅu̶̢̫̫̣̤̰̽̍̓͝͠n̵̡̨̪̥̪̭͉̯̺̙͚̍̐͋̃d̶̡̛͖͈̫͍̣̘̆

Sunny collapsed onto his knees, gripping his head once more as white noise filled his ears. His head felt like it was splitting open again and tears fell down his face. His breath was caught in his lungs, making him hyperventilate. He pulled on his hair due to instinct, ripping a few strands out in the meanwhile. All around him was a pitch black void filled with eyes. All of them giving him a judgmental stare.

“I-I…”

Y̸̧̠̲̻͕̙̌̾͂O̶̮̘̖̒͂̊ͅU̸̲̘̰̺̼̱͇̎͑́̽͗̒̑̃͜͝ͅR̷͈̎̀͆̈́̄̋̿̏͗ ̵̡͚̑ͅF̶̱̤̻̱̹̿̅̆̊A̴̪̖̤̼̤͊͋U̴͎͋̀͠Ĺ̵̨͐̚Ț̸̲͖͇͇͍͚̞̍̊͑.̶̫͍̦̹͖̻̪̘͊̓̒͂̉̉͝͝͠ͅ ̴̢̡̩̞͚̠̩͇̔Ẏ̷̧̧̘̟͇̯͐̃̿̏͜Ȍ̵̡̠͔̩̂̆Ŭ̶̧͉̮̰̖͖̻̥̯̄̿͂͠͝R̸̡̘̟̓̄̏ ̶̡̧͕̖̬͎̝̰͎͐̐̐̇F̶̧̘̯̐́͒̾̿͒Ạ̵̟̖̞̭̠̭̑̌̌̒́͜͠͝U̵̠͉͙̹͖͕̯͖͠L̶͎̤͗̏̋̈́̈͘Ţ̷̢̙͓̬̗̒̅̉̓͒̇.̵͈͍̻̫̿̆̋͆̽̂̉̄͘ ̷̻͈̼̤̽͛̀̅̇͌̓̚ͅY̴̡͇̙͆O̵͎͑͐̑̑̊̋͒Ü̵̥̰̖͖̙̭̓͌̀̚R̴̢̻̜̤̯̫̤͈̐͌́̿̂͘ ̴͓̞̭̳̱̲̇͠F̶̻̒̌̃͐̂A̷̡̨̘̤͚̅̅̒̅̽Ṳ̶̱̙̭̜̺̽̓̕̕Ļ̵̘̦͉͍̜̜̍̈́̓̈́ͅṰ̴̥̯̜̩̼̘̻̾͊̐̓̈́.̷͕̆̓̐̉͂͛̓͜ ̵̡̪̮̈́Y̶̙̗̤͛Ǫ̸̣̟͍͇̮̣̓̀͒̉͝Ǔ̵̡̻͉̲̻̪̞̣͖͊͂̚R̷̜̟̤̈́̅͗̅̽̄͌͌ͅ ̵͎̪͎̺̰̭̒̓͛̚F̴͖̠̱̠͓̀̒Ã̶̼͇͖͍̜͔̈́͆Ű̴͕̪̚L̵͙̟̜̆͘T̵̼͗͒̓͆̒̀͝.̸͍̩̥̹͚͕͙͝ ̵̨̙̱̭͖̰̤̃̎̿͗͆̐͋̚͜

̵̲̗̥̖̠͚͎̪̂̈̉̌̎̒̋͗

̴̢̧̘̙͍̟͖͗̉̓̄̋̄͝͝Y̸̱̬̞̼̦̖͓̋͆͐̐͑͌̚O̸̧̠̩̰̣͊̎͑̒̒̔̋̇U̷̹̤͔͂̍͋̏̾̀̆R̷̢͙̣̘̋̂͊ ̶̣̠͕̊̂̀̓̎̄̏F̷̠̋̽̄̒̒̑͑͗̚A̵̲̣̾͌̉̓́̇̿Ṷ̶̢̤̰̖͖̱͙̎̇̈́͆̈́͗̋͝L̷̨̮̗͚͈͙̠̞̈́̌͊̽͂̒͘͠ͅT̷̨͔̼̭͙͕̼̪̾.̷̼̗̱͇͒̈́ ̵̢̱̬͖͛Y̵̒͜͝Ơ̶̦̍̀͆̕Ü̷͉̣̮͔͛͑̌̿͘̕ͅR̷̡̡̖̥͔͖̘̜̒͌̏̃̄ ̷͖͈͓͉̞̂͌̊̈́̆̅͋͜ͅF̷̜̤̘̼͓͇̔̎̈́̂̉͂͑̔͝A̸̢̪̟̹̣̝̕Ṵ̴̻̰͔̜̓͝L̴̜̬̥͔̟͙̺̖͈̂͂̒̄̏͠͝T̶̬̮̗͊͜.̶̡͎͇̝͍͖͌̈́̏̉̋͘͜͠ ̸̦̤̜̣͇͈͖̫̿͋̿̾͝Y̴̬̲͔͑̐͌̄̒͒͘Ŏ̴̩̖̭̼͎͚̋̂͋̕͠U̴͍̘̓̔̇͛̽̽R̸̼͊̏ ̵̮͇̻̲͎̦̼̥͌̇͊̉F̴̮̩̮̭̠̰̘̽͝A̸̢̝̻̻͈̱̭̗̋͛̈́͊͛Ǔ̴̠̰̠̅͗̊L̷͙͉̱̟͉͉͊͋̏̕T̶̜̥̳̼͍̃̈̇͊̈́̓̚̚ͅͅ.̷̡̰̖̤͚̟͙̼̜̐͘̕ ̸̫̩̥̰̮̺̜̠͘̕Y̸̛̠̼̖̞̖̫̲̌̅͌̈͝O̴̞̾̇̄͊̔͝U̴̱̯͈̬̪̘̎͌ͅŔ̴̳̝̤̥̼̲̠̹͖̔̈́͝ ̸̢̧͖̠̮̦̫̼̑̕F̴͈̰̙̪̹͎̮͉͔̋̀̉̂͌͑̊͆Ä̶̛͖͉̦̗̗͓̃̓̓̀͊͘Ű̸͔͍̣̯͉͂̉͜͝L̷͔͓͇̞̍̾̄̉̒̏T̷̟͓͆͆̓͝.̴̱͌͊́͑̀̐̿̿̚ ̸̨͙̜̓͛̃͌̈́͊̚

̸̫̟̱̖̘͕̺̑̑̈́͊͜͝ͅ

̸͕̋̐͊̐̕Ỳ̷̰͉̮̝̘͙̰̼̘̍̾͝Ỏ̴̞̚Ú̴̞͌R̴̛͚̗͓̫͙͕̩̘̃̐͐̀̌͂͆͜͝ ̷̬̩̫͇̲̩̥̺̃͐̒̒̀F̴̧̢͓̩̻͋̓A̷̫͔̕Ǘ̸̢̼̠͖Ļ̸̛̘͔͖̠̬̙̊͂̇̈́̅͂T̸̨̹͛̍͘.̸̡͚̮̩̏͋́͐͝ͅͅ ̵̹̦͙̮͛́ͅY̷̩̏͝ͅO̵̟̣̙̪͖̜͌̿̂͊̓̚͠Ü̷̺͕̏̍͆R̵̡̧̛͍̼͇̤͍̒̊͆̏̅ ̴̡̞͎̞͚̟̾̄F̸͇̈̑̏̕Ä̷̢̭̘́̾̋Ư̵̧̨̘̤͖͔̰͑̓̉̕͠ͅL̶̡̢̫̞͎̤̥̖̆̄͜T̸̢̥̂̍̍͂̓͐͘.̶̨̝͓̦̰̈́̍͝ ̷͉̥̼̩̲̄̑̽͗̕Y̶̙̮͕͕̯̐̊̈́͐͋̉͘O̶͓̙̞̽Ǘ̷̗̄͗̍͒̀͠R̸̢̟͙͔̲̗̲̉͗͊͒ ̵̧̮̻̟̩̗̠̘͑̒̈́̓̑́̓̚F̴̛͔̼̯͖̖̈́͌̎͐̍̉A̸̹̩̙̖͔͗͗̊͒̌̈͐̎Ư̸͚̲͖̟͚̱̽̽̈́̚L̷̗̩̘̺̐͊̎̚T̵̢̛͎͍̄̾̈́̄̈́.̴̝̦̼͔͍̣̹̙̂͒̂̿͝͝ͅ ̷̘̆̾̒̌͌̀͒͋Ỷ̵̮̠̺̩̩̦̼̖̦͋̍̕Ơ̵̧̡͇̦̙̰͈̐̄̐͛͑͌̈́͝Ư̴̡̡͚̝͈̟̈́̅̕͘͜R̶̢̡͔̬̥͎̩̔͑̉̕ ̷̧̼̖̹͓̻̅͒̏͒̒̈̈́̕͜F̴̢̝͈̫͉̖̞̦̪͂̉͛͂͐̏̑̕A̴̢̰̠̟̩̜̠̯͐̄̚Ṷ̷̠̥͚̆͝Ḽ̴̨̧̠̣̥̱̿͗͗̕T̸͖̖͋.̵͉͓̝̯̼̖̽̐͑

Sunny started to grit his teeth together as he continued to fight for breath. His lungs burned and felt like they were being pierced. He just his eyes as tight as he could and let out a small, choked sob. White noise, the sounds of S̸̜̗͊̌Ơ̷͇̓M̵̺̖̫͎̘̋̾Ę̴̛̲̞̞̍̌͗̊͝T̷͇͊̓̔̿̓H̴̝͓̺̝̹̥̖̾͛́́̚͠Ḯ̷̠̠͈̗̟̉̚N̴̥̩̗͚̪̟̋G̷̨̦̻̱̟͋͌̃̑̕̕͜ and his own breath and sobs were all he could hear. The sensation of his head splitting open, the feeling of hair getting pulled out and his nails digging into his scalp were all he could feel. 

There was no one else with him to share in his plight. No one to give him comfort. No one to tell him that everything would be okay.

He was alone.

D̶̨̦͘u̴̯̍m̴̤̓̉b̵̥͇̄̀a̴̭̯̅s̷̛̻͂ͅs̷̺̔͂.̶̼̏̈́.̵̭̀̍.̷̨̉ A voice called out. It sounded like a young boy, but it was also drowned in static. Y̴̤͉̚ō̵̮̘ū̸̖͓͘ ̸̢̪͋s̴͖̗͂̒ḩ̸̯͆͋o̴̺̤̿ȗ̸͍l̴̳͉̎d̶̰̯͂̏'̶͇̾̚v̶̟́̐e̵̳̖̿ ̶̤͆s̵͓̎͘t̷̬̑ǎ̴̤̮y̸̫̒̅e̷͓̾d̶͔̊̔ ̴̣̺͒i̴͓̪͗̌n̴̡̹͗̿s̷͕̄ï̷̮͊d̸̟̎é̶̜̩.̷̜͘ ̸̻̕Ẅ̴̡̪́ḧ̴̘́e̴͍̚r̶̠͚̄͂ẽ̴̮ ̶͓͛͘i̷̪̍t̵̘̤̄ ̸̲̐͘w̶͇̙̄̑a̸̟͒̈́ṣ̷̹͒̓ ̷̝̿s̷̟͍̓à̵̪͙f̶̤͇͝e̴͓̰̽̎.̴͔̞̚͝

Sunny looked up as a bright white light cut through the darkness. In it’s wake was a monochrome, 12 year old boy. Equipped in a void black tank top, black and white boxer shorts and void black socks, with a knife in his left hand as he held the right one up to Sunny. It was you. Omori.

Sunny looked up at you with hope filling his eyes. Y̶̛̲͛ǫ̸̉ŭ̷̠̟̈'̴̭̃̈́r̵̛̟̝͘e̶̱̊̚ ̶̤̭͋͂h̵͓̳͒ȍ̴̬̘p̴̣͌͋ĕ̵̖ḽ̸̾ȩ̴͛š̸̻s̷̩̱̃ ̶͈̅w̴̩̌̂ḭ̷̈́̃ť̴̻͂h̷͔̃͘o̵̭̙̅̕ư̵̟ț̴̝̓ ̵̭͙̑m̶͛͜e̷̜̚͠,̴̘̫̕̕ ̸̤͆y̸̭͌̊ő̵͇̾u̷̱͊ ̶̫̣̈́̃k̶̙̻͐n̸̲̚̚ȍ̸̹͉w̴̠̮̒ ̶̫̓t̵̗̎h̸̬̱̒͠ȁ̵̡͂t̵̪͑?̶̡͗̐ You remarked in your plain, unamused tone of voice. C̶͔̓o̴͙̔͒m̸̞̌ĕ̸̥ ̶̬͝o̶̝͒̽n̵̜͝.̵͇͐ ̷̨̾̓L̷̨͚̉͒e̶̫͋͌ṯ̷̑ͅ'̴̖̽͐s̵̟̜̄ ̴͈̅̂g̷̬̅͛ö̴͍́ ̴̮̤̃̚b̷̨́͝ͅå̴͚̊c̷̩̃k̴̪͌ ̸͔̔t̶̠̊ͅo̷͉̙̾ ̵̯̰̇K̴̜̫̓͂e̷̻l̶̠͉̒ ̴̜͙̾a̸͓̠͂̔n̶̮͘͠d̷͖̈̚ ̵̹͐̾͜t̶̖̕h̵͕̣̿͛ė̸̪ ̷̨̞̐o̴̙͗̐t̶̗̬͊͝h̶̘̎e̷͙̜̎͋ŗ̷͋͑s̸̺̖̽.̴̰̺͌͑ ̷̾͒͜T̶͚͗h̴̹͑e̵̥̼͋y̸͔̦̐̆'̸̤̐ȑ̸̨̹ę̸̈́͋ ̸̳̘̿w̶̲̳̔o̴̗̮͆r̷̩͛͘ͅr̴͇̊i̴͙̓̕ȩ̷͎̊d̵̯͇͌ ̸̢̱̓f̸͎̬̅̉ö̵̰́͑ͅr̷͚̈́̋ ̸̡͖̋y̵̯̭̋o̷̦͚̚û̶̡̩.̶̩̦̒ Sunny took in a sharp breath and began to reach his hand out to you. 

“-NNY!”

Sunny blinked. “Kel…?”

“SUNNY!!!”

Sunny opened his eyes, the glare of the sun nearly blinding him as he did so. He hissed and rubbed his scalp as it began to sting. He slowly began to sit up, his entire body aching all the while. He gripped at the grass beneath his left hand, making sure that it was real and not a figment of his imagination.

“Sunny!” Kel’s voice called out. The smaller boy looked around, seeing Kel to his left and Jay with some other boy to his right. “Oh thank god!” Kel pulled Sunny into an embrace, slightly shivering from Sunny’s cold touch. “You’re okay!”

“Kel…?” Sunny rubbed his eye. “What...What happened.” He looked ahead towards the park exit, now devoid of Aubrey and her friends. “Where’s Aubrey…?”

“She took off.” Kel pulled away from the embrace. “While we were arguing about which of us cared more about what happened, you…”

“You had a panic attack.” The boy next to Jay finished. “I happened to notice from the bench. It looked pretty bad.”

“Me and Aubrey didn’t notice. I didn’t even realize you wrestled your arm away.” Kel muttered. “We just kept arguing until we heard a sob. And then you passed out.” Kel sighed. “Me, Jay and Lien all rushed over to you, but Aubrey...She just left and the hooligans followed her.”

“Oh…” Sunny felt a pang in his chest and clutched at his sweater vest.

“Hey…” Jay laid a hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “You good?”

Sunny exhaled and nodded. “I’m fine…My entire body aches like you wouldn’t believe, but I’m fine.” He got onto one knee and pushed himself up with a grunt. “Sorry for worrying you, Kel.”

Kel stood up and shook his head. “No, don’t apologize for that! It’s something that happens, whether we like it or not. Besides, I should be the one apologizing. If I wasn’t so caught up with Aubrey, I would’ve noticed as soon as it happened. Hell, it probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place if me and her weren’t arguing.”

Sunny sighed. “I-I don’t know. Maybe…” He looked over to where Aubrey and her friends were and bit his lip. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around towards the source, that being the other boy.

“Just in case it might happen again, I’d be willing to give you tips on how to steady your breathing.” He scratched his head. “I’m sure they’d help calm you down.”

Sunny hummed and nodded his head. “Sure. I could use a few pointers.”

The boy smiled. “Great!” He held out his hand. “I’m Lien by the way, though most people refer to me as Pretty Boy.” He rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“Sunny.” He took Liens hand and shook it. “Also, I can see why people call you that.”

Lien chuckled. “Yeah...Anyway, a good thing to know if you have another attack is to take deep breaths. In for five seconds and out for five more. It may seem hard at first, but as you keep going it should become easier.”

“In for five, out for five more…” Sunny tapped his chin. 

“It helps to picture a feather in front of you. Your breathing helps keep it afloat, so you want to make sure it stays that way.”

“A feather huh…” Sunny hummed. “That makes sense. Thanks Lien!”

Lien nodded. “No problem. I hope it helps in the future!” Lien and Jay waved goodbye to Sunny and Kel.

“So, are you going to take those tutoring jobs still or do you want to take it easy for a bit?” Kel asked.

“I’m still going to do them.” Sunny replied, walking over to the park entrance. “I...Need to keep my mind occupied with something. Something to focus on.”

Kel nodded. “Okay, but if it becomes too much, we could always head back to my place and take it easy for the rest of the day.”

Sunny shook his head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope it doesn’t have to come to that. I’ve been having fun just walking around town.” He looked forward and hummed. “Hey, Kel?” He turned to face the taller boy. “Is...Is it true that Aubrey wouldn’t...Acknowledge my house at all?”

Kel sighed and nodded. “Not once did I ever see her even try to knock on your door.” Kel rubbed the back of his neck. “There...Were a few days where I wouldn’t look at it either, but usually afterwards I’d go stand in front of your door and question whether I should knock or not. I’d always chicken out, though.”

Sunny hummed. “I see…” He felt another pang in his chest and he clenched his fists. He swallowed his own spit and motioned for kel to follow. “Let’s...Let’s get going. I...I need something to distract myself.”

“Are you-”

“Yes! I’m sure...” Sunny sighed and crossed the street, unclenching his fists and keeping his focus on his breathing. Breathe in 1-2-3-4-5...Breathe out 1-2-3-4-5...

Chapter Text

Sunny and Kel walked up to a white bricked house with a light green roof. The former walked up to the door and knocked his knuckles on the light brown door. They both back up when the door opened from the other side, a woman wearing a pants suit staring directly at them. From what Sunny could tell, she was an all business kind of person. “Hello! How can I help you?” She greeted with a hint of authority that made Sunny feel like he was talking to a teacher.

Sunny pulled out the green flyer and handed it to the woman. “I’m here for the tutoring job.” He pointed a thumb behind his shoulder. “My friend is here too, but mainly for moral support.” Kel wrapped an arm around Sunny and smiled.

The woman raised a brow and hummed. “Well, I was really only looking for one tutor…” She tapped her chin. “But, you both look trustworthy enough and Brent could use the extra support…” She smiled and nodded. “Well, two is better than one...As long as you split the payment.” She chuckled and motioned the two to head inside.

The first thing that caught Sunny’s attention once he walked in were the two desks off to the side of the living room. Those were the only abnormal additions as far as he could tell. Everything else looked standard. Couch, TV, a couple of bookshelves. “Brent’s room is upstairs on the right most side.” The woman announced, walking over to one of the bookshelves. 

Sunny and Kel walked up the stairs and into the right most room, where a young boy was waiting in the middle of the room. The first thing that Sunny noticed was how similar the kid looked to the pharmacist from earlier, though a glance at the kid’s desk revealed a picture of him, the woman downstairs and the pharmacist gave Sunny enough clues as to why that was.

He also noticed the amount of awards the kid had. All of them were congratulations from some kind of School subject for getting the highest grade possible. Does this kid really need a tutor? Sunny thought to himself. The kid also had a similar wardrobe to Sunny, though his vest was a forest green than a deep blue, the sleeves for his dress shirt were longer and he wore full length khakis instead of shorts.

The kid looked over at the two and hummed. “Hey, you must be my new tutors!” He held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Brent.” 

Sunny took Brent’s hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Brent. I’m Sunny and the one behind me is Kel.” Sunny gestured to Kel, who waved.

“I’m here for moral support mostly.” He admitted. He glanced around the room and chuckled. “Honestly, with all those awards, I feel like you should be tutoring me!”

Brent let out a sigh. “Well, I’m good at most other subjects, but Math is still my weak point.” He scratched his cheek. “I’m, uh, not all that good with numbers…”

Sunny hummed. “I suppose that now’s the best time to ask, but why do you need a tutor in the Summer? Isn’t School supposed to be out at the moment?”

Brent walked over to the desk and sat down. “Normally, yes. But me and Joy were put into Summer School so we could get a head start on everything once Summer ends.”

Kel winced. “Ouch. That sounds rough…”

Brent nodded. “It is. Especially since we aren’t able to hang out as much, especially with our friend Jesse.” He sighed. “I hope he’s doing fine without us…”

Sunny walked over to Brent and patted his shoulder. “I’m sure he is. These things happen, but hopefully you’ll be able to hang out again soon.”

“I hope so…” Brent muttered. He cleared his throat and looked up at Sunny. “Anyway, before we get sidetracked further, shall we begin?”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah, we should probably focus on the work now.” 

Brent pulled out a worksheet from one of the desk drawers. “So, this is the worksheet that’s been giving me trouble so far.” He pointed to a few questions that were at the middle and end. “These ones have been giving me the most trouble so far.”

Sunny looked down at the first one Brent pointed too. “Let’s see, ‘4 x 51 = a) 244, b) 204, c) 404’.”

Kel snickered from the bed. “One of the possible answers is an error message, seriously?” Brent looked back at Kel with a raised brow. “Because...When a computer has an error…” Kel rubbed his neck. “N-Nevermind.”

“Well, let’s start by multiplying 4 and 1.” Sunny advised, after rolling his eyes at Kel. “What do you know about multiplication?”

Brent held his chin and hummed. “I know that the number gained is higher than if it was addition and that multiplying anything with 0 will result in a 0…” He went wide eyed. “Oh, right. Multiplying something by 1 will result in the number that was multiplied! So if I multiply the 4 by the 1, I should still get 4!”

Sunny nodded. “That’s correct. Now we need to multiply the 4 to the 5. Now, a question: What do you get when you put two 5’s together?”

Brent raised a brow and counted on his fingers. “A 10?”

“Now add two more 5’s.”

Brent moved his eyes around as he hummed in thought. “Four 5’s equal a twenty. Oh!” He circled ‘b) 204’. Brent smiled and nodded. “Okay, I think I got it now...How about this one?” He pointed to the next question.

Sunny looked over the equation. “‘Show your work: 5 x 3 + 15 - 1 + 6/2 =’” He hummed. “Remember that trick with adding the 5’s together? Add three 5’s together.”

Brent hummed. “15. And since we’re adding another 15, the two 5’s would make a 10, adding on another 1 to the other two, would make...30!”

“Correct.” Sunny nodded. “Now when you take away that one, you get 29. So now we just need to divide 6 and 2. Now, what do you times 2 by to get a 6?”

“Um...3. Which would mean that 6/2 is 3. And since we’re adding that to the 29...We would get 32.” Brent began writing everything down. “Wow, these are actually easier than I thought.”

“For once I’m glad Mom did homeschooling.” Sunny remarked. Even if all she did was print off a few explanatory sheets with work ones and slide them under my door. He thought briefly. He shook his head and focused on the paper. “What’s next?” He looked at the final question. “‘-3x + 4 = 7x + 24. What does ‘x’ equal?’” He blinked. Oh Crap Oh Crap Oh Crap-

Brent looked up at Sunny and chuckled. “You’re stumped too, aren’t you?”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah, I am…” 

Kel walked up from behind them and glanced at the problem, muttering under his breath. “Oh, I think I know this one!” Sunny looked at Kel with wide eyes while he hummed in thought. “Yeah, Jay helped me with that problem one time. The answer is -2.” He glanced between Brent and Sunny, letting out a nervous laugh while scratching his head. “I don’t know how to explain why it is, I just know that it was.”

“Wow…” Sunny was impressed. 

“You said it.” Brent commented. He wrote down the answer and set his pencil aside, stretching in his chair. “Well, it’s safe to say I have a little more of an understanding now!”

“Then that means we did our job!” Kel said enthusiastically. The door to the room opened up and the three turned around to see Brent’s mom walking over to the trio.

“Hey, Brent. How are you doing?” She looked over at the worksheet and smiled. “Oh! I see you’ve completed your worksheet!”

Brent nodded. “Uh huh!” He gestured to Kel and Sunny. “These two were a big help!”

“Well-” Kel rubbed the back of his neck and pointed to Sunny. “Sunny did most of the helping.”

Brent’s mom chuckled. “A job well done is a job well done, no matter who did it.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a $20, handing it to Sunny. “Here’s your payment. Feel free to stop by tomorrow!”

Sunny pocketed the $20 and nodded. “Will do.” He tapped Kel’s arm and the two walked out of the room, waving goodbye to Brent and his mom. Once outside, Kel stretched his arms over his head.

“That’s one down.” He moved his neck around, resulting in a few pops to ring out. “Where’d you say the next one was?”

“Just passed this next house.” Sunny pointed to his left with his thumb. “After that, I’m out of things to do.” They walked away from the house's driveway, when Sunny stopped. Nearby the house, reflecting the sunlight above, was a pair of Garden Shears. Sunny walked over and picked them up. “Huh. Someone dropped their Shears.”

“Let me guess, we’re going to have to find them?” Kel snickered.

Sunny shrugged and pocketed the Shears. “Who knows. I might just end up keeping them.” The two walked further down the street, coming across a woman with red glasses and a business suit frantically searching her yard. Sunny and Kel stopped in front of her driveway. “Looking for something?” Sunny asked.

The lady looked up at them and sighed. “Let me tell you something, I was walking back from Fix-It after making a purchase with my hard earned money when I look down and lo and behold, my brand new Garden Shears are missing!” Sunny and Kel glanced at each other while the lady growled. “Tore a hole right through the bag. I feel so silly now…”

“Question-” Sunny spoke up. “Did they happen to have a green handle?”

“Um...Yes?” The lady looked over at them with a raised brow, which quickly involved the other one as Sunny pulled the Shears out of his pocket. “Oh!” She ran over and grabbed them from Sunny’s grasp. “Where did you-”

“They were in the front lawn of your neighbor’s house.” Kel interjected, pointing to Brent’s house.

The lady looked over to where Kel was pointing and adjusted her glasses awkwardly. “Oh...Well, now I feel even more silly.” She sighed and looked over at the two with a small smile. “It’s rare to see a couple of young boys willing to help out a stranger.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s our thing at this point.” Sunny muttered, rubbing his neck.

The lady chuckled and waved them off. “Well, just know that if you ever feel like visiting, my door is always open!” She walked up to her door and entered her house. 

“Everywhere we go, we get an invitation to people’s houses…” Sunny shook his head. “It’s like they’re asking to get robbed.” He continued walking down the sidewalk while Kel chuckled from behind. The third house was white like the first, but had a wood cover over the foundation and a grey roof. Sunny walked up and knocked on the door, stepping a ways back for the person on the other side.

A man with really thick eyebrows opened the door with a smile. “Hello there! What can I do for you?” Sunny handed over the blue flyer and the man nodded. “Ah, you must be Joy’s new language tutors!” He hummed. “I should do an interview, but that feels like too much trouble at the moment...And you look old enough to know 2nd grade language.”

Sunny turned to Kel. “Oof, sorry Kel. You’re gonna have to sit this one out.”

Kel recoiled a bit from the roast. “Wha-Hey I know 2nd grade language!”

The man laughed at the exchange and motioned for the two to enter the house. “Well, come on in! Joy should be waiting in her room.” Sunny and Kel entered the house. The living room was nothing too spectacular, so Sunny didn’t pay much attention to it. “It’s the right most room at the top of the stairs.” The man pointed out as Sunny and Kel walked towards the stairs. 

Entering the room revealed a couple of beds, each with a bookcase next to them as well as a couple of desks. The left side of the room was almost completely barren, save for a guitar, the desk with a computer, a music stand and a few music magazines next to it. Patiently waiting in the middle of the room was a small girl in a white dress shirt and green overalls. She looked up at Kel and Sunny and waved at them sheepishly. “H-Hello...I’m Joy. Pleased to meet you.”

“Hi Joy!” Kel waved back. “I’m Kel and this is Sunny.”

“As you could probably guess, we’re your new tutors.” Sunny commented. Joy nodded and walked over to her desk, ready to start. Sunny grabbed the chair from the other side of the room and moved over to Joy’s desk while Kel got distracted with the guitar near the blue covered bed. 

Joy pulled out a piece of paper. “So, uh, this is the worksheet I’m stuck on.” She set it down on the desk and pointed to a few unfinished problems.

Sunny looked over the first on the list. “‘My pencil is blank the table.’” He hummed. “That one is simple. The answer is ‘c) on’.”

Joy wrote down the answer and hummed. “Oh, I guess that does make sense…But what about this one?”

Sunny looked at the next question. “‘In the phrase ‘silently read your book.’, what type of word is silently?’ Silently would be an Adverb.”

“An...Adverb?” Joy raised a brow.

“An Adverb is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree and so forth. A few examples would be ‘gently, quite, then and there’.”

“Oh.~” Joy wrote down the answer. She pouted at the last question. “This one has been giving me the most trouble.” She held up the paper to Sunny and pointed at the question.

“‘Which one of these sentences is written correctly? a) Eggplants taste better when it is cooked. b) It is tastiest than tofu. c) I think eggplant is the better tasting soft vegetable.’” Sunny hummed. “It’s not that hard, really. You just have to look for the mistakes.” He set the paper down and pointed to the first possible answer. “What do you think looks wrong about this sentence?”

Joy looked over the sentence with a raised brow. “Um...The ‘s’ at the end of eggplant means it’s plural.”

Sunny nodded. “That is the case, but it’s what comes afterwards that makes the sentence wrong.” Sunny pointed to the ‘it is’ part of the sentence. “You only use ‘it’ and ‘is’ in the context of something being singular. So if the sentence started out with ‘An eggplant’ then it would be correct. However, since the sentence begins with a plural word, then it should say ‘Eggplants taste better when they are cooked.’”

Joy hummed and nodded. “Okay...That does sound right…”

“Now with the second sentence, the problem lies in the word ‘tastiest’. In this context, you would use ‘tastier’. ‘It is tastier than tofu.’ has a better ring to it, don’t you think?” Joy stayed silent for a beat before nodding her head. “Now, that leaves us with the final sentence. ‘I think eggplant is the better tasting vegetable.’”

“Nothing about it really sounds wrong…” Joy muttered. 

“And there aren’t any spelling mistakes.” Sunny pointed out. “Therefore, it’s the correct answer.”

“I see…” Joy circled the answer and smiled. “I think I understand it a little better now!”

“That’s good!” Sunny gave a thumbs up.

The door to Joy’s room opened up as her dad stepped inside. He held up a hand in greeting. “Hello! Hello!” He looked over at Joy. “Joy! How have you been doing? Are these tutors of any help to you at all?”

Joy nodded and held up her paper. “I’m all done!”

Joy’s dad smiled and ruffled her hair. “That’s wonderful to hear, Joy!” He walked over to Sunny and handed him $20. “Amazing work! Y’know, you should consider tutoring full-time!”

Sunny took the money and shook his head. “I don’t think I’d be that great.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over to Kel, who just barely realized that the session was over.

“I, uh, got distracted…” He squeaked out as Joy’s dad turned to look at him. 

“Um…” Joy’s dad turned to Sunny and patted him on the shoulder. “Please come back tomorrow!” He left the room, more somber than when he entered.

Kel blinked. “What was that about?”

Joy turned to Kel and sighed. “Oh. I think it was because of the guitar.” Sunny and Kel turned to the instrument. “It’s my brother, Michael’s. He stopped going to school to become a musician. Dad’s been really hard on me since.”

“Oh…” Kel muttered.

“I’ve heard Michael play and he’s really good. So, I’m rooting for him!” Joy smiled and held her thumbs up.

Sunny hummed at the information and waved goodbye to Joy. “We should get going. We’ll tell your brother we said hi if we see him.”

“Please do! He usually plays at the plaza!” Joy waved the two off. 

"Oh, wait. The Plaza?" Sunny turned back to Joy. "In that case, we've actually heard him play! We even donated some money to him!"

Kel beamed. "Oh yeah! He was really good at the guitar!"

Joy smiled. "See, I told you!"

"You sure did!" Kel chuckled. 

"See you tomorrow, Joy!" Sunny said with a wave.

"Bye Mr. Tutor and Tutor's friend!" Joy waved back and the two made their leave.

Sunny sighed and pressed his hand against his back, causing several pops to ring out. “Well, now I’m out of ideas.” He glanced around and saw a couple of construction signs. “Nothing ever changes with those, huh?”

Kel chuckled at the comment. “No, not really.” He looked up towards the construction equipment, only to see an older woman with a bun walking down the sidewalk, rather slowly. She coughed a few times and nearly tumbled forward, but Sunny ran up to catch just as she started.

“Oh, thank you.” The woman said with a cough. She looked up at the two and sighed. “I hate to impose on whatever you two were doing, but do you two think you could help me?” Sunny and Kel exchanged a glance and nodded.

Sunny knocked on the door to the house, the muffled sounds of someone standing up resonating from inside. After a few seconds, the older lady with the bun opened the door and smiled. “Ah, you came back!”

Sunny nodded and held up the prescription bag. “Here’s your medicine. The ID card is inside the bag as well, so-”

The lady coughed unexpectedly as she took the bag, waving a hand at the two to signal for them not to worry. “Excuse me…” She let out a soft chuckle. “Thank you so much for the help. F-”

“Let me guess.” Sunny interrupted with a raised brow. “We’re free to come over whenever we want?”

The lady chuckled. “You’ve must’ve been told that a thousand times already, ha ha!”

Kel rubbed his neck. “Well, you’re not really wrong about that, but isn’t that a little dangerous?”

The lady hummed. “Normally, yes, but in a small town like this I doubt people really give that much thought.” She sighed and turned back to her house. “The offer still stands though. It’ll be nice to have a few more faces around the house.” She entered her house and closed the door.

Sunny sighed as the two began walking down the sidewalk once more. “Well, now what?”

Kel hummed. “What about those Seashells? We could give them to Cris.”

“Oh, yeah. I can’t believe I forgot about those!” Sunny stopped and pulled them out of his pocket. One was an orange and white mixed color in the shape of a clam shell, while the other was a purple one that looked almost like a conch shell. “What do you think she wants with these?”

Kel shrugged. “I dunno! But she does, so let’s go hand them over!” Kel led Sunny back down towards their end of the street, passing by a cream colored house with many statues of a religious figure that were staring directly into Sunny’s soul. Nearby that house was a white bricked one with a light blue roof and a few garden flamingos who seemed to be in good spirits. “Here we are!” Kel announced, gesturing towards the house. “This is where Cris lives!”

Sunny hummed. “Alright. Let’s go see your girlfriend.”

“Sunny!” Kel protested as Sunny walked up to the door and opened it, stepping inside the house. Inside the living room was a whole lot of blue. The walls were a medium dark blue with a light blue rug on the grey colored floor which, thanks to all the blue, has a slight blue tint to it if you look hard enough. 

There was a man on a white couch, who turned around to face the two as Kel closed the door. He smiled and waved. “Heya, fellas! How’s it hanging?”

“It’s going good!” Kel answered. “How about you?”

The man sighed longingly. “I gotta say...There’s nothing like enjoying a long weekend with my favorite couch and my favorite show on TV.” The man chuckled. Sunny caught something peeking out from beneath the couch and knelt down to get a closer look. “Although, there’s only one thing bothering me on this perfect day and that being that I can’t seem to find my remote anywhere and I’m way too comfortable to leave the couch!”

“Oof, that sucks.” Kel muttered. 

Sunny pulled the object out from it’s place, revealing it to be the missing remote. He stood up and held it out to the man on the couch. “Found it. It was under the couch.”

The man turned to Sunny and raised a brow. “Oh, really!? How’d that happen?” He took the remote from Sunny and chuckled. “That’s just like me!” He gave Sunny a thumbs up and held out a can in his other hand. “Thanks kiddo! Here, have an Orange Joe! On me!”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Sunny handed the Orange Joe to Kel when the man turned around.

“Anyway, we’re here to see Cris.” Kel said, a large smile on his face from receiving the can of orange flavored coffee. “She asked us to bring her any Seashells if we found them.”

“Upstairs.” The man replied, pointing to the doorway near the fireplace.

“Sweet!” Kel grabbed Sunny’s wrist and pulled him along through the doorway and up the stairs. The smaller boy was beginning to see a pattern with these houses as Kel opened the door to Cris’ room, which was, of course, on the right most side. The room kept up with the blue theme, though there were accessories that included the ocean to go along with it. Some Seashell and Starfish were hanging on the walls, with a life preserver over the window and a picture of a beach above the desk.

Cris turned around and let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god!” She walked over to the two and gripped Sunny’s shoulders. “Lien called and told me what happened. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Sunny replied, rubbing one of his arms. “It was just too much at the moment.”

“I can imagine.” Cris backed away and rested her hands on her hips. “From what he told me, I’m guessing that Aubrey was involved?”

Sunny raised a brow. “You know Aubrey?”

Cris made a seesaw motion with her hands. “Lien said that the leader of the Hooligans and Kel were having a shouting match and Kel hinted at Aubrey being part of the hooligans before our talk.” Kel chuckled and rubbed his arm. “So, I kinda put two and two together.”

“And you’d be right.” Kel muttered. Soon afterwards he clapped Sunny on the back. “It was scary, but he pulled through!”

“That’s good to hear and see.” Cris once again sighed in relief. “So now that that’s out of the way, did you just come to let me see for myself that Sunny was okay or-”

Sunny reached into his pocket and pulled out the Seashells. “We came to deliver these before we move on to do...Whatever.”

Cris’ eyes widened. “Really? Let me see!” Sunny handed the shells over to Cris, who stared at them with fascination. “Wow...They’re such cute ones too!” She giggled. “Thank you! Now…” She walked over to her nightstand, where a Fish Bowl rested atop of and opened one of the drawers. “If I can find a way to do this with that one then-” Sunny tried to look over her shoulder, but Cris seemed to sense his presence and turned to face him with a finger pushing him away and a playful expression. Ah, ah ah! No peeking!”

Sunny raised his hands in surrender and opted to wait on the bed. He sat down and instantly hummed to himself. He patted his hand on the bed and took in the feel of the sheets as well as the structure of it. “Hmm…” He ran his hand over the sheets, resulting in a slight zipping noise ringing out. “Your bed has a perfect balance of firm and soft to it-” He clicked his tongue. “But the sheets seem to be lacking in any comfort. They’re a bit noisy.” He hummed. “But overall, it’d make for a good rest. Total rating: 6/10.”

Cris chuckled as she kept fiddling with something in her hands. “Sounds like you’re really serious about getting a good night's rest!”

Sunny shrugged and shook his head. “I never get a good night’s rest, but I at least want to be comfortable when I sleep.”

Kel raised a brow at that. “Wait, you’re not sleeping well?”

Sunny hummed. “Well, it’s more like I never wake up refreshed.” He tapped his fingers on his thigh. “And there are sometimes where I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep until I do something productive, whether it’s eating something, which there isn’t a whole lot of options to choose from or just lie still in bed and pray.”

Kel and Cris glanced at each other, with the former walking up to Sunny and patting his shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that dude. Hopefully it gets better at your new place.”

Sunny rolled his eyes. “I doubt a change in scenery would do much, but thanks for the thought.” He glanced over at Cris. “How’s your project going along?” 

Cris sighed and closed the drawer. “It’s close, but still unfinished.” She hummed. “Maybe one or two more should work.”

Sunny nodded. “Okay. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Now...What to do?”

Cris hummed. “Well, what haven’t you done so far?”

Sunny perked his head up and tapped his chin. “Um...Well, we were invited to watch someone fix his pipe, for some reason-”

“We already ran into Aubrey and the Hooligans, Hero doesn’t come until tomorrow…” Kel went wide eyed and snapped his fingers. “We haven’t seen Basil, yet!”

“Basil?” Sunny quirked a brow and hummed. “No...I guess we haven’t seen him yet.”

Kle grabbed Sunny’s wrist and pulled him up. “Come on! I’m sure he’d be happy to see you!” He turned to Cris. “Do you want to come with? The more the merrier.”

Cris sat down at her desk and shook her head. “No, I’m good with letting today be your guys’ day. I might join your adventures tomorrow though, if that’s alright with you.”

Kel flashed a smile. “Looking forward to it.” He pulled Sunny towards the door. “Alright, let’s go see how Basil’s been!”

“When was the last time you’ve seen him?” Sunny asked as they walked down the stairs.

“I’ve seen him around town a few times over the years but never long enough to start a conversation.” Kel admitted, as the two exited the house. “I wonder how he's doing…”

Sunny hummed as he took in the sight of Basil’s house. As expected, there were flowers and the like scattered about the premises, bringing more color to the muted beige exterior and green roof. “I don’t know. Are you sure this is Basil’s house?” Sunny asked, trying to lace in some sarcasm. He didn't really succeed.

Kel chuckled and patted Sunny’s shoulder consolingly. “You tried your best with that one, bud!”

Sunny sighed and walked up to the door. “Shame.” He knocked his knuckles against the door three times. “Um...Basil? Are you there? It’s me, Sunny.” He stepped away from the door when shuffling came from the other side. Soon the door opened, but instead of Basil, the person on the other side was a woman, possibly in her mid-twenties. She had light brown hair, pale skin and jade green eyes. She was equipped with a yellow sun dress with a light tan jacket over it. Sunny raised a brow while Kel walked up to his side with a befuddled expression.

“You’re not Basil…”

The woman raised her brows with a hum. “Huh? Oh, uh no, I’m not.” She let out a nervous chuckle and brushed some hair away from her face. “My name is Polly-” She held out her hand. “I’m Basil’s Caretaker.”

“Basil’s Caretaker?” Sunny echoed.

Kel shifted around nervously. “Um, not to sound rude, but didn’t his grandma take care of him?”

Polly sighed and nodded. “She did, but her strength started to wane, so I was hired to care for her and Basil.” She rubbed her arm. “It’s been...Okay, I guess.”

“You don’t sound so sure about that.” Sunny commented.

“Well…” Polly walked out the door and shut it behind her so she could lean against it. “I’ve been taking care of him for two years, but I hardly know anything about him. Ever since I showed up, it felt like he’s been trying to avoid me…”

“That’s odd.” Kel hummed. “I know things have been rough for the past few years but Basil usually never goes out of his way to avoid someone…”

Sunny took a glance at the flowers nearby. “At least he still takes care of his flowers.”

“He does but...He’s been really out of it today.” Polly sighed.

Kel raised a brow. “How so?”

Polly hummed. “Well, this morning he was rushing around all over the house and after that he just locked himself in his room. He didn’t come out for breakfast or to water his flowers, so what you’re seeing at the moment is my doing...” She sighed and covered her eyes with her hand, a faint sniffle ringing out. “I’m really worried.”

Sunny and Kel exchanged a look. The former turned back to Polly. “Well, maybe we could help him out. Kel managed to get me out of my house so I’m sure we could do the same for Basil.”

“Heck yeah!” Kel fist pumped.

Polly parted her fingers so she could look at the two. “That reminds me.” She lifted her hand away from her face and pointed at them. “Are you two friends of Basil’s?”

Kel nodded. “Mhm! Indeed we are!” He made a small pose as if the light was shining on him. Sunny swore he could see a few sparkles floating nearby Kel’s face. Kel looked back at Polly with a wide smile. “I know we may look a little different than in the photo’s, but we’re the real deal!”

Polly blinked. “Photo’s? What photo’s?”

Sunny raised a brow. “The photo’s. From his Photo Album.” He shifted nervously around, digging the tip of his shoes into the dirt. What color was it? I know for a fact that the Headspace variant isn’t the real color...Basil had it in his favorite color...Which was… “It’s...Green and has his name on a little gold plate…The cover say’s ‘Basil’s Memories’.”

Polly hummed and shook her head. “N-No I haven't seen anything like that...I know he has a camera, I’ve seen that while I was cleaning his room when he tended to his flowers, but it’s really dusty. I doubt he’s used it in a while.”

Sunny and Kel exchanged another look. “Are you sure you haven’t seen it?” Kel asked. “He’d lose his shit if he lost it.”

Sunny looked over to Kel with a raised brow. “Oh, so you’re allowed to swear but I’m not?” 

“Not the time, Sunny.” Kel muttered. He looked to Polly with a hint of desperation showing on his face. “Are you sure you haven’t seen it?”

Polly shrugged. “He’s never mentioned it. Though, there were some days where he came back to the house and seemed...Heartbroken. He would always mutter something but all I can ever make out are the words ‘Why won’t they-’ and then the rest is too quiet for me to hear…”

Kel clenched his fist and inhaled. “The Hooligans…”

Sunny glanced over at Kel. “The Hooligans? Wait, do you think they stole his Photo Album!?”

“Hooligans?” Polly raised a brow.

“They’re a bunch of bullies. I’ve seen them pick on Basil during School, but every time I've tried to help I end up getting sent to the principal’s office!”

“Basil’s being bullied!?” Polly gasped. “Wha-When…” She covered her face with her hands. “Basil...Why don’t you say anything?”

Sunny looked between Kel and Polly, thinking to himself. Why would the Hooligans take Basil’s Photo Album? Wouldn’t Aubrey be the only one to know about it? Wait...Would that mean that Aubrey is bullying Basil? But...Why? Aubrey wouldn’t do that...Would she? “Hey, Kel? Do you know where the Hooligans live?”

“Huh?” Kel hummed and scratched his head. “Well, no. Not all of them. But I know where Mikhael lives. Why do you ask?”

“Simple.” Sunny turned to Kel, narrowing his eyes. “We’re going to look for the Album.”

“Wait, are you planning on breaking into their houses!?” Polly asked. “That’s illegal!”

“Under normal circumstances, that would be the case.” Sunny replied, running his fingers through his bangs. “But for some reason, people in this town have a weird habit of inviting random strangers to their houses if they help them with something incredibly mundane.” He looked to Kel. “Chances are, one of those places houses at least one or two Hooligans. Plus, there are a few houses on this side of Faraway we haven’t checked.”

Kel looked at Sunny like he had five other arms. “So what you’re saying is, you want to take those people up on their offers, just to search their houses for the Photo Album?”

Sunny nodded. “Yes.”

Kel hummed in thought for a brief second, before wrapping his arm around Sunny with a smile plastered on his face. “Sounds like a plan! I’m in!”

Polly looked at the two with a doubtful look. “The responsible adult part of me wants to talk you out of that plan.” The two looked at Polly as she looked back at the door. “But...If it helps Basil…” She sighed. “Just don’t do anything rash.”

Kel fist pumped again. “Woohoo! Investigation time!” Kel excitedly ran down the street while Sunny looked back at Polly.

“We’ll be careful.” He turned to meet up with Kel, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. 

“I’m serious about you not doing anything rash.” She said with a serious bite to her voice. “If you find out where it is that’s good, but if you feel as though you can’t get to it without using force, then don’t. If that ends up being the case, come back here and tell me where it is. I’ll sort everything out myself.”

Sunny nodded. “Sounds like a plan. It’s not like I can do anything with force anyway.” He flexed his arm, showing off how thin it was. He dropped his arm and looked up at Polly. “Don’t worry. We’ll be careful.”

“You better.” Polly replied, opening the door to the house. “I may be Basil’s Caretaker, but my job doesn’t just stop with him.” She looked at Sunny with a somber expression and hummed. “On that topic, what’s your living situation like?” She frowned. “You look...Well, worryingly thin and pale.”

Sunny sighed. “That’s my own fault, really.” He looked up at Polly and opened his mouth again to speak, but the orange blur known as Kel ran back up to the house.

“Sunny, let’s go!” Kel ran up to Sunny and grabbed his wrist. “I think I just found where Angel lives, so let’s start there!” Before Sunny could protest or tell Polly that they’ll talk later, he was being pulled away by Kel towards Angel’s house. If he had his information correct, then that would mean that Angel is Neb. Good to know.

Chapter Text

Sunny and Kel sat down on the bench at the park, lamenting over their lack of progress in finding out where Basil’s Photo Album was hidden. Their main lead was Aubrey, but they didn’t rule out that any of the other Hooligans could have taken it, so they did a wide search of all the houses that Kel knows of that house a Hooligan or two.

Angel’s house was their first stop and the young Hooligan’s sister was the only other occupant currently along with their dog. Angel’s sister happened to be an artist and had asked for some advice for her current work. Sunny volunteered because he had some experience in art and Kel took the time to snoop around for Basil’s Album. Sunny found himself rather intimidated by Angel’s sister, one of the main contributors being that every time she asked for an opinion, like about what color she should use, any opposition to what she had mentioned was shut down instantly, with a mad gleam in her eyes. Basically, instead of giving advice, Sunny was just there to agree with her and despite all that, there was no Album to be found there.

They had tried to go to Aubrey’s house, but ended up getting sidetracked by someone needing help to get a ring out from his sink. Sunny found himself sneaking glances to Aubrey’s house as they left it be and it looked even worse then the times he had seen it when everyone was younger. The wood was practically rotted out and being overtaken by moss and weeds, the windows were either boarded up or dusty and cracked. There were garbage bags lying out by the door and the grass had all but died out. Sunny felt awful for Aubrey, but given what he knows about her, she wouldn’t accept any help. He vaguely remembers trying to offer, but was shot down and made promise to not tell the others about her home life. He doubts she’d be willing to accept help even now.

After helping the guy get his ring, the two made their way to the home of Kim and Vance’s dad, who was the same guy trying to fix his leaky pipe. He failed and decided to let it be for tomorrow, leaving the two to venture through Kim and Vance’s room without any trouble without any opposition for...Some reason. They didn’t find anything there, nor did they find anything at their mom’s place, though Sunny did find a framed photo of Aubrey and Kim. Thinking back to it made Sunny upset, but he couldn’t place why. Was it jealousy? Was it because it made him feel like him and the others were easily replaced? He couldn’t place it.

Either way, Sunny and Kel were in a tough spot in their search. Sunny pursed his lips and craned his head backwards so he could look up at the clouds and sun. Throughout their investigation, Sunny noted that the Hooligans weren’t actually at their houses. He hummed. “Hey Kel, where do you think we can find the Hooligans since they’re not at their homes?”

Kel shrugged. “I can think of where to find Kim and Vance, but everyone else is a blank for me. Most of the time when I run into them is to stop them from harassing Basil and that usually ends up being a one-sided battle.” He turned his head towards Sunny and raised a brow. “Why do you ask?”

“Because they weren’t at their houses and neither was the Album. Aubrey is our biggest lead so far and the only thing I can think of is that we press the others for where she is and try to confront her about the Album.”

A beat of silence passes by. “Y’know, maybe we should’ve started with that.” Kel mutters.

“Yeah, yeah.” Sunny huffs. “There might be some here at the park. I can look at one half and you can take the other half.”

Kel hums and nods. “Sounds good. Let’s meet back here after.”

“Agreed.” The two stood up and began searching their respective halves. Sunny’s half ended up being mostly trees with an Apple Juice stand in a small alcove, someone looking for a small lake nearby and a hobo minding his business. Sunny groaned and buried his palm into his forehead. “Damn it, no sign of any-” Looking ahead towards one of the picnic tables, he saw the familiar sight of a half-giant wearing a dark blue sweater with a squiggly purple line and pink jeans, with a constant frown that was partially covered by a head of straggly hair. “I stand corrected.” Sunny made his way over to the table, getting Charlene’s attention midway through.

The girl’s mouth parted slightly in surprise. “You’re...Okay…” Her voice was so quiet that most people wouldn’t have heard her.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Sunny sighed and scratched his head. “Um, crazy question, but have you seen Aubrey recently. I need to-” A nearby tree began to rustle, getting the two’s attention. Charlene kept quiet and walked over to the tree, giving it a hefty punch and causing someone to fall from the leaves and onto the ground, that someone being Angel.

Angel quickly recovered and got up to his feet, spinning in place and making several fighting poses looking for the culprit. “WHO, WHAT AND WHERE NOW!? What’d you do that for!?!?” He slowed down to a stop and his eyes landed on Sunny, who waved. Angel blinked a few times. “!...You...YOU’RE ALIVE!?!?”

Sunny raised a brow and tilted his head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well...Because you...Uh…” Angel stared out into space for a beat before he shook his head and pointed a finger at Sunny. “Nevermind all that, who are you anyway!? An old boyfriend of Aubrey’s or something!?”

Sunny felt his cheeks burn up before he quickly shook his head. “Wha-No! I’m just an old friend of hers who is currently trying to find her at the moment. Have either of you seen her?”

Angel pursed his lips and folded his arms. “Maybe we have, maybe we haven’t. Why should we tell you, anyway? After all, you’re friends with Kel, and that lame-o just loves getting in our way!”

“He’s just trying to keep our friend Basil away from you bullies!” Sunny bit back.

“Hey, that creep started it!”

“C-Creep?” Sunny was taken aback. “What could have Basil done to be labelled as a creep!? He wouldn’t even hurt a fly...Well...Unless it threatened his garden, but that’s about it really…”

Charlene rubbed her arm and looked away while Angel scoffed. “That’s easy! He...He, uh…H-He…” His looked like they had turned into small beads as sweat began to descend from his forehead. “He...I…” He turned away from Sunny and rubbed his neck. “I actually don’t know?”

Sunny felt his eye twitch. “You’ve been bullying my best friend, for a reason that you don’t know!?”

Angel quickly turned back towards Sunny. “In my defense...Th-The others were already trying to keep him away when I joined…”

Sunny brought his hands up to his face and took a deep breath. “Okay, first of all, that’s the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard. Second of all, how is stealing one of his most treasured possessions and then picking on him considered keeping him away!?”

Angel raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! We haven’t stolen anything from him! The only thing we ever take is candy from the candy store!” He turned to Charlene. “Tell him, Charlie!” Silence. “Charlie…?”

Charlie gripped at her arm and sighed. “Every time he...Came to us he kept begging Aubrey to give something back…”

Angel went wide eyed and away from Charlie and out into nothing. “Oh...Actually...He has done that…” He turned back to Sunny who at this point had folded his arms and was looking at the two in disappointment. Angel cleared his throat and tried to get back into a confident stance. “A-Ah, but misunderstand! A-Aubrey has been very protective of...Whatever it is she took from him, which means she has a good reason to keep it away from him.”

“And what exactly is Aubrey’s reason for taking away Basil’s Photo Album full of childhood memories that he captured himself?”

Angel began to sweat again. “Uhhh…” He looked over at Charlie who kept quiet and looked away from the two. “Well, it’s…” He scratched his head. “She…ARGHHH!!” Angel cried out in defeat and then dropped his arms to his side and held his head low. “Finding a reason would’ve been so much easier if the others were here!”

“I can imagine.” Sunny muttered in response.

Angel straightened himself out and sighed. “Okay, I don’t know her reason, and honestly thinking about it now alongside everything you said hurts because now I just feel like a giant jerk!”

“Well in the broad scheme of things-”

“I get it!” Angel interrupted. “I get it. Okay look, I don’t know where Aubrey is, but I do know how you can find out.”

Sunny raised a brow. “And that is?”

Angel shook his head. “I’m not telling you for free! If you want to know how you can find Aubrey, you must first beat me in battle!”

“Battle?” Sunny unfolded his arms. “I don’t want to punch a kid dude. B-Besides, you’d win regardless! I’m built like a twig!”

Angel glanced at Sunny’s arms and hummed. “Hmm...Yeah, that actually does sound unfair. If battle only meant a physical fight!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small grey object. “I propose a battle of Pet Rocks! If you win, I’ll tell you how to find Aubrey, but if I win, you don’t get anything! How about that?”

Sunny glanced at Angel’s Pet Rock and scratched his neck. “Well, that does seem more fair, but I don’t have a Pet Rock. How about a regular game of Rock, Paper, Scissors?”

Angel blinked. “...That feels weird, but I’ll allow it.” He pocketed his Pet Rock. “In that case, to replicate the feeling, we’ll have to face away from each other until we choose our weapon.”

“One round or two?” 

Angel tapped his chin. “Let’s do three. Whoever wins the most is the victor.” He pointed his thumb towards Charlie. “And to prevent any cheating, Charlie here will be looking for any foul plays.”

Sunny nodded. “Alright, I accept those terms.”

“Perfect!” Angel and Sunny walked up to each other and then turned their backs from the other. Charlie stood off to the side in order to see both of their hands. The opponents prepared their hands, and chanted. 

“Rock, Paper, Scissors SHOOT!”

“Rock, Paper, Scissors SHOOT!”

They turned around and revealed to the other that they both chose rock. Getting back into position, they made their choices again and made another turn around. Sunny had chosen paper while Angel kept his rock. Sunny raised a brow while Angel pouted. The next turn, Sunny had won the game after choosing paper once again, against Angel’s rock...Again. “DANG IT!!” Angel shouted.

Sunny rested a hand on his hip and hummed. “Why didn’t you try and use the other options?”

Angel pouted. “I usually win with rock…” He sighed and straightened himself out. “Well, I lost so I have to tell you where to go. If you want to know where Aubrey is, you’ll have to ask my master, The Maverick!”

Sunny blinked. “You mean Mikhael?”

Angel gasped. “Don’t you dare call him by that name! He would take great offense to that!”

Sunny blinked again. “It’s..Not like he’s here to hear me say that…”

“Even if he isn’t around, the rule still applies!” Angel declared with a fold of his arms. “Even if I’m the only one who follows that rule…”

“Okay…” Sunny rolled his eyes. “Just...Where can I find him?”

Angel huffed. “Master said he’d be at the fountain at Faraway Plaza. He said he was going to meet some girls for a…” He circled his hand around. “Date, or something…”

Sunny tapped his chin and hummed. “Faraway Plaza...Okay. Thanks for the info.”

“I guess…” Angel frowned. “Just don’t tell him I sold him out! It bring dishonor to his name if he learned his student was too weak to withhold information.”

Sunny made a zipping motion over his mouth. “My lips are sealed.” Waving the two goodbye, Sunny met up with Kel at the bench, who frowned when he saw Sunny alone.

“I’m guessing you didn’t find anything either?”

Sunny made a seesaw motion with his hand. “Not directly, but I know where to find someone who can tell us.”

Kel’s eyes widened. “Really? Where?”

“Faraway Plaza.” Sunny replied. “The catch is...He may not tell us without a fight.”

“Without a fight? Why…” Kel paused and groaned. “Oh no...Don’t tell me…”

“And then I told him, it’s not Maverick, It’s The Maverick!” Mikhael boasted to the two girls that were standing to his sides, one of which was in the middle of yawning.

“Oh The Maverick, you’re so funny!” One said without any hint of amusement.

“Ho-ho! What an amazing story, The Maverick!” The yawing one said as she was checking her nails.

Sunny shook his head at the display. “He does realize that they’re not at all interested, right?” He asked Kel, who shrugged.

“He probably paid them or something. I can’t imagine anyone who’d be interested in him.” He sighed and looked back over at Mikhael. “Are you sure he knows where Aubrey is?”

Sunny pinched the bridge of his nose. “Admittedly, no. I could have very likely been tricked, but it wouldn’t hurt to check anyways.” He walked up to the fountain, where Mikhael looked away from the girls and towards Sunny with a scowl. 

“Well, well, welly, well, well!” Mikhael stepped away from the fountain and rested a hand on his hips. “What do we have here?”

“Take off the wig and you’d be able to tell.” Sunny snarked.

Mikhael gritted his teeth. “First you insult my name, and now you insult my hair!? Is there no end to your depravity?”

Kel walked up next to Sunny and folded his arms. “We’re looking for Aubrey, Mikhael. Do you know where she is?”

Mikhael clenched his fists. “How many times do I have to tell you that I cast that name away a long time ago!? Stop calling me by it!”

Sunny rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, yeah. Do you know where Aubrey is or not, Mikhael?”

Mikhael’s face went red and one could swear they saw steam coming from his ears. “Again with that godforsaken name!” He jabbed a finger towards Sunny. “I, The Maverick, will not stand for any form of humiliation! Neither here in the now or back in the past!” He got into a fighting stance. “PREPARE TO FACE YOUR DOOM!!”

“Mikhael, don’t do this to yourself…” Kel muttered.

“FIGHT ME, YOU WADS! DON’T BE CHICKEN NOW!!” Mikhael lunged forward and readied his fist for a hefty punch. Sunny didn’t flinch at the oncoming attack, as Mikhael left himself open and once he got close enough to Sunny, he was promptly slapped in the face. Mikhael stumbled about from the sudden counter and fell to the floor after losing his footing, his wig falling off his head the moment he made impact with the concrete.

“Gomen’nasai. Tsuyoku ikiyo.” Sunny wiped his hand on his vest and looked at Mikhael, who stood up and quickly put his wig back on as the girls behind him started laughing at the scene.

“Oh my god, that was so pathetic!”

“Right! Haha...Ah, though as funny as that was, it definitely wasn’t worth ten bucks.” The girl pointed to Gino’s. “Want to grab a bite?”

“Sure, I could eat.” The two made their departure just as Mikhael finished straightening out his wig.

“W-Wait! L-Ladies, come back!” Pulled out a couple of bills out of his pocket. “I have more money!” Mikhael’s pleas were ignored and the two girls entered Gino’s without batting an eye back towards him. He sighed and dropped his hand to his side.

Kel walked up to the defeated Hooligan. “Mikhael…”

“THERE IS NO ONE HERE BY THAT NAME!” He shouted in response.

Sunny groaned. “Come on, man. We’ll never ask you for anything again. Just tell us where Aubrey is and we’ll go.”

Mikhael exhaled and turned to the two. “Okay, fine. I do happen to know where Aubrey, and I will tell you on one condition…” He pointed his thumbs at himself. “You must call me by my true name, The Mav-”

“So Kel, you said you have an idea of where Kim and Vance might be?” Sunny interrupted while pulling Kel away from the fountain.

Kel nodded. “Her and Vance are major sugar heads, so they’d probably be somewhere with lots of Candy.”

Sunny hummed. “So they might be at the Candy Shop then?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Kel was the first one to walk into Othermart while Sunny hung back a little and rubbed his temples.

Why do I feel so mad about going into the Candy Shop? Sunny sighed and walked into the store, immediately spotting Kel heading towards the produce section instead. “Seriously Kel? What are you-” He approached the section and saw Kel walking up to someone wearing a familiar grey jacket. “Oh, that’s why.”

“Hey, stranger! Whatcha drawing this time?” Sunny heard Kel ask when he caught up.

Mincy looked up from her sketchbook and gasped. “Oh! Hi, uhhh...Kel!” She then looked at Sunny. “And...Sunny, was it?” He replied with a thumbs up and Mincy sighed. “Oh thank goodness. Uh, sorry about that. I’m not so good with names.” She glanced at the produce. “To answer your question though, I’m just...Trying to draw some fruit.” She hugged her sketchbook close to her chest. “But, um, I’m not so good at it...” 

Mincy turned her sketchbook towards the two, and they looked at the drawings in awe. Several apples, oranges and some grapes were scattered about the page in several different angles and lighting. “The shading on each drawing is impressive. They really look real.” Sunny muttered.

“I don’t eat fruit very much, but I would definitely eat those!” Kel remarked.

Mincy blushed. “Y-You really think so…?” She brushed aside some hair from her face and looked at her sketches. “I...Thank you…”

Kel chuckled and patted her shoulder. “You’re welcome, Mincy!” He gave two thumbs up. “Keep going, you got this!” Mincy hummed and nodded, quickly getting back to work in her sketchbook. Sunny and Kel walked away from the produce and over to the Candy Shop. A cheery, peppy song played in the small store. Sunny squinted and rubbed his eyes, the sudden surge of bright colors overwhelming him. “Knowing Kim and Vance, they’ve gotta be around here somewhere.”

“Okay...Do you want to take the left while I take the right?” Sunny asked while pointing towards the aisles.

“That might be quicker.” Kel replied with a nod and he soon went to the far left aisle. 

Sunny walked over to the first aisle on the right and found Kim and Vance stuffing as much Candy as they could into their pockets. “Well that was easy.” Sunny remarked, getting Kel’s attention.

“Did you say something, Sunny?” Kel asked when he approached. Sunny pointed down the aisle.

“Hurry up, Vance! Stuff as much as you can in your pockets before someone sees us!” Kim ordered while stuffing Taffy, Lollipops and various other types of Candy into her hoodie pocket.

“You’re in for a rude awakening when you guys turn around to leave.” Sunny replied to Kim.

The blue hoodied delinquent went wide eyed and turned around. “WHA-”

Kel waved. “Hey, Kim. Have you seen-”

“OH SHOOT! KEL’S HERE TOO!!” She punched Vance’s shoulder. “C’mon Vance, we gotta go!” She ran out of the aisle, pushing Sunny out of the way only to get stopped by Kel at the exit. “Out of the way nerd!”

Kel shook his head. “No can do. You didn’t pay for those.” Sunny walked up to Kel’s side and Vance did the same for Kim.

“I said out of the way!” Kim tried to push Kel, but only managed to make him stumble a bit. “You don’t know me!”

“If you tell us where Aubrey is, we won’t snitch on you.” Sunny offered.

Kim stepped back a bit. “H-Huh? Aubrey?” She mumbled something under her breath and pushed up her glasses. “I-i don’t know where she went! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!”

Kel opened his mouth to retaliate, but before he could make a sound, someone else beat him to the punch. “YOU TWO AGAIN!?” The owner of the store shouted from behind Kim and Vance. She was the prissy type of person, with her hair done up in twin tails and willing to shout at someone who doesn’t follow her vision, even if she tries (and fails) to keep up a sweet facade. The appearance of the owner reminded Sunny why he felt angry about coming to the Candy Shop.

***** looked around the shop while **** and their Mom were picking out some kind of Chocolate or something for the parent’s anniversary. His eyes fell onto a cardboard cutout of a woman who was dressed similarly to Sweetheart, but with a more muted pink and some green and yellow added from the apron. ***** didn’t like it, as the smile on the person felt more threatening than welcoming. “Weird cutout…” He muttered as he walked further into the store, hoping to get some Chocolate for him and ****. 

“Looking for something in particular?” A voice from behind him asked. He turned around and saw the woman that was used for the cutout.

“Um, mainly something with Chocolate involved.” ***** replied. He then raised a brow. “Aren’t you the person on the cutout by the entrance?”

The woman giggled. “Oho! Indeed I am! I thought it’d be a nice way to welcome customers!”

“It doesn’t really feel welcoming.”

The woman’s eye twitched. “E-Excuse me?”

“The smile.” ***** pointed to the cutout. “It feels more threatening than welcoming.”

The woman inhaled and exhaled. “W-Well, I for one thought it was quite a lovely smile!” She clasped her hands together and smiled, all teeth.

***** frowned. “Well, it’s in your likeness, so of course you would find it lovely. If it was anyone else then-”

“No one else’s smiley is as welcoming as mine!” The woman snapped at *****, speaking solely through her teeth. “Ohoho! You’re simply too young to get it!” She spoke in a  bubble voice and patted *****’s head.

‘I don’t like you… He thought to himself.

I still don’t like you… Sunny thought to himself, trying his hardest not to scowl at Ms. Candice.

“I thought I told you never to come back in here! Smiley, smiley!” Ms. Candice snapped at Kim and Vance, speaking through her teeth which were on full display thanks to her threatening smile. She held out her hand. “Give me back the stolen Candy, or else I’ll call the cops on you two! Smiley, smiley!”

You don’t have to end every sentence with that! Sunny shouted in his mind, gritting his teeth. 

“Aw man…” Vance muttered as he reached into his shirt pocket. “We’ve been caught.”

Kim growled. “YOU KNOW WHAT? FINE!!” She reached into her hoodie pocket and threw the stolen Candy onto the ground, resulting in a few arder cracks then most. “TAKE YOUR STUPID CANDY!!!!” She pushed Kel out of the way and onto the ground. “C’mon Vance, let’s get out of this dump!” She stuck her hands into her pockets and slouched as she left. Vance handed his Candy to the owner and followed Kim.

Kel stood up and chuckled. “THAT SERVES YOU RIGHT!!” 

“Kel we still needed them to tell us where Aubrey is.” Sunny pointed out.

“Oh right…” Kel slumped forward. “Dang it! Come on, Sunny. Let’s follow them.”

Sunny glanced at the discarded Candy and hummed. “Before we do, I have an idea.”

Sunny and Kel walked out of Othermart and found Kim and Vance finishing up a conversation before Kim noticed their presence and scoffed. “Oh what now!?”

Sunny raised his hands in surrender. “No need to be hostile. We actually have something for you.” He pointed his thumb to Kel, who held up a giant bag of Candy. “As both a peace offering and a thanks, if you tell us where Aubrey is, we’ll give you this giant bag of Candy in return.”

Kim and Vance stared at the bag as if they were beholding the Holy Grail. “R-Really!?” Kim’s mouth began to water before she blinked and quickly shook her head. “No, no, no! You can’t just buy me with-”

“There’s Taffy inside!” Kel interrupted with a toothy grin.

Kim’s eyes went wide. “Fuck...My biggest weakness…”

Vance pulled Kim aside. “Maybe we should tell them. We haven’t had Candy, let alone Taffy, for an entire week.” He gestured to Sunny and Kel. “And they have a whole big bag full of it! We don’t even have to pay for it!”

Kim looked between Vance and the bag of Candy for a solid minute before her eyes widened. She then smirked and walked up to Sunny and Kel. “Alright, fine. Since you two want to know so badly, and since we really want some Candy, how about...WE SETTLE THIS WITH OUR FI-”

“Kel, throw the bag into the street.” Sunny quickly interrupted, getting Kim and Vance to gasp and stutter.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! What the hell, man!?” Kim cried out. “Why would you go and do that!”

“Because Mikhael already tried fighting us earlier and that’s already too many times I’ve been in a fight.” Sunny explained. “Besides, there’s literally no reason to fight. Just give us a general direction and the Candy is yours.”

Kim grumbled. “But I wanna fight…!” She then huffed and folded her arms. “Why do you want to find Aubrey so bad anyway? The last time you ran into her you passed out from a panic attack!”

“Technically that was because of both her and Kel.” 

“Hey!”

“It’s the truth, Kel!” Sunny rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Look, we’re just trying to get something important back for a friend of ours that Aubrey took. Your best bet is to tell us where she is today or we’ll keep bugging you guys until we get it!”

Kim scoffed. “Go ahead and try! We’ll just kick your ass until you give up anyway.” She turned and motioned her arm forward. “C’mon Vance, let’s get away from these nerds!”

Kel groaned loudly at the failure and Sunny simply sighed in disappointment. Why is it so hard to give us a direction to go in! It’s not like Aubrey is going to… Sunny’s eyes shot open and he lifted his head up. “If you tell us where Aubrey is we’ll blame it on Mikhael!”

Kim quickly turned back around. “Well shit, you should’ve led with that in the first place! Aubrey is at Church for the sermon today. If you don’t mind waiting, you can catch her when they're done.” She held up her arms and clenched her fingers a few times. “Now give us the Candy!” Kel handed her the bag and as soon as her hands touched the plastic, she and Vance ran off to indulge in their newly gained sugary treats.

Sunny took in a giant breath and exhaled deeply. “Y’know...Looking back on everything we did to find Aubrey’s whereabouts…” Sunny turned to Kel. “It would’ve been a helluva lot easier had we started with Kim and Vance in the first place.”

Chapter Text

“Well, here we are.” Kel announced as the two made it to the front door of the Church. “Do you really think she’s in here, Sunny? I never really took Aubrey as the religious type.”

“This is the only lead we have so far.” Sunny replied, scratching at his index finger with his thumb. “We have to be hopeful. But…” He sighed. “If we don’t find her, we’ll just go back and tell Polly what we do know, which is that Aubrey most likely has the Photo Album and then we’ll just have to leave it up to her.”

Kel nodded. “Right, but that’s only if we don’t find her.” He hummed and looked at the door. “Let me get a peek real quick.” He gently cracked open the door and looked inside with a hum. “Well, Kim was right about there being a sermon...Oh! I think I see Aubrey on the right!”

Sunny sighed in relief. “Great! We found her!”

Kel pursed his lips. “She’s just sitting there, like a normal person. Weird…” Kel closed the door and rubbed his neck. “I’d feel bad about interrupting a sermon, so we should wait until she leaves.”

Sunny hummed and shook his head. “No. I feel like she’d be more irritable if she wasn’t in a place like this. Besides, depending on how many people are in there, we may end up losing her in the crowd and even then there's no guarantee that she'll leave at the same time as the others.” Sunny sighed. "All we know is that she's here, but we don't know what exactly she does here."

Kel hummed. "You have a point. Are we just out of luck then?"

Sunny looked at the church doors and tapped his chin. "Not necessarily. Earlier today before I ran into you and Cris, the preacher invited me to join the sermon."

Kel raised a brow. “So, what? You’re just going to walk in?”

“Yep. Stay out here and wait, okay?” Kel nodded and Sunny opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze on through without disturbing any of the others. He walked down the red carpet lining up the middle of the Church, taking in the sight of the few Church-goers, who were all mainly old people, save for Aubrey and the family in the top left. He looked forward at the front to see the Preacher from the park on the stage, reading through the Bible. He glanced up towards Sunny and gave a small, mostly unnoticeable smile before turning his attention back to the book. Sunny sat right behind Aubrey, who was keeping her head low. Glancing around at the other Church-goers Sunny felt judgement as he noticed some of them giving Aubrey a side-ways glance. The air feels heavy. Most of the others here don’t seem to appreciate Aubrey. He looked up at the pink haired girl. And she knows it. So why is she here then? 

After a few minutes of Sunny waiting out the sermon, not really paying attention to what was being said, he noticed a small stream of light pour in from the entrance and quickly go out. Was someone late? Sunny pondered as footsteps could be heard down the aisle. The footsteps got closer to Sunny's bench and he bit his lip. Please don't point out that I'm not paying attention. Please don't point out that I'm no-KEL!?!? Sunny stared at his friend as he sat down next to him.

“You've been in here for a while so I got impatient." Kel explained.

"The point was for me to keep an eye on-"

“Aubrey...Psst...Aubrey.” Kel whispered. Sunny resisted the urge to sigh. Maybe he should've spoke a little louder so Kel could hear him.

Aubrey turned to the two and went wide eyed. “What the-? W-What the heck are you guys doing here?”

“We came to talk.” Sunny replied, visibly unhappy with their current predicament. “Plus, the Preacher up there invited me to the sermon earlier today.” Sunny shrugged. “Two birds, one stone.”

Aubrey raised a brow. “Okay...But what about Kel?”

Kel sighed. “Look, Aubrey. We want you to give back Basil’s Photo Album.”

“Y'know you could have eased into that part, right?” Sunny quipped.

“Basil’s-Why do you care about it?” Aubrey asked with a slight hiss. “That’s none of your business.”

“Really? None of our business?” Kel huffed. “We all used to be best friends but now it’s none of my business?”

“Kel. Don’t start getting huffy.” Sunny chided. He looked at Aubrey and his expression softened. “Look, we went over to Basil’s place and Polly, his Caretaker, said he wasn’t acting right. We figured that we could cheer him up but when she asked who we were, we found out that the Photo Album was missing.” He sighed. “You’re the only other person who could know where it is or have it. We just want to grab it in hopes that Basil would cheer up a bit.”

Aubrey scoffed. “What, am I supposed to hand it over because of some sob story about that creep? No dice. The Photo Album is better off out of his grasp.”

Kel raised a brow. “Creep? Where’d that come from?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Aubrey turned away from them. “Besides, it’s like you said, Kel. We USED to be friends.”

“What part wouldn’t we understand?” Sunny asked, feeling a strange sense of dread. “I assume he did something to the Album, considering your stance on it, but what exactly did he do to it?” Aubrey stayed silent and Sunny sighed. “Look, I know suddenly showing back up after four years and trying to talk to you may seem a little...Well, annoying and confusing, especially since you made new friends. I promise, after this we’ll leave you and your friends alone. It won’t be that hard for me after a few more days, but…” He sighed again and leaned back on the Church bench. “Nevermind…”

“Sunny…” Kel whispered.

Aubrey held her head down even lower, letting out a shaky breath. She brought her hand up to her face for a brief moment, before shifting her head slightly in their direction. “Basil blacked out the Photos.”

Sunny and Kel both looked up at her. “What!?” 

Sunny clutched his chest. Basil...Blacked out the Photos…? His head began to ache. That doesn’t...Sound right…

“Why would he do that?” Kel asked, momentarily breaking out of a whisper. “He loved those Photos!”

“Yeah, I thought that too!” Aubrey sighed and looked away from them. “When Sunny stopped showing up at School, Basil was by himself. One day, I sat down with him at lunch, but he seemed so jumpy. I offered to study at his place with him and he accepted. When we got there, he said he needed to use the restroom and I saw the Album nearby his bed. I wanted to look at all the good memories, but everything was blacked out. Photos of Mari, that time in the rain, even the one where Sunny was playing the Violin on Christmas. He ruined all of them.”

Kel looked heartbroken for a split second, before something seemed to click in his mind. “Did you confront Basil about it? What was his reason?”

“What reason would he have to warrant that!?” Aubrey snapped at Kel. “He ruined the Album because he’s a nutcase! The first friend I ever had before you guys was some wackjob who blacked out the Photo Album that he worked so hard for, despite all the memories that it held! I have the right to feel betrayed by the fact that Basil never cared about our memories!”

No...There was a different reason… Sunny clutched his chest harder as his ears began to ring. There was...But…

“I have to go to the bathroom real quick.” ***** muttered, walking over to the door of his bedroom. “Be right back, *****.”

***** didn’t respond. He hadn’t spoken since what had happened. ***** sighed and left the room, shutting the door with a click before his footsteps echoed out on the other side. ***** simply sat on the bed, staring at the wall. A shadow made him flinch, due to it’s similar appearance to-No, he shouldn’t think about that. He shook his head and whimpered a bit. He began to notice her in so many little things, even when he wasn’t at his house. It was scary. So scary.

He looked up and finally noticed the Photo Album sitting on the nightstand. How long was that there? Was it always there? ***** didn’t know. He didn’t remember seeing it sitting there though. He tapped his fingers on his thigh. One look couldn’t hurt, right? He took the Album off the nightstand and opened it up. He had hoped it would remind him of the good times. It did, but it made him hurt worse.

Everyone was happy in each one. Even he was, if you knew how he worked. All smiles. All bright eyed. Even...Even **** was happy. She was happy. Happy to spend each moment she could with everyone. She was happy a̶͍̩͖̾̇ň̴͈̋̌̕d̸̰̗̐͂̿͠ ̸̺͔͈͂͛̽ḧ̴̨̅͘͝ḙ̶̣̤̫̈́̎̈͝ ̵̛͖̑̋́k̶̥̗̺̊̾͆i̸̬̔̍l̵͎̰̭̞͋l̸̬̈́͐̈͌ͅe̴̜̪̋d̵̺̠̃̈́̾ ̷̨̩͙̘͆̏̐h̵̬̝̼̉̈́̊͝ͅe̴͕̓̾̈̊ŕ̶̺̳͓̝̑͠.̶̨̛̗̪̼̒͘ *****’s breath began to hitch. He began to feel...S̸̢̽̔O̸̳̗̓Ṁ̶̮̹̓ͅE̸̘̭͑͂̍͝T̵̡̩̞͗͊̒Ḩ̴͍̘̹̒Į̸̛̺̟͇̊̒̃N̶̳̮͗̉̿G̶̖̈́ staring him down. Judging him. No...Wait...It wasn’t looking down at him. It felt more like it was looking up at him. ***** looked down at the Photo Album and dropped it. One of the photos, of **** was looking directly at him. **** was smiling, but her eyes were filled with judgment. 

Ỹ̶̭̩͙̓̏ö̴̘͖̫́̚͜ụ̷͔̃r̴͈̲̬͗ͅ ̵̪̎͛͛f̸̗͔͠a̵̼͎̞̎ǘ̶̝̒̅̊ļ̴̳̙̋͝͠ͅt̷̝̹̰.̵̰̈͒͂͘ ̵̨͉͉̄̒Ÿ̸̢̭̞̚͝õ̸̖͔̗̖̆̔̈u̶̺͑͛r̴̟̗̝͑̓̈ ̶̰͍̐̈́ͅͅf̶͙̻̣̏̊ą̸̩͖̲̆͊ù̵̙̿͂̚l̸͚̟͚̱͛t̶̞̃̓.̸̳̲̹͑̆͝ ̷̩̊̈́Y̵͍̘̋o̶̱̕ṳ̶̡͌ŗ̸̪̻̊͘ ̴͚̺̽̒̋̕f̶̫͐̒̕a̶̝̰͓̒̃͜u̷̠̽̑̉̕l̴̖̽̿͊̓ţ̷̟͍͑.̵̩̼̈́̆ A female voice chanted in his head. ‘N-No...I-I didn’t mean to...I just-’ Ỹ̶̭̩͙̓̏ö̴̘͖̫́̚͜ụ̷͔̃r̴͈̲̬͗ͅ ̵̪̎͛͛f̸̗͔͠a̵̼͎̞̎ǘ̶̝̒̅̊ļ̴̳̙̋͝͠ͅt̷̝̹̰.̵̰̈͒͂͘ ̵̨͉͉̄̒Ÿ̸̢̭̞̚͝õ̸̖͔̗̖̆̔̈u̶̺͑͛r̴̟̗̝͑̓̈ ̶̰͍̐̈́ͅͅf̶͙̻̣̏̊ą̸̩͖̲̆͊ù̵̙̿͂̚l̸͚̟͚̱͛t̶̞̃̓.̸̳̲̹͑̆͝ ̷̩̊̈́Y̵͍̘̋o̶̱̕ṳ̶̡͌ŗ̸̪̻̊͘ ̴͚̺̽̒̋̕f̶̫͐̒̕a̶̝̰͓̒̃͜u̷̠̽̑̉̕l̴̖̽̿͊̓ţ̷̟͍͑.̵̩̼̈́̆

***** bolted up in a panic, opening the nightstand and searching through it like a bomb would go off if he didn’t. His hands brushed up against something cylinder. He pulled it out, revealing a black marker in his hands. ‘This could work…’ *****’s breath began to shorten even more the longer the page was open. He could just close the book, right? It’d go away if he did that, right? Would it? He gulped and tested it out. It wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working? The Photo was out of his sight, so why did he still feel it’s stare!?

He gulped again and opened the Album once more. Every Photo was replaced with something different. Replaced with scenes of what had happened. How’d those get there? Why are those there? What if someone else saw those and...He needed to block it out. Otherwise the others will know what happened. He couldn’t handle that. They’d never forgive him. He bit down on the marker lid and pulled it off the marker. Nobody should see those. Nobody should see those. Nobody should-

“S**ny?” A meek voice called out. *u**y looked up to see **si* staring down at him with a betrayed look. “Why…?”

S***y looked down at the Album. The Photos beneath the marker were back to normal. “N-No...That can’t be right...Those w-weren’t…” ***ny began to sob. “I-It was...It w-was…”

Sunny bit his lip and clutched his chest until his knuckles were even whiter than they were before. He inhaled and exhaled, trying his best to remember what Lien had told him to do. He gulped. “Um...A-Aubrey?”

Aubrey sighed and looked at Sunny. “What?”

“T-The Photo A-Album...That wasn’t Basil’s fault…” Sunny shakily exhaled. “It was mine.”

Aubrey just stared at him. “...What?”

“I blacked out the Photos...It was my fault…” Sunny choked out, his head screaming in pain as he continued speaking. “Before I shut myself away, I went to Basil’s house and I-I looked through the Album, hoping to relive the good times b-before-” He clutched his chest even tighter, digging his fingers into his hand through the fabric. “B-But the m-memories in-inside j-just made me f-feel...I c-couldn’t handle it...So, I...I…” Sunny began to feel DEPRESSED by his actions, his head feeling like a pipe bomb about to burst. 

Kel placed a hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “Sunny…”

Aubrey just stared Sunny down, making him shrink back a bit by the intensity of it. She looked away and sighed, moving her hand up to her face. “I can’t believe it…”

Sunny gulped. “Aub-”

“You’re defending him…”

Sunny blinked and looked up at Aubrey. “W-What?”

“Even after I revealed all that...You’re defending that creep…” Her voice hitched a bit. “I know he was your best friend, but he was the first friend I ever had and you don’t see me going out of my way to try and defend him with a rather crafty lie.”

“A-Aubrey, I’m not-”

“Save it, Sunny Suzuki.” Aubrey turned and glared at Sunny. “Basil doesn’t deserve to call us his 'friends' after what he did.”

Sunny buried himself into his spot on the bench. But...I was telling the truth. I know I was… His head flared up in pain.

“You know, Mari would be really sad to hear that.” Kel muttered.

Aubrey turned away from Sunny and looked over to Kel with a smirk. “Heh, really? You wanna bring Mari into this?” She gritted her teeth. “Mari’s dead.” She hissed out. “Who cares what the dead think?”

“Aubrey, seriously!? What’s wrong with you!?” Kel narrowed his eyes. “You can’t just say something like that in front of Sunny! This is his SISTER we’re talking about!!”

Aubrey turned away and tensed up. “Why would he care about that!? Why would YOU care about that!? Why would either of you care about what I say!? You both abandoned me when I needed you!”

I abandoned you? Sunny thought, anger slowly building up inside. You avoided my house while I was rotting myself away in there! You had every chance to break in if you wanted to. Hell, my Mom would’ve let any of you guys in if you tried. She loved you guys like you were her own kids!

“Oh...That’s what this is about…” Kel clenched the edge of the bench. “Look, Mari...Passing was difficult to process. We were all dealing with our own stuff. Especially Hero...But, Aubrey we were kids! It was hard!”

Aubrey scoffed. “You think it’s all so simple. That’s just how you are, Kel.”

“So what if I am simple!? I’d rather be simple than be like you!” Kel retorted. “I know what you’ve been doing to Basil because of the Photo Album and it’s not right! Especially if he wasn’t the one who did that! You didn’t even deny that you didn’t give him the chance to explain!”

“What is there to explain…?” Aubrey said through gritted teeth. “Why are you choosing now to care anyway? When Mari died, you moved on so fast. Too fast. I’m the one coming here every week, trying to find some semblance of peace because of it. And I guess it’s not happening today.” She looked back at Kel. “It’s been four years, Kel. A lot changes, in four years.”  She turned around to face them fully. “You think you can just barge back into my life, after four years, and tell me what I should and should not think? What I should and should not do? Don’t be stupid, Kel.”

Kel sighed and looked down. “You may look and act different, Aubrey. But you’re still the same person.”

Aubrey huffed. “The Aubrey you knew is long gone. As well as the Aubrey that was your friend, Kel. They’re both gone. Just…” She sniffled. “Just leave me alone.” She walked away from her bench and made her way to the exit.

“Wait!” Kel jumped up and stood in front of Aubrey. “Where are you going!? I’m not letting you leave until you promise to give Basil’s Photo Album back, you thief!”

“Kel…” Sunny sighed and looked up at the taller boy. “Remember where you are.” Kel looked around at the other Church-goers.

“What’s happening?”

“Basil?”

“Isn’t that the boy who I’ve seen Aubrey and her friends bully?”

“She’s stealing now, as well.”

Kel looked at Aubrey, who was red in the face and clutching her bat in an iron grip, and then at Sunny, who was now standing up and walking over to him. “Oops…” He chuckled out, before getting slapped across the head by Sunny. For such a short boy, he had a good reach.

Aubrey stared Kel down, grinding her teeth together, before she held her head low. “You think your the good guy, don’t you Kel?” She chuckled. “And I’m the big, bad bully…Here to terrorize poor, defenseless Basil.” 

“N-Now now!” The Preacher called out. “There’s no need to do anything rash! Let’s all just calm down and-”

“Aubrey, now’s not the time to-”

“Shut it, Kel!” Aubrey shouted, increasing her grip on her bat. “You don’t get to say that! You’re the one who barged in here!” She slammed her bat into the ground. “If you want me to be a bully, THEN I’LL BE A BULLY!” Aubrey ran up and headbutted Kel, hitting him square on the nose and causing some bleeding.

“A-Aubrey, wait!” Sunny called out. “We don’t need to-” Aubrey jabbed him straight in the abdomen, causing immense pain to flare up inside him. He hugged himself around the spot, managing to keep his balance. “Ah...F-Fuck!”

“Look at her clothing.”

“It is completely inappropriate for Church.”

Kel stood up and tried to push Aubrey, but she retaliated by grabbing his arm and twisting it, before kicking at his shin and dropping him. “Kel!” Sunny recovered and tried to help the taller boy up, only for Aubrey to backhand him away. “OW!” Sunny clutched his cheek. “Damnit Aubrey I’m trying to pull him out of your way!”

“I can’t believe she would bring a weapon in here.”

“So uncivilized.”

Aubrey began to tear up. “Why are you even here!? Why are either of you even here!?” Kel recovered and managed to uppercut Aubrey. She hissed and took hold of his face, trying to scratch his eye out. 

Sunny went wide eyed and went in between the two, pushing both of them away from the other. “Guys, stop!” 

“What do these delinquents think they’re doing!?”

“This is a place of worship!”

“Guys, please! We don’t need to-” Aubrey pushed Sunny out of the way and aimed to punch Kel, who held his arms up and blocked the attack.

“Someone needs to stop them.”

“Where are their parents?”

“WHy...WhY NOw!?” Aubrey shouted as she kept punching at Kel’s arms. Sunny got behind Kel and managed to pull him away, resulting in him taking one of the punches.

“P-Please!” The Preacher shouted out. “We’re all equals here! There’s no need for violence or-!”

“That girl is a threat to this neighborhood!”

“There’s no hope for sinners like her!”

“E-Everyone, please! Don’t say such things!” The Preacher pleaded.

Sunny shakily stood up and held his arms up in surrender, tears streaming down his face. “A-Aubrey, please. We don’t-” He gulped. “We don’t need anymore-”

“GET. OUT. OF. MY. WAY!!!!” Aubrey held up her bat, tears flowing from her eyes and charged at Sunny. The smaller boy panicked and jumped back as far as he could away from Aubrey as she swung the bat, the nails getting caught up in the fabric of his sweater vest and tearing a hole through it. Sunny collided into Kel and they both fell.

(SOURCE)

“Argh!” Sunny propped himself up onto his hands and tearfully looked up at Aubrey, who was walking towards him. He crawled away in fear, holding one of his arms up as he whimpered and hiccupped.

“I always knew she would be trouble!”

“The pastor should have kicked her out long ago!”

“Children these days have no respect.”

“I hope my children don’t turn out to be like her.”

“Everyone! PLEASE STOP!!” The Preacher called out.

“Ever since her father left.”

“She’s so uncontrollable.”

“Disrespectful. I feel so bad for her mother!”

Aubrey’s dad...Left? Sunny thought as the Church-goers kept talking, stopping Aubrey in her tracks. Aubrey sniffled and wiped her eyes, a choked breath escaping her as she bolted past Sunny and Kel, slamming the door to the Church shut as she left. Multiple sighs of relief rang out through the Church.

“It’s about time that girl ran off.”

“Now, maybe all my friends will come back to Church again!”

“I just wanted to spend my day off in peace.”

“The lord will be the one to judge them when the time comes.”

“Where are their manners? Brawling off like that? They should be ashamed.”

The Preacher ran up to Sunny and Kel and knelt down beside them. “Are you two alright?”

Sunny shook his head and sat up as best he could. “No…”

The Preacher sighed and reached a hand out towards both of them. “Here, I’ll help you up.” Sunny took his hand and was pulled up while Kel shook his head at the offer and stood up on his own.

“Man...I knew Aubrey had it rough, but…” Kel sighed and held a hand up to his knows. “I feel like a jerk now…”

The Preacher looked around the Church, where whispers were still being emitted throughout. “Hmm. Let’s discuss outside.”

“Please.” Sunny whimpered as he rubbed his arm. The three walked over to the door and the Preacher opened it up, allowing the three to step out into the golden hued sky’s of the sunset-covered Faraway. 

The Preacher looked over to Sunny and hummed. “I’m...Sorry you had to go through that. I promise that not all of the sermons end that way.”

“S’okay. It was our fault.” Sunny squeaked out.

“Yeah…” Kel sighed and nodded. “If it wasn’t for me, things would’ve gone differently.”

The Preacher looked between the two and clicked his tongue. “It’s not all on you. If I had just a little more authority, I could’ve not only stopped the fight, but prevented all the unsavory comments the others were making.” He looked back at the door and scowled. “While fighting is no place for a Church, neither should such comments and belittlement! Everyone is welcome at Church and should feel welcome.”

Sunny stared at the ground and shuddered. “Today is...Probably the last day I show up here…”

The Preacher looked sad, but nodded in response. “I understand.” He looked forward towards the street. “That Aubrey girl...She’s been coming to the Church every week for the past few years. I’ve tried talking to her, but she kept calling me...Err...Not so nice things.” He sighed. “She seems troubled by something. Perhaps she just needs a friend.”

“She has friends.” Sunny replied shakily. “Ones she's better off with, without me or Kel getting in the way…”

Kel looked over at the smaller boy. “Sunny…” 

The Preacher glanced down at Sunny and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Surely you don’t believe that?” Sunny kept silent. “Hmm. In any case-” The Preacher returned his hand to his side. “If either of you happen to run into her, please tell her that she’s still welcome to attend, despite the outburst. And that I’ve had a few words to the other Church-goers about their behavior."

“Will do.” Kel held out a thumbs up towards the Preacher.

“Thank you.” The Preacher bowed his head and turned back to the Church door. “I hope the rest of your day goes fairly better.” He opened the door and walked back into the Church. Kel looked over to Sunny and held out a hand.

“Sun-”

“Let’s head back to Basil’s and tell Polly the news.” Sunny muttered, wiping his eyes and sniffling. “She’ll figure it out from there.” He walked away from the Church and onto the sidewalk.

Kel scratched his neck. “Sunny, wai-”

“KEL!” Sunny looked over at Kel, anger filling his eyes. “Just…” He took a deep breath and Calmed Down. “Just drop it…” Sunny locked his gaze onto the sidewalk until he heard Kel shuffle close to him. He looked up at the tan-skinned boy as he rested a hand on his shoulder. The two nodded and walked down the path.

They walked in complete silence, until they neared Aubrey’s house, where the sound of a door being forcefully open broke them out of their trance. They hid behind a tree as they watched Aubrey, face still being drowned in tears and with a book in hand, walk over to the trash bin. She opened the lid and threw the book inside, slamming the bin shut with enough force to break the lid entirely. She walked back over to her door before taking one last look at the trash. She sighed and walked back into her house.

“Did you see that?” Kel asked.

“Aubrey dumped something in her trash.” Sunny replied. They walked over to the trash and opened it up. Kel leaned in and started searching inside.

“Woah, I don’t believe it!” Kel said suddenly.

Sunny raised a brow. “What is it?”

Kel jumped out of the bin and held the object up. “It’s Basil’s Photo Album!” Sunny looked at the book and went wide eyed. A thick green book with Basil’s name embroidered on a small gold section on the cover.

“It...It really is…” Sunny gaped at the sight.

Kel huffed. “I can’t believe she just threw it out like that!”

Sunny looked up at Kel. “Really? After all that, you can’t believe Aubrey would throw it away?” Sunny sighed and shook his head. “In my opinion, I’d be more surprised if she kept it.”

“Sunny…” Kel looked at the smaller boy with concern. Sunny glanced up at him and motioned for him to follow.

“C’mon. We need to head to Basil’s house. Let them know the news.”

Kel tucked the book beneath his arm and sighed. “Alright.”

Basil was still lying on his bed, his left arm falling asleep due to how he was laying on it. He didn’t care. It’ll wake up when he moves. He let out a sigh and blinked, tiredness filling his eyes even though he’ll most likely not get any sleep tonight. He heard a knock on the front door again. Again? Basil raised a brow. He knew Polly had answered the last one and had repeatedly opened and closed the door. Is it the same person? He kept an ear open.

He heard Polly answer the door. He couldn’t tell what she was saying, but there was a brief hint of panic and concern. Basil wondered what that was about, but his focus shifted to the door closing and the sound of multiple footsteps echoing down the hall. Wait, is someone else here now? Basil hummed and sat up in his bed, right on time for a knock on his bedroom door.

“Basil? There are a couple of friends here to see you!” Polly announced. That piqued Basil’s curiosity even more.

That never happened before? Who would even-

Another knock on the door. It was louder and had a bit more ‘oomph’ to it. “Hello? Basil? Do you remember me?” Basil’s eyes went wide. “It’s your friend, Kel!”

Kel? What’s he doing here? Basil remained on his bed, though his curiosity piqued even more.

“And it’s not just me! Sunny’s here too!” Kel said excitedly.

Sunny’s here too? Basil took hold of the edge of the bed and clenched it as tightly as he could. N-No...That can’t be right...Sunny never leaves his house anymore.

“Basil?” Kel knocked on the door again. A faint conversation could be heard outside Basil’s room. There was no way Sunny was right outside his room. Why would Sunny even waste his time with Basil after what he-

Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap~tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap~tap.

(AN: Sunny is tapping his fist to the rhythm of ‘Oyasumi, oyasumi. Close your eyes and you’ll leave this dream’)

Basil gasped and stood up from his bed. That knock was his and Sunny’s secret code. They made it when they started hanging out so that one would know who or where the other was when they hung out and played games. Basil remembered using it when the two teamed up in a game of hide-and-seek when the two ended up hiding in the same spot. That means-

Basil ran up to his door and rested his hand on the knob, bracing himself. Please don’t let this be a trick. Basil took a breath and slowly opened the door. The first thing that met his gaze was the sight of torn blue sweater vest, the owner staring at Basil with tired, raven black eyes that matched his hair. 

Sunny held up his hand, making a peace sign. “Bonjour.” 

Chapter Text

Sunny held up his hand, making a peace sign. “Bonjour.” He wasn’t sure why, but just felt like he should be a little cheeky with his greeting. Not that it would’ve made a difference, since the moment Sunny finished his greeting, Basil threw the door open and tackled Sunny into a hug. “Woah, okay!” Sunny spent a second or two balancing himself out before he returned the hug. “Alright, I should’ve expected that reaction.”

“Same here!” Kel chuckled. “I just thought he’d be surprised.”

Basil broke off the hug and rubbed his neck. “W-Well I am s-surprised…” His face went slightly pink. “It w-was a spur of the m-moment reaction.”

Kel raised his hands up in slight surrender. “No, no. I understand. To be honest, I had the same reaction when I saw Sunny at the park!”

Basil raised a brow. “Sunny was at the park?”

Sunny nodded. “Yep. I left my house all on my own, much to Kel’s dismay.”

Kel opened his mouth to retort, but closed it and shrugged. “Yeah, actually that’s fair.” He sighed and rubbed his neck. “I was so looking forward to actually seeing you walk out of your house and then I find you at the park, without me witnessing such a historical moment.” He chuckled.

“You win some, you lose some.” Sunny muttered. He turned to Basil and looked him over from head to toe, mainly to compare the Headspace variant from the Real World one. Sunny still thinks that Basil would look good with mint green hair, but he will admit that blonde worked just as well, especially with the pink flower pin. His eyes leaned more towards light blue than teal, which wasn’t that big of a deal. He had a white dress shirt beneath a green knitted sweater, as well as khaki shorts, white socks and black shoes, similar to Sunny. Sunny looked Basil in the eyes, having to arch his head slightly due to Basil being a few inches taller than him. “Seriously!?”

Basil quirked a brow. “W-What?”

Sunny slouched and hung his head low. “I can’t believe the only person I’m at a perfect eye level with is Aubrey…”

Kel snickered and patted Sunny on the back. “Sounds like someone’s upset that he’s still the shortest!”

“If I had known that staying inside my house would prevent me from gaining height I would’ve gone outside more.” Sunny sighed and straightened himself out. “If I ever invent time travel I’m going back to warn younger me about it.”

Basil blinked a few times before covering his mouth with his hand to try and stifle a laugh. “T-That’s…” Safe to say, he didn’t really succeed.

“I’m glad my suffering brings you so much joy.” Sunny deadpanned.

“S-Sorry! Sorry!” Basil calmed himself down and sighed. “Um...So what b-brings you two here?”

Kel chuckled. “Well, we were here earlier in the day-”

“But when we knocked, Polly was the one to open the door.” Sunny continued. “She wondered who we were and when we mentioned that we were in your Photo Album, Kel figured that it was taken from you when Polly said she’d never seen it.”

“Huh?” Basil tilted his head and rubbed his neck. “O-Oh, right. T-The Album.”

“So after that, me and Sunny decided to hunt for it!” Kel declared. “We figured that the Hooligans had it, more specifically Aubrey-”

“Which we figured after going around like 5 different houses or so.” Sunny added, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Eventually we tracked her down and, uh…” Sunny rubbed his arm.

Basil’s eyes flickered down to Sunny’s vest. “I’m g-guessing she d-did that.” He pointed to the tear.

Sunny sighed and nodded. “Yeah, she did.”

“It was scary, but I won’t say it wasn’t without profit!” Kel said with what looked like a forced smile. “Because look what we got!” He held up the Photo Album.

Basil went wide eyed and swiped it from Kel’s grasp. “T-The Album! Y-You got it back!”

Kel nodded, but his smile faltered. “Yeah. We did, but we only found it after Aubrey...Threw it away.”

Basil’s excitement dwindled. “O-Oh…”

“Yeah.” Kel cleared his throat. “We also found out why she took it.” He shifted around nervously. “She...Didn’t give you a chance to explain, did she?”

Basil’s eyes flickered between the Album and Kel, before tears began to well up in his eyes. “N-No, she...She didn’t. S-She just t-took it and left, calling me a c-creep…”

Kel walked up to Basil and pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, Basil. I should’ve tried more than that one time to help you out with the Hooligans.”

Basil hiccupped. “It’s fine…” 

Kel broke off the hug and gripped Basil’s shoulders. “No it’s not! You were getting bullied relentlessly for something you didn’t even do, and I barely helped out at all!”

Basil went wide eyed. “Something I didn’t-”

“Ah, right…” Sunny muttered, rubbing his neck. “After Aubrey explained that she took the Album because the Photos inside were all blacked out, something clicked and…” Sunny sighed and pushed Kel aside, pulling Basil into yet another hug. “I’m sorry you were given the blame for something I did...It wasn’t right.”

Basil tensed up. “S-So, y-you told them…?”

“Sunny explained how after Mari died and before he shut himself away, he was staying over here and looked through the album, hoping to relive the good times.” Kel sighed and joined in on the hug. “I understand why he did it. All those moments had to have been painful to relive after Mari...did that.”

Basil loosened up a bit, but was still slightly tensed up. “O-Oh…I see.” The two broke off the hug with Basil, when Sunny hissed and hovered a hand over his cheek. “Ah, S-Sunny are you okay?”

Sunny shook his head. “Aubrey whacked me a couple of times.” He moved his hand away and Basil gasped. “I guess it’s starting to bruise?”

“Yep.” Kel nodded. “It’s not that bad though, a couple of ice packs should patch you right up!”

“I hope you’re willing to lend some then.” Sunny folded his arms. “I don’t have anything like that.” Kel gave a thumbs up and Sunny nodded. “Good.”

Basil chuckled at the interaction. “W-Well, it almost f-feels like nothing’s ch-changed!”

“That’s a good thing!” Kel commented with a wide smile.

A knock on the wall drew everyone’s attention over to the source, Polly. “I hate to interrupt, really I do, but instead of discussing in the hallway, maybe it’d be better if we all had a talk over dinner?” Polly raised a brow. “That is if Sunny and Kel would like to stay?”

“I don’t mind.” Sunny replied. “Honestly, I could use something to eat after everything.”

“Mom can wait a little longer.” Kel said with a hum. “She’d understand why anyway, so sure!”

Polly smiled and clasped her hands together. “Wonderful! I always seem to make a little extra, so it’d be nice to have it go to use the day I make it!” She walked over to the doorway and motioned for everyone to follow. “Please make yourself at home! I’ll be finishing up the food shortly so feel free to chat in the living room!”

“Will do!” Kel grabbed Sunny and Basil’s wrist and pulled them into the living room. “C’mon, let’s talk on the couch!”

“Oh, sure.” Basil muttered. The three sat down on the couch while the smell of Chicken and Vegetables flowed through the air.

“Wow. That smells good!” Sunny muttered. “I think I’m even more hungry now!”

Polly chuckled. “Well sit tight! It’ll be ready soon!”

Kel and Sunny nodded while the former looked around. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here.” He looked behind the TV. “You definitely have a lot more plants than before.”

Basil chuckled and scratched his cheek. “Yeah, I like them a lot.” He hummed. “Actually, there are some that are still alive from when you guys used to visit more often!”

Kel hummed and bumped his elbow into Basil’s arm. “You sure are dedicated!” He chuckled. “That’s Basil for you! Flowers and Photos!” His eyes widened. “Oh, that reminds me! Let’s look through the Album!”

Sunny quirked a brow. “Are you sure? They could still be...Y’know.”

“If they are, then we can just clean them!” Kel smiled brightly.

Basil hummed. “Would that even work?”

Sunny shrugged. “Beats me. I didn’t really pay attention to what kind of marker it was.”

“Well, we won’t know until we try and we can’t try until we see the damage!” Kel commented.

“Yeah.” Sunny gripped the edges of the couch and gulped. “Okay, let’s do it!” 

Kel nodded and set the Photo Album on his lap. “Are you two ready?” Basil and Sunny nodded. “Okay, let’s see what we’re dealing with!” Kel opened up the Album and gasped. “They’re...Clean!?”

“WHAT!?” Basil and Sunny leaned in closer to Kel and gasped.

“They are!” Sunny muttered.

Basil sighed. “Does that mean Aubrey…?”

Sunny frowned. “Wait, some of the spots are blank.” He pointed to one of the spaces nearby the Photo of him playing the Violin on Christmas. “If she cleaned them, then that means she didn’t put them all back before…” Sunny sighed. 

Kel hummed. “Well, we can appreciate what’s in here for now!” He smiled warmly at the two. “We can get the rest some other time, even if we have to sneak into her house and get them.”

“Kel, that’s robbery.” Sunny deadpanned.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kel waved Sunny’s observation off. “So what did she put back?”

They all looked back at the Album and Basil hummed. “Let’s see.”

The first pic was of Sunny in a red Christmas sweater playing a Violin that he got for the holiday. He seemed peaceful in the Photo. The next one was of Kel, wearing multiple party hats on his head, even covering his eyes. The Photo screamed of a chaotic energy that Kel laughed at immensely. The next one was of Sunny lying on the couch playing on a Gameboy. His face was neutral, but Sunny could tell how deep in focus he was. 

They turned the page and the first Photo they spotted was one of Kel and Hero arm wrestling, with the results showing in the next Photo of Kel drawing in defeat as Hero smiled for the camera, unperturbed by the event. The photo afterwards was Hero trying to make Kel feel better after losing by giving him a smooch while Kel tried to push him away. 

“Why’d you take a Photo of that?” Kel asked with a groan. Basil simply chuckled in response.

The Photo afterwards was of Basil and Sunny sitting in what looked like a pillow fort, with Basil reading a part of his book to Sunny, who looked intrigued. The last photo of the page was Kel, Sunny, Aubrey and Basil all huddled together on Sunny’s bed, each one squeezing a plushy the stone faced boy had. Everyone looked to be in pure bliss while Sunny kept his neutral expression.

They turned the page, where the first Photo they saw was of Sunny and Kel holding up one of Mari’s example Flower Crowns. Kel looked mesmerized by the craftsmanship while Sunny looked bored.

“I look so dead inside in like, most of these Photos so far.” Sunny mumbled.

Kel chuckled. “To be honest, you still look that way now!”

“He’s right Sunny.” Basil commented. “B-But you can tell by how your eyes are shining that you were enjoying yourself!”

Kel raised a brow. “You can?”

Basil nodded. “Mari told me about that one time!” Kel mouthed an ‘Oh’ and the three continued looking. 

The final Photo on the page was of Hero, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he made his Flower Crown. Kel chuckled at his older brother's expression. They turned the page to see Aubrey posing to show off her new pink raincoat. Kel was in the background photobombing her.

“Didn’t she ask you to take a Photo of her raincoat?” Sunny asked. “You don’t really see it that much in this. The main focus seems to be on her face. Or Kel’s depending on what you see first.”

Basil looked at the Photo and scratched his cheek, slightly blushing. “O-Oh. That’s right. She wanted me to take a picture of her raincoat…” Basil chuckled. “Maybe I should've backed up a bit more. W-Well, at least some of the raincoat made it in!”

“I don’t think it matters that much.” Kel said, pointing at the next picture. “You made up for that mistake in the next Photo!”

The next Photo was of Aubrey, Sunny and Kel. Kel was out in the rain, catching some on his tongue while Sunny watched on and Aubrey laughed in the background. 

“Wait…” Sunny looked at the picture more closely. “Why was I wearing shorts in the rain!?”

Kle chuckled and patted Sunny’s back. “They were kind of yours and Basil’s thing. You only wore longer clothes when it was snowing.” Kel hummed and turned to Basil. “Speaking of, you never wear a long sleeve in the Summer.” Kel pointed at Basil’s sweater. “What’s up with that?”

“Huh?” Basil looked up and avoided eye contact. “Uh, I’ve been cold all day for some reason.”

“You’re still wearing shorts though.” Kel commented.

Basil looked down at his shorts and mumbled something. “Uh, it’s mainly been my torso that’s cold.”

Sunny hummed. “Actually, I’ve been cold all day too. I should wear longer clothing tomorrow.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Kel nodded and looked back down at the Photo Album.

The next Photo was just of Kel being Kel and embracing the rain. That had some consequences for Kel, since the Shopkeep of Hobbeez had Kel leave his jacket outside so none of the comics got wet.

“Y’know I just remembered something.” Sunny muttered. “That was the day Aubrey first revealed that she was going to dye her hair pink.”

“Oh yeah!” Kel went wide eyed. “She wanted to dye it with Mari, who was going to dye hers purple!” He hummed. “I’ve always wondered how that’d look.”

Basil chuckled. “Well, Mari made anything in purple look good, so chances were that it’d turn out amazing!”

“That reminds me, a little bit after Aubrey announced that, I remembered that I wanted to dye my hair with them.” Sunny remarked. “I wanted to dye it blue.”

“I remember that!” Basil spoke up. “You wanted me to join and dye my hair mint-green!”

“Yeah, because I thought it would suit you.” Sunny hummed. “We never did get to do that…”

“No, we didn’t…”

Kel hummed. “Well, I bet Cris knows how to use hair dye.” He turned to Sunny with a smile on his face. “Let’s ask her tomorrow! I bet she’d be willing to do it!”

“You think?” Sunny raised a brow.

“Well, we have to see what she says, but I don’t doubt she’d accept!” Kel smiled. “But man, Sunny with blue hair…” He whispered. “How would that look?”

“Only one way to find out!” Basil commented.

The next Photo was of Kel hanging upside down while everyone was at the park. Overall, just Kel being the life of the party as always. On the next page, the first Photo on there was of Aubrey eating a Watermelon.

Sunny hummed. “Man, Watermelon sounds good right now.”

“We should get one tomorrow!” Kel suggested. “We can take it to my place and cut it up!”

“Hmm.” Sunny nodded. “Yes, let’s.”

The Photo afterwards was of Kel drinking a bottle of Orange Joe. Sunny vaguely remembers trying it one time and didn’t like it, mainly because it just tasted like carbonated coffee with an orange flavor to it. It was a terrible combo. The Photo afterwards was Sunny buried neck deep in sand. He seemed to enjoy it.

They turned the page and were met with a Photo of Sunny looking awestruck at his 12th birthday cake. His face illuminated solely by the candlelight. It was also where the group first started calling him the baby of the group, since that’s what Basil wrote down in the notes and it caught on. Sunny gave Basil a glare. The Photo afterwards was one of a trilogy. It began with Sunny holding a gift that was almost half his size, which surprised him a bit. As it turned out, the gift was a giant building block set, but as shown in the next Photo, Sunny was more interested in the box, due to his cat-like nature, with a small black kitten, Mewo, resting on his shoulder. The finale was of Sunny holding Mewo close to him as they rested in the box. Kel put down a food bowl with them and patted Sunny’s head.

“I’m starting to notice something.” Sunny muttered. “Did I just not have any other colored shirts or did I just wear the same black shirt for my entire life?”

Kel and Basil hummed. “Actually, that’s a good point.” Kel pursed his lips.

“We’ve never actually seen your closet...For all we know, the latter could very well be the case.” Basil pointed out.

Sunny groaned, a faint dusting of pink appearing on his face. “Well, that’s embarrassing.” 

The final Photo of the page was of Kel when the group went Beetle-catching, ready to pounce on his next victim. Sunny was in the background, though it was too blurry to see what he was doing or looking at.

“You know Kel, you kinda look like a frog with the way you're stanced up.” Sunny remarked.

“You get more distance like that!” Kel replied with a smile.

They turned the page and were met by a single blurry Photo of Kel, who looked to be spinning around while holding onto Basil’s Camera. Kel got a good chuckle out of it before they turned the page again. The first Photo was of Aubrey, with Kel in the background as they four made their way to School. 

Sunny raised a brow. “What was with that angle?”

“I think I ended up falling over somehow…” Basil replied. “I don’t really remember what happened, I just know I ended up taking a Photo that turned out great and kept it.”

Sunny hummed. “Huh…”

The final Photo of the Album was of Kel, Sunny, Basil and Aubrey as they were outside the School. Kel took the charge and snapped the Photo while Aubrey made a pose way in the back. Basil kept simple and just smiled while holding onto his backpack straps and Sunny was just kind of poking his head out from the corner of the Photo.

“She kept all the Photos of Mari.” Sunny sighed.

“I guess that makes sense.” Kel rubbed his neck and closed the Album. “They’re the only way to see her properly anymore…”

“Not to mention, they were the ones that got blacked out the most.” Sunny muttered, clutching tighter on the couch edge. “How many problems would’ve been solved if I had just left it alone?”

Kel pulled Sunny into a side hug. “Don’t beat yourself up over it Sunny. I’d have done the same if it was Hero instead of Mari.”

Basil sighed. “I-It’s not entirely your fault Sunny. If I h-had tried to clean the Ph-Photos, then this entire thing could’ve been avoided.”

“Guys, don’t beat yourselves up over it.” Kel stood up and faced the two. “Look, you two were the more sensitive ones in the group.” He pointed to Sunny. “Mari was your sister, so seeing what happened would’ve affected you the most, which it did. Like I said, if it had been Hero instead of Mari, I would’ve done exactly what you did.” He pointed to Basil. “You, me and Aubrey all considered Mari a big sister. Yes, me and Aubrey handled it differently, but since you were the closest to Sunny, adding on what I said earlier about you two, I have no doubt that you experienced half of what Sunny did. Yes, you could have cleaned the Photos, but it’s like Sunny said. The memories ended up being too painful.” 

Kel sighed and gave the two a smile, one more gentle and soft than he usually wore. “You both have good reasons for doing what you did. As far as I’m aware, while the action did cause some more pain, you were both justified. You were both twelve and going through grief. There’s no reason for you two be hated or to hate yourselves.” Sunny and Basil exchanged a glance.

“I have to say, Kel.” Polly spoke up, walking from the kitchen half. “That was beautifully put.”

“No kidding.” Sunny muttered. “There’s no way I’m looking at the same person that was in these Photos.”

Basil wiped a tear. “Thank you, Kel. For being so understanding.”

Kel looked around confused. “I was just saying what was on my mind.” He rubbed his neck. “I-I’m at a loss on what to do now. Usually being honest ends poorly for me…”

Polly chuckled. “I don’t know why. After all, honesty is the best policy.” She winced soon afterwards. “Speaking of honesty, turns out that dinner is taking longer than I thought. Sorry…”

Sunny waved his hand. “That’s fine. I’ve gotten good at waiting.” He stood up and walked to the doorway. “I’m going to use the restroom-” He tugged on his ruined sweater vest. “And then get rid of this. I doubt it can be saved.”

“Oh, there’s a trash in the kitchen.” Polly pointed to the lone bin sitting on the kitchen tiles. “Feel free to toss that vest when you come back.” Sunny gave a thumbs up and walked through the doorway.

Polly looked over at Basil and Kel. “Would one of you like to help out with dinner?”

Kel raised his hand. “I’ll help! I have some experience helping my brother cook and stuff.”

“Thank you, Kel!” Polly gestured to the kitchen. “Just follow me and we’ll get this done in no time!”

Kel nodded. “By the way, what exactly are we having?” Him and Polly stopped by the oven, while the sound of the bathroom door closing echoed in the hall. Basil noticed that he was the only one to react to it.

“Well, tonight we’re having Chicken and Vegetable soup!”

“Soup and veggies!?” Kel chuckled. “Sounds nutritious and delicious!”

Polly raised a brow. “Oh, you really think so?” She looked down at the pot and began stirring. “I would’ve figured you would’ve been disappointed.” She hummed. “People always tell me that my taste is a bit bland.”

“I’m not one of those people.” Basil pointed out, tapping his finger on the Album cover. He could tell Polly was rolling her eyes and chuckled softly. This is nice. He looked down at his Photo Album. Sunny… Basil sighed. Why would you take the blame for Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀?̸̱͕͝” He shook his head. You’re a good person, Sunny. You wouldn’t do that to the Album or-”

The water began to run in the bathroom. Basil looked over at Polly and Kel, who were deep in a discussion. Of course, we’re the only ones who can see Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀, aren’t we Sunny?” Basil heard the bathroom door open and close, along with Sunny’s footsteps, but he didn’t enter the living room. Basil quirked a brow and walked into the hallway, where he witnessed the door to his Grandma’s room close. Oh...Grandma… Basil took in a deep breath and walked over to the door.

Heading inside, he saw Sunny staring intently at the White Egret Orchid. “My thoughts will follow you into your dreams…” He whispered. Sunny looked over to Basil’s Grandma, clutching his now folded up sweater vest in his hands. “How is she?” Sunny asked, glancing at Basil.

The blonde haired boy was taken aback a bit. “Oh, I-I didn’t think you-”

“The door squeaks. Something with the hinges, maybe.” Sunny interjected.

Basil nodded and rubbed his neck. “Ah…” He sighed and walked over to Sunny, clutching his Photo Album tightly. “Grandma can’t hear us.” He muttered.

Sunny hummed. “That bad, huh?” Basil nodded and silence filled the room. “It’s strange. It’s been four years since we last saw each other, yet it only feels like a few days.” Sunny finally spoke. 

Basil kept his gaze focused on his Grandma. “Yeah. It kinda does, doesn’t it?”

Another round of silence had befallen the two. Eventually, Sunny took a shaky breath. “I-I want to say I’m sorry, again.” He looked at Basil. “For ruining the Album and for you taking the blame.”

Basil shifted nervously. “U-Um, Sunny...Y-”

“To be honest, I...Don’t remember too much about why I did it.”

Basil raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

Sunny bit his lip. “This is going to come off as a surprise, but almost everything from before and sometimes during the four years I shut myself away, I don’t remember.” He looked down at Basil’s Grandma. “During the day, bits and pieces would come back to me. Why Aubrey dyed her hair. That time we were waiting in line at Hobbeez to buy the new Capt. Spaceboy issue, the time me, Mari, Mom and...Him, went to Fix-It and, y’know, the time I ruined our precious memories.” Sunny sniffed. “But, when I look back on that one specific memory, I draw a blank on why I did it.” He looked up at the White Egret Orchid. “I-I know it had...Something to do with Mari and her…” His breath hitched. “But I just. Can’t. Remember the details.”

Basil went wide eyed. Sunny...Doesn’t remember what h- What Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ did? He gulped and rested his hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “You...don’t remember th-”

Sunny covered Basil’s mouth. “Don’t!” He looked up at Basil with determination filling his eyes. “I...I want to figure it out on my own.” He removed his hand from Basil’s mouth. “It...I can’t explain it, but...Somehow, I feel like I’m supposed to remember on my own. Recover everything on my own. Y’know?”

Basil took a few seconds to process the information. He wants to remember on his own terms? N-No! I-If he does that, then...He-He’d get the wrong idea again! He’d… The world began to spin around Basil. He managed to keep himself upright earlier thanks to Sunny and Kel’s hug, but now-

“Basil?” Sunny asked. Basil lost his footing and began to tip over. “BASIL!” Sunny dropped his sweater vest and caught the blonde haired boy before he collided with the wood tiled floors. “Basil!? Are you okay!?”

Basil groaned and blinked, the world slowly starting to steady itself. “Mmmmm...M’fine…” Basil straightened himself out with Sunny’s aid. “I just lost my footing is all.”

Sunny scoffed. “Lost your footing? C’mon, I’m not stupid!” Sunny gripped Basil’s shoulders. “What. Happened?”

Basil was shocked by Sunny’s assertiveness. That...That’s a new one for him. He gulped. “T-To be honest, I don’t know.” He brushed his hair away from his face. “That was a first for me too.”

“Are you sure?” Sunny asked with a raised brow. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you’re sure!”

Basil complied. “Sunny, I’m positive that what happened was a first.”

Sunny stared at Basil a little longer before sighing and letting go of Basil’s shoulders. “Okay.” He picked up his sweater vest. “Let’s head back to the main room. I’m sure dinner is ready by now, so-”

“Ah, b-before that!” Basil held out his Photo Album to Sunny. “Here, I-I want you to have this.”

“You...Want me to have your Photo Album?” Sunny looked down at the Album with doubt filling his eyes. “I...I don’t know. What if I-”

“You won’t do it again, Sunny.” Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ wouldn’t do it twice. “You’re better than that.” Basil held out the Album to Sunny further. “I trust you. I...You can probably find more use out of it than I can.”

Sunny looked between the Album and Basil, reluctantly taking it out of the blonde boy’s hands. “I...Thank you. I’ll keep it safe.” Sunny ran his thumb over the cover.

“A lot has happened since those Photos were taken.” Basil commented. “Sometimes, it all just feels like a bad dream.” He dug the tip of his shoe into the floor. “It’s hard to remember at times, but...I think...I took Photos of what I was most afraid to lose.” He smiled, though he knew it was a forced one. “You can still see all the good times when you look through it...Maybe one day, things will go back to the way they were.”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah...Maybe one day.”

“BASIL! SUNNY!! DINNER’S READY!!” Kel yelled out from the main room. Sunny sighed and held the Photo Album beneath his arm. 

“Better not keep him waiting. He’d eat all the food.” Sunny muttered.

“Y-Yeah…” Basil fiddled with his hands as the two walked over to the door.

Sunny pressed his hand against the knob and turned to Basil. “Um, I’m sure me and Kel are going to be doing some more wandering around tomorrow…” He clicked his tongue. “Would you...Like to join us?” Basil went wide eyed at the question. “I-I know that Aubrey and the others are a concern for you, but-”

Basil nodded. “Yeah. I’d love to join you guys. Hanging out with you tonight has been fun and I’d hate for today to be the only day we do that.”

Sunny sighed in relief. “Good...That-That’s good.” He turned the knob and opened the door to the hallway. “Well, let’s go eat.”

The two entered the main room, where Polly and Kel were sitting at the dining table. Polly had apparently pulled out an extra chair for Kel. Basil was confused at first, but he then noticed a couple of plastic bags resting on one of the chairs. Huh. I wonder what those are.

Kel looked back at the two and smiled. “What took you guys so long?”

“Talking.” Sunny threw away his sweater vest and took seat next to the bags, setting the Photo Album inside one of them. Basil sat down next to Polly and grabbed his spoon.

“What did you two talk about?” Kel asked, chewing some of the Vegetables from the soup. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Kel.” Sunny muttered before taking a bite of his portion of dinner. He looked down at his bowl with wide eyes. “Wow, that’s good!”

Polly chuckled. “Why thank you! I was a little nervous at first since Kel said you wouldn’t be able to handle certain food at the moment.”

Sunny waved a hand. “Ah, that’s my own fault really.” He scratched his head. “Isolating myself in my room, tends to weaken my stomach, I guess.”

Basil raised a brow. Has Sunny not been eating?

Sunny cleared his throat. “But, to answer your question Kel, me and Basil were just talking more about the Album.”

“Ah.” Kel nodded sagely. “I get it. Wound’s been freshly opened…” He looked down at his food and hummed. “But it’s good that you talked about it some more.” Kel tilted his head a bit. “I’m guessing that’s why you put the Album in your bag.

Sunny nodded. “Basil’s letting me have it.”

Polly looked up from her food and towards Basil. “Are you sure? They went through all the trouble-”

“It’s fine!” Basil interrupted. “I trust Sunny with it!”

“Okay…” Polly muttered. “If you’re sure…”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me!” Sunny turned to Polly. “You never did get to look through it!” He pulled it out of the bag and handed it to Polly. “You can look through it now, if you want.”

Polly shook her head. “Maybe after dinner.”

Sunny nodded. “Okay. I’ll leave it on the couch then.” Sunny got up from the table and walked over to the couch.

“If you don’t mind me asking-” Basil spoke up and pointed to the two bags on the chair next to Sunny. “What are those bags for?”

Kel followed where Basil was pointing and gasped. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it!” He turned to Basil. “Hero’s coming home tomorrow so me and Sunny went to Hobbeez and got him a gift!”

“Oh, well that’s thoughtful of you, Kel!” Polly remarked. “What’d you get him?”

“Papa Chip’s Chip-Off-The-Old-Block Cookbook.” Sunny replied, sitting back down and taking a bite of his food. 

“Papa Chip’s!” Polly gasped. “I love Papa Chip’s! I owned his book a few years ago! I took all of those recipe’s to heart!”

Kel chuckled. “Yeah, Hero did too. The book is basically a replacement for his first one though…”

Basil turned to Kel. “What happened to it?”

“Their dog chewed on it.” Sunny deadpanned, taking another spoonful of food.

Kel sighed. “Yeah...Hehe, but Sunny saw the cookbook at Hobbeez and decided to buy it for Hero!” He turned to Sunny. “Though, I’m guessing it’s mainly to spite his new career choice, isn’t it.”

“Perhaps.” Sunny replied.

“New career choice?” Basil pondered.

“Oh, yeah. He’s been studying to be a doctor.” Kel rubbed his neck. “Mom and Dad were proud of that decision, but it took me a bit before I could get used to the change.”

Basil’s mood dampened. “So...He’s no longer going to try and be a cook…”

“Well it’s not like he can avoid cooking.” Sunny mumbled. “A man’s gotta eat and knowing Hero, he’d still cook his own food rather than going with the premade stuff.”

Kel hummed. “That’s a good point, Sunny.”

“Wait, so is he studying to be a doctor of his own volition, or is he simply doing it to make your parents proud?” Polly questioned.

“Huh?” Kel looked up at Polly. “What brought that on?”

Polly waved her hand and sighed. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just...Remembered an old friend who was in a situation like that and it slipped out.” She sighed and took a spoonful of food, pointing her finger at the other bag. “What’s in the other one?”

“An electric lantern for my house so I don’t stub my toe while walking in the dark.” Sunny responded swiftly.

Basil tilted his head. “Why not just turn on the lights?” 

Kel went wide eyed and smirked, which Sunny instantly noticed. “Oh for the love of-Kel it wasn’t that big of a deal!”

“What wasn’t that big of a deal?” Basil was even more confused. “Is there something I’m missing or-”

Kel was on the verge of laughter. “Wait till you hear this, according to Sunny, in his own words, his mom fucked up with the electric company, so all of his lights won’t work during the night!”

Basil dropped his spoon while Kel failed to contain his laughter anymore. Even Polly was chuckling a bit at the look on both Sunny and Basil’s face. “S-Sunny didn’t actually say that word, right?” Basil nervously chuckled. “Right!?”

“I did indeed, say ‘fuck’.” Sunny groaned, which deepened Kel and Polly’s laughter.

Basil went wide eyed and shot up in his seat, slamming his hands on the table. “SUNNY YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WORD!!!”

Sunny slouched on his seat. “I’m sixteen, years old! I have the right to choose whether or not I use swears or not!”

Polly wiped a tear and let her laughter die down a bit. “S-Sunny has a point! Hahaha! He gets to choose for himself when it comes to using those words!” She sighed and let out a few final giggles. “And you have to admit, there are situations where a curse is justified.”

“Well…” Basil stammered a bit. “M-Maybe, but Sunny’s the baby of the group! A-And besides, M-Mari would...She’d…” Basil let out an exasperated sigh and sat back down on his chair. “Okay, fine. But couldn’t your mom just call the company to get it resolved?”

“Under normal circumstances, yeah, but we’re not going to be living in that house after a couple more days.” Sunny replied, eating more of his food.

“Y-You’re...Not...What…?” Basil felt a pit in his stomach.

Sunny looked up at Basil and raised a brow. “Did we not mention it?” Basil shook his head. Kel and Sunny looked at each other and cleared their throats.

“Shoot, uh, so Sunny’s going to be moving away soon.” Kel admitted.

Basil felt the room get colder as the realization hit like a freight train. “S-Sunny’s...M-Moving…?”

Sunny winced and rubbed his neck. “Y-Yeah. After today, I only have two days left in Faraway...That realization is what made me leave my house in the first place.”

Polly hummed. “Oh, so today meant you only had three days left then.” Sunny nodded and Polly looked at her bowl with glazed eyes. “Realizing that you don’t have a lot of time left with your friends...That’s a very powerful and hurtful feeling…”

Basil saw Sunny’s mouth moving as he responded to Polly, but no noise came out of it. All Basil could hear was a loud, static white noise. So that means...He’ll be leaving again...That means that the last time I went through these days...He...HE… “I...I…” Basil gulped and turned to Polly. “M-May I-I be ex-excused?” 

“Oh.” Polly looked to Basil to give him an answer, but the blonde haired boy just shot up from his seat and ran out of the room and into the hallway, the sound of a door opening and slamming shut echoing throughout the house. “Uh…” Polly frowned and tapped her fingers on the table.

Sunny just looked at the doorway leading to the hall, his heart feeling like it dropped into his stomach. “I...I was still explaining how I could…”

Kel reached over and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “Don’t worry! Maybe he just needed to use the bathroom really bad.” Kel chuckled, but it was filled with uneasiness, as well as his smile.

“I don’t think he could hear me talk.” Sunny muttered. “Back at the park, when I had that panic attack, I couldn’t hear anyone’s voices. Just a thick white noise. It drowned everyone out.”

Polly stiffened up. “Does that mean he’s-”

Sunny stood up from his chair and held a hand up, facing it towards Polly. “Let me try first. Someone at the park told me about a few tricks to help.” He walked over to the doorway and turned back to Polly. “If I don’t get through to him then I’ll leave it to you, ‘kay?” Polly nodded, which prompted Sunny to enter the hallway. Let’s see… Sunny first walked over to Basil’s room, cracking the door open to see if it was occupied. Nada… 

Sunny sighed and closed the door to Basil’s room, heading over to the next door, which led to the bathroom. Better safe than sorry. Sunny raised his fist up to the door and softly tapped his and Basil’s little code. “Basil, are you okay?” Sunny spoke softly enough that only Basil could hear him, but loud enough as to not speak in a whisper. “You looked, pretty panicked back there...I-I know revealing that I was moving in a few days right then and there was a shock, but I promise it’s not as bad as you think.” No response.

Sunny pursed his lips. “Basil, if you’re fine, tap our code.” Sunny pressed his ear against the door to get a better listen. He heard Basil speaking to himself.

“Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” Sunny bit his lip and took hold of the doorknob, turning it and heading inside. The first thing he noticed once he entered was Basil kneeling down in the center of the bathroom, a dark crack in the earth flickering in and out every few seconds beneath him, threatening to swallow him up at any given moment. 

Sunny froze in place for a few solid seconds. Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀...Right here… He felt his breath hitch and he hiccupped. He swore he heard something, no, Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ skittering in the dark room. Even if the mirror was covered up, he could tell that Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ wasn’t going to let him be. He gulped and tried to step towards Basil, only for a long, spindly leg to appear from the crack and strike right where Sunny was about to step. Seven more legs appeared and took position in different spots in the bathroom. He felt his heartbeat quicken as the legs pushed upwards, helping up the main body, which quickly overcame Basil, who was oblivious to it.

(AN: SURPRISE! We’re doing it now!)

Sunny pressed his back against the door as Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ arose from the crack, staring him down with it’s single judgmental eye, while the thorax grew a wide, terrifying smile, encasing Basil inside. Sunny became AFRAID. Webs appeared from all over and trapped Sunny in his position, unable to get to Basil. His only option was to run, but his legs were frozen in place. I-I...B-Basil...K-Kel...P-Polly...A-Anyone, p--p-please...Help me… Sunny closed his eyes as tight as he could.

Sunny...Take a deep breath...Don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think.

Deep breath...Deep breath...In for five seconds, out for five more… Sunny repeated those instructions in his head, inhaling for five and exhaling for five more, starting off with choked, uneven breaths that gradually became more steady as he Calmed Down. He opened his eyes and faced Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ as inched closer to him, reinforcing the webs it made previously. Sunny took hold of them to try and tear his way through, but nothing seemed to work. The large, singular eye of Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ was right in his face, but attacking it only caused his hand to phase through it.

This is getting nowhere fast...Huh, Sunny?

Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ lifted it’s head up, revealing razor sharp pincers beneath it’s hair like tendrils. Sunny looked on in horror as Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ lurched it’s head forward and bit into his torso. He wanted to scream. Run out the door and get help, but he was stuck in place. His sides were burning up, a hot liquid seeping through his shirt.

It seems like there’s a lot going on...But, you need to block out the little things and figure out what’s important.

What’s important… Sunny looked forward, past Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ and at the middle of the bathroom. Basil was still on his knees, chanting about how everything was going to be okay. Basil… Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ screeched right into Sunny’s ear, but he took a deep breath and Calmed Down. There’s nothing there. You need to help Basil. You need to Focus… Sunny inhaled a sharp breath and opened his eyes as he exhaled it out. His wounds were gone and so was Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀, the monstrous being having been replaced by a lone spider in between Sunny and Basil. 

Sunny looked at it for a solid second, before shaking his head and walking up to Basil, squishing the spider beneath his shoe. The sound alerted Basil, as he perked his head up and turned towards Sunny. “O-Oh...It’s you, S-Sunny...You’re here...I-I’m glad…” Basil choked out a breath and clutched at the ends of his shorts. “Y-You can s-see it too...C-Can’t you? Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ b-behind you…?” Basil chuckled nervously before lifting his hands up to grip his hair.

Sunny quickly took hold of Basil’s wrists, Ś̵̠̱̕͜O̵̘̬̲͌̎͂M̴̘̌͂Ẻ̵̱̋Ṱ̸̿̋H̶̳̻̿I̵͔̾̓N̷̪͓͛͠G̷̳̪̊̀ flickering in and out at a faster pace. “Basil...I need you to look at me.” Basil inhaled and exhaled at a rapid pace, each breath more strained than the last. “Basil, trust me, it’s not as scary as it seems. It only appears that way because you’re letting it.” Sunny loosened his grip on Basil’s wrists. “Just take a few deep breaths. Breathe in for 1-2-3-4-5 and breathe out for 1-2-3-4-5. Can you do that?”

Basil gulped and tried to nod, but it only came out as a simple jerk of the head. He inhaled while Sunny counted down under his own breath, with Basil exhaling once Sunny reached the number 5. They repeated the process a second time and then a third, Basil’s breaths getting more and more steady. By the time they reached their seventh or eighth repeat, Basil’s breath became more steady.

“Good.” Sunny congratulated Basil. “You’re doing good. Now, I’m going to stand up and turn the light on. Then you’ll see that there’s nothing to be afraid of, okay?” Sunny stood up and turned away from Basil, only for the blonde haired boy to suddenly grab onto his wrist. 

“W-Wait! P-Please, Sunny...don’t leave me… Not again…”

Sunny looked down at Basil, his light blue eyes seemingly glowing in the darkness of the bathroom. He sighed and gently pulled Basil’s hands off his wrist. “I’m not leaving. I’m just going to turn on the light. I know it’s right by the door, but I promise I’ll still be here when the light turns on, okay?” He walked away from Basil, who was whimpering all the while. He gazed around the wall until his eyes were me with a tiny, white lever built into the wall and with a flick of his finger, the lever flipped upwards and casted light onto the land of darkness. He turned back to Basil and did some jazz hands as he walked back up to him. “See? Still here.”

Basil looked up at Sunny with tears filling up in his eyes as his breaths became uneven once again. Sunny knelt down next to Basil and patted his back .”Remember, breathe in for five seconds and breathe out for five more.” Sunny pointed to the air in front of Basil. “There’s a feather in front of you and your breath is the only thing keeping it afloat. You want to keep it that way and the best way to do that is to steady your breathing.” Basil nodded and began doing as instructed, repeated the action a few times before his breath became even and focused.

“Th-Thank you, Sunny.” Basil whispered. 

“No problem. I had a panic attack earlier today and someone who happened to witness it gave me some pointers to make sure it didn’t get that bad again.” Thanks Lien! I owe you one! Sunny sighed and looked down at the floor. “Look, Basil about th-The…” Sunny yawned. He felt his eyes begin to lull and his body felt as though it was about to collapse. He heard another yawn, coming from Basil.

“Um...Can we talk about that tomorrow?” Basil asked while letting out another yawn. “I’m...I’m too tired at the moment…”

Sunny yawned. “Sounds good...I’m pretty tired too. Emotionally and physically.” Another yawn. “Tomorrow me is really going to hate today me.”

Chapter Text

Sunny and Basil walked back into the main room, where Kel and Polly were talking about something. They paused and looked at the two, with Polly rushing towards Basil and pulling him into a hug. “Basil, are you alright!?” She broke off and gripped his shoulders, panic showing on every part of her face. “Sunny figured you were having a panic attack, so-”

“I’m f-fine.” Basil yawned. “Sunny helped a-a lot…” He rubbed his eyes. “I’m really, really tired.”

Sunny yawned and rubbed his eyes as well. “Same here. I guess exhaustion finally caught up to me.” 

Kel nodded and handed Sunny the lantern bag, the Photo Album now resting inside once again. “Yeah, I’m starting to feel it too.” Kel yawned. “It’s about time we went home. It is, way past my curfew at this point.”

“It’s a good thing you and Basil came back when you did.” Polly chuckled nervously. “Me and Kel were starting to think we had to drag you both out!”

“That wouldn’t be much of a challenge really.” Sunny quipped. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Polly. “We’ll see you two tomorrow, then.”

Polly nodded. “See you then. For now, get a good night’s rest.” She frowned. “Considering what you guys went through, you kinda deserve it.”

“No promises.” Sunny muttered as he walked up to the door with Kel in tow. He turned back to Polly and Basil and waved. “You two have a good night. Especially you, Basil.”

“I’ll try.” Basil yawned. Him and Polly waved them goodbye as Sunny and Kel exited the house. The golden skies of sunset were replaced by the dark blue hues of nighttime, the new moon floating somewhere in the sky, hidden from sight. Sunny inhaled and took in the sharp crisp air of the night. 

“So, what was going on with Basil?” Kel asked as they two slowly walked away from the house. “You two were gone a while.”

Sunny sighed. “Well, I found that he had holed himself up in the bathroom, trying to calm himself down. I took a step towards him only to realize that there was a spider in there with him and, I sort of, froze in place for a bit.”

Kel started chuckling. “Oh man, that sounds like something that happened to Hero this one time. All the color seemed to drain from him when he noticed a spider in the kitchen.” Kel covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from laughing completely.

“Well, no help is needed for me. After a moment or two I remembered that Basil needed help so I sucked it up and continued walking over to him. I crushed it with my shoe and that got Basil’s attention.”

Kel looked at Sunny with wide eyes and playfully clapped his back, causing the smaller boy to stumble a bit. “Sunny, that’s amazing!”

Sunny scratched his cheek, a faint dusting of pink appearing on it. “It wasn’t that amazing…”

“Are you kidding!? You’re already doing better than Hero is!” Kel smiled. “If he was trying to get to Basil, they’d be stuck in there for at least a day.” He snickered at the thought, before his face became serious. “So, uh, about Basil-”

“Something is wrong.” Sunny interjected. “When we were talking before we joined you and Polly for dinner, he nearly fainted.”

“Seriously!?” 

Sunny nodded. “He said it was the first time it happened, but he wasn’t surprised when it did.” He hummed. “Didn’t you notice the sound of the bed springs when we were by his door?”

Kel bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah. I figured he was just waking up from a nap, but...Now that you mention it...It sounded like he got up faster than he would have if he was napping.”

“And the sweater…” Sunny mumbled.

“He wasn’t lying about being cold.” Kel remarked. “I noticed it when I gave him the hug. But, he’s definitely wearing it for some other reason.” They stopped and looked at each other. “He was avoiding eye contact when he explained his reason.”

Sunny dug his shoes into the concrete. “Do you...Think it has to do with Aubrey and the Hooligans?”

Kel sighed and hung his head low. “I...I hate to say it, but that might be the case...” 

Sunny hummed. “Well, I invited him to our escapades tomorrow, so we may have to shield him if we run into Aubrey and her friends.”

Kel nodded. "Yeah, that seems likely..." He then gave a small grin. "By the way, Sunny. Thanks for hanging out with me today!”

“Don’t mention it.” Sunny replied, tapping his fist on Kel’s arm. “If anything, I should be the one thanking you. For being there for me, even if I wasn’t cooperative at first.”

Kel smiled more gently this time. “Any time, Sunny!” He scratched his cheek and chuckled a bit. “And to think, all it took for the events of today to happen was you guys moving away. Weird how stuff works like that.”

“Yeah. It is.” Sunny sighed. “Hey, um...Would it be alright if I had breakfast with you and your parents tomorrow? I...Don’t really have anything at my place and I couldn’t think of what to buy for just three days while at Othermart, so-”

“You know you don’t need to ask that, Sunny.” Kel interrupted with a snicker. “You know my Mom loves you like you’re one of her kids! She’d be glad to have you over for breakfast! It’ll give you a good chance to meet Sally, too!”

Sunny stopped and raised a brow. “Sally?”

Kel turned to Sunny. “My baby sister!” He went wide eyed and facepalmed. “Oh shoot, I forgot to mention that too!”

Sunny’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “You’re an older brother now!?” Kel nodded his head excitedly and Sunny pinched the bridge of his nose in response. “Jesus Christ, I’ve missed way too much...What’s next, does Hero have a beard or something?”

Kel chuckled and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about that! He can’t grow one. He will forever be beardless!”

Sunny sighed in relief. “Oh thank god! I don’t think my heart would’ve been able to handle that amount of change!” Kel chuckled and the two continued their short walk to Sunny’s house to part ways.

“Oh, um, I feel like I should apologize for all the trouble today.” Kel sighed. “That was a crazy adventure, huh?”

Sunny shrugged. “It was, but don’t blame yourself for it. The Hooligans caused…” Sunny hummed and tilted his head back and forth. “Ninety-five percent of the trouble. The other five percent was me taking on so many jobs.” He grit his teeth and rubbed his neck. “I’m going to be feeling the consequences of that, tomorrow…”

“Yeah, but that’s a good thing!” Kel beamed. “It just means you haven’t used your muscles in a while. The aches will die down the more you use them. Besides, all that moving around is great practice for when you move around the city!”

Sunny rolled his eyes. “I doubt people in the city would be just as willing to let a random kid help them out, but I getcha.” Sunny yawned and walked up to his door. “Well, I should get ready for bed.” He turned to Kel and waved. “See you tomorrow, Kel!”

“You too!” Kel waved. “And don’t forget, Hero’s coming back tomorrow, so you’ll be seeing him too! G’night Sunny! Sweet dreams!”

Sunny opened the door to his house. “Night, Kel!” He entered his house and shut the door.

Once the door was closed, Sunny let out a sigh and leaned back against it, slipping off his shoes. “What a day…” He reached into his bag and pulled out the lantern from Fix-It, pressing the button to turn it on, letting the bright white light shine through. “Light at last…” Sunny sighed and picked up his shoes, placing them back on the shoe rack and heading upstairs, towards the bathroom. 

Walking up to the sink and setting the lantern down on it, Sunny looked at the mirror, where his reflection was still caked in blood, as well as still wearing the sweater vest. Sunny raised a brow at that little detail. I’m guessing that means something important? Sunny shrugged and opened the drawer beneath the faucet, pulling out a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush. He turned on the water and wet the toothbrush before applying the toothpaste. Once everything was done he began to brush his teeth, letting his thoughts run wild.

I hope Basil is going to be alright. He looked pretty scared at the prospect of me moving...Hopefully tomorrow I can talk about it without him going into another panic attack. Sunny moved the toothbrush from one side of his mouth to the other and began brushing again. How am we going to let Aubrey know she can still go to the Church? That deal I made with the Hooligans would keep me from telling her...Maybe if I catch one of them on their own I can ask them? Would that count as breaking the deal? I hope not. I wouldn’t really be getting in their way, plus there’s a better chance that Aubrey will know the Hooligans are telling the truth.

Sunny sighed, causing some of the toothpaste to escape his mouth. Aubrey… He placed his hand on the sink counter and curled his fingers into a half fist. Damn it, Aubrey...I was telling the truth. If Kel had said he did it, she’d go ballistic and start shouting at him. Hell, if Hero had said it was his fault she’d be mad at him. So why’d she deny it being me? If it was Mari who admitted to ruining the album, I can see why Aubrey would deny it, but- Sunny spit out the toothpaste and rinsed off his toothbrush. He knelt down and opened up a cupboard beneath the second faucet and pulled out a bottle of mouthwash.

I don’t know anymore… Sunny sighed and took a swig of mouthwash, swirling it around in his mouth before spitting it out into the sink. Honestly, Aubrey is confusing me at this point. She’s going to Church to try and find some peace, even though the other Church-goers don’t like her. She has a bat with nails in it that, from what Kel noticed, is mostly used for some kind of intimidation factor, even though a regular bat is just as intimidating in my opinion. He grit his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist. She says I abandoned her, even though she ignored my own goddamn house…

Sunny took a deep breath and shook his head. “Stop thinking...You’ll lose sleep over it.” He sighed and took hold of the lantern, pressing the button again to dim the light. He exited the bathroom and entered his bedroom, walking over to and opening the closet. “Let’s see, what would work as sleepwear?” He set the lantern down on the bottom of the closet and began shifting through all his clothes. He settled on a dark grey long sleeve paired with a pair of forest green lounge pants with white and grey accents. He put the clothes he wore for the day in a cardboard box labelled ‘Dirty Laundry’. Good thing his Mom had the foresight to have a box for that, but he still found it odd regardless.

He closed his closet and set the lantern on the nightstand by his bed, pressing the button twice to turn it off. With one last yawn, Sunny threw the covers open and climbed in. Goodnight moon. Goodnight trees. Goodnight ghosts that only I can see. He threw the covers over himself and closed his eyes, the sounds of the cicadas and leaves blowing in the wind drowning out instantly as he did so.

The blonde haired boy disappeared, with the black door joining shortly afterwards, leaving the black haired boy alone.

The boy, left to his own devices, soon found himself in the comfort of a white blanket and a black light bulb hanging from the ever present void of white.

The boy sighed and lied down on his back, staring up at nothing and everything above him.

His shadow loomed right behind him.

The shadow opened it’s eyes.

WELCOME TO WHITE SPACE.

YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING HERE FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN REMEMBER.

You get up from the blanket, a sense that something in White Space is wrong. There’s a faint black haze over the blanket. It could be easily ignored, but something about it makes it extremely noticeable. Maybe it has something to do with Sunny going outside. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Kel managed to wake Sunny up before you could save him. You purse your lips and let out a soundless sigh. 

You look over to Mewo, only to discover that she’s not at her usual spot. You raise a brow and look around the entire perimeter of the blanket, finding her looking up at the black light bulb. Curious, you look up at it as well.

You notice a few small cracks on the light bulbs surface. 

Chapter Text

You notice a few small cracks on the light bulbs surface.

That’s not good. That’s not good at all. You sigh and begin to pace around. If that breaks, then all of this was for nothing. You have to keep it from breaking. You freeze in your tracks and look up at the bulb. Why is it breaking in the first place? You shake your head. Now’s not the time for distractions. The best course of action is to proceed as normal. Once you find Basil, AGAIN, the problem should fix itself. With a determined nod, you walk up to the door to Headspace and enter.

Aubrey is the first one to look up at you, prompting Hero and Kel to look up at her as she stands up and waves at you. “Omori! Welcome back!” Hero and Kel look up at you, with Hero sighing in relief.

“See, Hero? I told you not to worry.” Kel said to his older brother. “Omori always shows up when we need him!” 

Aubrey carefully stepped over the cards and made her way over to you with a concerned expression. “Is everything okay, Omori? We were worried about you…” She brought her hands up to her chest as she tilted her head, almost like a cat.

Kel rushed over to the stairs and motioned up to the exit of Neighbor’s Room. “Now that you’re here, let’s go out and look for Basil! He’s counting on us!”

Aubrey huffed and turned to Kel, stomping her foot on the ground. “Be patient, Kel! We have to make sure that Omori is okay first!” Her eyes widened. “Or maybe~” She walked up closer to you. “You and Hero and go yourselves.” Aubrey looked over at you with stars in her eyes. “Come on, Omori! Let’s go exploring together…” She twirled closer to you. “Just the two of us!”

Kel stepped away from the stairs in a huff. “Hey, you can’t leave us out of this!”

Hero stepped forward. “He’s right, Aubrey. We have to do this together, as a team. You never know when you’ll need someone's help. We’re stronger when we work together!” You nod at Hero’s words and manage to step past Aubrey, who pouted.

“Fine…I was just trying to have a little fun…”

You walk over to the stairs as the others begin to follow close behind. As per usual, you stop by the snake who handed you an allowance of 1,500 CLAMS. As you climbed up the rest of the stairs, you begin to wish that Headspace always increased the amount of CLAMS you gained with each cycle.

“Omori!” Mari ran up to you and pulled you into a hug, holding onto you like you'd disappear if she didn’t, which was technically true. Mari broke off the hug and backed away, placing her hands on her hips and going into older sister mode. “Stop disappearing like that! You know my heart can’t take it.” She took a glance at the group and frowned. “So there’s still no sign of Basil? Where could he be?”

Hero sighed and shrugged. “We’re not sure...We’ve been looking for him everywhere, and still...Nothing.”

Aubrey sighed. “I hope Basil is okay...I miss him so much.”

“Yeah!” Kel mumbled. “I miss hearing him talk about all the stuff he’s into…Like all the flower stuff and…” Kel tapped his foot on the ground. “And the photo stuff…And...The art stuff…”

While Kel kept trying to list things off, Aubrey ran her fingers through her hair. “My hair is so tangly. I miss when Basil used to brush my hair.” She gasped and turned to you. “Omori, will you brush it for me?”

Kel sighed. “I miss when Basil used to remind me to wash my hands.” He limply held up his hands. “Look! They’re so dirty!”

Aubrey gagged. “Eww! Kel!”

Hero looked over at Kel and patted his shoulder. “Kel...You should probably wash your hands anyway.” Probably? You mean definitely, right Hero? Right?

Mari sighed, but then clasped her hands together with a smile. “Everyone, I know it's tough right now, but we have to stay positive. We should all try to be like Basil! Even when Basil is upset, he always manages a smile.” Well...When he isn’t getting mauled to death, anyway. “So...Is there anywhere you haven’t checked yet?” You point towards Pyrefly Forest, where Hero instantly shivers.

“Oh, that place west of the stump?” Kel asked, looking to where you were pointing. “Isn’t that place gross and full of spiders?” Hero shivered even more, almost losing all his color.

“Ugh... Spiders…” 

Mari looked between you and Hero. “Well...You know what that means.” She clasped her hands together and lightly giggled to the side. “Once again, it’s time to show how brave you are and face another fear, little brother!” She declared while pointing at you, switching over to Hero after a beat. “That means you too, Hero!”

Hero shivered yet again and Kel turned to his older brother. “Come on, big bro! You can’t back out now!” He rested his, unwashed, hand on your shoulder and you lift it off, scrunching up your nose in disgust. “It’s just like how it is with Omori! We’re here to support you all the way!”

Hero took a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re right...I’m just being silly.” He lightly chuckled. 

Aubrey stood proudly. “Don’t worry, guys! If anyone or anything tries to hurt you, I’ll smash it out of the way! You can count on it!”

“And don’t forget about me!” Mari announced with a wide smile. “I’ll always be there to help too!”

Hero nodded. “Yeah…” He then fist pumped the air. “Yeah! We can do this together!” He looked towards Pyrefly Forest and gulped. “L-Let’s go to the forest west of the stump.” He looked at you. “Lead the way, Omori!” You nod and begin heading back towards the stump, stopping just at the entrance to Neighbor’s Room when a few voices rang out.

“Oh boy! Oh boy! I’ve been waiting so long for this event! It is a delightful day indeed!” You all turn to the voices, seeing four Sprout Moles come into view. 

“Oh yes! Oh yes! At last, our glorious princess Sweetheart will finally make her appearance!” One Sprout Mole proclaimed.

“Oh my! Oh my! I can hardly contain my excitement. This show is sure to be the most electrifying of them all!” Another squeaked out.

“Oh dear! Oh dear! We must hurry!” The final Mole said, holding four tickets. “Our four front-row Show Tickets are right here! We’re in for the time of our lives and we must not be late!” The four Sprout Moles looked around. “Now...Which way do we go again?” They all looked at your group and charged.

Before they could advance any further, four spider legs appeared from behind you and pierced through the Sprout Moles, their bodies fading into nothing as the four Show Tickets floated to the ground.

You got 16 CLAMS!

You found Show Tickets!

“Hey, cool!” Kel called out, grabbing one of the tickets. “Those Sprout Moles dropped some Tickets!”

“Let me see!” Aubrey picked up one of the tickets and hummed. “Oh, they’re front row tickets for some kind of show.” She looked closer at the ticket. “Featuring...Sweetheart?”

Hero picked up a ticket and tilted his head. “Wasn’t that Capt. Spaceboy’s ex-girlfriend?”

Aubrey nodded. “Yeah! It looks like some kind of contest or something!” She turned to you. “If we happen to pass by, we should stop and watch!” You really wish you could say no to that. “We DO have front-row Show Tickets, after all!”

Hero hummed. “Well...Alright, we can drop by if we happen to come across it.” Once everyone grabs a Show Ticket, you turn west and head down the path to Pyrefly, wishing that Sunny hadn’t made the path serpentine. At the end, you come across a spider web, blocking entry to the forest proper. You felt a pat on your back, but keep still, already knowing who it is behind you.

“You ready to do this, Omori?” Kel asked with glee.

“We’ll be right here if you need us!” Aubrey cheered. “Right, Hero?” She turned to the older boy, who was shaking.

“H-Huh?” He looked at Aubrey and then at you. “Y-Yeah! Of course!” You nod and walk up to the spider web, taking the knife from your pocket and slashing upward, breaking it into two. You hear Hero exhale in relief. “Omori, thank you for taking one for the team!”

Walking into the forest, the teal colored leaves began to darken in color with large bushes with strange leaves filling the spaces in between. The area was filled with fog and the shapes ahead took the form of dead trees. “Ugh…” Kel shook his head. “On second thought, let’s look for Basil somewhere else. This place gives me the heebie-jeebies.” He turned back towards Vast Forest and you quickly took hold of his collar before he could even think to move.

“Omori’s right, Kel. Don’t be such a baby!” Aubrey poked Kel in the head. “It’s just some spider webs here and there.”

Kel turned to Aubrey and shrieked. “THERE’S A SPIDER IN YOUR HAIR!!”

“W-WHAT!?” Aubrey began shaking her head and running in circles. “GET IT OFF!!”

Kel burst into laughter. “Just kidding!” He pointed at Aubrey, who stopped and looked at him with anger. “Now look who’s scared!”

Aubrey huffed and folded her arms, turning away from Kel and holding her head up slightly towards the trees. “That’s not very funny, Kel.”

You roll your eyes at the antics and begin walking forward, moving past two trees with a web in between and stumbling across a minecart. You step aside the metal box and onto the rails, following them to another section of the forest where two Bug Bunny’s were hopping around. They took notice of your group and hopped in your direction, causing Hero to freeze up at the sight of them. Kel makes a REBOUND and Aubrey hurls her bat with a WIND-UP THROW to finish off the enemies.

You got 64 CLAMS!

Resuming your trek on the rails, you come across a small path way up one of the steep mounds of Pyrefly, where you spot two trees brought together by a spider web. Slashing the web away with your knife allows you to grab a Matchbox that was lying a few feet away from the web. Walking down from the mound, you quickly make a left and find yourself in between a large mass of trees and bushes with a large candle in the middle of it all. 

Striking one of the Matches, you light the candle and a cluster of spiders begin racing towards the light. Taking your knife out, you rush through the trees and cut down the webs that block your path. Lying a few feet away from you is a discarded track of the railway. You rush over and pick it up, placing the Wooden Track in your pocket. A beat passes and you raise a brow. Shouldn’t you have been carried off by a large spider by now? Odd. You backtrack through the forest and find that the spiders surrounding the candle have disappeared, a black cat resembling Mewo resting next to the candle instead.

“Is that a cat?” Kel asked, walking closer to the feline. 

“What’s a cat doing in a place like this?” Hero pondered, looking at the cat intensely.

“Whatever it’s doing, we shouldn’t disturb it.” Aubrey suggested. “It’s resting.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Hero nodded. “Let’s leave it be.” 

Giving the cat one last glance, you make your way out of the area and continue backtracking to where the two Bug Bunny’s were, you follow a path through the trees to find another candle. You strike a match and light it, the spiders scrambling towards it as you move to the webs and slice them down. Picking up another Wooden Track, you return to the candle, where the cat from earlier was lying next to it. “It’s that cat again.” Aubrey muttered.

Kel walked up to the cat and hummed. “Are you sure? This one looks a little bigger than the last one.”

“Huh” Aubrey walked up closer to the cat. “Oh, you’re right. It does look bigger than the last one!” She hummed. “Is Pyrefly also home to cats?”

Leaving that question on the back burner for now, you walk back over to the tracks and begin following them again. Walking past the mound where you got the Matchbox, Hero froze in place as a Potted Plant and a Bug Bunny started rushing to your group. Kel threw a quick CURVEBALL at the Bunny, making it SAD in the process. Aubrey rushed over to the Potted Plant and lands a POWER HIT, cracking the surface of the pot. You hold your palm out towards the Bug Bunny and look away, SHUNNING it. The Bunny disappeared as Hero quickly rushed over to the Potted Plant and whacked it as fast as he could so he could hurry and get away from it.

The Potted Plant decided to rest in it’s pot, allowing Kel to quickly RUN N’ GUN it, breaking it’s pot into pieces and leaving the plant crumbled on the floor till it disappeared.

You got 136 CLAMS!

Continuing onward, you find a break in the tracks. You reach into your pocket and set down one of the Wooden Tracks onto the missing segment and proceed along it’s path. A small lake comes into view with a wooden bridge connecting to the other side. Stationed nearby the bridge is Mari with her signature picnic. She waves the group over and you all sit down for a nice picnic, the meal of the occasion being a single block of Tofu. “This place is really overgrown, isn’t it?” She asked once everyone sat down. “You are all so brave for going through this forest. Speaking of, how are you handling your fear of spiders, Hero?” Mari asked the older boy.

Hero didn’t register the question, as he was curled up into a ball like Omori and taking deep breaths. “Breathe in...Breathe out…”

Mari giggled and clapped her hands. “You’re doing great, Hero! Keep at it!”

“Breathe in...Breathe out…”

Mari scooted closer to you and ruffled your hair. “Omori used to be scared of spiders too, but look at him now! Not even a flinch.” She turned to Hero and gestured an arm towards your person. “Look how brave he’s being!” Everyone who’s name wasn’t Hero looked in your direction as you stared ahead at nothing. “Wow...so brave…” Mari said with awe.

“Yeah!” Aubrey chipped in. “So brave!” The group went silent after that and continued on with the picnic, everyone taking at least one bite of the Tofu. Once you were certain that everyone’s JUICE has been restored, you step off the picnic blanket and make your way back to the track, finding another break in them. You lay down the other Wooden Track in the empty space and make your way back to the bridge, crossing over it and passing by a mirror as you step through the trees.

Once you light the candle, you make your way to the right side of the forest section, slicing through the webs with ease and sticking to the right as you find the last of the Wooden Tracks. Backtracking through the cut webs, you find an even bigger cat blocking the path back to Mari. “Another one!?” Hero exclaimed at the sight of it.

“It’s blocking the way forward…” Aubrey muttered.

“So?” Kel raised a brow. “Let’s just move it then.”

“I don’t think any of us can lift it though…” Aubrey replied, staring intently at the dormant feline.

You turn to Hero and tug at his sleeve. “Hmm?” Hero looks at you and you point at him and then at the cat. “Oh, is it my turn? Alright, I’ll see what I can do!” He smiled and ruffled your hair before walking up to the cat and flipping his hair dramatically. “Excuse me, we hate to interrupt your rest, but it would mean a lot to me and my companions if you could make enough room to let us pass.”

The cat opened it’s eyes and stared up at Hero. Purple eyes meeting milky white. A few seconds passed while the two stared at each other. Eventually, Hero took a small step to get a little closer to the cat, when it’s head quickly turned upside down with a nasty crack echoing through the forest followed by an ear piercing screech. The cat’s head extended out a bit as the body seemed to flatten out a bit, the tail increasing in length and becoming sharp like a dagger.

Four long and sharp legs broke free from the body with sickening cracks as well as two shorter frontal claws breaking free just at the base of the neck where it’s shoulders would be. The legs pierced the ground and lifted the main body up, the fur hardening into a sleek carapace. The beast in front of you, even as the head and shoulders slouched forward, was almost as tall as the trees themselves, halting near the middle of the leaf section. The frontal claws twitched around and would swipe at nothing. Soon, the beast lifted it’s head and claws up into the air, standing taller than the trees as it’s four legs stood straighter, letting off yet another ear piercing shriek.

Kel, Hero and Aubrey all stared up at the large Spider Cat, all of them completely drained of their color. “O-Oh...Th-That’s just evil…” Hero muttered, voice shaking in fear. Your party members all became AFRAID while you remained neutral, staring up at the beast as it slouched it’s head towards your party once again.

You have a question. 

For Sunny.

Why?

Chapter Text

Kel shakily threw his ball at the beast, missing it’s face by an inch while Aubrey weakly whacked it’s legs. It hissed and jabbed it’s legs at the two with little effort, most likely to keep them from advancing past it. Quickly racing into your pocket, you pull out some CONFETTI  and let it loose, the colorful display distracting your friends from the terror of Spider Meowtriarch’s form. As your friends become HAPPY, Hero whips out his Tenderizer and proceeds to TENDERIZE the enemy, reducing it’s defense.

The Spider Meowtriarch let out a screech and brought it’s body low to the ground, leaping up into the air and slamming onto your party, the sharpness of it’s legs dealing major damage. It repeated the action, jumping back to it’s previous location with a hiss. Kel stood back up and EXPANDED whilst Aubrey got ready to unleash a counter attack. You feel the presence of several other spider legs from behind you, all of them piercing the enemies legs and CRIPPLING them. “SNACK TIME!” Hero calls out as he throws a cookie at the three of you.

After it slams it’s legs onto the ground, the Spider Meowtriarch charges at your party, trampling over you both ways as it returned to it’s place. Aubrey yelled and whacked the spider on it’s legs with a counterattack. Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS off the trees, hitting the beast three times. Aubrey ran up to the spider again and BEATDOWN on it’s legs while you followed up by HACKING AWAY at the same spot. Hero held up a plate of SPICY FOOD and threw it at the Spider Meowtriarchs face.

Another shriek filled the air as the Spider Meowtriarch stood straighter. A cluster of spiders flung off it’s body during it’s screech, landing on the party. Your friends screamed and started to freak out over the arachnids in their hair, becoming AFRAID once more as their colors faded away. Both Kel’s and Aubrey’s attacks whiffed due to their fear. With a nod, you run up to the beast and slash at it’s face, quickly turning to the others and nodding your head towards the Spider Meowtriarch. Everyone nodded back and tightly gripped at their respective weapons as they rushed over to you and the beast.

One by one, you all attack at the Spider Meowtriarch, ending as usual, with you slashing wildly at it’s face until it fell over onto it’s back, thrashing around wildly as it tried to get back onto it’s legs. A beat passes and the Spider Meowtriarch finally begins to stop thrashing and it’s legs start to twitch. Not too long afterwards, the beast laid still, with only the barest of twitches escaping from the legs before they fell from the body as all traces of the Spider Meowtriarch began to fade away.

You got 2,000 CLAMS!

You found a Cat Mask!

Cat Mask: When Cat Ears aren’t enough.

HEART: 15

JUICE: 15

ATK: 5

DEF: 11

SPEED: 20

LUCK: 5

You all put your weapons away and pocket the black Cat Mask. Hero exhaled, mostly out of relief. “That was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen in my life…”

“You said it…” Kel sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at cats the same way ever again.”

Aubrey shivered. “Let’s just...Get back on track...Please…?”

You nod and head back over across the bridge. You and your party should be good on JUICE and HEART at the moment, so you decide to keep following the tracks until you can place the last missing part of the track. You can just run if there are problems. Once you found the missing part of the track and avoid a Potted Plant, you make your way back to the minecart at the beginning of Pyrefly.

Everyone somehow managed to squeeze into the minecart and it began to move forward. The journey was slow at first, the cart wheels simply rolling on the track as if you and your friends were pushing it yourselves. The further the cart went along the tracks, the faster it went, to the point that Mari’s picnic blanket was a blur. Soon, the cart hit a roadblock made of rocks held together by a spider web which fell apart easily from the cart ramming into it. 

From then on, it was just a straight shot over to the other side of Pyrefly, the ocean between the two halves of the forest flying past your group with the only semblance of something solid being the giant pink stage light flowers shining towards the obnoxious pink castle in the distance. Oh boy, you definitely can’t wait for that. What fun…

The ride ended soon after you passed through the trees, rather abruptly as well due to the sudden lack of any further tracks for the cart to glide on. One by one, you all exit the minecart and began to walk down the only available path to you on this side of the forest. The sight of something made of steel and the tall sign depicting a round figure with large muscles signify that you have now reached Mari’s second picnic.

The rest of your friends look ahead down the path. “Basil!? Are you here!?” Aubrey called out into the woods.

Kel walked up further along the path and looked around. “BAAAAAASILLLL!! WHERE ARE YOU!?” He began to check the general vicinity for any sign of Basil while Hero scratched his head.

“Doesn’t look like he’s here, either…”

You nod your head and turn around, walking over to Mari’s picnic and sitting down. Aubrey turned to your direction and gasped. “Oh! Mari’s here!” She ran over to the picnic blanket. “Mari, Mari!” Hero and Kel stopped what they were doing and ran up to the picnic to sit down alongside you and Mari.

“Hello, everyone!” Mari greeted with a smile. “I see you all made it through the forest! I’m so proud of you!”

A sniffle rang out from Hero’s side of the picnic, the older boy walking over to Mari and pulling her into an embrace. “Mari...I...I was so scared!”

Mari chuckled and pat Hero’s back a few times before remembering where they were. “Hero, this is kinda embarrassing…”

Kel sighed. “It’s times like these I really wish Basil was here. He could tell Hero about how spiders are harmless and good for nature or something. Maybe then he wouldn’t find them so creepy.”

Aubrey turned to Kel. “I’m not sure if that would help him right now. Especially after what happened with that cat spider thing.”

Mari sighed and shook her head as Hero broke off the hug. “Oh, Hero.. You’re gonna have to get over this eventually. These things will only get worse over time.”

“Maybe…” Hero hummed and gave a smile. “Or maybe I’ll naturally outgrow it! You never know what the future brings!” He chuckled. 

Aubrey sighed and looked out into the woods. “This forest is a lot scarier than the one near the playground. And a lot older, too…”

Mari hummed and glanced around. “It does have a mysterious air about it, doesn’t it? I heard there used to be a huge library filled with books here…But since no one took care of it...Over time, the library slowly sank into the ground.” Mari relayed the information to your group, her voice dropping in cheerfulness and taking on a lower, campfire storyteller like quality to it.

Hero raised a brow at the tale. “Who told you that, Mari?”

“Oh…” Mari hummed and glanced at the woods. You followed her line of sight and briefly made out the silhouette of a tall man holding a lantern. “Just some shadows here and there...If you focused, you could see them too!”

“Whatever!” Kel cried out. “Reading is boring! Who wants to read, anyway?”

“Where’s the library now, Mari?” Aubrey asked, ignoring Kel.

Mari tapped her chin. “Well...If I were to guess...I’d say, it would be right beneath us!”

Aubrey gasped. “Like, underground?”

Mari nodded. “Yeah!” She circled her hand around, tracing the forest. “Somewhere around here, probably!” Mari looked in your direction and smiled. If you remember correctly, she did the same the last time you went through this part of the previous(?) cycle. Interesting. With that in mind, you and the others take your leave of the picnic, waving Mari off and continuing down the path.

The path is littered with the drained corpses of several Sprout Moles, the number of which increasing as you continue walking along the path. Soon enough, you enter a large open area of the forest, dead Sprout Moles and trees as far as the eye can see, which is pretty limited. Damn fog. A light screech can be heard alongside the telltale sound of a Sprout Mole getting bit and drained of life by an apex predator. The Mole corpse is flung in your general direction and you dodge effortlessly, the Sprout mole bouncing up and over your shoulder.

All you can hear is the sound of skittering movement that begins to circle around your group before a long shape emerges from the fog. The head was that of a centipede with four red eyes and sharp pinchers. The fog began to clear and the main body was introduced, stretching for almost a mile and made solely of the corpses of dead Sprout Moles, expressions of fear still riddled on their faces. It’s King Crawler’s turn now.

Kel took the time to EXPAND while you could hear Aubrey giving him a PEP TALK from the sidelines. Four RED HANDS emerged from your back and clawed at King Crawler, tearing away a few of it’s Sprout Mole extensions from the equation. Hero summons some SPICY FOOD and launches it into King Crawler’s maw. It let out an ear splitting shriek and charged at the group. Soon afterwards, a lone Sprout Mole appears. 

Hero manages to CAPTIVATE King Crawler, giving Kel enough time to TICKLE it’s head while it was distracted. While Aubrey gives Kel another PEP TALK, you rush towards the Sprout Mole and HACK AWAY at it until it disappears from sight. King Crawler, well, crawls up to Hero and takes a bite out of him with it’s pincers. Kel bounces his ball and RUN N’ GUNS, knocking away a significant portion of King Crawlers Sprout Mole extensions. Aubrey runs and lands a POWER HIT on the head and you stick your tongue out at the parasite, MOCKING it. Hero pulled out his Tenderizer and TENDERIZED King Crawler. 

The beast let out a shriek and charged at the group again. That was it’s fatal mistake. Kel threw his ball at King Crawler with Aubrey whacking away one of the dead Sprout Moles, leading up to you slashing the head and signaling to the others to release your ENERGY. Kel, Aubrey and Hero knocked away all of the dead Sprout Moles, leaving only the head intact and in your hands as you slash unpredictably at it, until it let out one last shriek before fading away, leaving only four Sprout Mole masks in it’s wake.

You got 950 CLAMS!

You found Sprout Mole Masks!

Once the dust settles you and your friends relax your stances and continue forward, walking up to a ladder that leads down into the earth. Climbing down the ladder leads you to the underground colony known as Sprout Mole Village. Home to a large chunk of those stupid plant creatures of all shapes and sizes. Once you touch the floor, you walk up to Mari, who was leaning against the wall looking around at the Sprout moles with a bowl of Tomatoes nearby. She looked over at you and lets out a soft chuckle. “Y’know, these Sprout Moles are such funny creatures. I just want to pick one up and squish it!” She hugs herself for emphasis. “Did you know that Sprout Moles really love Tofu? I bought some Tofu earlier at the Tofu stand…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Tofu. “Feel free to try some.” She set the block of Tofu into your hand. 

You pocket the Tofu and walk up to the Tomato bowl, pulling out one for each person. The juicy Tomatoes recovered all of your lost HEART and JUICE. Once the Tomatoes were finished, you decide to walk around the Village. Not merely for the sake of touring, but because you want to save time. Climbing down ladders and passing by all the different types of Sprout Moles, you eventually descend down a ladder to see a group of nine Sprout Moles running across treadmills, along with a giant electrical outlet with a giant plug that was about to fall out. You hurry over to the plug and help insert it back into the outlet, ensuring that the power will stay on. With a satisfied nod, you backtrack up the ladder and to the ticket booth near the ladder to Sweethearts Castle.

“Ah!” The sprout Mole working at the ticket booth exclaimed once they saw you. “Hello, strange-looking Sprout Moles. Are you here to see Sweetheart’s Quest For Hearts? If so, you’ve come to the right place!” The Sprout Mole beamed. “This sold-out extravaganza spectacular will be starting very shortly!”

Aubrey perked her head up. “Wait a minute! I know this show!” She turned to you and the two brothers. “We have front-row Show Tickets for it!” She sighed longingly. “I can see it now. A dazzling, epic tale about the hardships of romance!” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Heartbreak...Betrayal...Desperation...Loneliness...Oh, the drama!” She twirled around. “This is going to be fun! I can't wait to be swept off my feet!”

Hero scratched his head. “I don’t know...I guess it looks interesting…? But, now doesn’t seem like the right time.”

Aubrey pouted. “But you promised we could earlier! Please, Hero! We should at least check it out.” She pulled on the sleeve of the older boy’s pajamas, begging ‘please’ over and over.

Hero sighed. “Well...Alright. Hopefully this won’t take too long.”

The Sprout Mole cleared their throat. “If I may, care to show your tickets, please?” Aubrey nodded and everyone pulled out the tickets. The Sprout Mole gasped at the sight. “Oh...Oh, my! I can’t believe my eyes...These are front-row tickets!” They looked up at your group. “you...You all must have made some great sacrifices to be here today...I applaud you.” They cleared their throat again. “Forgive me for calling you strange-looking earlier! At a second glance, you four are the most normal-looking Sprout Moles I have ever seen.” They bowed. “Please, enjoy your front row seats, fellow normal-looking Sprout Moles!”

Walking up to the stage, the sight of such bright colors nearly burns your eyes. The deep velvety red of the curtains is drowned out by the pink walls and outer curtains, a long pink rug sits in the middle of the aisles where many a Sprout Mole were seated and whispering amongst themselves about the show. “Wow, look at this huge stage!” Aubrey marveled. “It’s just as amazing as I imagined!” She tapped your shoulder and pointed to the four empty chairs sitting up in the front row. “Come on, let’s take our seats! The show is about to start!”

You all walk up to the empty seats and sit down just in time for the lights to dim down, two spotlights taking charge and circling around the stage. Soon, they disappeared and a Sprout Mole walks up to the microphone, another spotlight shining on him. “Ladies and gentlemoles…” He said into the mic, feedback echoing throughout. “Welcome to a special episode of...Sweethearts Quest For Hearts!” The audience applauded.

“Before our show, we wanted a moment to honor the life of someone, who’s been an inspiration to us all…” The Sprout Mole said tearfully. “Our beloved leader, Ye Old Sprout.” Your friends wince at the name. The curtains lift upwards, revealing a framed photo of the largest Sprout Mole. “He was truly the father that none of us deserved.” The Sprout Mole sniffled, his voice breaking in the middle of his sentence. “Let us have a moment of silence, in memory of him.” The Sprout Moles all quieted down. You look over at your friends, all of them wearing faces of guilt. After a few seconds of silence, the Sprout Mole on stage spoke again. “May he rest in peace.” The curtains closed in front of the photo. “AND NOW...ON TO THE SHOW!!” Peppy music began to play throughout the room as the audience applauded.

A giant heart shaped sign descended down in front of the curtains, the name of the show written in the space inside. “Last time, on ‘Sweethearts Quest For Hearts’, our favorite princess, once again, failed to fall in love with any of our eligible bachelors! This time, we’ve rounded up three new very attractive contestants. Will one of them be able to capture Sweethearts heart?” The Sprout Mole took a breath. “Let’s introduce them now!”

Another Sprout Mole walked onto the stage, wearing the number one on his face. “Our first contestant is a local of Sprout Mole Village!” The announcer began. “He’s coming in at three feet tall, his favorite food is Tofu, he has a huge collection of plastic flamingos and enjoys long walks through narrow tunnels! GIVE IT UP FOR CONTESTANT #1!” The audience erupted into cheers and applause.

Soon afterwards, yet another Sprout Mole walked on stage. “Contestant #2 is...Yup, you guessed it, also a local of Sprout Mole Village! Careful, he’s coming in at three feet and one whole inch! His hobbies include walking, running and crawling! His favorite color combination is brown and green and he spends his weekends rolling around in dirty laundry!” The host hummed. “Spicy. GIVE IT UP FOR CONTESTANT #2!” The audience erupted into the same amount of cheering as the first contestant.

“And now, for something completely different.” The host said with glee. “Contestant #3 comes all the way from Otherworld!” Gasps rang out from the audience as a marshmallow like creature appeared from behind the curtains. Snaley better thank you for fixing the power! “It’s like he just fell out of the sky...Literally! According to him and us, that makes him a catch! Give it up for Snaley!” Muted claps were heard for Snaley.

“And now...It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. DIM THE LIGHT’S PLEASE!” The music abruptly ended, replaced by a drum beat as the lights darkened. “She emits...Beauty. She exudes...Grace. She truly has...The most pulchritudinous face...Yes! You know who we're talking about! She’s all that is amazing and wonderful and she is about to set foot on this very stage! Please, give a big warm welcome to...The one...The only…”

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO~!!”

Chapter Text

The curtains rise once more, revealing the pink adorned Sweetheart, unfolding a fan and waving it in front of her face as she continues her long and headache-inducing laugh. The Sprout Mole host bowed. “An excellent entrance, my liege!” The crowd applauds Sweetheart as she leaps off the couch she rested upon, throwing her hands in the air with a wave.

“AHHHHHHHH YES!! IT IS ME!” Sweetheart announced. “Hello, my stupid, adoring fans!” The one time you agree with her. The crowd cheered for Sweetheart, prompting yet another damned laugh.

“Sweetheart…” The host finally said. “We have brought three of the best bachelors in the world onto this stage. Will today be the day that one of them steals your heart?” The host turned to the contestants. “Let’s start with some questions. One thing that Sweetheart values most in a companion, is complete and absolute obedience! Do you, contestant #1, agree to pledge your allegiance to Sweetheart for the rest of your life? Your answer, contestant #1?””

The Sprout Mole looked over at Sweetheart and shrugged to the best of his ability. “Uh...Sure. I don’t know...I guess?”

The host whistled. “Playing hard to get, I see! Well, what do you think of that response, Sweetheart?”

Sweetheart glared at the Spout Mole. “Hmmm...Just THREE feet tall? My, that is much too short!” Sweetheart clapped her hands. “Send him off...TO THE DUNGEON!!”

“Hey...W-What did you say? The D-Dungeon…!?” The Sprout Mole backed away in fear as armored Sprout Moles with swords on the top of their heads emerged from the dark and over to contestant #1. They dragged the Sprout Mole back into the dark.

“Now onto contestant #2.” The hot said, as if the events that just transpired never happened. “We ask you the same question. There’s no right or wrong answer. Just answer truthfully!” The host cleared his throat. “Contestant #2, will you pledge your allegiance to Sweetheart for the rest of your life?”

Contestant #2 looked at Sweetheart and gulped. “Well, uh...Sure! If it means I won’t get sent to The Dungeon.” 

Sweetheart hummed and approached the Sprout Mole, narrowing her eyes. She leaned closer to them, only to gag and back away. “My word! This one...His very being offends me!” She snapped her fingers. “Take him away, boys!” The Sprout Mole jumped and looked around before running past the host and knocking the microphone over. His efforts were in vain, as he was last seen being carried away by the guards. Sweetheart glanced at Snaley and approached him. “You.” Snaley looked up at Sweetheart. “You are from Otherworld, correct?”

Snaley nodded. “Yes, ma’am! I happened to fall from there and landed here, but I’ve heard of your show and, to answer the question, I would be honored to-” Sweetheart cut Snaley off by decapitating him with her fan. Can’t you give poor Snaley a break, Sunny!?

“Too talkative and was in too close proximity to... Him…” Sweetheart snarled as the remnants of Snaley faded away in a cloud of smoke. Sweetheart sighed and pressed her palm against her head. “Is there no one that can meet my standa-” She glanced over to your side of the front row, looking past you, Kel and Aubrey. Her gaze landed onto Hero, who also noticed and shrunk in on himself. “My word...It seems that there is a hunk in the audience!” Sweetheart leapt off the stage and walked on over to Hero, lifting his head up so he could look her in the eyes, much to your group’s distaste. “My...You’re absolutely immaculate…” Sweetheart giggled. “Could this perhaps...Be love I’m feeling?”

The host quickly picked up the microphone. “WHAT AN EXCITING TURN OF EVENTS! Sweetheart has found love, not in a contestant, but in a member of the crowd!” The crowd gasped and cheered, with the host squinting his eyes. “Wait, could that be...My word, it’s Hero! The one who helped keep us Sprout Moles from getting lost during the migration!!” The crowd erupted into cheer at the sound of Hero’s name.

“All I did was point them in a direction…” Hero muttered.

“Truly, this is a match made in heaven!” The host announced.

“Hero…?” Sweetheart hummed and held her chin. A predatory smile appeared on her face. “Ah, yes, yes! You’ll do just fine!” She pulled Hero up from his seat and up onto the stage, holding tightly onto both of his hands. “Hero! My Hero! We must go to my chambers at once!” She turned to the backstage. “Guards! I have chosen my suitor! Escort us to the chambers at once!” you blink. This is going differently than you expected, but then again, that seems to be a running theme with this repeat.

“Whoa! Hero’s going to marry Sweetheart? I did not see that one coming at all!” Kel said mainly to himself.

Aubrey jabbed Kel’s shoulder. “Kel, what are you saying? We have to help him!” Aubrey stood up as Sweetheart began pulling Hero along with the guards keeping the two surrounded, away from any harm. You and Kel followed suit and ran up with Aubrey up the stage. “Stop right there! You can’t take Hero! He belongs to us!” Aubrey shouted with a finger pointed in Sweetheart's direction.

Sweetheart scoffed. “What’s this now? What is a non-Sweetheart fan doing here?” She looked between Hero and you three. “Ah, I see. You three must be Hero’s fans! OHOHOHOHOHOHO~! The fool of you lot, interrupting my show like this!” Sweetheart let go of Hero’s hands and turned towards you with malice filling her eyes. “You don’t seem to understand that I make the rules around here! GUARDS!” Sweetheart clapped her hands and an array of guards, both from backstage and hiding in the pots, sprung into action, aiming their swords at you and the other two. “TAKE THEM AWAY!” Sweetheart snapped her fingers and the guards all rushed at you, Kel and Aubrey. The three of you never got the chance to fight back, as they all piled on top of you and blocked out your vision.

Your vision returned as you and the others were tossed into a cell of purple stone. The gate shut and the three of you stood up, glancing around the cell. “Aww, man!” Kel kicked a stone. “Now we’re all stuck in the dungeon while Hero gets married against his will.”

Aubrey sighed tearfully. “I’m sorry guys. We’re stuck in here because of me.”

Kel shook his head. “It was to try and stop Sweetheart from taking Hero away. You had the right idea…” He looked around the cell. “It just didn’t go as you thought it would.”

Aubrey sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You’re right, Kel.” Aubrey walked up to the gate and tapped her knuckles against it. “But now what do we do? We’re locked in the dungeon with no way out! Unless they forgot to lock the gate, we’re never going to be able to get out of here!” You walked up to Aubrey and motioned for her to move aside. She complied and you lifted the gate up, freeing you three from your cells. “Huh...They actually forgot to lock the gate.” Aubrey muttered.

The three of you walk out of your cell, running into the pink bowed Rosa the moment you walk out. She looks up at you three and gasps. “How did you…? Impossible, you three should be rotting in your cell!” Before Rosa could run off and alert the guards, you run up to her and land a LUCKY SLICE, with Kel following up with a CURVEBALL, finally ridding the world of Rosa’s influence as she faded away into nothing. 

You got 128 CLAMS!

“Good thinking, Omori!” Kel patted your shoulder. “There’s no telling what would’ve happened if Rosa had managed to call the guards!”

You nod and open the gate to another cell. A trapdoor sits to your right in front of a toilet full of Ramen. Opening the trapdoor, you climb down the ladder and into the underbelly of The Dungeon. The only option is to proceed straight, as the path to your right is blocked by spikes. Coming across another block in the road, you peek out from beyond the spikes and spot Mari’s picnic. “Hey, it’s Mari!” Kel shouted. “Mari! Mari, help us! We’re stuck in The Dungeon!”

Mari looked at your group and gasped. “Oh no!” She walked over to the wall and pressed the button to lower the spikes down, allowing you three to walk through and sit at the picnic. “Hey gang…” Mari walked back to the picnic, a smug smile forming on her face. “I noticed that you all were in quite the pickle, so…” She held up a jar full of pickles. “I snuck in some pickles!” Mari giggled.

Kel gagged. “Awww, yuck! I hate pickles!” You and Aubrey took some pickles while Kel rummaged through the basket. “Next time, can you sneak in some jam instead?”

Mari chuckled and sat down on the blanket, where her calm demeanor faltered slightly. “Do you guys think Hero will be able to get away from Sweetheart while you’re not around?”

“Don’t worry about Sweetheart, Mari!” Aubrey declared. “She is the worst! I can’t imagine anyone being in love with her!”

Kel raised a brow. “Wasn’t she with Capt. Spaceboy, though?”

Aubrey huffed. “Relationships like that are just shallow! You can’t compare it to the real deal, like what me and Omori have!” Aubrey turned to you. “Isn’t that right Omori?” You stay silent, contemplating on the possible locations to find Hero. Also, because this is what you did last time, since you’re beginning to slowly question what Sunny found endearing about this. “Omori?” Aubrey poked your cheek.

The best place to find Hero would be in Sweetheart’s chambers, so you climb up the ladder near the picnic and enter into another cell, where a Jash sits idly nearby, humming a tune. You and the others walk up to the gate and lift it up. To your right is the cell that houses the two contestants inside. Waiting for the Marsha patrolling the area to pass by, you head right and press the button to let down the spikes in front of the cell. Heading inside, the two Sprout Moles were curled up in themselves, expressing grief over being in The Dungeon. 

Climbing down the trapdoor, you end up in another section of the underground. Walking along the path, you come across a platform which you point out to Kel. “On it!” Kel climbed up the platform and threw his ball at the button a few feet away, lowering the spikes to your right, as well as another set nearby. Getting back to the picnic revealed a new path to trek through. A few twists and turns later bring you to another platform for Kel, which lowered another set of spikes back towards the ladder leading to the Sprout Moles.

Heading back to where the spikes were, you press another button, causing a scream and a small explosion to ring out, making Kel and Aubrey jump. Heading to the source revealed another button, which lowered another set of spikes near the picnic. Making your way towards where the spikes were, you follow down a straight path until it veers off to the right, revealing a ladder leading up. 

Crawling out from the underground passages, you end up in a large purple hallway with a gate nearby. Opening up the gate takes you back to The Dungeon, behind the large gathering of spikes. You press a button to lower them and turn back around, walking down the path. “Look there!” Aubrey pointed over your shoulder. “We’re finally at the exit!”

“WOO-HOO!! FREEDOM AT LAST!!”

The three of you run out of the hallway and into the Castle proper, where the colors of pink, red and purple with a few tints of gold were strung up all over the place. However, the moment you exit The Dungeon, the three of you run into a Harold, who aimed their sword at you. “HALT, PRISONERS!! Did you really think you could escape that easily? It’s back into the Dungeon with you three!”

Kel groaned. “Man, we were so close, too. Now what do we-”

“Excuse me, sir-knight.” Aubrey said, peeking out from behind you. She was wearing one of the Sprout Mole Masks. “But I do believe you have made a mistake, for we are ordinary Sprout Moles!”

You and Kel quickly follow suit and equip the Masks. Kel cleared his throat. “Don’t be so quick to judge! We are sprout Moles, indubitably!”

The Harold flinched back a bit. “EGAD! My eyes must have deceived me!” They bowed. “My apologies, brethren. It is, rather difficult to see through this helmet. Well then, carry on! I must continue my patrol! You lot better return to your stations, lest our dear Sweetheart notices.”

The Harold left the area, to which Aubrey giggled. “How’s that for quick thinking?” You give Aubrey a thumbs up while Kel let out a sigh of relief.

“Good thinking Aubrey! With these on, we should be able to find Hero and get outta here without any problems! Y’know, minus the itchiness of these things.” Kel tried his best to scratch his cheek. 

Aubrey nodded. “Alright! Let’s get a move on!” She looked at you. “Lead the way, Omori!” You nod and take a look around the area. First things first, Sweetheart’s Chambers to get Hero.

Chapter Text

Keeping a good amount of distance away from the Harold patrolling around, you move down the corridor to your right and pass through a doorway leading straight to an elevator at the end, with yet another Harold patrolling. Sticking to the sides of the corridor, you reach the lift and head inside, pressing the button to go up. The carved image of Sweetheart inside the elevator opens it’s eyes as you and your friends ascend up to the chambers. 

Once the carving's eyes close, the lift halts to a stop and you all exit out, walking into a wide open room tailor made to suit Sweetheart’s interests. The most prominent features are the statues, a pink one of Sweetheart holding out a fan in front of her as she laughs and a light blue one of Capt. Spaceboy. A Sprout Mole is struggling to move the Capt. Spaceboy statue. She turns to your party and gasps. “What are you three doing in here!? Common Sprout Moles aren’t allowed in Sweetheart’s Chambers, you know the rules!” The Sprout Mole blinks. “Wait a minute...Perhaps you’ll be able to help me! Sweetheart ordered me to remove this statue out of her bedroom before she returns, but I can’t move it at all!”

You turn to Aubrey and grab her shoulders, pushing her in front of the statue before you let go. She raises a brow and looks back at you. “What am I supposed to do?” You facepalm and quickly pretend to swing a bat with your arms. Aubrey stood still for a beat. “Oh, right, I guess I could do that.” She looks up at the statue. “But, isn’t this Capt. Spaceboy? I’d feel kinda bad about destroying it.”

“It’s not like he’s ever going to find out!” Kel retorted. “Capt. Spaceboy and Sweetheart are a thing of the past. Live and let live, that’s what I always say!” You turn to Kel and shake your head, mouthing ‘You don’t always say that.’

Aubrey sighed and conceded. “Fine, I guess I’ll give it a shot.” Aubrey took out her bat and prepared to swing, but the moment her arm even lifted slightly high, the statue crumbled apart. It occurs to you that Aubrey will never be able to hit that statue.

“My word! You’ve done it!” The Sprout Mole cheered. “Well, time to clean this up.” She jumped onto the pile and began to clear away the broken...Glass? Stone? Whatever, the point is, the Sprout Mole cleaned up the mess that Aubrey tried to purposefully make. “Phew, you’re real lifesavers!” The Sprout Mole muttered as she wiped some sweat off her brow. ‘I should have known to just leave that task to the specialists!” The Sprout Mole then left for approximately five seconds before the ground shook beneath your feet, as she brought in a new statue of Hero, in the same coloration as the Spaceboy statue. Once the statue was symmetrical with the Sweetheart one, the Sprout Mole sighed. “Well...This is a surprise! Turns out, all I had to do was lift from the bottom!”

You shake your head and begin searching the area for any sign of Hero. Other than a few Snack items, you don’t find any sign that he was here. Kel looks upset by that fact. “Isn’t this supposed to be Sweetheart's room? She told the guards to take Hero here.”

Aubrey hummed. “Maybe he managed to escape?” You sigh soundlessly and return to the lift, stepping inside only to come face to face with the announcer from the show. You and your friends stare at him and he stares back. Balancing on your heels, you sway back and forth as Aubrey presses the down button. “Well...This is awkward.” Aubrey mumbles, earning a nod from all parties. Once the lift comes to a stop, you and your friends leave the lift and backtrack to the Main Hall.

“Stop, imposters!” A Sprout Mole in shining red armor stops your group as the Main Hall comes into view. “I know what you are, and you are not Sprout Moles!” Kel and Aubrey glance at each other, earning a hum from the Sprout Mole. “You must be wondering how I am able to tell.  You see, I am above those feeble and inexperienced Harolds and Marshas! For I, am Sir Maximus! With my impressive lineage, I will be victorious and bring honor to my family!” Sir Maximus jumped back a bit before charging at your party in a sprint. 

Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS into Sir Maximus three times, giving you enough time to summon four RED HANDS to throw the Sprout Mole around, ending with Aubrey giving Sir Maximus a BEATDOWN. Sir Maximus has enough health to make a final stand. “No...I...I cannot fail now. My son needs me!” He rushed into your group and used his ULTIMATE ATTACK, slashing wildly and unpredictably. Once the attack is over, he begins to wave in his stance and is trying to keep himself upright. Kel retaliates with a RUN N’ GUN which you follow up on by HACKING AWAY at Sir Maximus until he fades away.

You got 400 CLAMS!

Heading to the opposite corridor after fighting Sir Maximus, you and your friends wander up into the kitchen, where hopefully Hero somehow got roped into making the cake. Once you enter however, that doesn’t really look to be the case. A group of Sprout Moles wearing Chef’s Hats gather around a couch, where one Mole has taken rest. The sitting Sprout Mole groaned. “My dear sous chefs. I’m afraid my back just can’t take anymore! It is at this unfortunate time that I announce my retirement.”

“But wait, Chief! Without you, who will lead us in our task of baking a most magnificent cake for the main event!?”

The ex-head chef chuckled. “Sous chefs, it is now time for one of you to step up into the limelight. A cake must be baked today. Our very lives are on the line!”

The Sprout Mole closest to the door bowed. “Oh yes! I hear you, Chief! As the most capable one of us, I will volunteer and take charge of this task! I won’t fail you...I promise!” The sous chef Sprout Mole turned towards your group as he headed to the kitchen. “Hey, you there! The three of you are Sous Chefs now. Meet me in the kitchen, pronto!” He then went up the stairs. If you remember correctly, you don’t really have an option to refuse, so you follow suit.

In the kitchen, the chef Sprout Mole scoffs at you. “What took you so long!? Step on it, will you? I can’t leave this room until I bake the best cake in existence! Now then, just follow my instructions and the baking process should go smoothly! Now, are you ready?” You nod your head. “Perfect! Now, don’t be nervous. I know what I’m doing. After all, I know the Head Chef’s recipe by heart! First order of business, we must preheat the oven to 75 degrees!” You walk up to the oven and, in total disobedience to the instructions, set the temperature to 350 degrees.

“Excellent work!” The Sprout Mole nodded his head. “Now we need to mix two main ingredients in a bowl. Flowers and Ping Pong balls!” You walk over to grab a bag of Flour and also a bowl of Eggs, setting them up on the counter to start mixing. It has just occurred to you that you weren’t told what specific measurement of Flour is needed… “You’re doing great. While you’re busy with that, one of you two.” He gestures to Kel and Aubrey. “Should start mixing some Salt and Cheese, beating them together until they’re soup!”

Kel raises a brow. “Salt and Cheese? In a cake?” He glances around at the tables full of ingredients. “Oh boy, this could take a while…” You tap Kel’s shoulder and point to the tables that hold both Butter and Sugar, mouthing the real names repeatedly until he nods. “Oh, I get ya!” He grabs the Butter and the bag of Sugar, working at the table next to you.

“Now we’re cooking. The last thing we need to do is to grab the Sauce and cut it into pieces!”

Aubrey tilts her head. “Cut the sauce...Into pieces…?” You take your knife out of your pocket and hold it out to Aubrey, conveniently pointing the tip over to the furthermost table to your right and at a bowl of Strawberries. Aubrey follow the direction the knife is pointing and hums. “Oh, okay!” She takes the knife and grabs the bowl of Strawberries, diligently cutting them into small pieces. Once everything is mixed or cut down to size, the chef applauds.

“Magnificent! Now we just need to mix them all together and stick them into the microwave!” You take the mixture of Flour and Eggs, reaching over to grab Kel’s bowl of mixed Butter and Sugar, walking over to the cake pan where Aubrey is holding the cut up Strawberries. You mix everything into the cake pan and bring it to the oven, placing the concoction inside and letting it cook. After a few minutes pass, the bell to the oven dings and you take out the finished product. It looks pretty good! Especially since you actually made the right decisions this time! The Sprout Mole walks up to the group. “Ah, all done? Beautiful work, I must say!” He pulls out a fork. “Let’s have a taste!” He takes a small piece of the cake and bites into it with a nod. “MARVELOUS! JUST AS I EXPECTED!! Those other sous chefs will be sorry!” He turns to your group and bows. “You may go now, servants! Be free!”

Once dismissed by the chef, you and the others walk into the Servants Quarters, continuing the search for Hero. Aside from the usual Sprout Moles idolizing Sweetheart's picture, the maid trespassing in one of the rooms and the two Butler Moles that for some reason are still arguing over who would be the best candidate to marry Sweetheart, you don’t find anything out of the ordinary. There is the Key locked in the cage, but it’s not one you need at the moment, so you let it go for now. Stopping by the room where Mari has taken over, you, Kel and Aubrey take some Strawberries from the bowl she provided. “There sure are a lot of Sprout Moles here. And they all sure love Sweetheart!” Mari giggled, though there was a layer of nervousness behind it. “I tried offering one some food, but she called me a peon and threw it back at me…” She hummed. “Sprout Moles are peculiar creatures, aren’t they?” You nod in response and leave the room.

Walking down the stairs into the lower sections of the castle, you avoid one of the Harold’s patrolling the corridor to The Royal Ballroom. When the entrance to the Ballroom is in sight, the three of you notice Pluto acting as a makeshift Watermelon Juice fountain. Once he takes sight of you, the Watermelon Juice stops flowing from his mouth and he takes off, breaking through the roof of the castle. Small pieces of debris fall into the Watermelon Juice as you walk through the entrance to the Ballroom. Once inside, the sound of an off-key choir fills your ears.

Heading up the stairs, the choir halted to a stop as multiple Sprout Moles fell asleep and ruined the tempo, much to the Virtuoso’s dismay. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This won’t do at all!” The Virtuoso stomped his foot. “You! In the center left! You call that singing!? My cousin’s plastic flamingo sings better than you!” He walked up to the choir in a huff, pointing over various Sprout Moles to one specific one in the back. “And don’t think I don’t see you in the back row dozing off during the chorus! Pull yourselves together, or else Sweetheart will have us thrown in The Dungeon!”

“Wow...These Sprout Moles sound like they’re having some trouble.” Aubrey muttered. “I wonder if we can help?”

The moment the words left Aubrey’s mouth, Kel pushed you two aside and started waving a hand over his head. “Hey, guys! Y’all need a hand? We’re professional helpers here, at your service!”

Before Aubrey could protest, the Virtuoso turns to your group with pleading eyes. “Oh, thank goodness! The professionals have arrived! We absolutely must have the choir ready before Sweetheart’s main event, but there simply isn’t enough time! You see...We Sprout Moles become very sleepy when listening to music, so as you can imagine, the choir keeps putting itself to sleep!” The Virtuoso sighed, though it sounded more like a groan. “I’m afraid we may have to resort to more... Alternative... Methods to keep them all awake.”

Kel pinched his chin and nodded. “I see!” He patted the Sprout Mole. “Not to fear, dear fellow Sprout Mole! I know... Exactly... What you’re talking about!”

Aubrey tilted her head. “You do?”

The Virtuoso breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, we’re saved! I should have expected as such from the professionals!”

Kel nodded and clapped his hands together. “I’ll handle this, good sir. You can trust me!” Kel looks up at the choir and cracks his knuckles. “This will be a piece of cake.”

The Virtuoso bowed at Kel. “Thank you, gracious professional! We are in your debt!” You and Aubrey stay on the sidelines as Kel and a few Harold’s set up a row of Tomato filled baskets in front of the choir. When they were done setting up, Kel gave a thumbs up to the Virtuoso and the Virtuoso nodded, waving his conductor’s wand around to signal to the choir to begin their practice. By all means, it wasn’t that bad of a tune once Kel started to throw Tomatoes at the offending parties that were beginning to fall asleep. The choir was able to sing to completion with a couple of minor hiccups here and there. The Virtuoso was excited nonetheless. “Ah, I am sensing improvement already! But…” He hummed. “I wonder if we can do better! Do you want to try again, professional?” Kel nodded in response and the Virtuoso clapped. “I believe in you, professional! Whip us into shape!” 

Kel continued to throw Tomatoes at the choir while you and Aubrey watched. After the second bout was over Kel agreed to a third round where you decided to sit down on one of the steps of the stairs while waiting for Kel to finish. Once he is finally done, you wave the choir and the Virtuoso off as you exit the Ballroom. Backtracking through the corridor, you enter back into the Main Hall, stopped in your tracks once again by one of the Sir Maximi. “Stop, Imposters! I know what you are...And you are not Sprout Moles!” You sigh and pinch the area where your nose would be behind the mask. “You must be wondering how I am able to tell...You see, I am the son of the fabled warrior of legend, Sir Maximus! You may have bested my father, but I am stronger than he! With my impressive lineage and my father by my side, I will be victorious!”

Once the battle commences, Kel goes in with a RICOCHET and you follow up with your RED HANDS and Aubrey follows that up by giving Sir Maximus II a BEATDOWN. Basically, the same scenario as Sir Maximus. “No...I cannot let my father’s death be in vain!” Sir Maximus II remembers his father as he rushes towards your party and uses his fathers ULTIMATE ATTACK. Kel makes another RICOCHET and Sir Maximus II falls over. “Father...Forgive me. I’m sorry...I have failed you…”

You got 800 CLAMS!

Heading to the corridor on the other side of the lower section of the Main Hall you happen across a group of Butler Moles trying to block the way to the Royal Gallery by running back and forth in the way of the path. It’s not going to work, you know that much, but you’ll save the Royal Gallery for last. For now, your current goal is to reach the Royal Library. Sneaking past the patrolling Lucius and passing by the Royal Theatre, you sidestep a Harold and walk inside the doorway into the Library at the end of corridor. The first thing that fills your vision is the long line of Sprout Moles, most of which were wearing pink.

You walk along the side of the line when a realization hits you at full force...

You need to pick out all the non-pink Moles...

You need them to follow you...

Hero is the only person with enough charm to convince the non-pink Sprout Moles to follow along...

Hero isn’t in your party…

Chapter Text

“Oh my! There’s simply no time to admit entry to all these unruly guests!” The sound of a Sprout Mole complaining about the line grew louder as you approached the top of the stairs. You really wish Hero were here at the moment to make this easier. You also wish that you didn’t have to wait till you reached the top before Kel and Aubrey realize the situation as well. Hero’s the only one able to get the non-pink Sprout Moles to follow the group, but you can’t signify that to the others, because that’d raise questions. You don’t want that, especially not now. You just want to get this over with already, but for whatever reason, Headspace decided to evolve in a way to impede your progress. “It just goes to show that we mustn't ever underestimate the popularity of our dear Sweetheart.” The Sprout Mole sighed as you approached the desk. The Sprout Mole looked up at your three. “You there! Servants with the ugly faces! The upcoming main event has a strict dress code. It is of utmost importance that our audience is dressed to Sweetheart’s exact specifications.” He slid a piece of paper across the desk. “Here is a simple chart that even a non-Sprout Mole could understand! Kindly ask the lesser guests to follow you and bring them to me! You can do something that simple, can’t you?”

You pull Kel and Aubrey aside and sit down on the empty steps of the second set of stairs, looking at them questioningly, as if asking ‘What do we do?’

Kel glanced at Aubrey and then back at you. “Why are you looking at us like that?”

You nod your head to the non-pink Sprout Mole at the bottom of the stairs and Aubrey tilts her head. “Are you wondering about how to get the Sprout Moles to follow us?”

Kel went wide eyed. “Oh wait...Hero’s the best choice for this job! With his charm he could convince all the Sprout Moles to follow him!”

“Oh right…” Aubrey held her head low. “Hero’s universally loved.” She rubbed her arm and looked up at you. “So what do we do now?”

Kel rubbed his chin and hummed. “Well, I am Hero’s brother, so maybe this’ll be my chance to show off my own charm!”

“What charm?” Aubrey deadpanned.

Bracing for the upcoming argument, you take out your knife and begin twirling it around in boredom. What an amazing time for Hero to not be in the group. Why did this happen? Why is Headspace evolving without your knowledge? You sigh and begin to notice that you aren’t hearing any bickering. You look over at Kel and Aubrey, who are looking directly at your knife.

“Well, if we don’t have Hero to try and charm the Sprout Moles, then why don’t we try intimidating them?” Kel finally asked.

“It sounds like it could work.” Aubrey held her chin and hummed. “And if the guards are called, we can explain that we were doing our job.” You tilt your head and point to your mouth, which Aubrey seems to understand your question perfectly. “I suppose not talking could make things confusing.”

“Then we’ll talk for you!” Kel offered. “We’ll tell them they need to come with us and then you can intimidate them if they refuse!”

“Huh, I guess that could work.” Aubrey looked down at the non-pink Sprout Mole at the bottom of the stairs. “Let’s give it a test run, then!” You and the others walk down the stairs and approach the non-pink Sprout Mole, who scoffed at nothing.

“How dare they make me wait! I am an esteemed guest!”

Aubrey cleared her throat and tapped the Mole’s...Shoulder? “Excuse me, esteemed guest. I humbly ask that you follow us, as your presence is urgently req-”

The Sprout Mole scoffed yet again and turned away from Aubrey. “No! Maybe you should leave!” You click your tongue and step forward, brandishing your knife. You hold it towards the Sprout Moles stem, ready to slice the stem in half at any moment. The Sprout Mole looks up at you and goes wide eyed. “You wouldn’t dare!” You slowly moved the knife towards the Sprout Mole’s stem and they backed away as fast as they could with a cry. “Okay, okay! I’ll come with you, just leave my stem alone!” The Sprout Mole walked to the back of the group and you made a soundless hum. You honestly didn’t expect that to work. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, you continue to gather up Sprout Moles to take to the desk. Some of the Sprout Moles joined in after first being asked, after making a comment on their attire or being right there to see the threat on a stubborn one. There was the one who commented to a Mole over an ear piece to abort the mission, though throughout the numerous cycles, you never find out what that mission was.

Taking the unpinkish guests to the desk, the Sprout Mole running it applauds your efforts. “Splendid! I knew you had it in you! Now we can finally get rid of these unpinkish guests!” The Sprout Mole blew a whistle. “GUARDS!! Escort these Sprout Moles to The Dungeon!” The guards situated in the Library took all the unpinkish guests and dragged them away while the pink guests were all accounted for. Once everything was done, the Sprout Mole nodded at your group. “And that takes care of that! Those unpinkish guests will never see the light of day again!” 

With that roadblock out of the way, the path to the Courtyard should now be open. You descend down the stairs and leave the Library. Next stop, the Gallery.

STARE has been replaced by INTIMIDATE

“Let me through! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to see Sweetheart’s latest work!” One of the Maid Sprout Mole complained to the Butler Mole, who shook their head.

“Get back to your stations, you two! You know guests take priority!”

“Please let me in!” The other Butler Mole begged. “I promise I’ll write you a good review!”

You look past that little exchange and down the corridor, where multiple Butler Moles are trying to block the way by running back and forth between the pillars. It’s not working considering that in the last run and in this one, you walk through the crowd without a single one bumping into you. Amateur's. 

The first thing that is noticed upon entry to the Royal Gallery is an ice sculpture of Sweetheart. Gross. Moving on from that, you head down to the Gallery proper, passing by (Through?) Princess Ghost on your way towards the display’s. On one of the pedestals is another one of the main Keys, ‘K’. You pick up the Key and in it’s wake, it leaves behind a group of White Tulips in it’s place. You try to ignore them, but you feel vines wrap around your legs, impeding your progress and keeping you in place. Unlike last time, where the Tulips were climbing up your arm, the petals begin to dance around in your vision until all you can see is white.

“S***y? Are you okay?” **s** asked, voice nearly breaking into a sob. “It...It’s going to be okay, S***y.” ***il pulled S*n** along by the hand, looking around the room for something. 

S**n* didn’t know what, there wasn’t really anything to look for. Just a vast emptiness. Suddenly, ****l’s eyes went wide and he pulled on the air. No...Wait, he…****l pulled out a book. Where would…? Oh right, the two are in B**i*’s room. Why were they here again? It didn't matter. S**ny sat down on *a**l’s bed as the blonde began flipping through pages of a book with a somber expression.

“Look at all of us.” He looked up at S***y, who was wearing a confused look. He thinks he was, anyway. He couldn't see his own face. B***l cleared his throat and held the book up to S****’s face. “These are all of our memories together.” B**il sighed as he flipped through the pages. “They're a little sad, now…But...We should be happy that they happened at all, huh?” *u**y kept silent, which gained a...Mournful sigh from B**il, who set the book down. “S***y…” B*s** looked at **nn* and sighed again. 

“ I have to go to the bathroom real quick.” *as** muttered, walking over to the door of his bedroom. “Be right back, S**ny.”

Your senses returning to normal, a crack can be heard in your mind. The lightbulb. Damn it, you need to prevent that. You glance back at the tulips resting on the pedestal and frown. They kept you from leaving. They brought back a memory, causing a crack in the bulb. That’s going to be a problem, considering they’re hiding behind the Keys. Drawing out a sigh, you leave the gallery and walk past the Sprout Moles trying to block everyone’s way. 

Who should appear at the entrance to the Main Hall? Sir Maximus III. “Stop, imposters! I know what you are...And you are no-” You don’t have the time for this so you just rush him. Kel takes the time to EXPAND as you test out your new INTIMIDATE ability, staring the enemy down while holding the knife near your face like a psychopath. Sir Maximus III’s stats have gone down, except his Defense seems to have lowered even more than his Speed and Attack. Aubrey lands a POWER HIT to break through Sir Maximus III’s defenses and Sir Maximus quickly strikes twice at you and Kel, whiffing the attack aimed at you, but hitting Kel dead on. 

Kel’s ball RICOCHETED off the walls and hit Sir Maximus three times and you summoned your RED HANDS to follow up on the damage, with Aubrey providing a BEATDOWN to seal the deal. Sir Maximus III breathed heavily as he stumbled in place. “No...I cannot let my father’s and his father’s death be in vain!” He unleashed the maximus family ULTIMATE ATTACK. “Father...Grandfather...I’m sorry...I have failed you.” Sir Maximus III fell over and faded away. 

You got 1,200 CLAMS  

Kel looked around after the fight and hummed. “Is it just me, or does it seem quieter than it was before?”

Aubrey hummed and looked around as well. “Actually, yeah. It is quieter!”

“Wasn’t there a crowd of Sprout Moles at the entrance earlier?” Kel pondered. “I saw them earlier when we first entered, but…” Kel walked past you and poked his head into the Main Hall. “They’re not there!”

Aubrey sighed in relief. “They must’ve pushed their way outside finally! Let’s follow them, Omori!” You nod and head into the Main Hall, where all that remains of Sprout Moles are the guards patrolling it. Walking over to where the crowd used to be, you step into the corridor surrounded by what looks like Fruit Juice, but actually isn’t Fruit Juice, plastic flamingos scattered about as you trek down the pink stony path.

A blinding light is what awaits you on the other side, as the purple sky of Headspace finally reveals itself at last. Stepping down the small steps, you finally officially enter Sweetheart’s Courtyard. Kel is ecstatic by this. “Woo-hoo! We’re finally out of Sweetheart’s Castle!” He took a deep breath and sighed. “I wonder what’s up with that big event everyone is preparing for…”

Aubrey looked around the area and raised a brow. “Strange...I don’t see the Sprout Moles from the entrance anywhere. Where could they have all gone?”

“Where could Hero have gone?” Kel asked somberly. The three of you paused and took in that little quarry. Well, Kel and Aubrey needed to ponder about it. You can already guess where you're going to find Hero. After a few more seconds of pondering silence, Aubrey sighed.

“Well, we’re not going to find him just standing here! There’s gotta be something to clue us in!”

You all nod and walk further into the courtyard. It’s a little harder to avoid running into the guards, but you already know that you need to get the passwords from all four hedge mazes. Maneuvering past the Harold, you enter the top right hedge maze and follow the path up until you spot the Sweetheart topiary, to which you hold out an arm to stop the others. “What’s up, Omori?” Kel asked afterwards. You pull out one of the Roses nearby and toss it towards the topiary, the eyes lighting up and firing a laser at the offending Rose. “Oh! Good quick thinking, Omori!”

Aubrey hummed. “So if we want to proceed, we’re going to have to get rid of that topiary somehow…”

“I think I saw a platform somewhere. I bet I can knock it over!” Kel suggested.

Aubrey held her chin. “I guess that could work…” 

Backtracking a little ways, you find the platform Kel was talking about and he climbs up on top of it and primes himself to throw his Rubber Ball. “Alright, Sweetheart...You asked for this!” kel threw the ball with a yell, but missed both of the topiaries, due to aiming strictly for the middle. Damn, you were hoping he had already known how to aim due to the way Headspace was acting. “Dang...I missed.”

Aubrey giggled. “Oh, silly Kel! You’re not going to knock out anything throwing like that! Why don’t you try aiming for once?”

Kel gasped. “Aim? I can do that?”

Aubrey nodded. “Of course! Even you can aim, Kel!”

Kel took in the knowledge with the expression one would make if they had found out something life changing, which for Kel, he had. Finally, he nodded. “Alright! I’ll give it my best shot!” Kel primed to throw and aimed for the topiary to his right and threw the ball, destroying the topiary in a mini-explosion. Kel repeated the action with the one on his left with a giant grin on his face. Kel walked down the platform and you pointed out another one a little ways past the entrance, but in a straight shot from where you are. Kel knocked down another Topiary that was blocking the way to the password guardian.

Passing through the hedge maze without any distractions, you make your way to the password guardian, but he doesn't seem to mind as you pass by him to press the button to lower the spikes. Once that was taken care of, you approached the golden armored Sprout Mole. “As a member of the esteemed elite, I have a special code word to hide...But you probably wouldn’t know anything about that.”

…Fuck! You forgot about the giant Sweetheart statue! 

Sprinting over to the center of the courtyard, you come to a stop in front of the statue of Sweetheart, it’s shadow looming over the garden, giving off a discomforting feeling. The statue began to shake as it’s blood red eyes opened and glared down at you. “WHAT’S THE PASSWORD?” A list of words appear in front of you and you hurriedly select the option ‘Nevermind’, because you just needed to discover the statue in the first place. “You said, ‘Nevermind’. WRONG!!” The statue gained an ANGRY expression and a beam of red light struck you, decreasing your HEART by half, which would be a concern if you couldn’t just grab a powerful Snack from your Pocket.

Perfect! Awesome! Now to sprint back to the Sprout Mole!

Back in the hedge maze, you confront the golden plated Sprout Mole once more! “There are four passwords that must be spoken to the Sweetheart statue to unveil the secret tunnel. Naturally, as one of the chosen elite, I have been given the responsibility of guarding the third of four!” You tilt her head and mouth out that you want to know. The Sprout mole takes a second to process. “You want to know the password? Oh no...I’m sorry...I’m not supposed to tell anyone…” You tilt your head like a puppy and give off the best puppy dog eyes you can muster. The Sprout Mole looks conflicted. “You really need it? Like you really, really need it? Like you really, really, really need it? Like you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really need it?” The Sprout Mole hums in thought. “I guess I have no choice then, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else! PINKY-SWEAR ON IT!” You extend out your pinky and hold it up to the Sprout Mole, who interlocked it with his own...Somehow. With a firm shake of the pinky’s, the Sprout Mole sighs in relief. “I was worried you might’ve been someone untrustworthy! Now, lean in closer…” You comply. “The password that I have been entrusted with is…’Filled’. You got that?” You nod. “Promise you won’t tell anyone, okay?” With a final nod, you leave the maze.

At the next maze, after downing the two topiaries, you come face to face with the next elite Sprout Mole. “There are four passwords that must be spoken to the Sweetheart statue to unveil the secret tunnel. Naturally, as one of the chosen elite, I have been given the responsibility of guarding the fourth of four!” The Sprout Mole then sighed angrily. “But, ugh! I’m supposed to hold onto this super secret password and everything, right?” You nod. “But, like, it’s about food, so now I’m just thinking about food all the time...It makes me so hungry, that I’ve started chewing on the grass to curb my appetite! Can you believe it!? They should really start providing food to the guards around here!” You nod in agreement. “And like, what kind of password is ‘Donut’ anyway? As in like, that stupid pet name that weird blue guy always called Sweetheart or something? Puh-lease! That’s no secret at all! Anyone could guess that! They were always walking around here and acting all couple-y, calling each other names like that back and forth...Saying things like, ‘Why won’t you ask me to marry you, yet?’ and ‘I’m sorry. My friends don’t approve of this relationship…’ all the time...Ugh! So annoying!” The Sprout Mole sighed. “But, whatever...I'm still stuck here guarding the passwords with those other guards…” They scoffed. “Those guys couldn’t keep a secret to save their lives!” They huffed. “That’s right! Pity me if you want! See if I care! Here I am, trapped here in this lonely little corner in the garden, guarding the word ‘Donut’ of all things! Geez-louise!”

Heading to the hedge maze straight ahead from the previous one, you find the next elite Sprout Mole. “There are four passwords that must be spoken to the Sweetheart statue to unveil the secret tunnel. Naturally, as one of the chosen elite, I have been given the responsibility of guarding the second of four!” The Sprout Mole looks up at you, seemingly already knowing what you want. “You want to know the password, eh? Not so fast there, buddy. I gotta say, you’re awfully tall for a Sprout Mole.” You resist the urge to cheer on this one being able to tell the obvious. “How do I know you really are one of us highly intelligent and majestic creatures? You think I’d ever spill the password to a potential spy?” The Sprout Mole shakes their head. “Don’t make me laugh! If you’re so sure that you’re a Sprout Mole, why don’t you prove it? I’ll tell you the password, if you can guess what I am thinking about right now!” You mouth out the word ‘Tofu’ and the Sprout Mole sighs longingly. “Oh...Mmm...Delicious Tofu...Well, I apologize for ever doubting you! I guess there are all kinds of Sprout Moles out there! Now, lean in closer…” You comply. “The password that I have been entrusted with is…’Jelly’. You got that?” You nod. “Promise you won’t tell anyone, okay?”

Traversing your way through the final maze, you press a button to lower a set of spikes and speak to the final elite Sprout Mole. “There are four passwords that must be spoken to the Sweetheart statue to unveil the secret tunnel. Naturally, as one of the chosen elite, I have been given the responsibility of guarding the first of four!” The Sprout Mole sighed. “It’s a beautiful day out in the garden, isn’t it brothers and sisters?” You nod and then point to the Sweetheart statue, which the guard understands. “Ah, you’re saying you would like to know of the password? I apologize, I’m afraid that is not in my jurisdiction.” They look around the maze and lean in closer. “Though...I suppose something tasty, off-white and cube-ish may change my mind…” You reach into your pocket and pull out a Tofu, tossing it down to the Sprout Mole, who takes it with a predatory gleam in their eyes. “Oh...Mmm...Delicious, irresistible Tofu…” They eat the Tofu in seconds and glance back at your group. “I suppose I can let it slip just this once. Now, lean in closer…” You comply. “The password that I have been entrusted with is…’Sweet’. You got that?” You nod. “Promise you won’t tell anyone, okay?” 

Finally... After getting all the passwords, you sprint back to the Sweetheart statue and step under it’s shadow to reactivate it. “WHAT’S THE PASSWORD?” You select the new option of ‘Sweet’. “...And?” You select ‘Jelly’. “...And?” You select ‘Filled’. “...And?” Finally, you select ‘Donut’. The statue hums. “You said. ‘Sweet Jelly Filled Donut’.” The statue remains silent for a beat, minus the huff in the middle. “FINE!!!” The statue lifted off the ground ever so slightly and moved backwards, revealing a trapdoor. You crouch down to open it-

“STOP RIGHT THERE, IMPOSTERS!”

Oh no…

You and the others turn around to see a familiar Sprout Mole clad in red armor, behind him are the gold plated elites that spilled the passwords, one of which looked betrayed, the other two looking angry, while the fourth one looks relieved to be doing something. “Finally, some proper action!” They shouted out.

“I should’ve figured a spy could gain knowledge of Sprout Mole culture!” Another one hissed out.

“I can’t believe I made a pinky promise with a fake…”

The familiar figure of Sir Maximus approached your group. “You...you have wiped out my entire line...My father, his father and father’s father! Then, you manage to obtain the passwords from the chosen elites, through trickery and deceit! Fiendish tricksters, your reign of terror ends here! My family shall be avenged!” The battle starts and Sir Maximus IV rolls initiative, getting a natural 20 and getting a stat boost. From what you can tell, the elite work as a group, meaning the damage done will affect all of them, whilst Sir Maximus is separate. Kel EXPANDS while you throw the elite a present, which isn’t what they wanted, inflicting ANGER on the group.

“You can do it!” Aubrey cheers Kel on to inflict HAPPY on him.

Sir Maximus IV closes his eyes and remembers his fallen family members. Opening them back up, he uses the signature family ULTIMATE ATTACK. The attack did the same amount as always, but it’s now followed up by the elite attack in sync, aiming for Kel in particular, who took dull damage with two of the strikes. Kel RALLY’s the group by blowing a party horn, becoming ECSTATIC in the time it takes for you to recover your JUICE and gain enough energy to release if Hero were here. You take the time to INTIMIDATE the elite while Aubrey tries to get a hit in on Sir Maximus IV, who...Parried?

Sir Maximus IV reflected half of what Aubrey’s attack would’ve dealt to him back at Aubrey after he parried her. The elite guard all followed up by focusing their attack on Aubrey, TOASTING her in the process. Kel makes his game winning move of RUN N’ GUN, dealing massive HEART damage to the elite, due to, well, hitting directly in the HEART. Three of them were completely silent due to the shock of being defeated, while the final one was more casual about it. “I’m actually pretty okay with this.” Was the last thing heard of the elite before they crumbled to the ground and faded away. You spread Life Jam across the TOASTIFIED Aubrey, reviving her. Sir Maximus IV FLEXES and feels his best, becoming HAPPY in the process.

Kel rectified that by running around him and ANNOYING him until he grew ANGRY, to which you decide to INTIMIDATE him while Aubrey takes a bite of a Cheeseburger. Sir Maximus IV struck you twice, whiffing on the final attack. Kel EXPANDS once more and you give him some Coffee while Aubrey prepares to counter. Sir Maximus IV uses his ULTIMATE ATTACK, getting hit back by Aubrey afterwards. Kel goes in with another RUN N’ GUN and you follow up with your RED HANDS while Aubrey finishes the job with a BEATDOWN. Sir Maximus IV looks longingly into the distance. “My...Lineage...I’m...Sorry…” Sir Maximus IV falls to the ground and fades away.

You got 1,600 CLAMS!

Aubrey’s COUNTER has been replaced by PARRY

Now that the distractions are gone, you open up the trapdoor and walk down inside, entering a corridor similar in design to The Dungeon. Walking through, you find several unopened presents littering the floor and a pair of discarded buckets of pai-Wait...The buckets are gone. Curious, you walk over to the hole in the wall that the buckets would usually be blocking and hear a couple of voices inside. Raising a brow, you step inside of the hole. A futon lays on the floor and the buckets of paint are set away to the side as a teal haired elf was frantically moving his brush across the canvas, the subject of the painting being...Hero?

Chapter Text

“Hero!” Kel called out at the sight of his older brother, taking off his mask. Pushing past you and the elf, Rococo, Kel tackles Hero into a hug. “We finally found you!”

Hero was shocked for a beat at the suddenness, but smiled warmly and reciprocated Kel’s hug. “Heya, guys! It’s good to see you got out of The Dungeon!”

“Forget us! How did you escape Sweetheart?” Aubrey asked, rather loudly after you and her took off your masks.

“Oh, that?” Hero let go of Kel and hummed. “Well, on the way to her chambers, she apparently decided that she couldn’t wait to get married and then ordered the guards to take me to a separate room. I was trying to turn her down, but I couldn’t get a word in. In the room, I was looking for any possible way out. I ended up resting against a poster on the wall and fell through a hole on the other side of it. It was a little bit of a drop, so the Sprout Moles didn’t see me inside of the wall, in fact they even replaced the poster.” Hero pointed to Rococo. “A little bit afterwards, I ran into Rococo here and he showed me how to traverse through the walls, where to get food and such.”

“A little afterwards, I asked if he could model for one of my paintings.” Rococo added. “And then you three showed up. So that is that, I suppose.”

“Wait, you decided to model for a painting, instead of walking through the walls in hopes of trying to find us?” Aubrey questioned.

“Um, well, I had it in mind, but Rococo asked first, so…” Hero tugged at the collar of his pajama shirt.

“Hero…” Aubrey sighed and shook her head.

“You really need to learn how to say ‘no’, big bro…” Kel muttered.

Rococo sighed and rubbed his neck. “I think that might’ve been my fault. It’s been so long since I’ve had company. After being alone for so long, but after what felt like an eternity, I had finally seen a new face. I just didn’t want the experience to end, you know?”

“Oh...I guess that makes a little sense...Maybe…” Aubrey mumbled that last part.

Kel tilted his head. “Who are you anyway?”

“Why…” Rococo flipped his hair back with a flourish, faint sparkles flowing in the wind. “I am the great up-and-coming artist, Rococo!”

Kel blinked. “I’ve never heard of you.”

“Yes...That is what up-and-coming means…” Rococo cleared his throat. “I’m, uh, just starting out, actually.”

“Okay, but why are you in the walls?” Aubrey finally asked the real question. “I mean, it’s obvious you were here before Hero, but...Why?”

Rococo sighs longingly. “It is a long and tragic tale, though there is a conspicuous gap in my memory, so I do not remember too much after a certain point. Instead, I’ll just settle in telling you what I know.” you nod and sit down on the floor, getting as comfortable as you could get. “In the beginning, was me...Crying in a pod in the middle of space...Witnessing my home planet blow up right in front of me. I can still remember it so vividly...Fire...Fire...Everywhere...And then darkness.

“When I awoke, I found myself in the middle of a desert...Surrounded in a sea of brown sugar, in a strange land I soon learned to be called Orange Oasis.” Rococo paused for a beat, clutching at his chest. “Even as a baby, I knew I was the sole survivor of my species...The last elf in the entire universe. ‘So this is how it ends...’ I thought. Yet...In a stroke of luck, I was found by none other than a young Donut by the name of Sweetheart.” Aubrey and Kel gasped. “She brought me to her family and they took me in as one of their own.

“Sweetheart and I...We grew up together. It was a rough childhood. We fought frequently, but she would always win...If I fought back...Well…” Rococo cringed a small bit, fiddling with something on his left hand. “Anyway!” Rococo said suddenly. “I learned to run! And I got quite good at running...But...There’s only so far you can run. Yes, it was a hard time. But even through that suffering, I stood firm. Because even then, I knew everything had a purpose. I was sent to this planet and survived for one reason and one reason only...To repopulate my entire species…” Rococo clicked his tongue. “It is here where the gap in my memory takes place, so I'll fast-forward a few years.

“At some point...Sweetheart and I fell deeply in love, became engaged, and moved into this giant castle together! We were inseparable, her and I...And we loved each other dearly! I would do anything for her, and I mean anything!” Rococo smiled sadly. “I was ready to spend the rest of our lives together...To grow old...And raise hundreds upon hundreds of children!” He sighed and looked at a ring that he wore on his left ring finger. “Thinking about it now, I wonder if I ever made that clear to her.” Rococo shook his head. “Anyway, continuing my story…

“Alas, all good times must come to an end. As Sweetheart’s fan base grew, she and I grew apart as well. She began receiving gifts and letters from suitors from all over the universe...Asking for a chance to prove their love to her. Being her one true love, I was vehemently against this notion! But she wouldn’t have it! ‘Sweetheart is for sharing!’ she would say!” Rococo sighed deeply. “So...One night while I was asleep...Sweetheart and her servants tied me up and sealed me inside the walls of her castle. I have been wandering aimlessly through the darkness ever since...Surviving off old TOAST and Tofu. Fast-forward a few more years, and that brings us to now! Yes! You four are the first living beings I have seen since that fateful day.”

You and your friends were silent for a good long while after Rococo finished his story. Hero shifted around in his spot. “Wow, Rococo. That’s a really...Umm...Shocking story.” 

Rococo began to tear up, sniffling all the while as he tried to wipe his eyes. “Oh...Sweetheart...Why did you do it? Was I not good enough for you?”

Aubrey shook her head. “Don’t blame yourself, Rococo! If anything, Sweetheart is the one who’s at fault!” Rococo turned to Aubrey with a shocked expression. “She was the one who decided to try and find a suitor despite being engaged to you! She’s the one who dumps people if they don’t see things her way and she’s the one who throws people in The Dungeon for something as small as not wearing the right colored tie!”

“Aubrey’s right!” Kel added, which shocked both Hero and Aubrey. “If Sweetheart wasn’t considerate enough to listen to your concerns and understand where you were coming from, then she’s not worth it!”

“Wow, Kel. That’s actually a pretty good point.” Aubrey responded.

Hero sighed as Kel and Aubrey started bickering again. “They have a point though, Mr. Rococo. She hasn’t been all that kind to the people she started to date after you. She was pretty much going to force me to marry her, despite my disinterest. By all accounts, Sweetheart is not a good partner.”

Rococo took the ring off his finger and looked at it intensely, drawing out a sigh. “For the last few years, I’ve had a lot of time to think. I kind of gave up on my dreams and all that stuff now…It all seems so far away and pointless...That’s why I decided to become an artist instead!” He tossed aside the ring and smiled.

“Well, I doubt you’ll be getting much done cooped up in here all the time.” Kel pointed out.

“Yeah!” Aubrey nodded, stars glittering her eyes. “There’s much more stuff to paint outside of the walls! Come with us! I’m sure we’re nearing the exit by now!”

“Plus, it’d be much better to breathe in the fresh air after being trapped in here for so long!” Hero added.

Rococo held his chin and hummed. “Maybe, but what of the guards? Won’t they notice the five of us walking around?”

Kel held up his Sprout Mole Mask. “That’s what this is for! With these on, those ugly plant creatures won’t be able to recognize us!” He handed Hero the fourth mask.

“And we could guard you! Since we only have the four masks.” Aubrey suggested.

“If anyone tries to mess with you, we’ll fight them off!” Kel cheerfully declared.

“Hmm, I suppose that could work. But if we get overwhelmed, fighting might not be an option.” Rococo flipped his hair with flourish. “Luckily, with my experience, I know the best way to outrun any enemy!”

“Alright! Well I guess we should get going now!” Hero stood up and equipped the Sprout Mole Mask. “That exit isn’t going to find itself!” You and the others nod, slipping on your Sprout Mole Masks while Rococo looks over at his art supplies, no doubt debating on whether or not to take them with him.

“I guess it’ll be easier to get away from the Castle if I didn’t have these.” Rococo finally muttered. He turned to your group and smiled. “Let us be off!”

Hero learned ARTIST-TREE

Walking out of the hole in the wall, you and the others escort Rococo to the end of the path, where a ladder leading up to a trapdoor was the only way forward. Making sure everyone was healed, you begin to climb up the ladder, with Rococo staying a few leagues behind so the rest of you could make sure it was safe. At the top of the ladder was the stage where Sweetheart’s Quest For Hearts took place. The coast seems to be clear for now, so you and the others fully ascend the ladder. “We’ve finally made our way out!” Kel exclaimed, without gaining any unwanted attention somehow. He began to look around and hummed. “Whoa, what’s with all these decorations?”

“They look like wedding decorations.” Aubrey muttered. 

“Yes, and I think we all already know why that is, so let’s hurry and-” Hero was interrupted by the sound of feedback coming from the microphone. “Oh no, the show's about to start! Quick, hide!” You and the others hide behind some Sprout Moles while Rococo quickly ducks his head back beneath the trapdoor. Looking up unto the stage, the show host walks up to the microphone.

“Welcome all! Welcome all! Today is a most momentous occasion. After forty-two seasons of Sweetheart’s Quest For Hearts...It is now time to air our final episode. It…” The host sniffled. “Has been a splendiferous run...Thank you all for your viewership! For as long as we have been on air...We have rigorously looked for a perfect suitor for our beloved Sweetheart...And each time...Regretfully...Sweetheart was unable to find her one true love. But this time, we believe...That we have truly outdone ourselves. This is...The moment to end all moments...History...Begins here! Dim the lights, please!” The room began to darken. “THE FINAL EPISODE BEGINS NOW! LET US COMMENCE THE WEDDING!!” The curtain on the stage began to rise, revealing the choir that Kel had helped out earlier. “Please, welcome to the aisle...SWEETHEART!”

You and the others turn back to the entrance, where a giant wedding cake is being pushed in by a couple of Sprout Moles. The cake began to convulse as a drumroll was heard in the background, until finally, Sweetheart burst forth from the top of the cake as the lights brightened back up, her usual attire replaced by a wedding dress. She hopped down from the cake and let out her trademark laugh as the audience cheered.. “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH~! SILENCE!!” The cheers died down and Sweetheart cleared her throat. “Before we begin, it seems we have a little sneakster on our hands!” Sweetheart smiles, almost manically, and approaches the spot where you and Hero are hiding. She doesn’t notice you, but she did notice Hero and pulled him up from his spot, removing the mask from his face. “Seems like someone had a small case of cold feet! It’s fine. I understand that marrying one such as I can be...Intimidating in a sense.” She smirked and shouted towards the stage. “LET US BEGIN THE CEREMONY!”

The choir began to sing the wedding song as Sweetheart pulled Hero to the front by the arm as he tried to struggle away. He looked towards you, Kel and Aubrey for help. The three of you looked at each other for a solution. “Dearly beloved…” The host began. “We are gathered here today…”

“Oh no...What do we do!?” Kel was starting to panic.

Aubrey sighed. “We’re going to have to interrupt the wedding. A part of me feels bad, but I don’t want to see Hero suffer at the hands of Sweetheart!”

The host cleared his throat. “Now...Does anyone object to this holy matrimony? Speak now, or forever hol-”

“I OBJECT!! STOP THIS WEDDING IMMEDIATELY!!” The crowd gasps and looks at the objecting party. Kel and Aubrey gasp as well at the sight of Rococo standing in the middle of the aisle. 

Sweetheart stared Rococo down like he was a particularly stubborn stain on the carpet. “You...What are you doing here?” Sweetheart started to grind her teeth together. “I thought you were long gone... I got rid of you…” Hero managed to get away from Sweetheart and joined you and the other three in standing around Rococo, removing your masks and taking out your weapons.

“Sweetheart, don’t do this.” Rococo pleaded. “I…” He took in a breath as he tried to think of something.

“This wedding is nothing but a sham!” Aubrey yelled out, earning a surprised look from Rococo. “You’re not looking for someone to love! You’re looking for someone to boss around!”

Sweetheart growled. “YOU TOO!? How dare you, all four of you, step foot back in here!?” Sweetheart snapped her fingers. “GUARDS!? GUARDS!?!?”

Rococo bit his lip and furrowed his brows. “Sweetheart...When we were engaged...I was ready to do anything for you, anything! I was ready to grow old with you and raise as many kids as you wanted...I was ready to spend my entire life with you.” Rococo clenched his fists. “At first...I thought the reason you were interested in seeking other suitors was because I never made that clear to you...Had you known that then, would anything have changed?”

Sweetheart huffed and turned away from Rococo. “I had dreamt about a life like that. For as long as I can remember, that was my goal in life. Perhaps if I had known of your plan for life, something would have changed. But as I told you before, ‘Sweetheart is for sharing!’” Sweetheart turned to Rococo and grit her teeth. “I’ve found much better suitors than you! There’s nothing you can do for me!”

Rococo held his head low and inhaled. “Had I been younger, I would have tried my hardest to appeal to you. To try and make you reconsider. To try and mend our relationship. But now…” Rococo shot his head up, ANGER filling his face as he threw his hand out in the air. “You don’t deserve my affection! SOMEONE WHO WOULD THROW THEIR PARTNER IN THE WALLS WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT DOESN’T DESERVE ANYTHING!!”

The audience gasped at Rococo’s declaration, whereas Sweetheart had looked shocked and appalled. “After everything I did for you…”

Hero stepped forward from behind Rococo. “Listen, Sweetheart. You can’t just force someone to marry you! Especially when they don’t want to!”

Sweetheart turned away from your group and remained silent for a long time. “So...You reject me…” She moved her hand up to her face. A faint chuckle can be heard, Sweetheart’s shoulders moving up and down slightly, before she turned back towards your group and began to howl with laughter. “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH~!”

Kel backed up a bit. “Uh-oh...Now we’re in for it…”

“Ah...Yes...I see everything clearly now…” Sweetheart mumbled. “I’ll admit it...It was wrong for me to trap you inside the walls, Rococo. I had thought that you were a worthy companion before my fame peaked. I had thought that Hero would be an even better one…” Rococo sneered. “But...I’ve figured it all out now...It seems you...Both of you are just jealous of me, just like everyone else!” Sweetheart turned from the group. “Yes! That must be it! My dazzling looks...My charming smile...My gregarious personality...It must be so difficult for either of you to even stand in my presence!” 

Rococo drew his lips into a thin line and backed away slowly. “I think...I think she broke…”

Aubrey looked up at Rococo with a raised brow. “Broke?”

“Well…” Sweetheart cooed. “There is no need to despair anymore...I will end your suffering...Personally…” She turned back to your group with a flash of pink light, returning to her normal attire. She brought out her wand from a pocket dimension and formed a heart in the air with it, pointing the end of it towards your group with a menacing smile. “FAREWELL, MISERABLE PEONS!” She threw her arm to her side, the end of the wand extending out by a chain and landing on the floor, turning into a spiked flail. “I’LL LOCK YOU UP IN THE DUNGEON FOREVER!!!”

(SOURCE)

Rococo gulped. “Well...This is the part where she kills us…”

Chapter Text

(BGM)

Upon the start of the fight, the first thing Hero does is to flash a SMILE at Sweetheart to lower her attack while Kel uses his EXPAND ability, with you tossing over a Present towards Sweetheart to make her ANGRY. Sweetheart insults each and every one of you and finishes off with a laugh, hurting your ears and making everyone ANGRY as well. “You can do it!” Aubrey cheers Kel on, making him HAPPY.

“OH HERO! MY HERO!! YOUR SMILE CHARMS MY HEART! I WILL MAKE IT MINE!!” Sweetheart declared, causing Hero to regain his lost HEART. Kel uses a Sparkler to go from HAPPY to ECSTATIC while you decide to mimic Sweetheart’s pose while wearing a dumb expression, MOCKING Sweetheart, who scoffs and slaps you. Aubrey lands a HEADBUTT on Sweetheart while Hero tests out his new ARTIST-TREE skill, raising everyone’s SPEED up a considerable amount. Kel uses RUN N’ GUN to deal a heavy blow to Sweetheart’s HEART. Sweetheart wipes her nose and smiles. “It’s pointless, you fools! You cannot dampen my positive energy!” Sweetheart became HAPPY! “You dare raise your fists at me!?” Sweetheart muttered afterwards, her smile unwavering. “Fools! You should be groveling on your knees!”

Kel quickly runs up to Sweetheart and tickles her on the sides, keeping her distracted long enough for you to pull out a Rain Cloud to make you and your friends SAD. Sweetheart recovers for long enough to swing her mace with fervor, damaging all of you. Aubrey runs up to Sweetheart and lands a POWER HIT to decrease her defense while Hero calls up some GATOR-AID to raise the party’s defenses. 

“Oho! My beauty and grace is boundless and everlasting…” Sweetheart chuckles. “It’s a shame that you won’t be able to enjoy it for much longer!” Sweetheart became ECSTATIC. Kel throws a CURVEBALL at Sweetheart and deals extra damage thanks to her emotion. You run up to Sweetheart and slash at her with your knife, turning to the others and motioning to them to come together and use your ULTIMATE ATTACK. Baseballs Bats were swung with sheer harmful intent, Basketballs were thrown around to disorient, an Ol’ Reliable was used to smack the enemy around and you finish the attack with several slashes from your knife. Sweetheart grits her teeth and slaps Aubrey aside due to her being the closest.

Kel throws his ball and it RICOCHETS around the room and you take the opportunity to EXPLOIT Sweetheart’s emotion. Sweetheart retaliates by hurling insults at your party once again, making all of you ANGRY. Aubrey BEATSDOWN on Sweetheart but deals less damage due to the emotion difference and Hero uses his turn to use the last Rain Cloud to give all of you the advantage again. Kel EXPANDS and you decide that enough is enough and use CRIPPLE, several spider legs appearing from behind you to slash and stab at Sweetheart, lowering her SPEED enough for Aubrey to go before her and give her another BEATDOWN. Hero uses ARTIST-TREE to raise everyone’s SPEED up some more.

Sweetheart grits her teeth and once again swings her mace with fervor. Kel retaliates with a RUN N’ GUN, causing Sweetheart to huff. “I see you are still standing!” She begins to chuckle. “Cockroaches are resilient, I suppose! OHOHOHOHOHOHO~!!” Sweetheart became MANIC! You stare Sweetheart down and run your finger along the edge of the knife to INTIMIDATE Sweetheart and lower her stats. Aubrey finally uses MOOD WRECKER to deal extra damage thanks to Sweetheart's emotion, hitting straight in the HEART due to Aubrey’s. Hero decides to use TENDERIZE to lower Sweetheart's defense even more.

Sweetheart slaps Kel away and he makes another RICOCHET as payback. You summon your RED HANDS to claw and scratch at Sweetheart and finally slamming her into the ground. Sweetheart stands back up with a grunt and looks at your group in disbelief. “No...Is this...What they call defeat?” She drops back onto her knees and claws at the carpet slowly. “I cannot accept this…” She grits her teeth, her smile finally fading away into a teeth grinding frown. “I will not accept this! You’re all nothing…” She stands back up slowly, her yellow glow gaining an orange hue. “BUT A BUNCH OF LOWLY PEASANTS!!!” Sweetheart’s smile returned to her face, accompanied by her furrowed brows to create a menacing visage. Sweetheart became SADISTIC!

Sweetheart recovered some HEART!

Kel quickly EXPANDS while you take the opportunity to try and EXPLOIT this specific type of emotion. If it’s a combination of MANIC and ANGRY, you decide that the best EXPLOIT would be to TRICK Sweetheart into thinking that your MOCKERY is actually flattery. Testing it out, you mimic her pose, sneaking in some subtle additions that completely MOCK her. Sweetheart falls for it, her SPEED and ATTACK lowering to a point that they cannot be lowered anymore. Aubrey takes the chance to use MOOD WRECKER, the damage increase still technically applying while Hero tosses everyone a Snack for SNACK TIME. 

Sweetheart wings her mace around with even more fervor than before, essentially taking everyone back down to their previous amount of HEART before you all healed. Kel uses RUN N’ GUN in response and you slash at Sweetheart with your knife before gesturing to the others to Release your collective ENERGY. After the second time combining swings, throws, smacks and slashes, Sweetheart’s footing begins to waver. Aubrey BEATSDOWN on Sweetheart and the fight is officially over when Hero uses TENDERIZE, bringing the last of Sweetheart’s HEART down to zero. “How could this be?” Sweetheart questions. “Y-You...You’re all nothing!”

You got 2,752 CLAMS!

You got Sweetheart’s Wand!

Sweetheart’s Wand: Sweetheart’s Flail without the ball and chain. Has a chance to inflict ANGER on enemies.

HEART: +10

ATK: +15

SPEED: +10

Hit: 100

Sweetheart clutches the fabric of her dress. “How dare you defy me…” She yells and snaps her fingers. “Throw them in The Dungeon!” She looks at the edge of the stage, where the guards remain still. “Guards...Guards!?!?” The Harold’s all back away while Rococo steps in between them.

“It’s over, Sweetheart...The wedding, and your show, are cancelled!” You and the others slowly make your way to the front of the stage while Sweetheart takes a step in the opposite direction.

“N-No! I cannot accept this!” Sweetheart mumbled erratically. “I-I’m Sweetheart! I’m not supposed to lose! Sweetheart never loses...NEVER!!” You and the others turn to Sweetheart, who collapsed onto her knees, dragging her nails across the stage floor. “I’m a winner! I’ve always won! I’ve made it this far because I’ve always WON!!!”

Rococo sighed and turned away. “You’ve always won...Because I was a coward. It’s time you learn the taste of defeat, Sweetheart…” Rococo walked away from the stage, stopping briefly in the middle of the aisle before sighing and continuing his leave.

You and the others all look back at Sweetheart before deciding to step off the stage, to which a sickening chuckle came from Sweetheart soon afterwards. “I-I can still win this! It’s not over, until I say it’s over!” Sweetheart stood back up, a deranged smile forming on her face. “SPROUT MOLE MIKE!! GET ME THE BUTTON!!”

Sprout Mole Mike flinched back and gulped. “A-At once, my queen!” He quickly left backstage and returned with a grey box with a large red button.

“Sweetheart!?” Aubrey yelled out, stepping back onto the stage.

“Aubrey!” Kel called out and quickly followed the bow-wearing girl onto the stage. You and Hero followed shortly after. “What are you-”

Sweetheart took the button and held it up in the air with a MANIC smile. “THIS IS THE END, PEONS!!” She pressed the large red button and the stage became engulfed in large bursts of flames as an explosion knocked you and your friends back onto the aisle. When the smoke cleared, you managed to climb up to your knees and look out onto the ruined stage, the curtain ripped to shreds and charred, with a large chasm taking up the entirety of the middle stage.

Aubrey dusted herself off and looked to the stage with a solemn expression. “So much for a big teaching moment...I don’t think there’s any chance of her surviving that explosion.”

“Yeah…” Kel groaned as he sat up, rubbing the side of his head. “I guess this was a complete waste of time…”

You stand up on your feet and look out towards the stage, the feeling of Ş̶̫̞̿͝Ơ̶̯̽M̸̨̯̲͋E̵̱̊̅̕T̴̜̖͂H̴͎̜̽I̶̖̥̯͛N̸͖͋̃Ĝ̶̻̈'̴̝͛̊S̷̠̘̓͘ judgmental stare gnawing at your skin and vision as the shadowy form of Stranger appears in front of you, walking into the abyss below the stage. Your vision returns to normal as Aubrey taps on your shoulder. “What’s the matter, Omori? Is there something wrong?” You ignore Aubrey’s worries and walk up the stage, stopping just a mere few inches from the large hole. It’s a long way down, but you already know you need to jump. You lift one of your feet up towards the hole and lean forward, vantablack surrounding you as you make your descent.

(BGM)

You land with a thud, opening your eyes to meet the deep dark blue floor of the Lost Library, a decrepit house of memories that was abandoned and replaced by Sweetheart’s Castle. You lift yourself off the ground and come face first with a group of both White Egret Orchids, a flower whose name is garnered by the flower’s resemblance to a graceful White Egret in flight. That is a normal sight for this place, but what really draws your attention is that a mere few feet from each Orchid, is a White Tulip, a brilliant shine emitting from the petals, illuminating the dark halls of the Lost Library.

Standing up completely, you find that the normal sight of cobwebs and dead trees is still present. You steel yourself and walk forward, knife drawn and ready to slice away the incoming webs that will block your way. But they never came. Raising a brow, you pocket the knife and continue on ahead, passing by where the next set of webs would’ve appeared.

Climbing up a ladder, you pull out a shining blue book and open it up, the Library beginning to shine brighter as you read the excerpt.

S***y was in the middle of the back seat, wil K** and B***l to his right and A**re* to his left. M*** and He** were in the front, M*** driving the group back home after a long day at the beach. It was fun, but in the end it proved to be exhausting, as S***y can see M*** struggling to keep herself from yawing. Eventually, K** leaned back against the car seat and began to lightly snore, a signal to the others that he’s asleep. A fact that gets all the more clear as his snores get louder. Despite that, B***l is the next to fall victim to the lady known as sleep. Then He** and then A**re*.

S***y felt his eyes flutter and Clamp shut as the sun began to set over the freeway. At some point during his rest, his head fall towards his left and lands on A**re*’s shoulder, no doubt waking the poor girl up, which in turn woke him up from the sudden jolt. He didn’t open his eyes though. He wanted this moment to last, so instead, he opted to keep up the facade of him being asleep, even keeping his breathing steady.

Ironically, the feel of A**re*’s shoulder wasn’t what he focused on the most. What really captivated S***y was the feeling of the soft rays of the sun caressing his skin as well as the faint hint of pain that’ll no doubt arise from tomorrow’s sunburn. S***y was...Happy. Very happy. Happy to the point that he could feel a faint smile forming on his face, just small enough that not even M*** could comment on it. 

S***y makes a vow to himself. He will remember this moment, no matter what. It will stay with him forever.

You close the book, but the brightness remains. That was always one of my favorite memories. A voice suddenly echoes throughout the Library. You look around from the top of the ladder and spot a shadow-y figure leaning against the dead tree. At first, you figured it to be Stranger, but when you climbed down to meet the figure face to face, it turned out that your assumption was wrong. 

While with Stranger, you could only see their white glowing eyes and messy hair reminiscent of Basil’s, the appearance of the figure before you is much more prominent. The outline of a Flower Crown can be seen resting around their neatly brushed hair, straight and fluffy hair, hair you yourself recognize as your own. They were dressed nicely, with a vest over a long sleeved formal shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, long pants that bunch up slightly at the ankles and, in contrast to the rest of their formal wear, what look to be sneakers. Their eyes, while still glowing, were instead bright purple.

The figure stared back at you as you took in their appearance and looked back up at the book once you were done. It was such a pleasant one. I’ve always had a crush on Aubrey, almost since the day we all met her. I didn’t know why I did at the time, but looking back at it, the reason why was because she was a Gladiolus. She was honest, standing by her strong moral values...Someone who stood by her convictions. She was always true to herself, and I found that admirable. The figure chuckled. 

I remember a few days after that memory, we were sitting on the couch watching TV. I was a little tired that day, so I ended up falling asleep. Aubrey was to the left of me, so I knew what the cause was for the sudden weight on my shoulder. I knew that it was most definitely payback for waking her up during the car trip, but a part of me always wondered if she also had a crush on me. The figure sighed and shook their head. But, that would be too good to be true. Not that I didn’t mind being just friends...Though now it seems like that’s no longer the case huh, Omori?

You flinch away from the figure as they fade away. You’re usually referred to as Dreamer by them, so why did that one call you by your name? And...Why is it still bright? You finished reading the passage. Strange. You’re getting off track. Walking down the flight of stairs, you turn to your right and make your way to the next ladder for the next book, but the figure is waiting by the ladder when you get to it. They chuckle and shake their head.

Ah, Kel! Always so clumsy! Mari’s face when Mewo walked over the puddle and spread the stain around. The figure chuckled some more. Mom was upset when she noticed but didn’t stay mad for too long, eventually just accepting the stain into the home. After numerous attempts to clean it up, of course. Dad was always so confused, apparently having never noticed the stain at all. The figure lowered their head. He didn’t pay attention to a lot of things that weren’t Mari’s grades or piano practices. Anything that wasn’t perfect just seemed to not exist for him...It made me sad, but...I didn’t know how to bring that to light, without looking selfish…  

The figure sighed. I could never mention it to Aubrey, since she already had so much going on in her life. It didn’t feel right to add on to her own worries. As much as I would’ve loved to seek Basil's help...But...He saw me as...Perfect. I...Couldn’t rip that away from him. I just couldn’t. And Kel...Kel was having problems with his parents that were similar to my own...If I told him, it would feel...It would feel like I was… The figure covered their face and let out a hitched breath. So...I just buried it away...If I didn’t acknowledge it...Then it didn’t exist...Does that sound familiar to you? The figure looked you straight in the eyes as they faded away, the Library getting brighter, with the trees beginning to look healthier somehow.

Growing ever more weary, you walk over to the other side of the floor and climb up a ladder hidden behind a corner, opening up the pages of the book.

‘So...Hot…’ S***y thought to himself as he watched everyone move around and work with long pieces of wood, thin nails and various amount of tools that he honestly didn’t understand all that much. All he knew was that K** kept on hammering his fingers when he was trying to hammer a nail into some of the wooden boards, which even made S***y cringe in pain. He** would bring out more wood from his dad’s pickup while M*** had finished doing something on the ladder over an hour ago.

Even in the shade, S***y could feel the hot Summer heat seeping into his skin and making him sweat just by doing nothing. Even being moral support was exhausting. Eventually, M*** approached him and smiled. “S***y, I know that you’re not a fan of the heat, but we could really use your help. The Treehouse is for everyone and therefore, everyone needs to pitch in.” S***y looked towards the others and the mess that is strewn about the backyard. He can make out the ripples of heat travelling through the air and pursed his lips.

Drawing out a sigh, S***y stood up and made his way over to the others, getting a small clap and cheer from M***. ‘Why did it have to be the hottest day of Summer today?’ S***y thought to himself.

You close the book and hear the slight sounds of leaves rustling with the wind. You look to the tree on your left, also taking note of the missing vine, and notice the figure leaning against the leaf-bearing tree. The figure was now starting to gain color, the most notable being the blue of their vest, the white of their formal shirt, the purple-blue and pink of their Flower Crown, the deeper blue of their hair, the paleness of their skin, the noticeable tan of their pants and the hint of purple in their sneakers. 

I don’t know if I was any help that day. If anything, I felt more like a hindrance. Like I was impeding our progress into making the Treehouse. Hero had to teach me how to hammer a nail into the boards. It took so many attempts, but after a while I got it down, but it cost Hero time that could’ve been used to help bring more supplies. The figure smiled. But...I can’t help but feel glad that he taught me the way that he did. He gave clear instructions and hints, without ever needing to step in and hold my hand through it all. Unlike what Mom...Or Mari would’ve done. 

They grimaced. I never liked being babied as much as I was by them. I’m sure Mari didn’t mean to treat me like one, but a lot of her mannerisms felt the same as Mom’s. But, I was too afraid to confront either of them on the matter, so I left it be. Pretty soon, it just became second nature to rely on them. The independence I lost out on...It would’ve helped greatly…

You blink as the figure fades away. What nonsense were they going on about? You wouldn’t have even gotten here without Mari’s help. Though, to be fair it wouldn’t have been your first time needing to come to the Lost Library, even before this cycle. Regardless, the figure doesn’t know what they’re talking about, that’s final. 

Climbing down the ladder, you approach the middle set of stairs and walk down, a ghostly white figure following down the set to your right, but they disappear before you could get a good look at them. You approach the next ladder and read the book it leads up to.

S***y looked out the window as the teacher was rambling on about something. This time his mind was set on the shadows casted by the trees that basked in the sunlight. What little trinkets could those shadows be hiding? Well, nothing that he and his friends couldn’t solve! 

The six walked up to the massive trees, the top piercing the clouds above, holding the sky in place so it wouldn’t collapse on top of them as they searched for a hidden entrance in the shadows. At some point during your search, K** bumped into a strange rock sticking out of the sand, and a creature rose from it’s slumber. S***y and the others turned to see what the commotion was, only for He** to freeze in place at the sight of a giant Clam rising above the sand atop about five legs, which for He**, was three legs too many. 

Everyone else panicked at the sight of the Clam itself and not just the legs it rested upon. When the creature started to move towards the group, M*** took hold of He**’s hand to help him move as the entire group ran away from it down an increasingly narrow path in the sand that led to a giant cluster of giant tree branches. At the start of the path was another Clam that rose from the ground due to-

“Hey, S***y!” The sound of K**’s voice, along with a hearty slap to S***y’s back broke the boy out of his reverie. He looked up at K**’s smiling face as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Class is over dude! It’s time for lunch, Pizza Day today! Let’s hurry and go before they’re all gone!” S***y’s stomach rumbled and the raven haired boy saw that as an agreement to leave quickly. He took a final glance out the window, promising to finish his adventure.

You closed the book as the sound of leaves rustling in the wind became louder. A sign that more leaves had grown on the trees. It was always easier to do or say things in my head, than it was in reality. My thoughts were the best place for me to vent my frustrations when I wasn’t alone with Mewo. You climb down the ladder and turn to the figure, their colors becoming even more prominent, making it easier to notice the faint aura of purple beginning to outline them, much like the aura of purple outlining your friends. A smile formed on their face. Everything I couldn’t do in reality was child’s play in my head. Fending for myself, facing my fears, exploring vast world’s… Their expression fell. Refusing my friends on various activities that I didn’t want to do. All of that...Was so much simpler in my dreams.

The figure then smiled once more and looked up at the bookshelf. But that didn’t mean reality didn’t have it’s perks. It was more memorable to meet a new face in reality than it was to meet one in my mind. One time, when me and Basil were walking around the outskirts of the school, we came across a little flower patch. Basil was ecstatic when he saw them because of how well taken care of they were. We were kneeled in front of them as he began to list off the different meanings of each flower, when a pair of footsteps from behind us got our attention. The person walking over to us turned out to be Charlene, the tallest girl in school, who also happened to be even shyer than I was. The figure chuckled. She was holding a watering can and Basil put two and two together to realize that she was the one taking care of the flowers. We all introduced ourselves and Basil and her began discussing various gardening tips and tricks while I sat in the background and listened. That was the last time I ever heard Charlene speak that much. Every other encounter I had with her, she only spoke a few words with a pause between a lot of them.

The figure shifted their position a bit. This one time, I was walking around the park, when I saw a girl in a blue hoodie staring at a bird that was perched atop the metal cat in the playground. I knew that the girl looking at the bird was Kim, since even then, she had a bit of a reputation for being a bit bossy and roughhouse. Normally, I would have kept my distance to avoid trouble, but the way she was looking at the bird with such intrigue, I found myself being a little braver than normal and approached her. They chuckled. She got startled by my sudden appearance, which in turn scared off the bird. When I explained myself after she got angry and threatened me, she, surprisingly, softened up a bit and explained why she was in awe with the bird. Apparently, it was mentioned briefly during science that bird’s are the descendants of dinosaurs and since dinosaurs happened to be a favorite of hers, she couldn’t help but be awed at the fact. 

The figure tapped their foot on the ground with a hum. One day, when it was just me and Mari because the others were busy with different arrangements, Mari set up a play date with me and one of the neighbor’s, Cris. We ended up playing with some Sweetheart and Capt. Spaceboy figures along with my Sprout Mole Plush. The figure chuckled. We ended up pairing the two together, putting the two in situations that one would normally have to deal with as newly founded teammates and putting them into domestic situations that were inspired by Hero and Mari. She had taken a liking to Capt. Spaceboy, due to how blue he was, so we ended up trading our figures. At the end of the day, we ate some cookies that Mari had baked for us and when Cris took her leave, she gave me a hug and thanked me for playing with her. I wonder if she remembers that...

The figure sighed and stepped away from the tree. What will people be like in the city…? With that, the figure faded away. Instead of pondering their words, you descend down the stairs and climb up the next ladder.

“Come on, S***y!” K** shouted towards the raven haired boy. “It’s so much fun!” K** then jumped off the statue that sat a little ways off from the middle of the lake. S***y stares at the two brothers as they laugh after they resurface from their jump. It does look like fun, but at the same time it looks kinda dangerous. Still, S***y doesn’t want to disappoint his friends, fearing the potential backlash they’d have, and K** does really want S***y to join him and He**. In the end, S***y caves and makes his way to climb the statue.

The hot Summer day begins to draw to a close as the sun begins to set behind the trees. S***y finally makes it to the top of the statue, K** and He** cheering the boy on as he climbed. S***y looks down at the water below him and swallows his own spit at the sudden realization of just how high off the ground he actually is. He can feel his heartbeat getting increasingly faster, a loud ringing in his ears blocking out the noise of K**, which is a feat in itself.

S***y tries to turn his attention to his breathing to calm himself down, a small trick that pretty much everyone in his family employs at some point in their lives. However, he is interrupted by a slight tingling sensation that is traveling around his shoulder. S***y’s eyes fly open and he turns his head to meet a black spider that is crawling on his shoulder. B***l always tells him that there’s nothing to be afraid of when it comes to spiders, but in this particular moment, S***y is terrified at the sight of the arachnid and ends up hurling himself off the statue.

The remaining heat of the day is replaced with a deep freezing atmosphere as S***y plummets into the depths of the small lake, water filling up his nose and stinging his eyes. He tries to exert his limbs, to push himself back up to the surface like K** and He** had done, but the water overpowers S***y and pushes him further down. S***y is terrified, the feeling of helplessness weighing down on him. But, deep inside, he knows he’s not helpless. 

In the end, S***y closes his eyes...And waits for the brothers to rescue him.

Y’know, I sometimes wonder if that little incident is the reason why there’s so many bodies of water in Headspace. The figure says, their voice coming from your right side. Maybe those bodies of water are the remnants of all the water that was in my head following that day. The figure chuckled, but then quickly sighed in exchange. If it wasn’t for Mari, I wouldn’t be here…

You climb down the ladder as the figure, their bright pastel colors becoming even more prominent. Mari really laid into them about not rescuing me the moment I fell in and didn’t resurface right afterwards. I had to calm her down and tell her not to hold it against them, but...In truth...I was angry with them too. I put my faith in that they’d dive down and pull me up to the surface after I began to sink...But they didn’t… The figure grit their teeth and dug their fingers into their arms. If Mari had noticed just a second too late, I would have drowned. Why? Why didn’t Kel and Hero help me sooner? Why did they just…? The figure faded away as tears began to roll down their face.

Stepping down to the final level of the Library, the vines and cobwebs have all disappeared and the trees had fully regained their teal leaves. The building had been lit up as if nothing had happened to it at all and that it was still on the surface, where the light of the sky could come in through the windows. Walking through the underbelly of the leaves, you make your way to the final ladder. The final book.

S***y could barely keep his attention to the show, with how much he kept glancing up at the clock, dreading the inevitability of 10:00 AM, when his Violin tutor would arrive. S***y could feel a pit in his stomach at the thought of the instrument. While yes, he understood the importance of having to get better situated with it for the recital he and M*** have planned, why does he need to be tutored on a Saturday? 

Before the Violin came into play, he and his friends would eat breakfast together and watch TV, where a new episode of their favorite show would play. He always loved to watch TV with his friends. It was easily the most enjoyable part of the week. But with the Violin, that enjoyment has been dampened. Instead of watching the entirety of the show with his friends, he now had to leave during the final hour and get the episodes ending spoiled by kids at school or told to him later by Basil or Aubrey, since Kel was never all that reliable on that front. 

He doesn’t understand why the tutor couldn’t come later in the day, or even wait until tomorrow. Why did S***y need to be tutored on a Saturday? Why can’t S***y just have a day off with his friends like he used to? 

Why did S***y play the Violin...If all it did was keep him from his friends?

When I got the Violin...It was the best thing anyone has ever given to me. And the fact that it was given to me by all of my friends...That made it hurt more as it kept me away from them. The figure spoke solemnly. The practices...The tutoring...The recital...All of it was tailored to Mari’s liking. Even when she saw that I was struggling, she didn’t change the schedules. She didn’t call me out on my blatant lying when I said I was fine after a particularly bad practice. It wasn’t just her either...Kel saw the blisters on my hands and commented on them, but contributed them to me taking too many notes. Basil is my best friend, but the fact that he couldn’t tell that something was wrong, even when he knew my ticks even better than Mari did...It hurt...It all hurt.

The figure sniffed and wiped their eyes. Why am I such a coward? Why couldn’t I just talk about my problems? Why…? Just why…? The figure curled up into a ball and hugged their legs, fading away as the sound of sobbing echoed throughout the Library. The building shook as something nearby opened. You climbed down the ladder and once more walked through the trees to the other side of the Library floor. On the other side was the next key, the letter ‘L’.

After you pick it up, you feel the sensation of vines once again climbing over you in an effort to reach the top. You don’t need to look down to know where the feeling is coming from, as both your previous experiences and the sight in front of your eyes have already told you that White Tulips now surround you and encase your vision in a vast whiteness.

“So what do White Tulips mean, anyway?” Su**y asked Ba**l later that day.

The blonde haired boy looked over at the flowers in question and smiled. “Well, just like with Roses, different colored Tulips mean different things! It is believed that if you dream about White Tulips, it signifies a fresh start in life or that you’re about to embark on a new journey.” Ba**l turned to Sunny. “The meaning for White Tulips is kind of like the answer I gave earlier, as they represent purity, honor, respect

And forgiveness.”

The image of a key taped to something is the next thing you see. There’s a caption nearby that reads:

D̶̰̠̝͆̅O̶̡̥̼͕͝N̶̦͍̾̐̚̕'̷̧͎̻̳̏́͝Ť̶͙̖͖̰̒̈́ ̴̞̿F̴͔̺̖͓́͝Ö̵̹́́̓̂R̷͈̄͊Ĝ̸̨̲͍̏̆E̶͔͙͈͊̎͘T̴̲̣͈̐̓̕ ̶̪̣̾̆I̷̤͛̌ͅT̸̮̬̭̑̃̈'̷̢̩̤̇ͅS̵͈̀̿͘ ̸̢̛̝͈I̷͍̍N̴̨̝̱̥͂ ̴̘͙̫̄̑͛T̷̨͚̬̱͆̆͑̕Ḣ̶͓E̵̦̙̔̓ ̴̲̳̞̏͝T̵̘̻̭̠͋Ȍ̸̙̋͒Y̶̱͍̜̚ ̴̘̊̓̀́B̸̗̮̦͕̒͠Ô̶͔̠͆X̴̳͖͝

What comes next is the familiar sight of White Space, where the first thing you do is look up at the light bulb. It’s not looking too good, with a noticeable new fracture along the surface, as well as the unmistakable haze that emanates from it. Well, you know the drill by now. Without Sunny spending some time awake, you can’t access Headspace, a rule that’s been in place since this all started. You reach into your pocket and pull out your knife, only to feel a sudden weight on the blade.

You turned your attention to the knife and saw a hand holding onto the dull part of the blade. Looking at the owner of the hand gets you to gasp, ever so lightly. It was the figure from the Library, but the colors were in their full glory. The Flower Crown was the same as Basil’s, but instead of the mint-green hair it would usually rest upon, the Flower Crown rested atop a head of azure blue hair. The pastel blue vest they wore atop their formal shirt was near blinding in the vast white of White Space, with the only tolerable colors being the tan of their pants and the deep purple of their sneakers and eyes. The figure's skin tone was the same as your friends in Headspace. You know this figure.

The figure was Sunny.

I can’t believe it took you this long to notice. Sunny smirked and then tugged on the knife, his face going back to it’s constant neutrality. Stop it with the knife. All you're doing is hurting me with it. You tug the knife and Sunny responds with a frown. Omori...We can’t keep doing this. You and I both- You tug the knife away from Sunny’s grasp completely and stab him in the stomach.

2 DAYS LEFT

Chapter Text

Sunny, unsurprisingly, woke up with a gasp as he clutched his abdomen. The only difference was that he was lying on his side and reached out towards the edge to pull himself off the bed, the pain worsening as he moved. Once he got a third of his upper body off the bed, the rest soon followed as the sudden lack of solid material under him made him drop and fall off the bed, which only caused mild discomfort as the pain in his abdomen faded away almost immediately once he was free from his sheets. Instead, all he felt was an awful ache in both his legs and arms, his muscles tightening up after finally being worked for the first time in four years.

“Fucking...Called it!” Sunny groaned out as he used the nearby wall to pull him back up to his feet. He looked out the window, where the sky was beginning to brighten up, but the sun had yet to appear from behind the trees. Sunny looked on in horror at the sight. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” He walked up to the phone on his desk and looked at it’s clock, where the time had just barely reached 6:00 AM. Sunny stared at the time in utter disbelief. “How did I wake up earlier than yesterday!?” Just like that, Sunny had a better question to ask. “Why have I been waking up so early all of a sudden?”

The phone began to ring, causing Sunny to jump a few inches off the floor in shock, which didn’t help the aches in his arms and legs. He gulped once he got his bearings. Fuck...It’s Mom… Sunny stared at the phone as if it was a live bomb. When was the last time he actually spoke to his Mom? He had muttered a few confirmations when she had announced that they would be moving, but other than that, he was as despondent to her as he was to life itself up until yesterday after some weird...Time travel? Prophetic dream? He honestly still had zero clues about that.

Sunny kept his arms frozen at his sides. Would she even react positively to him finally answering her call? She’s been trying to get him some help ever since he started locking himself away, but his complete disregard for living finally won over and she had given up her efforts. She still speaks to him through his door to let him know that she would be leaving for work, but her voice lacked the spark it once had. Even in the voicemails where her voice had a slight cheerful tone to it, her cheeriness was clearly a front. What scared him was why she needed said front. What was she really feeling? Even when she spoke through the door, there was something to her voice that kept it from portraying complete apathy. There were so many possibilities. So many reasons that instilled a sense of dread in Sunny. He didn’t want to answer the phone.

You should really talk to her when you get the chance.

Kel’s words echoed in Sunny’s head. Damn it...Kel has a point… Sunny took a deep breath and looked at the phone, which was thankfully still ringing. Deep breaths, Sunny...Keep the feather afloat… Sunny inhaled sharply and began to reach out towards the phone, each second feeling like an hour passing by as he shakily reached out his hand. The ringing is going to end soon...Pick up the pace! Sunny clenched his fist and in the blink of an eye, finally rested his hand atop the phone. Taking a final deep breath, Sunny lifted the phone up from the base and brought it up to his phone, hearing a faint gasp from the other side. 

Sunny pondered on what to say, putting his back up against the wall near the table and sliding down to the floor. After a good few seconds of silence, Sunny exhaled a breath he had been holding and spoke. “H-Hello…?” A louder gasp came from the other side, followed by another bout of silence, which made Sunny’s anxiety over the entire situation skyrocket. “Um...M-Mom…?”

“Sunny...Y-You...You actually answered…” Sunny’s Mom finally answered, her voice hitching in pitch and sounding tearful. “I was starting to get worried again! You haven’t answered any of my calls or responded to my voicemails, so…” 

Sunny cringed at the information. “I...I’m s-sorry, Mom…” Sunny hugged his legs as tears began to build up in his eyes. “For being unresponsive for as long as I’ve been...You were trying to help me and I kept pushing you away...I…” 

“No. no, Sunny, don't apologize!” His Mom snapped. Though he couldn’t see it, he knew she was shaking her head almost violently like she always did. “If anything, I wasn’t trying hard enough as your Mother to get you the help you needed, after-After what you saw…” Sunny heard a sharp inhale from the other side of the phone. “I’ve always been too passive, even when the situation called for action. I’m a horrible parent…”

It was Sunny’s turn to shake his head. “No! No you’re not! You’re a good parent, Mom!”

“Sunny…” His Mom sighed. “A good parent would be having this conversation face-to-face.”

“And a good parent would make sure their kid stayed educated, even if they locked themselves up in their room. A good parent would let their kid know when they were going to leave for work and tell them what was waiting for them in the fridge.” Sunny tightened the grip on his phone and grit his teeth. “A good parent stays…”

A small gasp was heard on the other side of the phone. “Sunny…”

“So no...You’re not a horrible parent.” Sunny continued. “Sure, you may not be the best or perfect parent. But you’re a good one. That’s all I could ask for.” Muffled crying can be heard from the other side. “And I didn’t appreciate that enough…”

“Stop that!” Sunny’s Mom snapped at him, making Sunny go wide eyed as he realized he said that out loud. “If I’m not allowed to put myself down, then neither are you!” A sniffle. “Look, you were grieving over what happened and grief...Grief can push someone towards certain extremes. You were always a bit reserved, so adding grief to the mix would…” Sunny’s Mom sighed. “It could’ve been worse. That’s all I'm going to say. So please...Don’t put yourself down either, okay?”

Sunny stared ahead blankly for a beat, before he sniffled and wiped his eyes. “I-I’ll try…” He choked out. “I promise…”

“And I’ll try too.” Sunny’s Mom sighed again, this time in relief. “We’ll try together, okay?”

“Okay…” Sunny wiped his eyes and nodded. “Okay…”

“Good…” Sunny’s Mom exhaled. “Good. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you responded to my voicemails? Calls, I have a sliver of an idea, but-”

“Well-” Sunny quickly interrupted. “For the voicemails, I...I guess I was scared. About how you would react to any kind of response from me after so many years of radio silence. I…” Sunny sighed, unsure of how to continue. “Yeah…”

“Oh...I see.” Sunny could hear shuffling from the other side. “I can’t really blame you on that front, because then I’d sound like a hypocrite.”

Sunny frowned. “Um...A-Anyway, for the calls…” He sighed and pinched the space between his eyes. “Alright, I’m going to be honest, trying to call me at around 6:00 AM wasn’t going to yield the best results. I was able to answer this time because I just woke up like a few minutes ago for some reason.”

An awkward pause filled the room for a good few minutes before all that was heard from the other side was. “Oh…” 

“Mom…” Sunny muttered out, a faint snicker trying to escape his lips. “Th-That’s...Hehe…” All of a sudden, Sunny started to laugh. It wasn’t a hollow imitation or a faint chuckle one had to strain their ears in order to catch. It was an honest to god laugh. Though, it was difficult for Sunny to keep it going, as his sides and stomach began to ache and tighten up a good few seconds into it.

“You’re laughing!” Sunny’s Mom spoke up, her voice laced with shock. “I’ve...Never heard you laugh before...I…”

“I’m sorry...Hahaha...I’m sorry...It’s just-”

“No, no, no! Don’t apologize! It just caught me off guard is all!” A hum. “You should laugh more often. It was beautiful.”

Sunny rolled his eyes. “It was just a laugh, nothing special about it.”

“It may have just been a laugh, but it was a laugh from you, Sunny! I’m sure all of your friends would have agreed with me had they heard it!” a pause. “Your friends...Um...Did-Did you end up visiting Kel? I-I understand if you didn’t, after all you-”

“Actually, I did!” Sunny admitted. “We hung out for the day after I swept the house.”

“You did? Oh, that’s wonderful Sunny!”

Sunny felt a small smile form on his face. “Yeah. It was. You want to know what the best part was?”

“What?”

“I left the house on my own. I ended up running into him at the park. He was happy to see me, but I think-”

“Wait! Wait, wait! Back up! You...You left the house on your own? Like you made the decision on your own?”

“Yeah. I did.” Sunny hummed. “It...Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fa-” Sunny paused when he heard the sound of sobbing coming from the other side. “Mom? Are you okay?”

“I’m just...That’s the best news I’ve ever heard in four long years…” More sobbing was heard on the other side. “I’m so proud of you, Sunny!” Sunny froze. She was...Proud of him? He felt tears beginning to build back up in his eyes as he relaxed his stance. His Mom was proud of him. The last time he heard that was...When she found out that he had helped with the Treehouse. That was so long ago. “Sunny?”

Sunny broke out of his trance and wiped his eyes. “I’m good! I’m good. My mind just went blank for a second. Um...Did you say something?”

“I want to know what you did yesterday! You can’t just drop a bombshell like that on me and refuse to elaborate!”

Sunny tugged at his collar. “Ah, right...Um... Where to begin?” He hummed for a beat. “Well, the first thing I did was check in on Kel at his place, but when I knocked, his mom answered the door instead, which threw me for a loop.”

“Oh, how’s Cami doing by the way?”

Sunny pursed his lips and hummed. “She’s doing great, I guess? It didn’t look like anything was bothering her. Apparently, Kel has a baby sister now.”

“Cami gave birth!? And it was a girl!?  When did that happen!? She promised to send updates on that!”

“I dunno. I just found out about Kel being an older brother last night while walking home.” Sunny scratched the side of his head. “Wait, you knew she was going to have another kid?”

“I ran into her at Othermart when buying groceries one day.” Sunny’s Mom hummed. “I think she was only a few weeks into pregnancy when that happened, but Cami’s always been a bit of an eager beaver and was preparing all the necessities pretty early on.” She sighed solemnly. “I remember when you and Mari were babies. Oh, both of you were so cute and precious little angels!~”

Sunny cleared his throat. “We’re getting a bit off track.”

“What? Oh right!” Sunny’s Mom let out a nervous chuckle. “My bad! So, you ran into Cami at her place?”

“Mhmm! She pointed me towards the park, where Kel was most likely hanging out with some of his friends, which as it turns out, he technically was. You know Cris, right?”

A hum was heard on the other side. “I’ve heard of her, but I haven’t actually met her directly. I met her mom, though. She was nice and…” Sunny heard a longing sigh. “I’d kill for a slice of her pie. But, uh-” She cleared her throat. “Her mother mentioned she was back from boarding school the last I saw her, but I believe I never met Cris in person.”

“Ah, well as it turned out, Kel was talking to her about something or other before he noticed me at the park and tackled me into a hug.” Sunny felt his ears turn a bit red as his Mom howled with laughter on the other side.

“That sounds like Kel alright!”

Sunny sighed and let his Mom continue her bout of laughing before he continued. “Anyway, Cris let me and Kel hang out on our own and that’s...Pretty much what we did. We looked around the park, which needs a bit of cleaning thanks to all the trash that was lying around.” Sunny heard his Mom pout at that information. “In other news about the park, apparently there’s like...A recycle cult now, or something…”

A round of silence infiltrated the conversation. Sunny briefly stood up from the wall to look at the time and saw that it was 15 minutes before 7:00 Am. He sat back up against the wall and finally, his Mother spoke. “A recycle cult?”

“Yep.” Sunny popped the p. “It’s weirder in person, because they just looked like business men wearing a recycle bin on their head.”

“...That just sounds like Hikari after our second date.”

Sunny covered his mouth to prevent himself from loudly snickering at the image of his Dad walking around with a bin on his head. “Please tell me that story when we settle in at our new place.”

“Noted!~”

Sunny inhaled and exhaled to stop his incoming chuckles and got back to the topic. “After that we went to Hobbeez to buy Hero a gift for when he comes back from college for the Summer.” Sunny frowned, but kept his voice as positive as it could be. “He’s studying to be a doctor now.”

“I’ve heard! Though you don’t have to hide your disappointment with me.” His Mom said softly. “I know how much Henry loved to cook, especially with Mari. I...Had thought he’d keep that up as a way to honor her memory, but it seems that wasn’t the case.”

“Yeah…” Sunny went back to hugging his legs. “After that we went to Gino’s and ate some...For Kel I’m sure it was lunch but it was essentially breakfast for me. Um...You’ve noticed that-”

“I know you haven’t been eating well.” His Mother made a low, solemn hum. “I hope you ate something light. Going straight for Pizza with your current physique is-”

“I know…” Sunny interrupted. “I had a Salad bowl while we were there. God, it tasted like...The best thing I had ever eaten for some reason, considering that everything inside the Salad was just a vessel for water in some shape or form.” A chuckle echoed from the other side of the call. “After that, we went to Fix-It so I could get myself a type of lamp or flashlight for when it’s night so I wouldn’t stub my toe in the dark.”

“ That’s nice to hear.” A pause. “Fix-It hasn’t gotten any better, has it?”

“I think it somehow got worse.” Sunny admitted, earning a laugh from his Mom. Sunny hummed. “I guess that’s a good segway into the next topic. I, uh, ended up working a lot of jobs yesterday.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I worked as a delivery boy for Gino’s, which was fine for the most part, except I had to decipher the descriptions for where the Pizza was supposed to go.” His Mother made a noise of confusion. “Apparently the people who ordered Pizza were regulars, so the guy at the counter didn’t bother with the addresses. I wish he did though. God, his handwriting is worse than Kel’s.”

“Oh, I know that feeling. Try adding bad grammar to the mix...It’s hell on earth.”

“The next job was at Fix-It, but I don’t think I need to explain what that was.”

His Mom sighs. “No...No you don’t.”

Sunny nodded and rubbed his leg. “They paid well, but now my arms and legs are sore.”

“Oh, you know what helps with that? A hot bath. At least, that’s what helps me out when I get sore muscles.”

“Noted.” Sunny sighed. “What else…? I worked as a tutor to a couple of kids. One as a math tutor and the other as a language tutor.”

“Isn’t school out for the Summer?”

“It is, but one of the kids mentioned how him and his friend ended up getting put into Summer School  to get a head start when school starts back up.” The line on the other side went quiet, but Sunny could make out the faint complaint of his Mother saying how her and his Dad weren’t that overbearing. He frowned, but continued on. “To end the day off, we hung out with Basil for the rest of the day.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear…” His Mom hummed nervously. “How is Basil doing?”

Sunny inhaled. “He’s...He’s in a bad spot right now. Part of it might be my fault. And before you go saying anything, hear me out.” He heard his Mother mutter a confirmation. “He didn’t know about the move, so when me and Kel brought it up...He panicked. I can understand why. His best friend finally shows up after four years and then says he’s leaving after a few days. That’s definitely not news you want to hear from a good friend you haven’t seen in almost half a decade, y’know?”

His Mother sighed. “Yeah. I know. How’s his Grandma?”

“That’s the other part. She’s not doing well. She’s bedridden and…” Sunny felt his eyes tear up again.

“Oh...Poor Basil...Lillianne is a saint. I can’t imagine her in that kind of pain.”

Sunny nodded slowly, a couple of tears running down his face. “Yeah...He has a Caretaker now. Her name is Polly. She’s nice, but...He’s been avoiding her.” A gasp came from the other side of the phone. Sunny sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I want to be there for him, but…”

“But?” 

Sunny took a deep breath. “About the move...How far away are we going to be? I just want to know if it would be possible for either of us to visit the other, so-”

“Ah. I understand.” His Mom hummed for a beat. “Well, by car it will take a few hours, but thankfully there is a train station nearby our new place. I did check just in case and it does go to the Faraway Station, so yes. Visiting will be possible.”

Sunny exhaled in relief. “Oh good! That’s good. Basil and Kel will be glad to hear that.”

“I’m sure they will!”

Sunny nodded and let out a breath. “Thanks Mom…” He glanced over at the time on the phone base and pursed his lips. “Hey, Mom? I hate to cut this short, but...I was planning on having breakfast over at Kel’s house and I-”

“You want to get ready for the day?” His Mom chuckled. “I understand. You don’t want to miss out on another day with your friends. I’ll let you go then. Say hi to Kel and his family for me!”

“I will!” Sunny stood in front of the phone base.

“And Sunny...Give my condolences to Basil for me, please?”

Sunny stared out into space for a beat before he sighed and nodded. “I will. I promise.”

“Thank you, sweetie. I’ll let you go now. Have a good day now, okay? Love you, Sunny!”

“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Sunny hung up the phone and set it back into place. He takes a small breather and leans against the table as the soft hum of his ceiling fan begins to start back up. “That went a lot better than I thought it would…” Sunny felt himself smiling. It felt like a considerable amount of weight had left his shoulders. He stood up straight and stretched his hands up in the air with a grunt. “Well...First things first...I should take a bath…”

Chapter Text

Sunny placed his hand underneath the running water of the bathtub’s faucet, gauging the temperature as the water poured onto his hand. As he waited for the temperature to get to his liking, he began to ponder on what Kel, Basil and him could do for the day. As far as Sunny was aware, today could go exactly the same as yesterday, with a few minor additions here and there. The water began to feel hot. Well, I’ll just leave that thought on the burner for now. He blocked the tub’s drain and let the water fill up as he discarded his sleepwear, making a mental note to fold them up later and picked up a timer he found in one of the cupboards, setting up a 30 minute limit, which he surmised would be a decent amount of time to both get himself clean and to relax his muscles a bit. He turned off the water, got into the bath, started the timer and set it on the sink counter and went about his business. 

Halfway through getting his hair washed up, Sunny could make out the faint sounds of Piano music playing on the other side of the bathroom door. He shot his gaze over towards the door, staring intently at the light tan wood of the door, waiting for something to happen. The sounds kept on echoing, but other than that, nothing more happened. If anything, the sound of the Piano music felt...Calming to Sunny. Familiar. “...Mari…”

Su**y closed his eyes and let the sound of Ma**’s Piano playing carry him off as he held onto Mewo, who crawled into his lap as he sat down on the floor of the practice room. Ma** usually doesn’t like to let people watch her play the Piano, as whenever she makes a mistake, if she makes a mistake, she finds it incredibly embarrassing. Su**y was an exception, as he usually keeps quiet and let’s Ma** be, kind of like Mewo, who no matter what, will sprint right into the room whenever Ma** enters the practice room.

Because of that, Su**y is the only one to ever spot Ma** frantically writing notes down in her music books after a few minutes of playing the Piano before she starts back up again. On one occasion, Su**y was able to get a peak of what Ma** was writing down, which was hastily written comments about certain sections of the book she was on. She also closes the book harshly each time, sometimes causing Su**y to flinch at the sudden snap of the hardback.

Of course, just sitting around and listening can get quite boring at times. Occasionally, Su**y would hum along in a quiet tone as not to distract Ma**, but one instance, Su**y felt a little bolder. While Ma** was busy writing something down in her book, Su**y snuck out of the room and into the closet, where opened up a toy chest that rested inside. There was a small Toy Violin inside that Su**y outgrew a while ago, but it was the closest he could get.

Stepping back into the practice room, Su**y saw Ma** close her book and take a deep breath. She slowly started to press down on the Piano keys once again, prompting Su**y to join in with his Toy Violin, which was a little screechy, but otherwise played fine. Ma** jumped up a bit from the sound and stopped, turning back to Su**y, who was staring at her with an expression of ‘Why’d you stop?’. The two stared at each other for a good long minute before Ma** began to chuckle and turn back to the Piano. She started to press down on the keys once again and Su**y followed suit with his toy. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but Su**y did feel a little silly playing a Violin that was too small for him.

The timer began to let out a beep as the limit set had been met, which both made Sunny jump in shock and grip his head in pain, as the noise plus the already sudden headache combined made for an unpleasant sensation. He sighed and stopped the beeping from the timer before unblocking the tub’s drain to rid the water as he climbed out, wrapping a towel around his waist as he used the one set up near the bath to dry his hair. Well...At least I didn’t almost drown this time… Sunny thought to himself as he looked back on that one time.

Once his hair was dry, he wrapped the towel around his shoulders and decided to risk a peak in the mirror. Sunny sighed, unimpressed with the results. “Seriously…?” He deadpanned as he stared at the bloody, hole bearing visage of his reflection, outfit and all remaining present. “Can’t even reflect how my hair looks now so I can brush it?” Sunny raised a brow. He sighed and held his head low. “Great…”

True to Sunny’s words, his outfit for the day was made up of longer articles of clothing, consisting of his usual black socks, khakis pants and a black and grey sweater that he wears during the winter over a black shirt. The Shoulder and chest area of the sweater were black, which faded into a dark grey for the rest of it. The sleeves were three-quarter length sleeves, meaning that a portion of Sunny’s skin was still exposed to the elements. Sunny didn’t particularly mind about that design choice as another design choice was apparently to give the sweater hoodie-type pockets, so Sunny could just stick his hands in those for when he needs to warm his hands up.

Taking the discarded clothes into his room, Sunny folded up his sleepwear and tossed his dirty boxers in the dirty laundry box that he still finds rather odd. Setting his folded clothes on his bed for that night, Sunny made a quick glance at the phone's clock. “20 minutes until eight...I got time to do the dishes.”

Sunny made his way downstairs, where the sound of Piano music seemed to get louder. Sunny noted how the music was coming from the left side of the downstairs area. He clenched his fists and inhaled sharply, his feet frozen in place as he began to tense up. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, his head slightly shaking in defiance. “N-No...I don’t...I shouldn’t…” His eyes fluttered open, tears slowly making their descent. He looked ahead towards where the practice room is, his arms shaking and his breaths ragged. 

Sunny didn’t like the idea of going into the practice room. He felt that he didn’t deserve to, though he has yet to remember why that was the case. He wanted to move on and go about his day, cleaning the dishes and heading over to Kel’s place, but something in the back of his head nagged at him. Telling him to go to the practice room. Sunny closed his eyes and Focused on his breathing, making sure it remained steady. After Calming Down, Sunny turned towards the music and took a step forward.

Each step felt like Sunny was trying to force two magnets together with the same ends, as it seemed like something was actively trying to push Sunny away from taking a step closer to the practice room. He felt his chest tighten up the further he walked and his stomach felt like it was tied into knots. At some point it felt like his lungs began to clam up, making it harder to breathe the closer he got to the doorway. The music got louder and louder the closer he approached, making his head ache and pound against his skull. Standing in front of the doorway, it felt like gravity was about to pull Sunny through the floor, as the steps taken to get there felt heavy and almost refused to move.

Here he was. On the threshold of the practice room. Sunny’s mind was racing a mile per minute while everything else felt heavy, twisted and tight. If he wanted to, Sunny could collapse onto the floor and pass out, waiting out the remainder of the days until the movers find him and call an ambulance. But he couldn’t. He needed to stay strong. Taking in one last labored breath, Sunny stepped over the threshold and felt his body become lighter as he placed his foot down into the other side of the doorway. Sunny took a few seconds to collect his breath before he continued on into the practice room.

Sitting in the center of the room is a Grand Piano. Sitting in front of the Piano, playing the music, was a pale white figure with long black hair.

Sunny froze in front of the entrance as he watched the figure move her hands around, pressing down on the Piano keys to create a beautiful and calming sound that travels through the air. Sunny once more felt the beginning of tears building up in his eyes as he held a shaky hand out towards the figure and moved forward. “M...Mari…?”

The ghostly figure of Mari only hums in response as Sunny steps foot onto the carpet. “You know…” She started, her fingers still playing the Piano with intense focus. “Waltzes were always my favorite. That’s why I chose this song for our last recital.”

Sunny blinked and tilted his head, lowering his hand down, but still keeping it out, ready to extend. “Our...Recital?” A rush of pain flashed through Sunny’s head, but he clenched his fist and powered through the pain.

Mari sighed, her hands unwavering in their performance. “But you always hated it, didn’t you? How I’d lock myself away on the Piano...All that practicing...Playing the same song over and over.”

“How you’d…” 

Su**y sat on the couch, a couple of plushies resting in his arms as he stared up at the clock above the doorway of the living room entrance. The muffled sound of a Piano could be heard on the other side of the wall. Ma** promised to play with him after she was done with her practice, but she’d been in there for almost two hours and she was still playing the same song on the piano. Su**y pursed his lips. ‘Who thought of a song that lasts almost two hours?’ He blinked. ‘Wait...That doesn’t sound right.’

The piano stopped and Su**y went wide eyed. He jumped off the couch and began to make his way to the practice room, only for the Piano to start back up halfway through his journey. Su**y stopped in his tracks and whimpered. “Again!?” Su**y let out an exasperated sigh and stepped inside of the practice room, where Ma** was still sitting at the Piano, pressing down on it’s keys with the same amount of precision as all of her previous practices.

“Ma**…” Sunny spoke out, his quiet voice drowned out by the piano. “Ma**...You’ve been playing the same song for almost two hours now.” He added. “You promised to play when you were done practicing.” Su**y pouted as his words fell on deaf ears. He walked up closer to Ma**, who looked to be in a trance as she played the Piano. Su**y sighed and walked over to the corner, where Mewo was resting. He picked her up and sat down, setting the kitten in his lap as he decided to wait in the practice room. A few minutes and another repeat later, Su**y closed his eyes and nodded off.

Sunny pursed his lips and sighed, the pain in his head seemingly distant from his current focus. “You would always say ‘After my practice.’ or ‘I need to practice now. Maybe later.’” He clenched his fists tighter. “Some days, you would just brush me off and start practicing. All of a sudden, the sister who would drop everything to spend time with me was gone. Even when we hung out with the others, you seemed distant.”

The ghostly Mari nodded her head. “When you picked up your new Violin, you were so eager to play with me.” She sighed. “But keeping up with something isn’t so easy.”

Sunny shook his head. “No...It’s not…”

Late one night, Su**y decided to stay up a little later and sneak on down to the practice room while everyone else was asleep. He approached his Violin case and took it by the handle, rushing out of the practice room with the case on hand as quietly as he could. He stepped out into the living room and went further, going outside into the backyard. Closing the sliding glass door behind him, Su**y ran forward in a straight line until the Treehouse came into view. He gulped. Ever since the incident at the lake, it’d been hard for Su**y to climb up anything higher than a few inches off the ground, but he needed to do this without waking anyone up. It’d cause questions and concerns if Ma** or his Mom saw him playing his Violin at this time of night.

Climbing up the ladder to the inside of the Treehouse one handed was no easy feat, but Su**y had managed to pull it off. He mentally congratulated himself and set the Violin case down on the table and opened it up. The instrument looked blue in the dead of night. Su**y lifted it out of the case and rubbed circles into the smooth wood with his thumb, taking in the feel. At this point, Su**y has his music sheet memorized, despite the constant mistakes he has made. 

He got into position, holding the bow over the strings as he rested the Violin into it’s place. He took in a deep breath and began to run the bow across the strings. In his mind, he played Ma**’s part of the duet as a way to keep track of his progress. The beginning and middle were going smoothly so far. It seemed he’d finally get it right for once. That is, until a sharp pain shot through his wrist, causing him to not only mess up the note, but drop the Violin as he flinched in pain. He then balled his hand into a fist and hit the wall with the side of it, gritting his teeth as tears began to stream down his face.

“Why…? Why can’t anything go right for me!?”

Sunny hugged himself. “Whenever I tried to practice, whether it was with you or when I tried on my own, it was so hard to keep up…It felt like something was keeping me from improving…”

A beat of silence passed before Mari sighed. “Maybe I pushed you too hard.”

“It wasn’t just you, Mari.” Sunny muttered, still holding onto himself. “I pushed myself as well…”

Another beat. “I’m sorry…” Mari lifted her hands away from the Piano and rested them on her laps. “I just wanted it to be perfect.” 

Sunny sighed and stepped closer to the apparition of Mari, holding his hand out again before dropping it to his side. “I’m sorry, too...I...I couldn’t live up to your expectations.” He sniffled and hiccupped. “Is that why you d-” Sunny swallowed and shook his head, holding it low. “Is that why you…’left?’”

Mari remained silent as she stared into the surface of the Piano. “We never did get to play at that last recital.” She said, ignoring the question.

Sunny shook his head. “No...We didn’t.”

Mari turned her head slightly towards Sunny. “Did you want to play it with me now?”

Sunny gasped and looked up, only to see that the ghostly apparition of Mari had disappeared. He wiped his eyes and looked around the room, boxes scattered about like the rest of the house. He sighed and looked ahead at the Piano itself. Sunny was more privy to the Violin or just any string instrument in general, but if he recalled…

Sunny stepped forward and sat on the bench for the Piano. He stared at the word ‘OMORI’ written on the surface of it. Sunny could make out a few notes echoing in his head. He hummed and held his hands over the Piano keys. “If I’m remembering correctly…” He pressed down on the keys, creating a deep, melancholic melody. Sunny shook his head. “No...Too low. Too depressing.” 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, thinking about how the melody sounded. He pursed his lips and opened his eyes, positioning his hands to play. The melody sounded less depressing and was a little more high pitched, similar to how the ghostly figure was playing it. But as he continued to play, it still sounded wrong to him. He chuckled dryly. “Is this how it felt, Mari…?” Sunny sighed at the lack of response and focused on the Piano, a familiar melody coming to mind.

As if on their own, Sunny’s hands began to press down on the Piano keys in a rhythmic fashion, the sound of the melody synchronizing with Sunny’s memories of it. He closed his eyes and let his hands do all the work. Suddenly, Sunny was smaller, with the feeling of someone sitting to his left playing the parts that Sunny’s short arms couldn’t reach. He could see Basil in front of him and to the right, leaning against the Piano as he stared at the two Pianists in awe. Behind him were Hero and Aubrey, the latter twirling around and humming the tune while the former merely stayed silent and listened respectfully. Kel was on the far left, chuckling at how absurd Aubrey looked according to him. 

Sunny opened his eyes, but instead of taking up a small portion of the right side of the bench, he was in the dead center of it. The final notes of the melody began to play, slowing down to create a nearly somber feeling. As the final notes began to echo out, Sunny found his eyes beginning to water, as a sudden memory came to him. A flash, but an important one. The image of a floating figure in front of a tree filled his mind, causing a sharp pain in his head.

Sunny lifted his hands away from the keys and set them on his lap, tears slowly dripping onto his skin as he held his head low, staring at the sides of his hands. He sniffled and hiccupped, tears falling at a faster rate in response. “Mari...Why…?” Sunny began to sob, breaking apart his hands from each other and digging his fingers into his knees. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry I wasn't perfect...But...Why…? Wh-” Sunny choked on his breath and broke down, propping his arms up on his knees and burying his face into his palms as he lets out somber cries into the air. 

Sunny became MISERABLE.

Chapter Text

Sunny wiped his eyes after a few minutes of sobbing, finally feeling like he had let all his grief out. He sniffled and took a few deep breaths to get his breathing in check before he stood up from the Piano bench and ran his hand across the Piano’s smooth surface. “Mari…” He sighed and lifted his hand away, dropping it to his side as he turned around and made his way to the room’s exit. “I’m sorry...For locking myself away all these years. I’ll try to live from now on…” Sunny stepped out of the room and back into the hall.

Burying half of his face in one of his palms, Sunny let out a drawn out sigh. He walked over to the doorway to the living room and leaned against the wood of the base as he looked about the empty room. “I’m going to miss this place.” He rested his hand on the wood while he let his eyes dance around the empty living room, the boxes barely making the area seem full. He stepped into the living room and quickly turned to look up at the clock, wincing all the while. “Damn...Guess I can’t get to those dishes.” Sunny sighed and stepped towards the front door, stopping briefly to put on his shoes at the rack. He paused briefly when he heard a faint, hoarse sound on the other side of the door.

Raising a brow, Sunny finished tying his shoes and stood up, walking up to the door and pressing his ear against the wood. The sound got a little louder, but it still sounded a distance away. “What the heck?” Sunny placed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door slowly, hoping to find some hint of what the sound was. Suddenly, Sunny felt the door halt to a stop from something on the other side blocking the rest of it’s path. The culprit looked through the opening, causing Sunny’s heart to stop as he caught a glimpse of a blood red creature on the other side.

“Ah!” Sunny jumped up with a gasp, looking around wildly, only to find that he was back at the shoe rack, his left shoe in the process of being tied. Sunny clutched his chest and panted for breath as he let the situation sink in. “Must’ve gotten lost in my head...Damn my overactive imagination…” He stayed still for a moment as he let his heartbeat slow down to a normal pace before he continued to tie his left shoelace. Once that was done, Sunny walked up to the door and took a deep breath. “There’s nothing scary on the other side. Don’t let your head get the better of you…” With a determined nod, Sunny placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it, opening the door to the outside world.

The early morning sun was still coating the world in a slight golden haze, but that soon will dissipate as the hours go by. Sunny closed the door behind him and stretched, taking in the morning smell as he did so. The sound of multiple footsteps to his left quickly getting further away drew his attention to Kel’s house. “The hell was that?” Sunny stepped away from his house and walked along the cement to his friend’s home. He stopped in front of his destination as the sight of coloration on the cement in front of the driveway got his attention.

‘KEL SMELLS!’

“Oh. I guess I was hearing the Hooligans then…” Sunny tilted his head and shrugged with a slight sound of disinterest. “Well, not like I could've stop them anyway.” After a few moments of silence, Sunny shook his head and walked up the driveway. “I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.” He gazed about at the grass where the doghouse lay in wait, but there was no dog in sight at the moment. “Hector must be inside, then.” 

Sunny walked up to the front door and knocked his knuckles against the oranged-painted wood three times. The sound of barking on the other side made Sunny step back as footsteps followed soon afterwards. The door was flung open and on the other side was a middle aged man with a beard that hides his mouth almost entirely. “Yes?” Kel’s dad answered before he froze in place at the sight of Sunny, his eyes becoming saucers. “Sunny!?”

Sunny was about to raise his hand up and wave, but a third of the way through, Kel’s father quickly trapped him in a bear hug, squeezing very tightly and lifting the boy up in the air. Sunny began to gag and struggle for breath, the sounds of which made Kel’s dad drop him soon after. Sunny began to pant for breath while Kel’s dad sheepishly rubbed his neck.

“Sorry about that, kiddo! It’s just, it’s been a while since I last saw you!” Kel’s dad smiled and Sunny finally straightened himself out, popping his back in the process.

“It’s been a while since I last saw you, too! It’s nice to know you haven’t changed, though.” Sunny then winced as he rubbed his shoulder while moving it around. “Ow…”

Kel’s dad chuckled and patted Sunny’s other shoulder. “I’m sorry, flaquito! I’ll be more careful next time, I promise!” Kel’s dad moved aside and gestured for Sunny to enter.

Sunny raised a brow as he entered. “Flaquito…? I’m not that skinny, am I?”

Kel’s dad closed the door and hummed. “You are pretty skinny, Sunny. Pretty worryingly so, might I add.” Sunny shifted in place and rubbed his neck, his other hand running it’s fingers on the side of his wrist. Kel’s father briefly showed concern on his face before he sighed, smiled and ruffled Sunny’s hair, breaking the boy out of his funk. “Don’t fret too much about it, mijo! It shouldn’t be that hard to fix!” Kel’s father smiled and walked further into the house. “Hero is coming home today, so he should be able to give you some tips and tricks to get yourself back on track. Uh, he’s studying to be a doctor, if you didn’t know.”

“Oh, I know.” Sunny muttered. “Kel told me while we were at Hobbeez to get Hero a gift.” Sunny fumbled a bit in place and he looked down to see Hector nudging at his legs, the clicking of his claws connecting to the floor echoing around the raven haired boy. Sunny bent down to give Hector a few pats before following Kel’s father further in. 

Kel’s dad hummed and gestured to the couch. “Well, make yourself at home! Kel is still sleeping in his room, but Cami should be awake by now, so I'll let her know that you’re here!” 

“Um, thank you.” Sunny sat down on the couch while Kel’s dad beckoned Hector to follow him into the hall, no doubt upstairs as well. Sunny sighed and looked around. “Just as cozy as ever…” He hummed and stood up from the couch, wandering around to the wall, where a dog bed and toy lay on a blue mat with a set of building blocks nearby. A small smile tugged at Sunny’s face as he left the blocks be and continued wandering around, stopping in front of a family portrait. 

Kel and Hero stood at the back, with Kel reaching Hero’s eyebrows Sunny noticed. Hero’s suit had a noticeable shade of blue to it and Sunny noted the complimentary undershirts and ties the two wore, with Kel donning an orange undershirt with a blue tie and Hero wearing a blue undershirt and orange tie. In the front were their parent’s with Kel’s mom holding a baby in her arms. Kel’s dad was wearing a suit like his son’s, while Kel’s mom was dressed pretty casually, with a teal shirt and a blue skirt, a pearl necklace resting around her neck. At least to Sunny it was casual, since that style of clothing is pretty much all he’s ever seen her in.

Sunny thought back to the family portrait that used to be in his house, that was in the same spot as the one in front of him, save a few inches to the left. Sunny frowned as he looked back on it. His own father never really gave him the time of day, but that problem only existed on the rare occasion where he was at the house for more than a week or two. As far as Sunny remembers, when he wasn’t there to ignore him, his dad was always on a business trip, still ignoring him. Yet, in that photo...Everyone seemed happy with each other. Everyone seemed content. 

Tears started to build up once again in Sunny’s eyes and he quickly wiped them away. Not here...They shouldn’t have to deal with that mess…

The sound of footsteps and the click-clack of claws colliding with the ground made Sunny break his gaze with the portrait to see Kel’s parents and Hector enter the living room. Kel’s mom, Cami, looked over at Sunny and smiled. “Sunny!” She walked over and pulled Sunny into a hug, which he quickly reciprocated. “It’s so good to have you join us for breakfast! Oh, it feels like ages since you last ate with us.”

Sunny sighed and nodded. “Yeah...Yeah, it has felt like that.”

Cami let go of the hug and looked at Sunny with a worried expression, resting her hands gently on his shoulders. “Sunny, cariño, is everything alright? You seem kind of down.”

Sunny broke free with little resistance and rubbed one of his eyes as he nodded. “I’m fine. I just woke up pretty early, so I’m still a little tired is all.” He brought his hand back down to his side and began rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s for breakfast?”

Cami sighed and patted Sunny’s head. “You don’t have to worry about asking, Sunny. Even if it’s been a few years, this will always be your second home.” She smiled and turned towards the kitchen. “As for breakfast, Kel had mentioned that you’re being cautious about certain types of food-”

Sunny sighed. “That’s on me. I haven’t been taking care of myself, at all.”

Cami and Kel’s dad shared a look of concern before Cami cleared her throat. “Yes, well, today is just a simple breakfast of Bacon and Eggs. Nothing too heavy and, hopefully, nothing too greasy.” Cami then smiled bright and turned back to Sunny. “Now then, I believe you prefer scrambled Eggs, with extra crispy Bacon broken into pieces and mixed in, correct?” Sunny looked up at Cami in awe, which garnered a chuckle from the mother. “Don’t look so surprised, mijito! As I said, even after four years, this will always be your second home, which means that we will always be your family! I’m not going to let a few years of silence tarnish my memory of your likes and dislikes!”

Sunny stared for a few moments longer before he broke his gaze. “Wow…” He rubbed the back of his neck as once more, tears began to build up in his eyes. “That’s...That’s so thoughtful of you...Really…” He sniffled and wiped his eyes before he slowly approached the doorway to upstairs. “Um...I’m going to go wake up Kel. You can call us down when breakfast is ready, if you’d like.”

Cami sighed but nodded her head and smiled. “Go ahead. I swear, sometimes he just sleeps through breakfast on some days…”

Sunny gulped and nodded in return. “Thank you. I promise, we’ll catch up during breakfast.” Sunny walked through the doorway and up the stairs, stopping briefly in the middle of the hall to look at a table full of family photos. “Kel sure has a lot of relatives...He probably knows their names…” He sighed and walked up to the door to Kel’s room, which Sunny noted was pretty much in the exact same spot as his own room. Shelving that thought for now, Sunny turned the doorknob and opened the door to his friend's room.

The first thing to grab Sunny’s attention in the blue painted room is all of the awards and trophies that littered almost the entire right hand side of the room, with a single ribbon on the left side of the room. “Did Hero get even more awards? The last I remember, he only had the one trophy and all those ribbons on the wall.” Sunny quirked a brow and walked over to Kel’s side of the room, discarded clothes littering the area as well as a single unopened can of Orange Joe. Kel slept on his bed, snoring to his heart’s content. Sunny eyed the unopened can and hummed. “Would that even still work?” 

Sunny grabbed the unopened can and backed away to Kel’s desk, setting the orange can down on the wood and taking one last glance at Kel before popping open the can. The moment the can began to crack open, Kel opened his eyes and shot up from his bed and looked around for the source of the sound. “WHOWHATWHERE!?!?” Kel rubbed his eyes and looked directly at Sunny, who waved at Kel while keeping the can still with his other hand. Kel went wide eyed and smiled, jumping out from his bed and running up to Sunny to tackle him into another bear hug. “SUNNY! YOU’RE HERE!!!”

Sunny struggled to get a breath in until Kel let him go with a wide smile. Sunny gasped for air, bending over slightly to hold onto his knees before he looked up at Kel. “Why wouldn’t I be? You did say it was okay for me to come over for breakfast…”

Kel chuckled and rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Well...I, uh, kinda thought that was a dream for a little while...hehe...I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and started to second guess myself.”

Sunny hummed and straightened himself out. “Well, now that I’m here, do you see how wrong you were?”

“Yep!” Kel nodded enthusiastically. “Let me get dressed and then I can show you all the cool stuff I got since the last time you were here!”

“Um...Okay.” Sunny muttered. Kel turned to his wardrobe and opened it up while Sunny took to wandering about the room. He walked up to the award hanging up on Kel’s side of the room and raised a brow at the words written on it. ‘Annual Hot Dog-Eating Contest - Participant’ …Participant? Sunny wandered over to Hero's side of the room, where Hero’s newer trophies seemed to be educational congratulations. Except for one that caught Sunny’s interests. “‘Annual Hot Dog-Eating Contest - First Pla-’” Sunny took a deep breath through his nose and shook his head. “No. I refuse.”

Kel chuckled from the other side of the room. “Yeah...That was a confusing day for the family. Even Mom was surprised by Hero getting first place in that contest.”

“I call bull.” Sunny admitted. “There’s no way Hero had the appetite to stomach that many Hot Dogs!”

“Well, he did.” Kel was still chuckling at the thought. “But that didn’t mean he was fine afterwards. I think he started talking about how he needed to go to the hospital after getting the trophy.”

“This still doesn’t feel right.” Sunny turned back to Kel, who had just finished throwing on an orange tank-top. “How can you only get a participation trophy while Hero got first place? You’re practically a vacuum when it comes to food!”

Kel rubbed his neck with a bashful smile. “Well...I might’ve eaten a little too much beforehand…”

Sunny stared blankly at Kel for a beat before sitting down on Hero’s bed, folding his arms while one leg went over the other. “Okay...I need to hear how that day went.”

Kel chuckled again. “So it started like any normal day-”

Chapter Text

“And as you can see, I got that basketball hoop and boombox like I always wanted!” Kel said, gesturing towards the items of interest. Kel’s outfit for the day consisted of an orange tank top and jean shorts with a pair of white socks with an orange stripe on them. Kel walked over to the boombox and bent down in front of it. “Here, let me play a song!” Sunny sat down on the chair to Kel’s desk as Kel pressed a button on the boombox, a loud song with what sounded like air horns played from the speakers. Kel sighed and nodded. “Yup, it’s pretty sweet.”

Sunny hummed as he rested his leg on the other one, tilting his head all the while. “It is pretty neat, but how did you get your parents, more specifically your mom, to agree to let you have that?”

Kel rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. “I had to make sure that my grades got higher and stayed that way throughout the school year when I first brought it up. I managed to get straight B’s throughout the entire year, with P.E. ending up as an A.”

Sunny raised his brows and perked his head up. “Wow...Hero’s been trying to help you get higher grades since we were ten, and all it took for that to happen was the promise of a boombox.”

Kel chuckled and fist pumped the air. “Yeah!” He then went wide eyed and quickly turned the boombox down, eliciting a confused head tilt from Sunny. “Sorry, I forgot that Mom said to keep it down, because she says the noise is bad for Sally.”

Sunny drew his lips to a thin line and tapped his fingers on the wooden desk. “Kel, I’m pretty sure she only told you that so none of the neighbor’s would call the police due to the noise.”  Kel stared at Sunny and held his chin for a beat, but before he could get a word in, a knock came from the bedroom door.

The door opened to reveal Kel’s dad. “Hey guys, I hate to cut this hangout short but, breakfast is ready.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder and turned to Kel. “You know how your Mother gets when Hero is coming to visit, so I wouldn’t take too long.” He left the door open as he went back downstairs.

Sunny stepped away from the chair and stretched. “Let’s get down there. I’m starving.”

Kel nodded and grabbed Sunny’s wrist. “Then let’s get you some food!”

“You’re not going to steal off my plate, are you?” Sunny asked an answerless question as Kel pulled him out of the room and down the stairs. Halfway down, Sunny missed one of the steps in an effort to keep up with Kel and tripped. He bumped into Kel and held on to dear life as the two struggled to keep their balance and avoid falling down the rest of the way. “Whoa!” Kel gasped out as they found their balance. “That could’ve gone badly, huh Su-” Kel paused when he looked to Sunny, who was still holding onto the taller boy for dear life.

“Th-That w-was…” Sunny managed to breathe out as he tried to regain his composure. Kel patted Sunny on the back and led the raven haired boy down the stairs at a slower pace. Once they touched the bottom, Sunny let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god…”

Kel’s dad walked through the doorway. “Hey guys, what was-” He paused and saw Sunny taking a few deep breaths, holding up his pointer finger.

“Hah...I missed a step and nearly fell. Bumped into Kel on the way and almost took him with me.” Sunny rubbed his neck and winced. “That could’ve gone badly.”

Kel rubbed Sunny’s back and gave him a few pats as well. “Don’t worry about it, Sunny! Sure it would’ve hurt, but other than that we would’ve been fine!”

“Kel’s right!” Mr. Vidal smiled, pretty sheepishly. “And I know that for a fact, because I’ve had my fair share of missing a step while going down.” He sighed and motioned for the two to follow. “Now come on, before the food get’s cold!”

The two followed Kel’s dad into the dining room, where Cami was already seated, holding a spoon in front of a baby in a high chair, which told Sunny enough for him to know that the baby was Sally. “I guess this is where I officially meet Sally.” Sunny muttered as he took seat at the table.

Cami smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “I guess it is! Sunny, this is our newest member of the family, Sally!” Cami gently waved Sally’s hand for her, getting an incoherent babble in response. 

“Hey, Sally!” Sunny gave a small wave towards the youngest Vidal member as Kel’s dad came into the dining room holding a selection of plates. 

“This one is for Kel.” He said, sliding the plate over to Kel, who immediately began digging into the food. “Me and Cami, and this one is for Sunny!” He set the plate down in front of Sunny, a sea of golden yellow with hints of white clouds and rocks of crunchy bacon lay in front of him. Sunny took his fork and grabbed as much as he could of both egg and bacon and took a bite. The eggs seemed to melt in his mouth as the crunch and saltiness of the bacon added to the experience the boy was now feeling. Once he swallowed, he instantly began to take another forkful of food, prompting a chuckle from both Vidal parents.

“Well, I guess that means he likes it!” Cami said, holding her wrist in front of her as if to hide her amusement.

“Cut me some slack.” Sunny said after his second bite. “It’s been a while since I ate...Well, anything really.”

“What about yesterday?” Kel asked with his mouth full of food. 

“I was talking about in general.” Sunny replied. “And don’t talk with your mouth closed, I don’t want egg in my hair.” Sunny added before taking another bite of food. Kel’s parents nodded in agreement, getting a slight pout from Kel and another mess of babbling from Sally, to which Cami began to give her another spoonful of baby food. Sunny rested his head on his wrists as he ate, raising a brow. “How old is Sally, by the way?” Sunny asked after he swallowed.

“Sally here is one year old!” Cami announced happily.

Sunny hummed and nodded. “One year down, a good handful to go.” He took another bite of his breakfast.

“Hey, she’s in good hands!” Kel’s dad retorted. “After all, we managed to raise two kids, what’s one more?”

“I didn’t mean anything like that, I’m just being accurate.” Sunny replied, wiping his mouth down. He turned to Cami and hummed. “By the way, I talked with my Mom earlier and she said that you promised to keep her updated on the whole ‘baby situation.’”

Cami paused and hummed, tapping her lips with her pointer finger before she groaned and facepalmed. “I did promise that! I can’t believe I forgot…”

Kel went wide eyed. “Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Mom forgot something.”

“Kelsey!” Cami snapped at Kel.

Sunny shook his head. “No, no he’s got a point.”

“Sunny!” Cami placed her hands on her hips.

“They’re right, you know.” Kel’s dad said before taking a bite of his food.

Cami gasped and slapped Mr. Vidal’s arm. “Edward!” Kel and his dad began to chuckle, with Sally joining in because she felt like it. Cami rubbed her temples and sighed. “Why me…?”

Kel finished chuckling and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “But hey, congrats on talking to your mom, dude!” Kel’s parents instantly turned their heads to Sunny, who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking sideways at Kel with furrowed brows. The tall boy raised a brow. “What?”

“Sunny? What does Kel mean by that?” Cami asked.

Sunny closed his eyes and let out one long sigh, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. “It’s...Been a while since I actually talked to my Mom after...Everything. Earlier today was the one time I actually... Talked to her.” Kel’s parents looked at each other with faces of concern, and Sunny leaned forward towards the table and rested his head on his wrists. “Not that she hasn’t tried at least…” Sunny winced. “In fact, the first person I actually talked to in four years was Mrs. Vidal…” Sunny scratched his cheek and sighed.

Kel’s mom reached over towards Sunny and rested her hand on the table, due to Sunny keeping his hands close to him. “Sunny, mijo…”

Sunny cleared his throat and waved her off. “It-It’s fine. I got a little ahead of myself there, is all. I didn’t mean to kill the mood.” He sighed and went back to eating his food, keeping his head low to hide his eyes. The Vidal family all shared looks of concern with each other, with Kel rubbing his neck sheepishly. Sally however, began to babble and stretch her arms towards Sunny, making grabbing motions with her hands. Sunny looked up and noticed what Sally was doing, reaching forward and poking her in the nose. “What are you doing, goofball?”

Cami let out a little chuckle, though her face still showed concern. “Whenever Sally does that, it means she wants to be held.” She stood up from her chair and lifted Sally out of her’s, before walking around the table to Sunny’s side. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening and shook his head.

“No, no, I don’t think that’s really a-”

“Oh relax, Sunny!” Cami smiled and set Sally in Sunny’s arms, helping the boy get a proper hold of the baby. “It’s actually really easy!”

“Says the tree to the twig.” Sunny muttered under his breath. He sighed and looked down at Sally, who was reaching up towards Sunny with a curious expression. “Well, better me hold you while I’m sitting down than standing up.” He moved his other arm from beneath the other and poked at Sally’s nose again, to which she responded by grabbing at his finger. Wow, her hands are tiny… Sunny thought as he tilted his head. A click alerted his presence back up to the others, where Kel’s mom was holding up her phone with a smile. “Wait a minute...Was this just an excuse to send a picture to my Mom?!” 

Cami chuckled and sat down. “Perhaps!~”

Sunny huffed and slouched in his chair a bit while Kel chuckled and patted Sunny’s shoulder. “Well, at least you know Mom hasn’t changed, huh Sunny?”

“You can say that again.” Sunny replied as Sally babbled to herself.

“So the Capt. Spaceboy comics had gotten a TV series-”

“Around two years ago!” Kel finished. Him and Sunny were currently watching an episode of Capt. Spaceboy while Sally played with some building blocks nearby. “It mainly follows the story written by the original author of the comics, so the series of spin offs aren’t really acknowledged aside from some references here and there.”

Sunny hummed and nodded. “I’m fine with that. I was never that fond of some of the spin offs anyway, like the one where Spaceboy becomes all mean and angry.”

Kel nodded in response. “Yeah, looking back on that one, the author really didn’t understand the characters all that much. Then again, that’s the beauty of spin offs.” He smiled and chuckled.

“Or the horror depending on how you look at it.” Sunny muttered. He pursed his lips and held onto his chin as the episode began it’s final stretch. “Man, where did I leave off on the comics? I need to catch up.”

Kel tapped his chin with a small hum. “I think we last read the 44th issue before everything happened…”

Sunny inhaled, dreading the answer he was about to seek. “And...How many issues are there now…?” His voice cracked and squeaked as he asked his question.

Kel drew his lips into a thin line and turned his head away, scratching his cheek. “The last issue was a few months ago and…” Sunny winced at what he picked up on, but his worries grew when Kel turned back to Suny with a sheepish look on his face. “About 50 more issues came out in the time you were in your house.”

Sunny blinked for a few good seconds before he fell backwards onto the couch arm with a loud groan that momentarily distracted Sally from her building blocks. “I have to catch up to 50 more comic issues!?”

“A prequel series was also made a couple of months after the original series ended and that has about 3 issues so far.” Kel added, getting Sunny to slouch further down from the couch arm with another groan that sounded like a muffled sob due to his arm covering his face.

“It’s going to be impossible for me to catch up!” Sunny complained. “You know how hard it’s going to be to find at least half of those issues?”

“Pretty hard now since it’s the most popular series among collectors.” Kel replied swiftly before pausing and looking at Sunny with a raised brow. “Wait, was I supposed to answer that?”

Sunny sighed. “Yes but I now wish you didn’t.” He sat back up from his spot and wore a pained expression. 

Kel rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Oops…”

Before the discussion (and torment, in Sunny’s case) could continue, Kel’s mom entered the living room holding her phone. “Kel, Sunny, I’m going to have to break up your cartoon watching because I need you two do something for me.”

“Sure, Mrs. Vidal.” Sunny replied while Kel turned off the TV, almost on autopilot. “What'cha need?”

“I got a call from Hero a little while ago and he’s not going to get here until dinner time.” Cami began to explain. She held up her phone and shook it slightly. “I made some calls to Gino’s and the bakery to prepare.”

Sunny raised a brow. “Isn’t it a little early to get started on dinner preparations?”

“Yeah but Mom likes to get an early head start.” Kel said, standing up and stretching. “I already know what you ordered from Gino’s but what’d you order from the bakery this time?” Kel asked his Mom.

“I got some cookies this time for dessert.” Cami replied with a smile. “I’m going to need you two to get the orders for me since Edward is too busy at Fix-It at the moment.”

Sunny stood up from the couch and stretched. “So we just need to grab the orders then come back here?”

Cami nodded. “Yep. After that you two can go out and wander around until dinner time, okay?” Sunny felt as though Kel never had that option before from the tone of Cami’s voice.

“Awesome!” Kel fist pumped the air and grabbed Sunny’s wrist. “Come on, let’s hurry up so we don’t have to worry about that!”

“Wait Kel, you need to grab your shoes!” Sunny called out to the taller boy as they passed by the shoe rack and were nearly a few feet out the door. Kel let go of Sunny’s wrist and quickly ran back inside.

“Nearly forgot!” Kel said as he passed by Sunny. The raven haired boy looked back inside at Kel’s mom, who shook her head with a shrug and went back inside the kitchen. Kel ran back out the door and closed it behind him. “Okay, now let’s go!” The two walked down the driveway, Hector running around the yard as they passed by, before they stopped once again at the end of the driveway, Kel looking down and furrowing his brows. “What the heck!? What happened here!?”

Sunny looked down at the ‘Kel smells’ graffiti in front of Kel’s driveway. “The Hooligans must’ve stopped by while we were inside watching Capt. Spaceboy.” Sunny said, feigning ignorance at how long it’s been there. How did Mr. Vidal not notice this? Or did he leave it alone on purpose like I did? 

Kel groaned and pinched the space between his eyes, rubbing it with his pointer and thumb before turning to Sunny while scratching his cheek. “Sunny, be honest. Do I smell?”

A beat of silence passed. “Do you really want me to answer that?” Sunny replied with a deadpan expression.

“Okay, you know what it’s fine! It’s fine! Ignorance is bliss, right?” Kel chuckled and waved his hand up and down before approaching the graffiti and rubbed away any evidence of the tagging. “Okay, let’s get going now, for real this time!” Kel grabbed Sunny’s wrist and began speed walking to the plaza.

“I can walk on my own you know!” Sunny complained without making any attempt to break his wrist free from Kel’s grasp.

Chapter Text

(BGM)

Passing by the park and entering the plaza, Kel and Sunny decide to make Gino’s their first stop, mainly because there’s no extra walk to a corner of the market to grab the order. The entrance bell rang as they stepped inside and made their way to the counter. The Pizza Man looked over at them and put on a smile. “Hello and welcome to Gino’s Pizza! What can I get for you?”

“Hey.” Sunny waved. “We’re here to pick up an order.”

The man nodded and began to keep himself from snickering. “I see! What would you like? Oh I know, would you like...Pizza?”

Kel chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Actually, my Mom put in an order for a Hero Sandwich a little while ago. We’re just here to pick it up…”

The Pizza Man stared at Kel, unblinkingly, before he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. “Oh...That’s right, you’re family keeps ordering sandwiches...Instead of Pizza…”

Sunny raised a brow. “Why do you sound so upset about that? It’s on the menu. And it’s still technically giving you business.”

The man sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you got a point there...Okay, I’ll go get it!” The man turned away and walked over to the door to the kitchen, quietly mumbling to himself. Sunny managed to catch a few words, which he figured consisted of complaints about having a Sandwich on a Pizza menu.

Sunny shook his head and turned to Kel. “Your mom does realize that Hero likes Pizza too, right?”

Kel sighed and nodded. “She does, but she doesn’t like to order it on special days like Hero coming home or any type of holiday.”

Sunny nodded. “Ah.”

“Yeah. Plus, it makes for a good side to what she actually makes.” Kel smiled and snickered. “It’s also the reason we call Hero ‘Hero’ in the first place, so having it is a must for him.” He chuckled and scratched his cheek. “I remember that Mari would always tease him about being named after a Sandwich!”

Sunny gave a soft smile and a light chuckle that was masked by Kel’s. “Yeah...That’s Mari for you.” He frowned and rubbed his arm. Kel took notice and rested his hand on Sunny’s shoulder, prompting the smaller boy to shake his head and take a deep breath. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” He ran his hands over his face and pushed his hair back as he brought his hands to the nape of his neck. “I was just reminiscing is all…”

Kel pouted, but before he could say anything, the Pizza Man came back to the counter and placed the wrapped up Sandwich on it’s surface. “Okay, here is your Hero Sandwich. Please enjoy!”

Kel took the Sandwich off the counter and paid for the order. The two exited Gino’s and walked over to the entrance to Othermart. “Next stop, the bakery! Hopefully this isn’t something we need to wait for.” Kel added that last part as quietly as he could, but Sunny could still make out what he said, mainly due to it being more of a whisper shout than a plain whisper. 

As the two entered the mart, Sunny caught a brief glimpse of a grey jacket stepping behind the wall and into the candy shop. Was that Mincy? Maybe we could take a small detour.

Walking further into the store, Sunny and Kel reach the bakery, where a pair of twins spotted the two and approached carrying platters of bread cut into pieces. “Fresh bread…”

“Fresh bread…”

“Would you like some fresh bread?”

Sunny backed up a bit and raised his hands in a surrendering position. “Uh, we’re just here to pick up an order.” At that information, the twins nod and back away from the two. Sunny sighed in relief and walked into the bakery section proper. Now that I think about it, those two in Headspace are the most accurate renditions of anyone in Faraway. Sunny hummed and made a quick glance back at the twins, who seemed to be discussing something.

“Welcome to our family bakery! What would you like?” The father of the twins addressed Sunny and Kel, tapping his fingers on the wooden counter.

“Hiya!” Kel replied enthusiastically. “We’re here to pick up an order!”

The man raised his brows and hummed. “Ah...Yes, your mother did mention you’d come by...Though I will admit, you’re earlier than I expected.”

Kel chuckled and scratched his cheek. “Well, if I get it out of the way now, I can spend time with Sunny without having to worry.” Kel gestured vaguely to Sunny, who gave a small wave to the owner.

“I see.” The owner nodded. “Well we have some Cookies in stock already, so I’ll go grab a batch and give you your order!” The owner left through the door to the inner workings of the bakery, and Sunny leaned against the counter with a sigh.

“I’m going to be honest, I was expecting a lot more resistance while we were getting these.”

Kel pursed his lips and shook his head. “Nah, I think it’s still too early for that.”

“Well there was graffiti at your place.” Sunny pointed out.

“Yeah but that doesn’t require as much effort as the usual shenanigans the Hooligans cause.” Sunny hummed in response as the owner came back to the counter with a bag in hand.

“Here’s your order, sir! We hope to see you again soon!” Sunny grabbed the bag as Kel paid for the order. As they left the bakery, Sunny began walking towards the candy shop entrance and turned to Kel.

“I thought I saw Mincy walk in there, so I figured we could drop in and see how she’s doing before we head back.”

Kel hummed in thought for a brief second before smiling and nodding. “Sounds good! If anything Mom’ll just think the orders still needed to be made, so let’s go!” With a final nod the two entered the pastel colored shop full of wrapped sugary goodness. Tucked away in a corner of the store was Mincy, diligently sketching away at her sketchbook, staring intently at the jars of individual candy. Kel smiled and walked up to the sketch artist. “Hey, stranger! How’s your latest masterpiece going?”

Mincy turned away from her sketchbook and smiled at the two. “Kel! Sunny! Nice to see you guys again!” She hummed and turned back to the candy, adding in a few lines to her sketch. “It’s going well...I’ve just been drawing the different types of candy here.”

Sunny raised a brow and made a quick glance to Ms. Candice. “The owner is fine with letting you do that? She doesn’t really seem like the person to be satisfied with just letting people look around without paying…”

Mincy pressed her lips into a thin line and nervously chuckled. “Erm...Well, all the candy in here looks so delicious, that I might just pay for some once I finish my sketches anyway…”

Kel looked over Mincy’s shoulder and gasped. “Wow, your drawing looks great as always!” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “You should show the owner, Ms. Candice!”

“H-Huh?” Mincy stepped back a bit.

Sunny pursed his lips. “I feel like that’d be a double edged sword.”

Kel scoffed and waved his hand. “Aw please, she’d appreciate it!” He rested one hand on his hip, the other keeping hold of the Sandwich. “Mincy, you should definitely show her! Or else I will!” He added, a hint of mischief in his voice.

“A-Ah, nono, please don’t!” Mincy waved her hands frantically as Kel chuckled. 

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that to you...But I still think you should once you finish it!”

Mincy still looked unsure, tilting her head downwards as she bit her lip. Sunny sighed and shook his head. “I’d say that’s up for Mincy to decide if she wants to show the drawing or not. Either way, keep up the good work, Mincy! You got this in the bag!” Mincy tilted her head back up and smiled, nodding and getting back to her drawing. Sunny turned around and gestured his head to the candy shop exit. “Let’s get going, Kel. Any longer and your mom isn’t going to buy the whole ‘We had to wait for the order to be finished.’ story.”

Kel scratched his cheek and nodded. “Ah, right!”

(BGM)

As soon as the two entered the house, Kel walked up to the couch and took in a breath. “MOM, WE’RE BACK!”

The sound of footsteps descending down the stairs echoed throughout the house, Kel winced at the sound, which caused Sunny to raise a brow. Kel’s mom angrily stepped into the living room. “Kelsey! What have I told you about yelling in the house! I just put Sally to bed, too!”

Kel rubbed his neck. “Sorry...I got a bit ahead of myself because we were finally done getting the orders you made.” He handed his mom the Sandwich from Gino’s and she accepted it, keeping menacing eye contact with her son.

“I understand you're excited to hang out with Sunny more, but you have to remember that it’s no longer just me, you, your father and Hector.” She sighed and pinched the space between her eyes. “You have a baby sister now and all that noise is going to disturb her and make it hard for her to stay asleep at the moment.”

“Give her another month or so.” Sunny pitched in, walking towards the two whilst keeping the bag of Cookies in his arms. “After that, the house being quiet will be alien to her.”

Cami quirked a brow and rested her hands on her hips as she sent the death stare towards Sunny’s direction. “Well, when did you become a jokester?”

Sunny tilted his head and shrugged. “I dunno.” He slightly held up the bag of Cookies. “Where do I place this?”

“In the kitchen with everything else.” Cami sighed and began walking into the kitchen. Sunny and Kel followed behind and Sunny set the bag of Cookies down on the counter. 

“By the way, what are you guys having for dinner?” Sunny finally asked.

“Roasted Chicken, with the Sandwich and Cookies on the side!” Cami announced proudly.

“Same as last year, basically.” Kel added swiftly.

“Ah…” Sunny hummed and nodded, shifting in place a titch. “Um...Would there be enough for two more people?”

Cami raised a brow. “Well, yes but what do you mean by two people?”

“I was thinking that maybe me and Basil could join you guys for dinner.” Sunny admitted. “I mean, me and Kel had dinner over at his place and my place isn’t really fit to host a dinner at so…”

Cami went wide eyed. “Oh, I see.” She hummed and pursed her lips. “Well, I suppose two more wouldn’t be that big of a deal, especially since Sally only has to eat baby food.” She chuckled and ruffled Sunny’s hair. “We would love to have you and Basil join us for dinner! It’ll give you both the chance to catch up with Hero.”

Sunny sighed in relief. “Thanks, Mrs. Vidal.”

“Anytime, mijo!”

Kel fist pumped the air. “Woo-hoo, Sunny and Basil are joining us for dinner!” He then dropped his arm back to his side and dumbfoundedly stared at Sunny. “How exactly are we going to get Basil to agree to that?”

Sunny shrugged. “Just...Hang out with him, I guess? We can gather that he stayed inside his house the entire day yesterday, so I was planning on getting him out so he could join us on our venture, but everything after that is a shot in the dark.”

“Well, you two aren’t going to figure that out by standing here in the kitchen and discussing it, are you?” Cami put on a teasing smile and began shooing them out of the kitchen. “Go on, get on with your day!”

Kel and Sunny stepped closer to the front door as Kel’s mom walked back into the kitchen. They gave each other a confused glance before they both shrugged and exited the house. “Well, now that that happened…” Kel turned to Sunny. “What’s the plan to get Basil out of his house?”

“Talking to him, I guess.” Sunny replied, not at all confident. “To be honest, the only real plan I have is to just drag him out of his house.” He scratched the back of his neck. 

Kel hummed. “Well, maybe we’ll think of something when we get there!”

“Hopefully.” The two began making their leave of Kel’s house, stopping halfway on the sidewalk near a group of trees as an approaching blue haired figure walked up to them, waving.

“Hey, guys!” Cris said with a giant smile as she waved at them. The swimmer was equipped with a rose colored shirt with two light pink stripes, a couple of black straps visible on her shoulders, light blue jean shorts with ankle high socks and a pair of mary janes. A seashell bracelet was hanging off of her wrist. 

“Oh, hey Cris!” Kel smiled and waved back, but his eyes still expressed confusion, which Cris seemed to pick up on, since she rolled her eyes.

“I said I might be able to join you guys on your adventures today.” Cris explained, playfully poking Kel in the chest while leaning forward towards him with her other arm behind her back. “And you said you were looking forward to it! So-” She stepped back and threw her arms out as if she was throwing confetti. “Here I am!”

“She’s not wrong about that.” Sunny mused. “And we did essentially agree to that.”

“I guess we did.” Kel chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, it kind of slipped my mind.”

Cris shrugged and waved it off. “Eh, I can understand that. I don’t know what the rest of yesterday was like for you two, but I can imagine there wasn’t a dull moment.”

“That’s one way to describe it.” Sunny deadpanned.

“But I figure that I can see for myself what it must’ve been like!” Cris said with a smile. Kel chuckled and nodded while holding his thumbs up while Sunny shifted in place with a frown. “So, where are we heading off to first?”

“We were going to head to Basil’s place to have him join us.” Sunny replied. “So far the only plan is to drag him out of his house, but we were thinking about coming up with a few more ideas on the way.”

Cris hummed and nodded. “Well, I'm down with the first idea if we can’t think of anything else!”

Kel fist pumped the air and pointed down the street. “Alright! Let’s go get ourselves a Basil!” He started running down the sidewalk, leaving Cris and Sunny in the dust.

Sunny shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know whether he’s lost even more patience or is just purposefully moving things along.”

“Knowing Kel, he could be unknowingly doing the latter option because of excitement.” Cris muttered.

“That could be the case.” Sunny scratched his head and turned to Cris. “So...You and Kel.”

Cris covered her mouth with her wrist and chuckled. “I love him, but he’s pretty dense. I might have to spell it out for him at some point.”

Sunny nodded and held up a thumbs up. “Either way, he’s a lucky guy, even if he doesn’t know it yet.”

“For real.” Cris nodded and began walking. 

“YOU TWO COMING OR WHAT!?” Kel shouted out towards Cris and Sunny from the stop sign at the end of the street…

Earlier that day...

Basil laily opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. “Still on my own bed.” He hovered one of his arms over his head and looked over the many thin scars that were all over the entire length of his arm, stopping just a couple of inches away from the elbow. “Still have the scars.” He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m guessing it wasn’t a dream then.” Keeping his eyes locked on the wood hanging above him, Basil blinked, his eyes threatening to shut once more and sleep the day away. The blonde rubbed his eyes and groaned. “I should probably get up.”

Throwing his blanket off of him, Basil swung his legs over onto the floor and sat at the bed’s edge, rubbing his neck as he moved his head around, a few pops ringing out as a result. He looked over at the many potted plants in his room, noticing that a few flowers were beginning to dry up. “I didn’t water them yesterday.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes again. “I guess I can’t blame myself. Yesterday was rough until…Sunny and Kel came over.” Basil didn’t know whether to smile or frown. “Sunny’s...Leaving in two days…” 

Basil’s breath began to hitch. He shut his eyes tight and hugged himself in an attempt to shield himself from the gaze of Ş̸͓͍̎O̸̢͗͑̿M̷̝̝̋͛͝Ȩ̶̩͗̎̚T̸̛̲̦͙̅̇H̷͎̯̉͑I̷̼̋̆N̷͓̺̓G̴̙̣͐͌. Just take a few deep breaths. Breathe in for 1-2-3-4-5 and breathe out for 1-2-3-4-5. Basil began to follow the instructions that echoed in his mind, counting to five with inhale and exhale, before he opened his eyes and found...Nothing.

“Wow...That...Worked better than I expected.” He stood up from his bed, only to fall backwards onto it due to his head feeling light and his vision blurring, the room spinning around for a brief moment. “Okay...Right, that’s a thing now.” He stood back up from the bed with a sigh, this time remaining steady on the floor. Basil cast his eyes on the door leading out from his room and tilted his head. “Would...They come back tonight?” He drew his lips into a line and balled up his fists. If I go out there...Aubrey and her friends will… Basil bit his lip and shook his head. “N-No...I-I should wait for them…” Casting a glance at his dresser, Basil sighed. “I should at least wash up, either way.”

Walking over to his dresser, Basil reached out his arm towards the shirt drawer, only to pause and gaze at the scars that littered his arm. In theory, they were small enough that Polly could potentially miss them if the two crossed paths in the hall, but at the same time, Polly is a nurse. She could notice that something wasn’t right with Basil’s arms and see the scars. While he does need to wash up, the idea of having to explain where the scars came from was too overwhelming, mainly because the moment he maimed his arm was also supposed to be the moment he tore his stomach open with his garden shears.  Wait...If the cuts on my arm remained after...Going back in time essentially, then would it be the same case with… Drawing his arm back to his side, Basil lifted up his shirt from the bottom and used his other hand to feel around his torso for anything that felt off. (BGM)

It didn’t take long for Basil to confirm his suspicions, as in the general vicinity of where he had stabbed himself with his shears, Basil felt a rough patch of skin that contrasted with everywhere else he felt. Basil froze in place when he traced the shape of the rough skin, making a straight vertical line across his stomach twice before the rough skin ended. He let go of the end of his shirt and ran his hands over his face, bringing his palms together at the front and just stared at the wall unblinking for what seemed like ages. In his head, was but one single phrase. This...Has turned into a difficult situation.

Chapter Text

“So what are the plans for today?” Cris asked the two as they all crossed the street.

“I think it’s going to be pretty much the same as yesterday.” Sunny admitted. “There’s not a whole lot to do here except going to Hobbeez or hanging out at a friends place.”

Cris pursed her lips and nodded. “Okay, so what did you guys do yesterday?”

“Mainly walked around town, did a few jobs here and there and tried to get Basil’s Photo Album back.” Sunny replied. “Minus that last part, today might just be the same.”

“That’s it?” Cris asked with a raised brow.

“I mean, there are a few different parts of town we haven’t gone to yesterday, but there’s construction on two different streets that kinda got rid of the sidewalks.” Kel chuckled.

“That is true…” Cris hummed. “Oh, I know! How about we hang out at your old hangout spot today!”

Sunny gasped and turned his head towards Cris. “You know about that?”

Cris smiled and nodded. “Kel showed me yesterday before we ran into you!”

Sunny went wide eyed for a brief second, before he took on a smug expression and looked at Kel. “Oh did he now?” He couldn’t see Kel’s face, due to the athlete actively looking away from him. But with the way Kel was rubbing his neck and nervously chuckling, Sunny could guess what he looked like at the moment.

“W-Well...I just figured...I needed to t-Oh look we’re here!” Kel pointed at Basil’s house and walked up to the front door. Sunny shook his head while Cris giggled.

“He just wanted to talk about some stuff away from anyone who could listen in.” She explained.

“Ah.” Sunny nodded. “What did he want to talk about?”

Cris frowned and sighed. “That...Should be something he tells you himself.” Sunny raised a brow but looked away and nodded.

“Alright.”

Kel pounded his fist on the door to Basil’s house, drawing a resigned sigh from Sunny and another giggle from Cris. “BASIL! Guess who’s here to take you on a relaxing hangout!” He knocked a few more times on the front door before the doorknob turned. He backed away as it opened up, revealing Polly on the other side, wearing a pale yellow dress with soft orange highlights and collar.

The caretaker smiled. “Hello again, Kel, Sunny and…” She looked at Cris and raised a brow. “Oh, are you another one of Basil’s friends?”

“Not officially, but any friend of these two is a friend of mine!” Cris replied cheerfully. “My name is Cris!”