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Spamton's main attack is a lot more impressive than you would've expected. It doesn't take much TP and it ends the fight immediately. It feels a bit broken, honestly. Your enemies don't even end up in one piece.
You feel a moment of resistance from Kris, but you manage to extend their arm towards the opposing Ambyu-Lance, pointing.
"Heartbreaker."
He doesn't hesitate. A massive blue heart on a chain bursts out of Spamton's chest, his head lolling back like a limp doll, rows of teeth opening up, up, up. There's a brief moment where the Ambyu-Lance looks up at the heart, dropping their axe, before... SNAP .
The body falls onto the pavement.
You won! You earned 100 KROMER. Spamton became stronger.
"Good work," you tell him as his heart recedes back in his body. He takes a few deep breaths, looks at you, and smiles.
---
You move a bit slower than you'd like.
Spamton insists on searching every corner of the city for his keys. You admit, it's a good opportunity to search for enemies. There were a few Pop-Ups you wouldn't've found if it weren't for Spamton turning over every rock, traffic cone, and trash can you come across, but you want to move on. You've already played the game. Sure, you've never had Spamton in your party before, but you want to defeat all the enemies as fast as you can so you can get to the new content.
You drag him across the ground by the collar of his shirt, walking a bit quickly through the alleyway. All of the sudden you feel a sharp tug of resistance and nearly fall backwards, looking towards Spamton.
"wOAH WOAH WOAH, KRIS!" Spamton had dug in his heels in the ground, holding his hands up. You narrow Kris' eyes.
"I'M [[Don't Wait! Call Now]] TO FIND MY KEYS TOO, BUT DoN'T YOU THINK WE'RE [[Run]] A LITTLE TOO FAST?"
Kris tries to say something, but you don't respond, merely tilting their head. Spamton continues, "WHAT I'M TRYINg< TO SAY HERE, [Favoured Customer], IS THAT THERE'S STILL [[1 Left]]!"
Oh. You thought the two of you had killed all the enemies in this area, but you must've missed one. You turn back around, looking for the last enemy and dragging Spamton along with you. Kris grits their teeth.
This part of the city is quiet. Empty except for the occasional body, torn wires and leaking battery acid. Spamton's been having "heart-to-hearts" with the other Darkners per your orders, and the two of you were nothing if not thorough. You're beginning to think Spamton might've been mistaken, but before you ask him how sure he was, you see it.
A figure in front of a shop in a corner you must've missed. A blue Addison. You approach them, Spamton trailing behind, before you pick him up and put him on the ground in front of you.
"EASY, KID, I'M NOT A [[Half-price Bag of Flour]]" Spamton said, giving Kris an offended look and adjusting his sunglasses.
"Spamton?"
Spamton froze for a moment, and turned around. The Addison looked surprised, at the least.
"Is that you? It's been so long," they said. "I mean, I-- I wanted to apologise to you. We shouldn't've just left you, you know? You're still our friend, and..."
Spamton slowly turns his head towards you. He looks tenser than you've ever seen him. You can hear Kris' voice in your head, a broken record repeating no no no no let me --
"Proceed."
Spamton looks at the ground for a second, and turns back around, wrapping his arms tight around the Addison and muttering something that sounds like I missed you too .
"...Spamton?"
They don't even see it coming.
---
The walk through the city is quiet after that. You can feel Kris frowning, but they seem to have given up trying to take control, at least for now. For some reason, the taste of salt sticks in your mouth.
"YOU KNOW, KRIS," Spamton starts, breaking the silence. "I'D THOUGHT ABOUT DOING THAT BEFORE, SOMETIMES. IT ALWAYS FELT LIKE A HORRIBLE THING TO THINK ABOUT. BUT I DID." He paused. "I DIDN'T KNOW THEY REGRETTED IT."
He's silent for the next several minutes, the only sounds being the distant (and noticeably quieter than they were earlier today) sounds of the city, your footsteps against the pavement, Kris breathing in, out, in, out.
"I DON'T FEEL GUILTY," he says, finally, in an odd tone. "I THOUGHT I WOULD."
You tell him that that's natural. It means he's getting stronger.
He takes a breath. "YOU'RE RIGHT."
"I NEED MY K3YS. TO GET [[Big.]] TO REACH [[Heaven.]] YOU KNOW WHaT THEY SAY, KRIS!! YOU HAVE TO [[Rip]] A FEW OF [[Your Friends Apart]] TO MAKE A BUSINESS!!!"
You see an empty street in the distance, a Werewire standing in the center of it.
There you are.
---
It is after he beheads a Werewerewire that he asks you a question.
"KRIS. I DON'T MEAN TO [[X Doubt]] THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING," he starts, "BUT CAN WE DISCUSS THE [[Terms and Conditions]] OF OUR [[Contract]]?"
You stare at him.
"RIGHT! WELL," His jaw clacks a few times, looking like he's trying to think of what to say. "ARE WE STILL TRYING TO GET [[Keys]]?"
You tell him that of course you are.
"WELL, IT'S... IT'S NOT THAT I'M [Morally Opposed] TO THE MASS SLAUGHTER OF THIS CITY'S RESIDENTS. IT JUST FEELS A LITTLE LIKE YOU'RE [[LOG IN TODAY TO GET A FREE HIGH-LEVEL WEAPON]] INSTEAD OF [[Help]] ME."
You say that he wants his keys back so he can get big again.
"OF COURSE! EVEN [[BIGGER]] [[BIGGER]] [[BIGGER]] THAN I WAS BEFORE. AND I CAN'T [Touch Heaven] WITHOUT MY KEYS!"
You tell him that they could be anywhere, and Cyber City is very large. He knows no one really likes him anymore, right? His friends all abandoned him, they get attacked by Darkners in the street... if he doesn't get strong enough to handle himself, how are the two of you going to find them? How can they expect to get anything done if he's still so small and weak?
He grimaces. "YOU... YOU'RE RIGHT." He sighs. "You really know what you're talking about, huh, Kris? You're only trying to help me. I don't want to be weak anymore."
He shakes his head. "Lead the way."
You lead.
---
Queen doesn't say a word to you when the two of you approach her. She just looks at you, visor black. You're disappointed.
There is no mech. The fight plays out like any other fight, only Spamton does not kill her. The Heartbreaker swings towards her and snaps its jaws and
You won! You earned 0 KROMER. Spamton got stronger.
She just walks away, after that.
Normally, Queen is the final boss. In another run, it was Spamton. But Queen is gone and Spamton doesn't have the key to get big. You look around, taking Spamton with you, and no scenes trigger. There is no extra dialogue. There is not a boss fight. You don't know what you're supposed to do next.
So you sit on the ground and look down at the city below. Spamton sits next to you soon after. There is no sign of Kris.
"I made you proud," Spamton says, after a long minute. "Didn't I?"
"Yes."
He's quiet for a second. Then, he repeats, "Didn't I?"
"Yes," you repeat. He reaches up and yanks on a fistful of his hair. "Didn't I?"
"Yes." He tugs harder, taking a shaky breath. "Didn't I?"
The two of you go on like this for what feels like forever. Your tone does not change, while he sounds more and more frantic with every repetition.
You get tired of this. "No," you say, and wait. Spamton does not repeat the question again.
Instead, he starts to laugh. Quiet at first, but soon it sounds like any other time he laughs; Intense, manic, almost painful. He stands up.
"Well!" He looks at you. "Guess you really can't please everybody!"
He trudges away, eyes locked on the ground, shaking. You just sit for a moment, staring down at the city below as the sound of Spamton's half-sobbing laughter fades into silence.
Suddenly, Kris asks you, what was the point of all this? What did you gain?
You respond, "I wanted to see what would happen next."
...
That's all?
"Yes." You move to sit up.
"Then watch this," they choke out. Their body locks up. You stay seated on the ground.
Somewhere between several minutes and several hours pass as you click every button, press every key, and try repeatedly to remove yourself from their body.
That's how I feel, they tell you.
You sit.
The sun is setting along the horizon and not a sound comes from the city below. Kris thinks about cages and the bitter taste of salt.