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“I'm sorry, Five Pebbles. I'll always be here if you need someone to talk to.”
...
He stared blankly at the floor, a quiet, familiar tune playing in the background. Any thoughts he had in his mind before this moment had been quickly purged, leaving him trapped as her final words to him replayed in his mind, over and over.
“I'm sorry”. ”I'm sorry“. He had stripped her of her power, her godhood, leaving her living in her own corpse, all the while he could have prevented all of it... but she was sorry. It was him who used all of her groundwater, it was him who shut out everyone who tried to help, it was him who collapsed her, it was him who caused the rot, and yet, she was the one apologizing. Apologizing as if she had done anything wrong, as if she weren't the one who deserved to hear those words more. As if he wasn't the cause of all of her problems.
...It was funny, really.
So funny, even, that he couldn't restrain his laughter. The melody of his pearl was quickly drowned out by it, the cold, dejected laugh it was. He wasn't sure just how long he was laughing, just that he was. And really, he had every reason to. It was hilarious. It was all his fault, every single bit of it, and yet Moon was the one apologizing to him, not the other way around. He could blame her and the others as much as he wanted to when he was still angry, but now? Now he knows fully well how all of this could have been prevented if he had just listened.
And now here he sits laughing away, as his body was slowly eaten alive by the tumors of his own creation. And he could feel every bit of it. Every neuron that disappeared, every piece of metal that was torn, every Inspector that couldn't fight back. It burned. If he were not so used to the pain, he'd consider it unbearable. But he has been feeling it for so long that it's now become more background noise in his mind, a round of applause as he takes his final bow. He just wishes it'd hurry up.
He's not entirely sure how much has been destroyed at this point. The labs have become entirely unreachable, any attempt at connecting resulting in a surge of pain worse than anything he had felt before. Overseer footage has concluded there isn't much left of it all, with new, stronger mobile cysts inhabiting the area. Then there's communications. He never did try to turn them back on. Could he? The local group's communications as a whole had been beginning to decay before he disabled his. Would he even be able to get a word out? Would he even be able to apologize? Was Moon talking to someone who couldn't respond? His laughter faded.
Silence.
She apologized. She said she was sorry for the mistakes he made. And yet, would he be able to correct that? Would he be able to give her the apology she deserved for far, far too long? Has he lost his chance...? He felt numb. So much pain and suffering, all caused by him... and yet not once did he utter an apology. Not once did he even think to. First it was due to rage, then it was due to cowardice. And now... Now, he may never be able to. She wouldn't hear him.
Static filled his head as all of the emotions he had been pushing away until this moment barrelled towards him at once, flooding away any sense of peace he had. Choked back sputtering came from his throat before silence, a calm before the storm.
He took a deep, simulated breath, and screamed.
As loud as he possibly could, anguish filling his voice while he slowly leaned forward, his head touching the cold metal floor as his hands gripped the back of it. Between fake breathing and sobbing, that was all he was capable of doing. His entire puppet shook, the volume of his voice piercing his skull and aching. And yet, he couldn't stop. Everything HURT.
He supposed it was only a matter of time before this happened, him processing everything he had been through and put others through and finally breaking down, but he wishes it could end.
He wishes Moon were here.
That thought didn't help him ground.
———
After what felt like cycles, his mind began to slow. While still shaking, he was no longer screaming, the only sounds coming from him now being uneasy breathing and the occasional whimper or whine. Finally, he could hear his music again. And he was exhausted. A ping brought him back into reality, slowly sitting up to see what he had been sent.
...Dominoes. She wants to play Dominoes.
...
He could go for a few rounds. Not like he had anything better to do.