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They finally looked at it. They couldn't really say 'in the eyes', since, well... It never really had a face. The kids didn't seem startle by it at all, clinging on it even, and waving goodbyes while it was taking them back to their... their... home, was it ? The orange child looked tired, still crying a little from the relief of seeing their friends back from the dead. They thanked Chosen for saving them all, completly unaware that they didn't do it. They weren't the one who saved those kids. They weren't the one who defeateded Dark. But the kids believed it, and it was probably better this way, for now.
Chosen felt relieved too when the cursor finally disappeared in the sky. They just stand there for a bit, unsure, processing, wondering what to do next. The crisis has been averted, the Internet and the billions of stickfigures living in it were safe. So it was all good, mission accomplished. They just had to go home, and have a talk with Dark about this mess. The Virabots were all out so they should be able to take in another fight if Dark really wanted to, though they would rather have some rest right now, to patch themselve and their sibling up. They flew back to the top of the cliff, and leaned against what was left of the building, in no condition to do much about their injuries by themselves. Not right now at least.
From there they had a plain view of the scarred land, broken in half by one straight line stretching toward the horizon. They shouln't let their guard down, as Dark will eventually come back and kick their ass again. He was sent pretty far though. It might take him some time. Chosen could just rest a little and wait for him. They needed to have a serious talk about.. all this. The whole wreaking havoc and destruction stuff. Dark was a stubborn stick, she'll probably be mad that they tried to stop the plan. A surprise plan, that she was so excited about... But Chosen just couldn't have let it happen. It was too much, even for the both of them. It was just too much. She should be back by now, right ?
But she wasn't. Chosen didn't allow themself to blink for a while, convinced that he would take advantage of that one second of inattention to lean a new kick. They were excepting it. They were waiting for it. Their entire body was numb, and felt too tired to move now that they had a moment of calm. Perahps Dark was recollecting themself too. Chosen decided to wait a little bit. A little more. They were The Dark Lord and The Chosen One after all, they were invicible. They've seen worse, and they both had the ability to heal fast anyway. They were going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. They'll fix this, together, and keep going. With a little less murder from now on, if Dark was ready to accept that.
It became harder to keep a focus on that one precise point on the horizon, where smoke was still fuming. Not that Chosen managed to stop looking straight at it, but the night fell quicker than they excepected. How many hours passed now ? They didn't move. Not an inch. Waiting. Maybe they should go and check on Dark. They'll tell him to shut his freakin mouth and let them patch him up, and they'll bring him home and they will talk. The Code might make things a bit harder. It was always harder to deal with the pressure of the Code when Dark was tired or stressed out or uspet. But it was ok, they were both used to it, they both knew how to deal with it. This time it just... It was worse than usual. But they'll be fine. Now they'll be fine.
They could go check on Dark. But it wasn't necessary. Because she wasn't the kind of person you needed to check upon, nor was Chosen. Going there would be conceding that it might be worse this time. Admitting that it might be this bad. Considering the possibility that they might not come back. Chosen went closer to the edge of the cliff, like that could be any help to have a better view. Every movement felt like a new punch, every limb painfully trembling, but at least this kind of pain was a simple feeling to deal with. They stared a little while longer, waiting for her to return, because she had to return. She had to come back and kick their ass already. Chosen could take it. Just one more fight, one more snark, one more time.
They had bad fights with Dark before, mostly because of the influence of the Code. Dark would always calm down after a while, the less bruised one would make hot cocoa if they had any left, and they would have a nice little rest day together, postponing the eventual destruction or heist plan of the day to another time. Chosen would spend hours comforting their little sibling, assuring them that no, they weren't to blame, it wasn't their fault. It was Alan's. At the end of the day everything always had to come back to Alan, and Chosen was getting tired of it. They didn't want to hear about it anymore, they wanted to move on, forget about all things that were before they escaped with Dark to freedom. They never wanted it to get involved in this. But they were in such a dire situation that didn't left them much choice... Besides things seemed different now, who could have guess this cursor out of any would have a bunch of stickchildren under its care ?
Well, Chosen surely didn't care themself. At least not about the cursor. But this sure comforted them in their idea : Destroying computers and programs sure felt good, but cursors weren't the only ones to suffer from it. These kids would have died against this Virabot if they hadn't arrive in time. Well they did died anyway... And Dark... Dark wouldn't have been launched to the other side of the world by a gigantic laser but the kids came back. Dark was coming back too. They were sure of that. It was their only comforting thought at the moment. This has been a very bad day until now but everything will get better once they have a talk with Dark.
There wasn't any smoke left, Chosen could only observe the visible extremity of the trench left by the laser beam. It was taking too long. They should try to think of the best safe enough base they had so they could both recover from this : They still had to go on a heist to decorate the last one they had found. Dark would complain when they were in a hideout that he didn't like, so Chosen would go steal some stuff to make it feel like home instead of just an old abandonned place. Chosen liked to decorate new places with her. They would rather do this right now instead of standing there on a cliff.
But they had to stay here and wait for their sibling. Not like they felt like moving anyway. Their bruises and cuts were hurting like hell, and though the virabots attempts to erase their code have been unsuccessful, it still felt particularly itchy in those places. It was like their innards were scratching against their skin and it was a particlarly awful sensation. Did Dark knew that they wouldn't die from it or were she that mad at them ? They'll have to explain it to her... That they didn't want to betray her, that they should have talk about how they felt sooner, that they were sorry that it went this far... And they'll tell her. Maybe not now but they'll tell her.
Chosen knew that something was off. They knew that she should already be back. Maybe she ran off to one of their lair already. Maybe she was also waiting for them on a cliff. Maybe they should go and check on her. They wanted to but they were so terrified of moving. Their legs felt like they'd drag them into the deep water if the cliff wasn't there to restrain them from falling because of how heavy they felt, like yet another chain on their ankle. They wanted to move a hand but couldn't because what if I don't like what I find. They wanted to lit their flames to launch themselves into the sky but couldn't because what if I don't find anything. They wanted to move but couldn't because what's the point anyway, when Dark couldn't be anything but fine right now ? Breaking down maybe. Heavily hurt probably. Emotionally unwell certainly. But not....
He's just taking his time regenerating. Fomenting a plan to kick their ass for good this time. He loved plans. Dark has always been the one to come up with plans. He'll be back in a minute. Chosen knew it because they were both able to survive anything. They were both immortal, nothing could go through them, nothing could take them out. No stickman, no virus, no cursor. Not even a new overpowered little sibling coming out of nowhere. Chosen knew that they couldn't even be mad at the kid, and in all honesty they were more angry at themself. They should have close the portal or at least make sure the young sticks weren't following them. Why did they even do that ?! Stupid kids. Stupid Dark. ... Stupid them. But it was okay, because he should be back any minute now.
They needed to sleep, to heal, and to eat. But they didn't want to, and were able to survive despite the exhaustion, the pain and the starvation anyway. What if he comes back and punch them while they're asleep ? What if he's flying in the sky while they're patching themselve up ? What if he appears on the opposite cliff while they're looking for something to eat ? He should be back any minute now.
The horizon remained the same, but Chosen kept staring at it. It was the only thing they were able to do at the moment, the only thing they tried to focus on, their limbs still refusing to move. She should be back any minute now.
The gaze still locked at the same direction, their eyes were teary from not moving for so long. But it will be over soon. After all, she should be back any minute now.
She should be back any minute now.
Any minute now.