Chapter Text
The first thing Pro realized was that it was peaceful.
Which was odd, because these days his naps weren't very peaceful.
The second thing Pro realized was how bright it was.
Blinding, overwhelming. It seemed to go on for miles, nothing but soft, glowing light that seemed to engulf the world around him. He would have thought this place was heaven, if not for the fact he had already seen heaven himself, courtesy of The God of Imperia, Ish. He held his hand out, and he swore he could feel the light grazing his skin, warming up the few, cold metal parts on his body.
It was soft, like that of a rabbit's pelt. Calming, tranquil, golden. It felt so real, and he flexed his fingers to grab out to it.
The third thing Pro realized, as he stood there dumbfounded, was that he was alone.
There was nobody around him, and somehow that made him more anxious than if he were in a crowd. He found himself taking a step, then another, walking in whatever direction he assumed was north. He called out, projecting across the white void,
` ` Hello?? Anybody the'ah? ` `
His voice bounced across the plains, becoming quieter with each reflection until he could no longer hear it. Nothing bounced back at him, not a voice, not a noise. His brows furrowed, frustrated. Surely he wasn't alone here? Right?
He tried again, this time louder, as if he was screaming at some poor schmuck who happened to bump into him. (A part of him hoped for any poor schmuck at this point. Anybody was better than nothing.)
` ` EY!! IS ANYBODY OUT THE'AH? I'AINT GON'NA WAIT HEAH FOREVAH!! ` `
...No response.
He swallowed harshly, smacking his excruciatingly dry lips as he backed up. This was weird. Something didn't feel right and he didn't know what it was. He could hear his own breath, could hear his footsteps and the sound of his leather jacket rustling against his body and he begged so desperately for something that wasn't him, something that was here and was real and-
` ` Boss? ` `
He jumped, turning his head towards the voice nearby and almost toppling himself over to one side. He regained his step, finding himself staring at yellow feathers and a green headband. Those same feathers that had been stained with blood, those same feathers that had withered before his very eyes back at the compound. He had to hold back every urge to run forward and envelop him in a hug, to never let go in fear he would lose him again.
` ` Duck. . ? ` ` He mustered, and it came out broken and cracked and in any other instance he would have coughed and brushed it off but there was nobody here but the two of them.
Duck began walking towards him, and Pro reached out to hold his shoulders, gentle. His calloused hands grazed leather, and it felt so real against his fingertips that he thought maybe he had died in his sleep, and that this was the afterlife, and that he really was crazy when he saw heaven with all those angels. He let out a chuckle, then a laugh, and finally a cackle as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He smiled so widely and watched as Duck smiled back, hugging the android.
` ` By Ish, I- Where were ya'h man? I- I saw ya'h die out the'ah! I saw ya'h wither away be'foah mah very eyes, an'- ` `
` You ain't gotta worry 'bout it boss, We've been waitin' for ya'h!! ` `
Duck took Pro's hand, dragging him along and through the endless void. They seemed to walk for a while, and Pro wondered how they even knew their way around, considering It was already a hassle enough getting around Imperia's Capital. He didn't question it, too busy staring at the very-real Slime in front of him.
Pro hadn't even noticed when they stopped, bumping into Duck with a small "oof". He blinked a few times, regaining himself as he looked over Duck's shoulder. His hand dropped from the others, and he felt the air rush out of his throat as he found himself staring at the rest of Da Slimes, all gathered and talking like nothing had happened, like they were all okay, back at home beefing with the Cowboys and grafitting everything again. Duck stepped to the side, that same smile on his face as Pro took in the moment.
Eventually, Catoos had looked over, noticing Pro staring from afar. Immediately, his ears twitched upwards and he held a paw up, waving.
` ` It's da Boss!!! ` `
Before he could blink, Pro was surrounded by his Slimes, laughing and shoving and hugging him, asking where he had been and why he looked so shaken. Rello, Reggie, Batzy, Etten, Katz, all of em' here and alive and laughing and smiling and joking like they hadn't been slaughtered in cold blood and brought back to life, like he hadn't just held their funeral mere hours ago. Even the living Slimes were here, Crumbsli cheering from within their little pileup, while Vairy and Lim exchanged vocal jabs at one another. There were so many voices and so many hands and yet it all felt so warm and inviting, and Pro almost didn't want to leave it if not for the fact he was still searching for a certain few people.
Catoos seemed to notice the strain on Pro's face, realization washing over his eyes as he looked out from the small group. He jumped up, calling to.. someone?
` ` Ey!! He's over hea!! ` `
Pro peeked his head over the crowd, and just from the horizon, he could see two people walking towards them. The glow of the void seemed to block out their silhouettes, but he could already tell who they were. Their steps echoed against the ground, and the world felt still as Pro maneuvered his way out of the small crowd and towards the two of them. Slowly, their features came into view one-by-one.
On the left,
His red-checkered shirt.
His messy, dirty-blonde hair.
His dark green eyes.
On the right,
Her long, blonde hair that melted into a dark brown.
Her antlers that towered over crowds.
Her purplish-blue hoodie, with the letter "C" sewn securely in the middle.
On both of them, leather jackets with a slime patch on one arm, and their names on another.
Pro's hand trembled, and he dropped to his knees. They were here, right in front of him. He had seen their death messages, he had mourned them and lived life without them and they were here again, standing in front of him like nothing had happened. He hadn't realized he was crying until he felt the wet tears drip onto his knuckles and then onto the ground. He sniffled, wiping his face as best he could. He was here, bawling his eyes out and vulnerable and in any other instance he would have never let it get like this but they were alive and nothing else mattered, not what they had lived through, not what he had lived through, not ever their future.
Cass seemed to reach a hand out towards him, a wide grin on her face. That beautiful, gorgeous grin. Her emerald eyes shone bright, a vibrant ring of gold just around the edges that made his heart melt. Her face radiated under the glow of the void, and it felt like the heavens and earth had collided into one.
` ` What're you doin' on da floor, Boss?? C'mon, get up! ` `
Her voice was everything, and Pro found himself reaching his hand out to grab her own. He was finally home, home with his Slimes where nobody would hurt them, where nobody would hunt them down, where nobody would kill them in broad daylight. They were here, and everything was okay, and nothin' else mattered, nothing else would ever ma-
A purple particle hovered over his vision.
A purple particle.
It was just one particle, and it was only for a second that it flew by before fizzling out, but that was all it took for Pro to stop, choking on his own breath. The room suddenly felt too tight, why was it so tight?
Alarm bells rang all throughout his head, the same way they did on Day 4 when the Purge began and Imperia abandoned the Desert and he was being hunted, the same way they did when he was hiding in that armory closet in the capital, desperately listening outside in hopes that the Rebels had arrived, the same way they have over and over and over again these past few days, except worse. They rung and rung and he was sure nobody else could hear them but it didn't stop them from hurting his ears and constricting his chest.
He looked up to Cass for answers, but her smile was gone, replaced with a frown that filled him with unease. Her eyes, the same ones that had been so elegant just a second ago, looked so deeply dead. Like someone had stripped her of everything she was, her recklessness, her charge, her power, her intellect, her ambition, and everything in between, leaving a shell of who she was.
A shell.
` ` What's wrong, Pro? ` ` She said, and there was no emotion to it, no life, no soul.
He looked around, hoping for answers, only to be met with the rest of the Slimes, each with that same gaze he saw on his wife's face, each with those purple particles at their feet reminding him that they were no longer human.
Pro stumbled back, gathering himself as best he could. ` ` Na, n-na. You ain't her, you was neva'h her. Yer nothin' like her, I know my Wife an' you ain't her. ` ` He tried to say it with his usual confidence, but his voice cracked, and he internally cursed himself out for letting himself become weak like this.
Cass tilted her head slowly, and it sent shivers down Pro's spine. ` ` What do you mean? I've always been her, silly. And these have always been Da Slimes. ` `
Pro shook his head. ` ` Na, y-you're a meat puppet. A zombie. My Slimes were left back in heaven an' yous tooks their bodies. ` `
Cass stared at the android before her, before letting out a laugh. A deep, sickening laugh. ` ` You really are crazy. This is a blessing! One that you don't deserve, considering you couldn't even protect all the Slimes that died under your command. ` `
Pro felt the remaining air rush out of him as she uttered those last words. ` ` ...What? ` `
` ` Don't play dumb, ProGamerDude. You hid in a wall while your friends scattered outside, running for their lives. Reggie, Duck, Rello, Etten, Batzy, JMW, none of them deserved it. You could have gone out and protected them, but you didn't. ` `
Pro slammed his fist onto the ground, shaking intensely as tears continued to spill.
` ` Not to mention you sat there and let an Imperial Guard kill me right before your eyes! You stood there and watched like it was a circus! You claim to have loved me, to have grieved me, yet refused to give yourself up to save me. ` `
Pro continued to tremble, holding a deathly grip on the ground as the skin on his fingertips began to whiten.
` ` And let's not forget you hid in a CLOSET while the Rebellion was going on! A CLOSET! You KNEW where the machines were and you KNEW the power you held, and yet you sat there terrified, waiting for the Rebels to come and save you from the hole you dug. ` `
Pro cracked.
` ` THEYS WERE GON'NA KILL ME CASS!! THEY WANTED US, ME, YOU, ALLS OF US DEAD! I WANTED TO SAVE Y'AS, I WANTED TO, BUT THERES WAS NOTHIN' I COULD DO! ` `
` ` There was nothin' I coul... ` ` Pro's voice trailed off, replaced by quiet sobs.
Cass scoffed, staring distastely at Pro. ` ` Imperia gave you the gift of life, and you turned you back on them, let your friends get killed, and hid. You should have never survived until the end. They should have executed you right there with the rest of those Desert traitors. ` `
Pro couldn't say anything. He didn't move, not as the shadows overhead him grew, not as he felt hands grab at him, not as he saw the dozens of purple particles flying around himself and Da Slimes.
His vision began to grow dark, and he looked up one final time to meet Cass's gaze. She stared back, disgusted. She opened her mouth to speak.
` ` I don't know how She I could have loved someone like you. ` `