Work Text:
“I have to tell you something.”
The words flowed effortlessly out of Sunny’s mouth. But this next part was going to be the toughest.
“Yeah..?” Kel had a hint of a smile on his face, ever the optimist, he was.
“Why’re you being so vague?” Aubrey understandably frowned, though she seemed to realise she came off harsher than she wanted to, and lightened her tone. “Just tell us.”
“Is this related to your fight with Basil?” Hero seemed a little desperate for some answers, some resolution to all this, and who could blame him? They’d all almost lost two more friends in one night. Seeing it all with a clearer head, it would’ve obviously been a grave tragedy.
“I…”
Sunny took a very deep breath.
This wasn’t going to be easy to just confess.
The thought of someone saying it all so nonchalantly was alien to Sunny.
But he had to.
For Kel.
For Aubrey.
For Hero.
For Basil.
For himself.
And for Mari.
All eyes were on him.
It was time to tell the truth, once and for all.
To stop living the lie that had been fabricated all those years ago…
“I’m gay.”
…
…
…
Everyone had mixed reactions, which Sunny did absolutely expect. There was no imagined scenario where they weren’t a little confused as to his confession.
“You like guys?” Aubrey had quite the smirk on her face. “No surprise there.”
“W-Wait, seriously?” Kel was rather taken aback. “That’s cool, dude!” But at least he was supportive, not that Sunny was ever concerned Kel wouldn’t be.
“But… What does this have to do with Basil?” Hero looked back between Sunny and Basil. Oh my sweet summer… grown man. Was the answer not obvious…?
Sunny felt a presence behind himself, ah, it was just Something. Though instead of having her usual haunting stare, she looked miffed.
“Sunny.” She spoke with Mari’s voice, because she was Mari, really. “We need to talk. Outside. Now.”
“One moment.” Sunny turned his head to address his friends, “My trauma wants to talk to me.”
He left his confused friends alone in the hospital room as he stepped into the hall with Something.
“Sunny, dearest brother.” Something held her side… spike-things together. “What the FUCK was that!?”
“What do you mean?” To say he was confused would be an understatement, he had poured his heart out into that confession. He was hurt! “I confessed the truth… Like I should’ve…”
“THE TRUTH!?” Something screamed so loud that it alerted a nearby nurse, despite the fact she was a product of Sunny’s own mind. “SUNNY, EVERYONE ALREADY FUCKING KNEW YOU WERE GAY, A FRUIT IS WHAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN! YOU AND BASIL HOLDING HANDS ALL THE FUCKING TIME!”
“Please stop swearing, this is a hospital environment. And I think that nurse over there just heard you.”
“SUNNY! For the love of FUCK-“
“Language.”
“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SUNNY! WASN’T THERE SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT YOU HAD TO CONFESS TO?”
“I don’t think so…”
“MAYBE A CRIME?”
“But being gay is a crime in some places…”
“OH DON’T GET SMART WITH ME, YOUNG MAN! THINK, SUNNY! WHAT CRIME HAVE YOU COMMITTED IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS?”
“I think I remember… Um…
Carrying a weapon…
Slashing Aubrey…
Trespassing…
Loitering…
Littering…
Treason…
Piracy…
Petty theft…
Bank robbery…”
“WHAT!?”
“Possession of classified military intelligence…
Distribution of classified military intelligence…”
“Sunny, what the fuck are you talking about!?”
“Tampering with animatronics…
Arson…
Writing immoral fanfiction…”
“SINCE WHEN!?”
“Eating the rich…
Grave defilement…
Organised crime…”
“Oh my GOD, SUNNY. YOU DIDN’T DO ANY OF THAT!”
“Yes I did… I did slash Aubrey.”
“WELL YES, BUT- THE- THE OVER-THE-TOP ONES.”
“But I did…”
“SUNNY. WHAT DID YOU DO FOUR YEARS AGO, FOCUS?”
“…Violin?”
“…ALRIGHT……And what happened to that violin?”
“I broke it.”
“And what happened after that?”
“You yelled at me.”
“And then..?”
“I pushed you?”
“AND THEN…”
“You died.”
“What is that called?”
“Murder.”
“I hope you mean manslaughter.”
“But you’re not a man… Are you?”
“Obviously not!”
“So it would be Womanslaughter.”
“No! It’s manslaughter! I assume it was an accident, right!?”
“Yeah… Why would I intentionally kill the sister that makes me snacks when I feel sad?”
“So go back in there and say ‘I killed Mari by accident, and Basil hung her body.’…..”
Unfortunately, Something had been so loud, that the fabric of reality and fiction, mind and matter had broken. A nurse passing by had been doing that thing… Uh…
“Something, what’s it called when someone listens in on a conversation?”
“Eavesdropping.” The nurse helpfully informed him.
“Oh yeah, that. Thank you.”
“No problem, but please keep your weird dog outside…”
“WEIRD DOG!?” Screamed Something, Sunny probably would’ve wanted to scream too if he was called a weird dog.
“Also what was that about… Manslaughter?”
“Don’t worry about it!” Snapped back Something, causing the nurse to step back a little. Then the vengeful one’s gaze returned to Sunny. “Little brother. This is supposed to be a very important moment. You confess to what you did, and whatever happens, no matter what, you move forward.”
“Have you ever considered the possibility that there’s nothing after the confession and at that moment our story will end, and we’ll all return to the fabric of nothingness.”
“Even if a story ends, a little fragment of it is taken out and embedded into the minds of those who bore witness to it.”
“So you admit? We’re fictional, and if I tell them the truth, this all ends.”
“I did not say that! Sunny, this is the moment where you confess to everything! Regardless of how you feel about the very nature of our world, you owe it to them, little brother. They deserve to know the truth.”
“But I told them the truth, I’m gay.”
“The OTHER truth.”
“Oh… Okay… I’ll… I’ll do it…”
“I’m right behind you, little brother. I believe in you, alright?”
Sunny stepped back into the room once more.
“Sunny, is everything-“ Hero tried to be a big man but it didn’t quite work out because Sunny interrupted him.
“I have to tell you something.”
“You already said-“ Aubrey was trying to be snarky, alright! Fine, rude-ass!
“…The truth is…”
This was it… The moment of truth…
“Kel’s bisexual.”
“Bro!?” Kel was totally shocked, in a good way. “How did you know!? But it’s as I always say ‘guys, gals, genderqueer, or not even gender-here, my love goes around to all.’ You know?”
“You’ve literally never fucking said that in your entire fucking life. You fucking idiot.” Aubrey was really embracing the rudeness, this was why Sunny was gay… Well, not really, obviously, but… You know…
“How would you know, Aubrey? You’ve only talked to me these last few days!”
“…Point made.”
“OH I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!” Something screamed, once again ripping apart the fabric of mind and matter and all that jazz. “HE KILLED ME!”
Now everyone was shocked, even Basil! Good morning, Basil!
“What? What even are you..?” Hero held an arm in front of himself as if Something was going to strike.
“IT’S ME!” Something started to change… And by that, Sunny meant that Mari’s ghost exited the eye of Something all Sadako style… Maybe he shouldn’t have watched The Ring with Kel that one time. “I’M MARI!”
“SUNNY, YOU DID WHAT!?” Aubrey yelled! Goodness! Look at the environment around you! This is a hospital, woman!
“Not now.” He responded, feeling a little off. “I think something’s wrong.”
“OH IT SURE AS HELL IS WRONG WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”
“OH OKAY SO YOU’LL SAY THE F WORD AT ME BUT NOT AT SUNNY!?” Wait why was Kel angry now???
“FUCK YOU!”
“WELL FUCK YOU, TOO!”
Poor Hero was struggling to process this whole situation…
And Basil… Basil seemed a little wacked-out at the moment.
“Seriously guys,” Sunny attempted to defuse the situation, “I genuinely feel like there’s-“
“CAN IT, WOULD YOU, YOU FUCKING MURDERER!” Aubrey got all up in his face and Mari did nothing to stop her, the betrayal!
“I’m a manslaughterer actu-“
“SHUT UP, HAVE YOU KILLED ANYONE ELSE, HUH? BASIL’S GRANDMA? WAS THAT YOU?”
“Aubrey, be for real, does it look like I slipped a gallon of antifreeze into her food whilst I was over at Basil’s house?”
…
“No! Of course I didn’t! My name isn’t Reginald!”
Mari rolled her eyes so hard they literally popped out for a second. “No one will ever get that reference! Really inappropriate time to make it, anyway!!!”
And then, the fabric of reality literally unwound before everyone’s eyes due to terrible writing. I’m sorry, I really tried my best. (I did not, I wrote this over a 24 hour period.)
“Yeah, see, this is what I was worried about.” Sunny explained to Mari as they floated in the unwound state of existence. “You see, this was supposed to be the ending of my character arc as I confess that I killed you and Basil hung your body, but because you did it, it fundamentally broke the entire point of ME confessing. Because the whole idea was that Kel, Aubrey and Hero DIDN’T know. It was my responsibility to confess due to you being, you know, fucking dead, and because Basil is a boyfailure twink who can’t even correctly lay the blame on me due to his failing mental state. This moment is meant to be contained for US and no one else, so even if our parents knew, which let’s be real, they probably had their suspicions considering you had taken heavy blunt force trauma from the fall down the fucking stairs, it wouldn’t matter anyway because they ain’t gonna snitch! This was OUR moment where I confess, and you went and ruined it, good job, Mari.”
“It’s your fault, Sunny. All of this is your fault.”
“On the contrary, it’s God’s fault. I’m just following the script, it’s not my fault you went and ruined everything.”
Then Hero opened his yap for some reason. “Mari do you love me?” This is what happens when you leave Hero in the care of a writer who heavily leans towards the idea of Mari being a closeted lesbian. It’s my headcanon, if you don’t like it, come and kill me. I’ll be waiting for you. My office. On the highest floor of the tallest building. I’ll be stroking my pussy as I wait for you.
Cat. Pussy cat, i meant pussy cat for the love of fuck i wasn’t trying to make a joke like that it just came out like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! screw you!!!!!! but also thank you for reading!!! but also screw you!!!!!!!!
And so Mari responded to Hero’s query with a queer-y of her own. “Hero, are you aware that I want girls?”
That made Hero so sad that the world fixed itself somehow. Maybe his tears had magical reality-healing properties. Sunny would have to lick them later to investigate.
…What? Was it NOT normal, albeit a little weird, but a common occurrence to crush on someone older than you? You’re telling me you’ve never had a crush on a musician or an actor or a fictional character or someone that had a very significant age gap with you? You’re lying to me. Probably. I don’t know your life. Maybe it’s better that I don’t.
A few days later with absolutely no smooth transition whatsoever...
Sunny and Mari were still living in their sold house because Hero’s magical healing tears (Yes, Sunny investigated.) didn’t fix TIME, so everything was stagnant, like hit Roblox game Omori Sandbox. Mari was tapping her ghostly fingers on the counter, at least her complexion was coming back fine, she was clearly deep in thought.
“What’s up?” Sunny spoke with sign language to finally keep in line with the author’s headcanons, though let's be real, it wouldn't last..
“I’ve been thinking recently.”
“Oh no.”
“Aubrey dyed her hair… She kept our promise, but I didn’t get to…”
Well, that certainly gave Sunny a brilliant idea. He fuelled himself by imagining Basil telling him that Polly wasn’t home, and ran outside at a world record pace. He used the backwards long jump technique against a mailbox to abuse the lack of a negative speed cap to get his goofy ass over to Fix-It.
Luckily, as part of their Convenience Sale, they were selling Purple Spray Paint. And only Purple Spray Paint. For the low-low price of $YouCantAffordThisToCreateConflictToManufacturePlot. Of course, Sunny couldn’t afford $YouCantAffordThisToCreateConflictToManufacturePlot because he barely had $EnoughMoneyToBuySomethingCheap.
A Sunny walked up to a hardware store
And he said to the man running the store
“Hey!” (Bum-Bum-Bum)
“Got any grapes
plot convenient ways for me to get some Purple Spray Paint?”
The man said “Just take it and shut up.”
“Thanks.”
Then he waddled away! (Waddle, waddle!)
'til the very next never.
(Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum Bum-Ba-Dum)
Sunny took the purple spray paint, and used an out of bounds technique executed on the employee’s face to clip into the void below and respawn at home.
Reappearing in his bed, he hopped right out, ran down the stairs to the glum Mari, and without so much as asking, sprayed her ghost hair purple. It worked because of course it has to.
“Sunny..? Did you just spray my hair..?”
“It’s purple now. That’s my attack.”
“…Ah…Thank you, little brother! That… That means so much to me!”
It was at this moment a little cat-person with a big hat and scarf entered the house like an RPG character.
“I… I came here under the instruction of CheeseCheese15 to fulfil a gag…”
“What’s the gag?”
“I’m looking for the sun.”
“Hello, I’m Sunny.”
“You’re… Sunny? But… Not the sun, I’m looking for the sun.”
“I am the son, the son of a mother.”
“No, the SUN! You know, the thing that lights up the world…”
“Mari? It does say “the sun shined brighter when she was here” on her grave.”
“Yeah, it does say that.” Mari did not question the fact that she knew what was written on her grave despite not having a chance to look at it.
“No… I… The thing… Th-The… The sun..! The thing that shines!”
“Oh, the big ball in the sky?” Sunny finally pieced things together, he felt like such a genius.
“Yes… That thing, I’m looking for it.”
“Don’t worry! I can take you to it!”
Sunny led the cat-person outside, pointed up towards the sun, and as they were blinded by the light, he powered up the ultimate kick.
With a swift upwards kick, the cat-person was sent to the sun. Another happy neighbour in Faraway Town! What a Friendly Neighbourhood, and it was all thanks to Sunny’s intrusive thoughts. Sidequest completed. You could even say it was HIS FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD, or if he were referring to himself in first person, he could call it MY FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD! What a subtle and great recent reference that definitely won't work against the story in the future and cause it to AGE EVEN WORSE.
Now Mari was in the party, and completely unquestioning as to why Sunny was committing crimes and further breaking reality.
Sunny, as the party leader, used a hex editor to change his save file position to be inside Kel and Hero’s house. He also made sure to put Aubrey and Basil in the party for good measure……………………………
9,999,999 money too. Gotta make sure ;)
Unfortunately, Sunny had failed to account for the fact that this event was only ever programmed for two party members. So Aubrey and Basil just stood at the entrance T-posing inside each other… Not like that. You dirty-minded strawman.
“Hey, Sunny!” Kel enthusiastically greeted him, despite only just learning a few days ago that he had killed his own sister. “Wanna have a sleepover?”
“Wow, that sure isn’t the direction I saw this story going, you’re really bad at resolving crackfics, aren’t you, author?“
To which the author said “screw you” in response to her own writing.
“That sounds fun, Kel.” The Ghost of Recital Past said with a gentle smile on her face.
“Have we cleared this with our parents?” Asked Hero, silly Hero, parents are irrelevant in this story! “I don’t think mom would appreciate us having an impromptu sleepover.”
“Aw c’mon Hero, pleeeeeease?” Kel gave puppy dog eyes, you can’t say no to puppy dog eyes.
And with as much convincing as the average conflict resolution of an episode of Peppa Pig, Hero gave in. “Alright. I’ll call Basil and Aubrey.”
Once he had called them both, that’s when they were supposed to appear in the scene, but since Sunny had already hacked them into the party, there were now two of them. Only the ones that were always there were still T-posing and still no one was acknowledging them.
“Yo.” Aubrey gave a nod of acknowledgement to everyone… Was she trying to be cool?
“Sunny, are you still gay?” Basil looked expectantly at him.
“Obviously I’m still gay, you idiot.”
“Will you kiss me?”
“…Come here you.”
Basil approached Sunny, the tension in the air grew, the background became pink and full of hearts! This was it, the moment of truth! The moment of absolute gayness!
Sunny slapped Basil out of the way and smooched Kel. High fives were not enough, Kel needed to be KISSED.
Basil was heartbroken for the rest of this scene, poor bastard. A particularly mean part of Sunny felt he deserved it, but the logical side of Sunny knew that the events that transpired were both in part their faults, and both were simply traumatised teenagers who never had the chance to grow past that day. Pushing the blame onto one or the other was pointless, and treating their relationship as completely toxic is a misunderstanding of them. They both obviously cared for each other and often had the best of intentions, but whilst this is in no way excusing their costly missteps, it is imperative to understand they do in fact care for each other. They need therapy. Also he wanted to kiss Basil later.
But who was Sunny to make interpretations on his media of origin? He was busy smooching Kel!
“Let’s go watch tv.” Wow, Mari! What a great suggestion! It surely isn’t because you want to watch a Space Boyfriend adaptation, you addict.
And so everyone went to watch tv. Space Boyfriend, wow.
After an hour of tv watching, there was a knock at the door! The live studio audience went quiet! Who could it be? As the protagonist, of course Sunny had to open the door.
Once it was open, the knocker made themself known.
Why, it was world famous singer/songwriter Alpha Prelude (definitely not Hatsune Miku) from hit game Crush Crush and featured in hit visual novel Hush Hush - Only Your Love Can Save Them!
The live studio audience went wild for the celebrity cameo!
Alpha waved to everyone in the audience until the cheers died down. “Hello, everyone!”
“Oh wow!” Sunny spoke loudly for those who weren’t aware she was a celebrity. “It’s world famous singer/songwriter Alpha Prelude!”
The cheers rang out once more.
“Wow! Alpha!” Hero spoke very enthusiastically as was contractually obliged. “What are you doing all the way out here in Faraway Town?”
“Well, you see, I was in my limo with my secret romantic partner of ambiguous gender.”
The live studio audience went “oooooh” at the mystery, but the ambiguous gender was due to them being the protagonist of Hush Hush (yes, this was Hush Hush Alpha.), and the protagonist is whatever the player chooses to call and refer to as themself, stupid live studio audience.
“But then my limo broke down! And I have a show tonight! I can’t cancel it now! Or else everyone who bought tickets will become a Gloomy McGloomFace!”
The live studio audience laughed at the very funny reference.
“I need to find a way to get the limousine working so I can go to my concert tonight!”
“Well, how did the limousine break down?” Pondered Mari. “Surely if you tell us, one of us will reveal our hidden automobile repair knowledge!”
“Ah, that’s the embarrassing part… Me and my partner of ambiguous gender were um… Playing Mariokart, and it got… Particularly… Exciting, when we um… Spilled a drink on a component of the limousine, and it broke down!
The live studio audience laughed and jeered at the obvious sexual innuendo! Oh, Alpha! Aren’t you funny?
“Fiiiine.” Aubrey stood up, taking off her jacket to look like the ultimate lesbian. “I picked up a few things during my time in the gang.”
“Aubrey, that sounds like you were in the mob.” Kel laughed it off as a joke, but Aubrey stared sternly at him.
“Something you weren’t supposed to know. I’ll have to silence you all.”
“WHAT!?”
“Joking."
The live studio audience laughed so very loudly at that most hilarious joke! Ahahahaha! I am a completely sane and okay writer!
"Alpha, show me the limo.”
Alpha led Aubrey outside, ending her cameo on set because we couldn't afford to have her for any longer than this! Seriously! Celebrities are expensive!
After a few seconds, comical and exaggerated noises of someone fixing an automobile, the honk of a horn, a cat screeching and a wrench working started to come from outside. The live studio audience ate it up! Comedy gold!
Aubrey returned after the limo drove off, she was covered in black oil. She sighed and moved a hair out of her face with her finger. "Can I use your shower?"
...Why did the live studio audience laugh at that? Was that funny? Maybe it was a reference or something.
"Well, you know what they say!" Shrugged Kel. "I fucking love air conditioning!"
The live studio audience laughed at that classic line, oh you!
"I fucking hate you." Responded Aubrey.
The scene ended there, with the live studio audience clapping and cheering!
Wait, wait wait wait. Normally the... Doesn't the celebrity cameo normally drive the plot forward in the most weird way possible? Alpha did nothing! What were the writers even doing!? She could've been replaced by anyone! ANYONE!!! This was outrageous, this was obscene, this was
After an hour of tv watching, there was a knock at the door! The live studio audience went quiet! Who could it be? As the protagonist, of course Sunny had to open the door.
Wait a second...
Once it was open, the knockers made themselves known.
Sunny felt weird...
Why, it was galaxy famous singer sisters Moneko and Neneko as seen in hit mobile game The Battle Cats and it's various spin-off media!
Wasn't it supposed to be...
The live studio audience went wild for the celebrities making a cameo!
Moneko enthusiastically waved to the live studio audience, whilst Neneko was much rather more shy with her waving. They awaited the cheers to die down before speaking. "Hello, everynyan!" Moneko's voice cheerily yelled, filling the set with joy! Though, Neneko was still very very shy.
"Oh wow!" Sunny's voice boomed for those unaware of who they were. "It's world- I mean, galaxy famous singer sisters Moneko and Neneko!"
The cheers cheered even louder than their previous cheery cheers.
"Wow! Moneko and Neneko!" Basil spoke just SO enthusiastically because if he broke his contract then the Snatcher would Snatch him. "What are you two doing all the way out here in Faraway Town!"
"I don't fucking know!" Neneko smiled.
That was not in the script. Everyone looked awkwardly between each other... Yeah this whole thing had gotten really screwed up... But what could they do now? This was live! The live studio audience was whispering amongst each other.
"Um..." Moneko attempted to recover the situation. "We're here because our show together-"
"Doesn't exist!"
STOP GOING OFF SCRIPT??? Sunny was very confused at everything currently occuring. Who wrote this in such a way that Neneko would be displeased?! Was it libel??? Was it completely outrageous??? What was the
After an hour of tv watching, there was a knock at the door! The live studio audience went quiet! Who could it be? As the protagonist, of course Sunny had to open the door.
Not again...
Once it was open, the knockers made themselves known.
Why..........
Why, it was Fontaine-famous magician Lyney and his assistant and sister Lynette as seen in Genshin Impact, an open world action RPG game available on PC, Android, iOS and PlayStation 4 and 5! Step into a vast magical world now and start your journey on the continent of Teyvat where seven kinds of elemental powers surge!
Feels like a step down from galaxy famous but alright?
Some of the live studio audience went wild for the magicians making a cameo!
Lyney and Lynette waved to the audience with smiles on their faces. "Hahaha! I forgot my lines!" Lyney uncharacteristically giggled with a smirk.
Was the script written so terribly that it was impossible to remember? PROBABLY
After an hour of tv watching, there was a knock at the door! The live studio audience went quiet! Who could it be? As the protagonist, of course Sunny had to open the door.
Okay so yeah this is 100% a loop caused by questioning the script.
Once it was open, the knocker made themself known.
But why did questioning the script make the loop reset? Was the writer that self-conscious?
Why, it was world?-famous actor Rise Kujikawa as seen in Persona 4!
This was stupid.
The live studio audience went wacky for the celebrity cameo!
Seriously? Why was this shit written with the necessity of a cross-over celebrity cameo?! This was written terribly!
After an hour of tv watching, there was a knock at the door! The live studio audience went quiet! Who could it be? As the protagonist, of course Sunny had to open the door.
And again...
Once it was open, the knocker made themself known.
Get it over with.
Why, it was The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself!
Huh
The live studio audience did not exist.
"Hey, I'm back from my..." Aubrey returned from upstairs, only to see another her, and The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself in the living room. "Shower... What the Hell? Sunny, what did you do?"
The live studio audience did not exist.
"Why me? Why'd you blame me for this?"
"Because this happened last time! With Mari!"
"Yeah, she's got a point." Kel thoughtfully put a finger to his chin.
"I agree with Aubrey." Spoke the Aubrey that hadn't just been showering.
"Yeah, Sunny." The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself's voice emanated throughout the Universe Itself. "If you had just told the truth like you should have, none of this would have happened. I as The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself know this."
The non-existent live studio audience laughed somehow...
The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself was right, but Sunny couldn't let The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself know that he believed it.
"Sunny, I can read your thoughts." The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself smugly giggled.
"Damn it." Sunny sighed all grumpy like. "Can't we just stay this way without worrying about the universe being broken or whatever... Can we fix it but in the specific way that Mari's ghost stays?"
"No." The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself stated. "The only way to fix things would include getting rid of Mari."
"What about the celebrity cameos..."
"AND THE CELEBRITY CAMEOS."
"Okay good, I really didn't like those, how do I do it."
"Sunny, are you not even going to include us in this conversation?" Irrelevant side character Hero whined about his lack of inclusion.
The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself discarded everything but itself and Sunny, leaving them floating in an endless abyss beyond time, space and sandwiches.
"TO FIX THE TIMELINE, THERE IS ONE VERY SPECIFIC THING YOU MUST DO."
"Oh yeah, what's that? Beat up a child?"
"CORRECT."
"Cool! I'm great at that!"
The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself summoned a small child with a black, grey and blue colour motif. "This is LIBERA from hit OMORI x GUARDIAN TALES fanfiction series LIBERA AU by Myrcia on AO3 dot org."
"Shill."
The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself took offence to that comment.
"Does it even count as a hit? Doesn't it have like around 770 hits as time of this conversation? That's really not enough for it to be considered-"
"SILENCE!" The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself screamed. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE CURRENT READER HASN'T CLICKED MYRCIA'S PROFILE AND CHECKED OUT THE ORIGINAL LIBERA, THE SPIN-OFF ICARUS: A WORLD BEYOND MY REACH AND THE SEQUEL LIBERA: LABYRINTH OF THE HEART WHICH AT PRESENT HAS THE VERY FIRST CHAPTER AVAILABLE TO READ AS A TASTE OF WHAT'S TO COME, EXCEPT THE AUTHOR DECIDED TO WRITE THIS INSTEAD OF CHAPTER 12 BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LIKE CHAPTER 12 WHICH HONESTLY DOESN'T BODE WELL FOR LABYRINTH, DOES IT? BUT DO NOT FRET, I AM CERTAIN THIS IS JUST A BLIP, EVERY STORY HAS IT'S LOWEST POINTS, BUT IF YOU JUDGE A STORY SOLELY BY ITS LOWS, THEN YOU'RE NOT JUDGING THE WHOLE STORY. Unless you're playing Sonic Frontiers, that's lows, lows and lows. Except for Sage. Sage being onscreen are the only high points."*
*The author would like to express that the strikethrough text is merely her own opinion, and the fact that a being named The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself is the one saying that is a joke about how some people treat their views as law. Please form your own opinions and conclusions about pieces of media, and do not solely rely on the words of others. Your experience is your experience regardless of how you got that experience. What is most imperative is that you enjoy yourself, however you find that joy comes. However, if you disagree with the author's opinions, then come and kiss me because you're clearly obsessed with me.**
**The author would like to express that her final comment reading "come and kiss me because you're clearly obsessed with me." is a joke. The author would obviously not desire someone obsessive anywhere near her. The author would also like to clarify that she is currently in a very loving relationship. Even if her writing makes her out to be a no-life loser who still has her virginity, she is actually a no-life college dropout who does not still have her virginity. Thank you for your understanding.
" Wait, what about the one-shot?"
"O-One.. Shot..?"
"The Filibuster x Rea-"
"WE NEEDN'T DISCUSS THIS FURTHER."
"Why don't you want to talk about A Forbidden Romance?!? - A Date with Filibuster Obstructa ? Isn't that also subtly supposed to be canon to LIBERA as well?"
"NO! SHUT UP! ALSO SHE MAY NOT TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE BECAUSE PERHAPS THE AUTHOR MADE A VERY PROMINENT AND GRAVE ERROR IN THE REFERRING TO FILIBUSTER ITSELF BY USING HE/HIM PRONOUNS WHEN IF YOU ACTUALLY READ THE DESCRIPTION FILIBUSTER IS REFERRED TO AS IT. AND YOU COULD DEFLECT BY SAYING THAT FILIBUSTER CAT'S DESCRIPTION USES HE/HIM AND WHILST THAT IS TRUE, YES, THE IMPLICATION IN HIS DESCRIPTION IS THAT HE IS NOT FILIBUSTER OBSTRUCTA BUT RATHER THE CAT ARMY'S OWN FILIBUSTER. BUT CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR MAKING SUCH A MISTAKE WHEN THE WIKI PAGE ITSELF, WHAT IS MEANT TO BE THE SECOND GREATEST SOURCE OF INFORMATION, CONSTANTLY DOES THIS TO OTHER CHARACTERS, SUCH AS PHONOA, WHO USES THEY/THEM PRONOUNS, BUT DESPITE THAT, THE WIKI USES HE/HIM PRONOUNS PURELY BECAUSE THEY ARE REFERRED TO AS THE "KING" OF DESTINY?!?!?!?! SOMEONE PLEASE FUCKING FIX THIS SHIT?!?!?!"
"Actually, they did fix that!"
"WHAT!?!?!?!"
"I just used control and F to look for the words 'he' and 'him' and all that, and they're not there anymore!"
"WOW! THEY FIX PHONOA BUT NOT FILIBUSTER?!?!"
"Is this really important right now?"
"OH, RIGHT, BACK TO IT."
"So I just need to beat up LIBERA and the universe goes back the way it should be?"
"yeah pretty much my g"
And so followed an EPIC fight scene as LIBERA and Sunny fought a battle to the bitter end. LIBERA pulled out all the stops! She started with HANA's Scythe, but then moved onto the LIBERATOR, but THEN moved onto the TERMINATION OF TRANSIENCE! She used all of her abilities, such as FLIGHT, BLACK CHAINS, and more! But of course, you don't get to see all of her abilities because some of you haven't read LIBERA. So, to remain spoiler-free other than what has been stated thus far, you will simply have to imagine what she can do for yourself. Whilst you do that, I'm going to take a break from writing to listen to Cats (2023) by The Living Tombstone. Please inform me when you are done imagining the amazing fight scene by reading the text below this paragraph.
Oh? You're done already? Alright.
Sunny had defeated LIBERA after such a tough fight.
The Absolute Truth of the Universe Itself was definitely impressed with Sunny's performance. "Very well. I shall set things the way they should have always been. This time, please remember to confess the truth about Mari's death, and not the truth about your sexuality."
"Can I keep Mari?"
"What? No. Obviously not!"
"Why not?"
"Because Mari was not supposed to appear during your confession! Let alone break the fabric of reality!"
"So it WAS her fault..."
"Look, I'm not bringing her back, okay?"
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. But what if I do a satanic ritual afterwards that brings her back?"
"Aye, that's fine with me, my guy. As long as it happens POST-CONFESSION and doesn't interfere with the script that your reality runs on. Whatever happens afterwards is all you."
"Cool, thanks."
"You're welcome, Sunny! And remember! REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD, BYE!!!"
...
Sunny stepped out into the quiet hospital hallway.
He saw two illusions.
One illusion of his old friends in the dream, heading to the left excitedly.
And another of a Stranger, who solemnly walked a path to the right.
He chose to follow the Stranger, as he knew they would lead him where he needed to be.
The Stranger led him to a door, another room in the hospital.
Basil's room.
He gently opened the door, and was faced with his friends. They stood around an injured Basil, lying in his hospital bed.
Sunny took a deep breath in...
And a deep breath out.
"I have to tell you something."