Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the middle of Somewhere, USA there lies a small suburban town named Faraway. Largely unremarkable, to the majority of people this town is nothing more than another name on a map, or maybe a pitstop for those travelling to larger urban areas.

Still like most places, it has seen its fair share of mysteries, tragedies, and oddities.

One such peculiarity, is a small store on the outskirts of the town, decrepit and on the brink of collapse. An outsider would assume the store had stood there abandoned for decades.

In reality it opened last week.

It is here that two teenagers find themselves. After half a decade of strife, misunderstandings, and misery these two boys stand together once more.

Reunited for a singular goal, to seek the most elusive treasure of all… a decent birthday gift.

“I warn you child, this tome is not for the unworthy, it is an ancient book, full of incomprehensible power! It is a tool of change in the right hands and destruction in the wrong ones.”

“…But its fifteen bucks?” Kel asked the crazy old shopkeeper.

The bearded man behind the till stared at the tan teen for a second, clearly irritated.

“For you mortal! It shall cost twenty whole dollars” the man eventually responded.

“Sweet! Hey Basil, can you lend me twenty bucks?” Kel asked turning to his friend.

The blonde-haired boy in question was nervously poking a ‘novelty’ shrunken head, that looked a little too real. He jumped in surprise at Kel’s sudden question, then went through all the stages of grief as he processed his friend’s request.

“I- Y-you’re kidding r-right?” he finally asked, baffled by Kel’s audacity.

“No?” Kel replied, seemingly confused by the question. “I left my wallet at home.”

Basil sighed, reaching for his own wallet, muttering something about ‘the joys of rich absent parents’. Just as he was about to pass the money to Kel, he stopped and examined the book Kel held.

“Really?” he enquired.

“Yeah… Its cool?” Kel replied, seemingly unconvinced himself.

Sighing, Basil relinquished his wallet, not having the energy to argue and just wanting to leave the accursed store.

Taking out a twenty dollar note from the surprisingly heavy wallet and handing it over to the shopkeep, Kel watched as the man behind the counter silently wrapped the book in fancy cloth before dropping it into a regular plastic bag.

“Pleasure doing business! Come on Basil lets go” Kel said.

Making their way towards the exit, Kel glanced over at his friend, this place was clearly putting Basil on edge. He had to admit the store was creepy, but it didn’t bother him too much, but if it was scaring Basil then they should probably leave. 

But just as they were about to leave the shopkeep suddenly called out to them.

“Foolish children! You know not the power you wield! You lack the discipline to-” The man started.

“Hey dude can you like not” Kel said. “You’re freaking Basil out.”

A brief moment of awkward silence passed before the old man furrowed his brows and sighed in defeat.

“….Get out of my store.”

“What a jerk! Can you believe that guy?” Kel asked. “I mean Miss Candace is more friendly and she’s like the devil!”

His disappointment was immeasurable, all the excitement Kel had felt after hearing a new store had opened, drained the second he spoke to the owner. All that intrigue just to find out Faraway has yet another cranky shopkeeper.

“I’m m-more confused w-why you got that for S-sunny” Basil replied pointing at the book Kel had just ‘bought’.

Sunny Suzuki, a quiet kid with black hair and one eye, someone who brought up a lot of mixed feelings in Kel. Some of his best and worst memories were related to Sunny and his actions.

But despite their… rocky history, the group had invited Sunny down to spend his seventeenth birthday here in Fararway and he was now staying for the rest of the week.

His party was a blast, a rare occasion where their whole friend group got to hang out. There was pizza, cake, embarrassing photos of Sunny and Aubrey (courtesy of Basil), illegal fireworks (courtesy of Kim) and of course, presents.

Each one of Sunny’s friends had gotten something for the birthday boy, some were more sentimental than others, but they had all made an effort to get the boy a present… except for Kel.

Most people would agree Kel was never good with gifts, he had originally wanted to get his brother Hero (a doctor-in-training) medicine as a welcome home gift for God’s sake.

Kel was aware of his... quirks, so, he repeatedly put off buying Sunny a present, hoping he would eventually think of something good to get him. Before he knew it the day had arrived, and Kel had shown up at the party empty-handed. It wasn’t out of malice, and he was sure Sunny didn’t hold any grudges, but still, he did feel bad. Luckily with Sunny staying for a week he had a chance to fix his mistake.

So, Kel roped Basil into his search for a present because his brother was too busy, and Aubrey just straight up refused to help him. The two teens had ended up spending their entire day wandering around town, checking in every store to see if anywhere had a decent gift. .

Kel had also hoped that being Sunny’s ‘best friend’ (a title he definitely wasn’t jealous of) Basil would give more insight to the interests of their mutual BFF.

“Well… Sunny’s into occult stuff, right?” Kel eventually asked, sheepishly.

Basil just stared in response.

“You had no idea what to get him” Basil stated.

“I had no idea what to get him” Kel agreed.

That plan obviously hadn’t worked out. Basil wasn’t very helpful, all his suggestions were flower related, and Kel wasn’t sure Sunny needed anymore of those. Basil had already given him enough to fill a botanical garden.

So instead, the two friends aimlessly browsed shop after shop. Kel wasn’t complaining, he liked the company, but it was a bit of a drag.

The issue is when your friend spends four years inside their house with zero communication, it’s easy to forget what they’re interested in.

All this is to say that Kel was winging it with his choice.

“I-I mean its c-cool… I guess” Basil said, unconvinced by his own words but wanting to reassure his friend.

“Yeah! A creepy spell book, that’s right up Sunny’s alley!” Kel replied.

Magic probably wasn’t real, but Kel was always open to things like this, the store seemed pretty magical, and the shopkeep did ramble a lot about ‘ancient powers’ or something. So, Kel felt fairly confident in his purchase. Besides making Sunny a wizard seemed like a sweet present, if it worked it’d easily one up all his friend’s gifts, he was sure of it.

Meanwhile, Basil was less convinced, but simply decided to remain silent, he had a feeling Kel would get enough grief off the others when they finally got to their destination. Best to let him enjoy this moment of peace.

“Kel… why are you so…. You?” Aubrey asked, despair evident in her voice.

The group had agreed to rendezvous at their old hangout spot, a hidden lake by the park that was ‘closed off’ to the public. Kel had called Sunny and arranged it so that he would be joining them shortly, he would then receive his gift from Kel, and they would all go for Gino’s Pizza, it would be like a second birthday, the perfect apology.

Except, as Basil predicted, their friends had taken issue with Kel’s choice of present and now their meetup had devolved into yet another yelling match.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean Aubrey” Kel replied.

The pink-haired delinquent was using everything in her power to keep herself from strangling the lanky teen.

“You don’t get Sunny anything for his birthday, then you wait three whole days and buy him that?!” Aubrey shouted in frustration.

“T-technically I bought it” Basil chimed in.

“Kel I am going to rip out your-” Aubrey started.

“Guys please don’t fight” Hero interrupted.

The young man turned to his brother.

“It’s a… strange gift Kel” Hero said with a forced smile. “But I’m sure Sunny will appreciate the uh… thought”.

“It’s a great gift! It’s got cool spells and stuff inside” Kel replied, unwrapping and then opening the book, showing off the strange text and symbols inside.

“Besides if Aubrey got Sunny this, I’m sure he’d love it”.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?!” Aubrey yelled, faintly blushing.

“Kel magic isn’t real” Hero said with a sigh.

“Well… you don’t know that” Kel retorted weakly.

All three of his friends were in various stages of despair and confusion at this point, still the young athlete was undeterred.

“Come on if anyone’s going to be a real magician it’ll be Sunny! That guy just attracts weirdness” Kel said grinning.

“Is that why you two are so close?” Aubrey retorted.

“Besides” Kel continued, ignoring the delinquents teasing. “The creepy shopkeeper guy said it had ‘unfathomable power’ inside or something”.

“I-I think he m-might have been s-senile Kel” Basil quietly responded.

Kel couldn’t argue against that, the store owner was super old, but most wizards are... probably. That’s what the movies say anyway.

“You got it from that old weirdo’s store?” Aubrey asked raising her brow. “I’m pretty sure that guys senile.”

“T-that’s what I just said!” Basil interjected.

“Look why don’t I just try it out?” Kel said, opening the book once more.

His friends simply stared in response. Aubrey turned to look at Hero.

“He’s not serious right now, is he?” She asked him.

“Honestly I don’t even know anymore” Hero responded in a defeated tone.

“Guys I am right here!” Kel complained.

Looking down at the book Kel saw a variety of strange symbols and drawings, with descriptions written in… Latin?

‘Oh… this could be a problem’ the boy thought to himself.

Scrolling through the pages didn’t help, the few words and images he could make out didn’t seem very… pleasant.

Flying skulls, no.

Something about evil triangles, no.

A page full of nothing but blood-red drawings of eyeballs, nope.

Sketches of Lovecraftian tentacle monsters, absolutely not.

Drawings of a bunch of different expressions…. hmm well one of the faces is smiling, that’ll do. Kel thought to himself.

“Ok guys prepare for some wizardry!” he said, ignoring Aubrey’s loud sigh of dismay.

“Affectuum copia nunc dilaniat” Kel began chanting.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, whilst Basil and Hero looked on with morbid interest.

“Gaudium, tristitia, ira et timor” he continued.

He had absolutely no idea if he was pronouncing any of this right, but he could swear as he continued to chant the book’s text was beginning to glow. Closing his eyes, he continued.

“Aufer omnes et adduc!”

……

“See Kel, I told you- what the hell?!” Aubrey yelled.

Confused, Kel opened his eyes just to be greeted by radiant light, it was pouring out from the pages of the book. He could feel something calling to him, instinctively he placed his hand onto the page, and watched as the light spread from the tome and up onto his hand.

…..

Oh, that does not feel good.

“Aaaah this feels really weird!” Kel shouted, dropping the book.

The pages stopped glowing, but the light still remained on his hand.

“Hero! What do I do?!” he called to his brother, knocking the older man out of his stupor.

“Uhhh uhhh throw it???” Hero suggested in a panic.

“Throw it?!” Kel yelled.

“I don’t know!” Hero yelled in response.

Not having any better ideas, Kel flung his glowing hand out towards the entrance to the hangout. He watched in awe as the light leapt off his hand and like a lightning strike arced and crackled as it travelled through the air.

The beam of light was fast, and the entire spectacle only lasted a second or two, but it felt like an eternity to Kel. He couldn’t believe it, he just cast an actual spell, magic is real!

However, his excitement turned to dread when he saw a familiar figure at the entrance to the hangout.

Sunny.

The quiet teen had just entered the hangout at the worst possible time, his eyes went wide as he watched the beam shoot towards him but having no time to react, he simply stood there stunned as the strike connected with his chest. To Kel it was like watching a car crash in slow motion, he couldn’t do anything to help, only stand and watch as the light spread across Sunny’s body.

There was a series of colourful, blindingly bright flashes. Red, blue, yellow, and then finally pitch black.

Stunned by the optical bombardment, Kel took a step back and covered his eyes with his hands. When he finally moved them away, he saw that there was nothing but thick smoke where Sunny had stood.

‘The sun always seems to shine brighter here’.

Sunny Suzuki, recovering hikikomori, thought to himself as he walked down familiar streets. Four years of self-induced isolation had left him with a newfound appreciation for the outside. So even aimlessly wandering the quiet suburbs of his hometown was proving enough to keep him entertained.

Sunny was ultimately just killing time though. Checking his watch again he saw he had five minutes before he was supposed to meet his friends at the hangout spot. They had been vague with the details, but he suspected it was some kind of surprise.

He was flattered, but they really didn’t need to do this for him, they had already done more than enough. His birthday party had been great, they had gone above and beyond his expectations.

“For all the one we missed” Hero had said.

Wow.

Sunny had convinced his mom to let him crash at Hero and Kel’s place for the rest of the week. Being back in Faraway was nostalgic and melancholic at the same time, last time he was here he went through the most chaotic three days of his life, helping out half the town, fighting both himself and his friends, losing an eye, …the truth.

He was glad his friends invited him back, even if he wasn’t fully convinced that he deserved it. He killed his sister, accident or not, it didn’t matter, she was gone, and it would always feel like something was missing whenever he was back here.

Mari could have- No would have achieved so much more than him. It isn’t fair. But Mari’s gone and Sunny’s here, and that’s something he’ll have to live with for the rest of life.

Still, despite painful memories, these old suburbs are a lot quieter than the bustling streets of Nearby City, and that was a nice change of pace. Besides he wasn’t fully himself those last three days he spent here, so Sunny was glad he had the opportunity to explore Faraway with a clearer mind.

Snapping out his daydreaming, he realised he should really make his way over to the spot, luckily, he wasn’t too far from it. If he jogs, he’ll be there on time….

On second thought, he is not fit enough for that. He’ll just walk, it’ll him make a few minutes late, but he’s sure they’ll forgive him.

They’ve forgiven him for far worse after all.

Approaching the hangout spot, Sunny pushes through shrubbery and moves around warning signs. He’s not surprised this place was ‘closed off’ he nearly drowned here twice, that’s got to make this place some kind of health hazard.

Although some days he wishes Mari had just let him drown.

‘Nope bad brain’ Sunny thought, pushing those feelings further down into his subconscious.

Carrying on with his trek he finally saw the clearing ahead, approaching the entrance he stopped as he heard… chanting?

‘I’m five minutes late and they’ve already started a cult’ he thought to himself. Without him too, so rude.

Entering the clearing, he sees all his friends, they all appear shocked and concerned, Sunny wonders why. His question is quickly answered when he looks towards Kel. His friend’s hand is glowing a bright luminous white.

Before Sunny can even begin to comprehend what’s going on, the light suddenly shoots forward. Towards him.

Is he getting raptured? Wow guess God is real, he owes Aubrey a lot of money.

Wait does that mean Kel is Jes-

His thoughts are cut short by a sudden searing pain in his chest.

Sunny feels everything at once, and then he feels nothing at all.

“Why would Kel do this?! What the hell is wrong with him?!”

“Why wouldn’t he do this? I deserve this.”

“Why is this happening? Am I dying??? I don’t want to die anymore!”

“Magic is real?! This is amazing!”

Smoke surrounds the hangout spot, the group cough and splutter as they try to wave it away.

Through the smog a single silhouette stands out.

Sunny.

“Oh God” Kel mutters to himself in disbelief.

What did he just do?

“Sunny!” Basil yells rushing towards his best friend.

“Kel you moron! I swear if Sunny’s hurt, I’m putting you in the ER!” Aubrey yelled berating her stunned friend.

Her yelling turns to static in Kel’s ears, he sees her mouth moving, anger clear in her expression, he thinks he sees tears forming in the corners of her eyes. But Kel can’t hear her, only static.

He didn’t mean to-

A sudden confused yell snaps Kel out of his state of inertia and draws his and Aubrey’s attention back to Basil.

The smoke has mostly cleared by now, and one thing is immediately apparent. Where Sunny stood there is more than one silhouette.

As Basil steps back, four figures step forward.

The first to emerge from the mist is unsurprisingly Sunny. Except he looks… angry and his hair has a red tint?

Kel is shocked by his friend’s appearance, Sunny hardly ever emotes, but he supposes being blasted by magic is an understandable reason to be angry. Still… red hair? Did he cast a hair dye spell? Is that a thing? Aubrey might appreciate that one.

Before the Kel can continue that train of thought, another person exits the mist and this time its… Sunny again???

“What the?” Hero mumbles in confusion.

Two more figures step out from the smoke, both looking almost identical to Sunny.

Like the first figure, the other three appear to be Sunny at a glance, but looking closer they all have a strange hue to their hair.

One has a blue tint, with a miserable expression on their face, tears streaming down their cheeks. Another has almost pitch-black hair and blood red eyes, he looks horrified. The last one has a yellow hue and a small smile.

The final one unsettles Kel the most, because they all know Sunny hates his smile.

“Kel… did you clone Sunny?” Aubrey asked in disbelief.

“Magic is real… what is my life?” Hero muttered, clearly going through another existential crisis.

Basil just stood in place silently, frozen in shock.

The angry looking Sunny glanced around the spot, then down at his hands.

“Finally…” he spoke quietly.

He turned to his fellow clones, flipped them off, then dashed out of the spot. Whilst the scared one locked eyes with Basil, screamed and followed after him.

The blue Sunny simply sat down.

“What’s even the point” he said, solemnly crying to himself.

Basil looked hurt, but mostly confused. Hero continued rubbing his eyes frantically, hoping to God this was just some bizarre fever dream. Aubrey’s face was unreadable.

Meanwhile, Kel was just glad Sunny was… fine? Ok not fine, but he was glad he hadn’t killed his friend. Despite how he initially felt after Sunny’s confession he would never want to harm his friend.

Whilst the group experienced a silent collective breakdown, the smiling Sunny, seemingly unphased, walked towards the group, who all impulsively took a step back.

“Hi guys! So great to finally meet you all!” he spoke holding out his hand.

No one took it.

“That’s fair. You must all be so confused, honestly, I am too, but boy do I feel great!” he said, withdrawing his hand, the smile never leaving his face.

Aubrey's eye twitched, then she finally spoke.

“What the actual fuc-”.

Hero accepted when he was fifteen that his life would never be normal. Not many small-town teenagers have to deal with their girlfriend suddenly committing suicide, nor do they spend the following year wasting away in their bed, only to scream at the only person who cares about them and then…. Well Hero could list a lot more, but this was all from just one year.

After that he spent a couple of years studying a course, he had no passion for, haunted by frequent vivid nightmares. Then when he finally reunited with the kids he practically raised, two of them decided to nearly kill each other, and then for good measure immediately revealed afterwards that they were responsible for his four years of misery.

Yeah, needless to say it was a lot for someone in their early twenties to process.

Still, he’d mostly forgiven the two by now, Sunny was family in all but blood, and Hero was aware he would never intentionally hurt Mari. As for Basil… that was more complicated. Protect Sunny? Sure, he got that. Hiding the broken violin, and lying to everyone? Messed up, but understandable. Staging a suicide though? Hero isn’t sure he’ll ever truly forgive the boy for that.

Still Hero isn’t a psycho, he has his grievances, but he doesn’t want to hurt Basil, or anyone. ‘Do no harm’ after all.

Except right now he’s seriously reconsidering his morals, because if Aubrey doesn’t beat him to it, he is going to strangle his brother.

His brother who had somehow used actual fucking magic to launch some kind of lightning bolt at Sunny, splitting the boy into four weirdly emotional copies.

Hero accepted he would never have a truly normal life. He’d come to terms with it. Every loss could be linked to an elaborate coverup. Every broken friendship could be part of some insane misunderstanding. He’d accepted that.

But magic? Magic?!

Hero had felt that Sunny’s confession had brought them all closure and thought that in turn, something akin to a sense of normalcy would finally return to their lives.

Now magic is real, Sunny is four separate people, Kel’s probably a sorcerer and Hero just doesn’t know what to think.

They’re all sat at the hangout spot. It’s deathly silent. No one wants to say anything. Or even knows what to say. The weird smiling Sunny is sat with them, the sad looking one having snuck off at some point.

It’s a strange, tense atmosphere and yet the remaining ‘Sunny’ is completely unphased by it. He’s just sat there with a small smile looking content with life. It was kind of cute, Mari was right, he had a nice smile. But it unnerved him because they all knew Sunny hated it.

So, seeing ‘Sunny’ sat there smiling despite the circumstances felt wrong… very wrong. It was seriously setting off Hero’s fight or flight sense, and he clearly wasn’t alone considering how freaked out everyone looks.

‘Ok someone needs to say something’ Hero thought as he turned to face ‘Sunny’.

“So…” Hero began. “What exactly are you?”

“I’m Sunny” he replied instantly, face beaming.

“Sunny doesn’t smile… not this much” Basil stated distrust evident in his tone.

For all his faults, Basil understood Sunny, he was good at reading him, not as much as he used to be, but enough to tell when something was awry.

“Basil’s right, just what the hell are you and where’s the real Sunny?” Aubrey growled.

“I am Sunny, just… only one part of me- uh him” it responded.

Everyone stared blankly in response.

“I’m just the happy parts of him… I think” ‘Sunny’ clarified.

“How is this even possible?” Hero questioned aloud.

“I have no idea I just saw a bright light and now I can only feel happy, and it is great!” ‘Sunny’ replied. “Honestly, it was so suffocating being whole, it’s nice to see the bright side of things for a change!”

Hero took a deep breath then sighed; he was going to scream into his pillow tonight.

“Kel where did you buy this book again?” he asked turning to face his brother.

“W-what if he d-doesn’t want to help?” Basil asked nervously.

Hero had been wondering the same, but they didn’t exactly have many other choices. They had discussed their options, and the only clear solution was to go back to the store Kel had bought the book from and beg the shopkeeper for help.

“He’ll help” Aubrey said confidently.

“B-but” Basil went to question.

“He’ll help.”

Hero was certain Aubrey would prove to be very persuasive, but he hoped this didn’t escalate any further. The last thing he wants is for her to get arrested.

They continued their walk to the other side of town in silence, with everyone doing their best to ignore how weirdly upbeat ‘Sunny’ was.

When they finally arrived at the store it was closed, or at least that’s what the sign read. Aubrey suggested they just ignore that little detail, and Hero couldn’t muster the energy to protest.

Thankfully the door was unlocked, so they won’t be getting arrested for breaking and entering just yet. Probably trespassing though. God it will be a miracle if they don’t end the day in a jail cell.

Entering the store, the first thing Hero notes is how bizarre it is. Its old, like ‘ye olde tavern’ old, complete with candle lights, cobwebs, and strange décor.

When Kel had first described the place to Hero, he had assumed it was just a glorified Hot Topic. Now looking at the variety of strange skull shaped ornaments and voodoo dolls that lined the shelves, he wondered why the hell his brother would ever come here.

A sudden loud clatter from the back of the store grabs all their attention. Hero put a finger to his mouth indicating the group to stay quiet. Everyone nodded in understanding, even ‘Sunny’ who did so with great enthusiasm. Approaching the curtain at the back of the store, the clattering sound continued to grow louder and more frantic.

Hero motioned a countdown with his fingers as he grabbed hold of the blinds. He took a deep breath as Aubrey readied her bat.

“3”  Basil steel his nerves, a look of resolve on his face.

“2”  Kel readies his basketball, not the most effective weapon, but the help is appreciated.

“1”  ‘Sunny’ is practically jumping with excitement.

“GO!” Hero concludes with a yell as he rips the curtains back.

Only for an old man to scream right in his face, they all scream back. Aubrey raises her bat, and the man screams louder.

“Wait I’m too young to die!” the man yells.

Kel flings his ball, and Hero watches as it bounces right off the bearded man’s forehead.

“Ow you little- You?!” the man yelled, recognizing the intruders.

Aubrey lowered her weapon and turned to Kel.

“This him?” she asks.

“Yep” Kel replies.

“Ok creep” Aubrey started, grabbing the frail man by the collar of his… robe? “Your freaky book messed up our friend so you’re going to fix him or else.”

The man’s eyes widened with fear, he frantically shook his head in agreement until Aubrey finally dropped him. The man looked around at the group, his gaze lingering on his previous customers.

“You’re back already?!” he questioned. “I-I mean foolish boys did I not warn thou of the power contained within that accursed object”.

“W-were you trying to leave?” Basil asked ignoring his comments.

The blonde gestured to the large burlap sack filled with trinkets the shopkeeper had clearly been taking off his shelves.

“…..No?” the man sheepishly replied.

Everyone simply stared in response. Aubrey simply glanced at her bat. The unspoken threat proved effective.

“Fine! Yes, I was going to disappear!” he backtracked in a panic. “You were going to come seeking my aid sooner or later, but you were supposed to come back to find an empty store.”

“It would be a humbling lesson!” the shopkeeper continued. “But you somehow already messed up! I mean seriously has it even been an hour?!”

Kel laughed nervously but the rest of them maintained their glaring.

“Are you gonna help or not?” Aubrey asked impatiently.

“Y-yes of course, there’s a simple fix in my bag, let me just grab it” he replied, reaching into the sack in question.

“Ah here, see a solution to your woes, let me just- TAKE THIS!”

The shopkeeper’s sudden yell made Hero flinch, he watched as the man lobbed some kind of vial at his brother. Only for it to simply bounce of the tan teen’s head with a ‘thud’ and land in Kel’s hands.

‘Suppose these two are even now’ Hero thought.

“Ow” Kel complained.

Hero looked down at the vial in his brother’s hands.

‘Freezing spell, best before 1989’ it read.

An expired potion? More magic… of course, why not at this point? Hero was going sleep for an entire day when all this is over.

“Damn” the shopkeeper muttered before attempting to run for it.

He didn’t get very far. Aubrey merely pointed her bat at the man, and he immediately backed up against the wall.

“S-so let’s have a look at your f-friend hey?” the shopkeep nervously offered.

“That would be a start” Hero agreed.

“Hmmm I think I know what this is” The shopkeeper said. “Just need to test it”.

“Hey cyclops you’re an ugly moron who’s going to die alone.” The man said, staring directly at ‘Sunny’.

The teen in question simply continued smiling in response although his mouth did twitch slightly.

“Hey! What was that for?” Kel asked, standing up for his friend.

“The kids barely phased. He understood the insult but physically can’t feel negative about it” the shopkeeper replied. “He’s pure happiness, literally. The spell you cast has split your friend into his base emotions.”

“It’s one of the book’s weirder but less dangerous spells. Quite annoying though” he clarified.

Hero wanted to question why the hell this creep was selling all this stuff in the first place, let alone to two teenagers, but he bit his tongue. If they wanted the man to co-operate, they had to play this by his weird rules.

“So, c-can you fix him?” Basil asked.

“Well not right now” he replied.

Hero was getting tired of this man, he was rude, simultaneously blunt, and mysterious, and he was clearly only agreeing to help them because he was at threat of violence from Aubrey.

Speaking of whom.

“Why the hell not?” the delinquent demanded.

The man in response pulled out a dusty old jigsaw puzzle from his sack, reached into the box and threw a single puzzle piece at her feet before locking eyes with her.

“Now solve the puzzle” he deadpanned.

‘Wow what a prick’ Hero thought.

Aubrey clearly agreed as she began to raise her bat once more.

“Listen here you-” she started.

“Aubrey no.” Hero said, before turning to the shopkeeper. “How do we fix this then?”

“You need the rest of the puzzle” the man replied cryptically, before realising he was pushing his luck.

“I-I mean you need his other emotions. You said there were more ‘clones’ right? Bring them here and I can piece your friend back together.”

“Honestly guys I’m fine!” ‘Sunny’ said, chiming in.

“Ok so we have happy and sad” Hero thought aloud, ignoring the happy Sunny’s ‘protest’.

“J-just happy a-actually” Basil corrected.

Oh, right sadness wasn’t with them, he must have left at some point. Because of course, why would this ever be easy?

“Ok everyone, we’re going to split up and go find the other Sunnys” Hero announced to the group. “Kel you’re staying behind with the shopkeeper and smiley here.”

“What! Why?” Kel complained.

“Because someone has to keep an eye on them, and I trust you” Hero responded.

It was a half-truth, whilst annoyed with his brother he did still trust him. But really, he just wanted him here because Hero wasn’t sure he could trust the others with staying behind.

He couldn’t be sure they (especially Aubrey) wouldn’t hurt the old man. The old creep may be rude, but they still needed his help.

“Ok you got it!” Kel replied with a salute, before turning to ‘Sunny’.

“Don’t worry bud, we’re going to fix this”.

Hero wasn’t sure ‘Sunny’ was thrilled by that idea. He seemed a bit too fond of being separate from the rest of his emotions. But being pure happiness meant Hero couldn’t exactly read his expressions for certainty.

Hero was sure the boy was harmless… but if even the happy one gave him cause to doubt, then what about the others?

Between the shopkeeper’s explanation and happy Sunny’s comments Hero couldn’t shake the feeling that the other copies were likely to… pass comments, that Sunny normally wouldn’t.

If he’d learnt anything about his young friend over the past four years it was that he struggled with intense emotions, preferring to keep them supressed. That was seemingly what killed Mari. Spontaneous rage from years of repressed feelings of resentment and inferiority.

Now Sunny’s emotions are free and operating with their own autonomy. Hero would be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned. So as the three remaining members of their group left the strange store, Hero put his hands on Basil and Aubrey’s shoulders.

“Remember these guys aren’t Sunny, not truly, they’re just his emotions, don’t take whatever they say to heart” Hero said.

He wasn’t sure who he was reassuring, them or himself, still the two teens nodded their heads in agreement and split up to cover the town.

Hero sighed, he had a good hunch where he would find ‘sad Sunny’. But this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.

‘I’m so tired’ Hero thought to himself, as he set off towards the graveyard.

Chapter Text

When the Suzukis first moved next door Hero initially had mixed feelings about his new neighbours. Mari was very cute, but also incredibly annoying and seemingly determined to spend her days harassing Hero, if the abundance of fake spiders she left in his desk were any indication.

But they shared the same classes and walked the same routes. So, it was inevitable that the two would eventually click. In time Hero found that he had a lot in common with the girl next door, they were the ‘golden children’ of their respective families, held to unrealistically high expectations. As a result, Mari was one of the only people his age he could actually relate to, someone he could finally relax his boundaries around. She was his best friend… and potentially more than that.

Sunny on the other hand was a different story entirely. The younger Suzuki was quiet and reserved, yet he still managed to almost instantly form a friendship with Kel. Proving that opposites do attract after all. A lot of Hero’s early bonding with Mari was done whilst they babysat their younger siblings, yet despite spending entire days about an arm’s length from Sunny he still didn’t really speak to the boy that much. 

This left Hero unsure of what to think of him, Sunny wasn’t very outgoing, or talkative and his blank face was hard to read, but he had an active imagination and seemed like a good kid. If nothing else, he was Kel’s friend and Mari’s brother so that was enough reason for Hero to care.

The turning point came when Mari finally trusted Hero enough to babysit the two kids alone. Gradually Hero learnt to read the quiet boy, and Sunny in turn seemed to grow more comfortable around him.

From there Hero was walking Kel and Sunny to school when Mari was sick and vice versa for him, they hosted sleepovers at his house, and picnics in the park, and with each passing day Sunny slowly opened up to him more and more. It was small things, like trusting Hero with his plushies or asking him for help with homework. But it meant a lot to the young teen, Sunny could be reclusive and untrusting, so the fact he felt comfortable enough to turn to Hero for help was a clear sign Sunny held him in high regard. Hero was quite fond of the young boy, he was very different from his older sister, but still charming in his own weird way.

He doesn’t remember when exactly Sunny stopped being just ‘Mari’s little brother’ and became his too.

Simultaneously, Mari was forming a similar friendship with Kel, the two bonding over their love of pranks and tormenting Hero. It took a while but the four had soon formed a tit-knit bond. Then Aubrey and Basil joined, and before Hero knew it, he was playing parent to a bunch of twelve-year-olds, at the same time Mari was also helping out, taking to her new role like a duck to water. The two never put a title to their relationship, but they never really needed to. 

Hero had found a second family without even realising it.

Then Mari died.

And all those years of friendship were abruptly cut short. Hero isn’t sure they would have lasted, few ‘first love’ relationships do, but he would have liked to find out naturally. But he didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, she was gone and no amount of tears would ever bring her back. In hingsight, it was probably that revelation that broke him, the realisation that she was gone and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

So, he did the next best thing, he ran, locked himself in his room and didn’t look back.

He didn’t see the rest of his friends for years, in his eyes, the family he had built died with Mari. It was selfish, but he didn’t know what else to do, even if he reunited with them there would always be one seat left empty at their hangouts and Hero could not face that reality. No, he much preferred dreaming his days away, rotting in his bed and crying tears that never quite dried, whilst reminiscing on better days. Of course, his delusions couldn't last, his brother, bless that boy, saw to that. 

So, when being a shut-in didn’t work out, he decided to bury himself in work instead. He hates his degree, but at least at college he had good excuses for his terrible sleep schedule and habit of avoiding home. Becoming a doctor is hard work after all. It's not remotely healthy, but he found that drowning himself in his studies made it much easier to forget about Mari's funeral. About the crying children, the vacant expression on her brother’s face, her wailing parents, the bend in her neck the morticians couldn’t fix.

But no-one can run from their problems forever, and part of Hero was still stuck in that graveyard. He knew he’d have to face Mari’s tombstone one day, as well as the family he left behind.

It was only a matter of time.

When Hero finally met with Sunny after four years it was far from an ideal reunion. He had arrived back home to panic and yelling, Kel was screaming at some girl he somewhat recognised, then he turned to Hero and spat out a bunch of incoherent ramblings about Basil and Sunny and drowning? It was then that the situation finally became clear to Hero, who immediately dived head-first into the murky depths of that filthy lake and carried his old friends out of it. 

At first, he thought was too late, and that Sunny had drowned. His skin was so pale and his frame so small, he looked like a corpse. Like Mari.

Thankfully, after a little bit of CPR both Basil and Sunny turned out to be ‘fine’. The latter’s eyes were lifeless, and he constantly looked lost, whilst the former was completely out of it. But they were all still alive even if that was a tenuous use of the word. He'd seen actual bodies in his textbooks that looked more lively, but they were both breathing, and at the time that was good enough for him.

After dropping off Basil at his place to recover, Hero decided to play it all off. He doubted that either Kel or Aubrey had realised just how bad Sunny’s current state was, elsewise they likely would have called off their feud. But Hero didn’t want to point this out, he had a chance to get everyone back together and give Sunny one last good day before he moved.

He swore to himself that he would urge Mrs Suzuki to take her son to a therapist after the move. 

In the meanwhile, he ignored the hundreds of warning signs Sunny gave off. How he froze whenever Mari was mentioned, or how he’d stare at things that weren’t there, how Hero found him by her old ‘OMORI’ piano, the countless scars he’d felt when searching his chest for a heartbeat, how thin he’d gotten, how pale he was and how dead his eyes were.

Hero ignored it all. He told himself it was for Sunny’s sake, to let him enjoy his last days in Faraway.

‘No need to sour the mood by opening old wounds,’ he told himself.

Looking back on his decisions, Hero knows he really did this for himself, because looking at Sunny scared Hero.

Not because he hated him, no. But because Hero was nearly like Sunny, he’d spent a year living like him, confining himself to his bed, crying until he ran out of tears. It was hell, his own mind worked against him, he had no drive, no motivation, and no purpose. Every day it felt like more of a battle to even keep breathing.

Thankfully Hero had Kel, his younger brother had pulled him out of his depressive state, and whilst at the time Hero was anything but grateful, in hindsight he is so glad that Kel never stopped trying. Because Sunny didn’t have a Kel. Sure, his brother knocked, but Sunny just locked the door. Hero shared a room with Kel, he couldn’t hide away forever.

Sunny could. So, Sunny did, and that scared Hero. That someone he once saw as family now served as a living reminder of how his life could have gone.

Hero still wonders what drove Sunny to finally leave his home, maybe it was a spur of the moment decision, or perhaps his mother talked him into it. He’ll never know for sure. But what he does know is that Kel saved them both. Still, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Hero ignored the warnings, and they all paid the price. 

He vividly remembers the night Sunny and Basil fought, Hero had woken from one nightmare to another. He still recalls the state they found the two in, battered and bloodied, they had brutalised each other but Sunny was the worse of the two. Hero will never forget the boy’s strained breathing as he tried to treat his eye, praying that the ambulance would arrive soon. There was so much blood.

Aubrey had tackled Basil, attempting to restrain him, but she didn’t even need to do anything. A sudden clarity seemed to hit the flower boy, and the mix of crushing guilt and injuries sustained caused him to immediately pass out.

It felt like an eternity before the paramedics finally poured into the room, taking the two boys away on stretchers. Part of Hero didn’t want to let go of them, but logic won out and before he knew it, they were sat in the hospital waiting room.

He had listened as both his brother and Aubrey muttered their apologies. They both blamed themselves. But Hero knew better, he had ignored all the red flags, and pretended everything was fine and because of that two kids, his kids were on the verge of death.

Some Hero huh?

But Sunny and Basil didn’t die, the former lost his eye, but still stood strong, he entered Basil’s room not long after they did, and with more clarity than ever spoke for the first time in years.

He spoke of truths and lies, cover-ups and accidents, grief, and anger. The confession lasted for what felt like an eternity. Sunny was thorough, he gave them the answers they never thought they’d have, a painful closure. And by the time he finally finished, Hero felt like his world had once again been shattered. He had felt relief and betrayal, fear and shock, pain, and anger.

Mari didn’t kill herself, it wasn’t his fault, but it was Sunny’s.

Whilst a large part of him was beyond angry he mostly just felt sad.

“I just wanted to spend more time with her,” Sunny had said between sobs. But now he’ll never see her again.

It took time to come to terms with this new reality, but Hero did eventually reach out to his old friends, offered olive branches, made amends, and tried to live up to his name. Their lives will never be normal, but they can be better.

Hero will make them better.

He’s done running away.

Life is never so easy of course, and this time Hero has been thrown the curve ball of actual magic. Something that he is still struggling to come to terms with. 

In less than a few hours, he has been caught up in witchcraft, trespassing, and the kidnapping of a potential wizard. Now he’s trekking around Faraway searching for the physical manifestations of his friend's emotions. Hero couldn’t make this up if he tried to. His current destination was the graveyard, Hero planned to find ‘sad Sunny’ and he suspected he would find the boy there. Still, he had stopped by the plaza to ask around first, but no-one had any information that could help him, so he grabbed a bouquet of flowers and set off towards the Church. Even if he didn’t find ‘Sunny’ there, it would still be worth going, it had been too long since he last visited Mari.

Approaching the Church, Hero couldn’t help but notice that a lot of its regular attendees were passing him by and that they all looked quite upset. He suspects that ‘Sunny’ may have something to do with that. These clones are magical after all.

When Hero finally arrives outside the Church entrance, the first thing he notices is that his old friends Daphne and Bowen are sitting off by the steps. Their expressions are neutral, but small tears are still rolling down their cheeks.

“Ah, hello Henry,” Daphne greets.

The twins are two of the only friends Hero has here in Faraway who are the same age as him. They’re also two of the only people here who don’t address him by his nickname. 

“Daphne. Bowen. It's been a while,” he greets. “Are you two, ok?”

“Hm? Ah yes, we just bumped into young Suzuki. He appears troubled.” Daphne explains.

“It was quite upsetting,” Bowen adds.

“I see. Is he still here?” Hero asks.

“Yes, he went out to the graveyard I believes,” Daphne replies.

‘Still got it,’ Hero thinks, taking a moment to appreciate his sense of intuition.

“Thanks guys,” Hero says as he opens the door open and enters the Church.

The twins simply wave goodbye in response.

Hero finds the Preacher is in a similar state to his friends, although he’s crying a lot harder than the twins were. Hero watches as the man finally notices him, then tries and fails to maintain composure.

“Ah h-hello young man,” he welcomes between sniffles. “F-Forgive me it has been a long day.”

“Tell me about it. Is Sunny out in the yard?” Hero asks.

“The young boy with the e-eyepatch? Y-Yes but he appeared quite d-distressed, it might be—” the Preacher starts before suddenly choking on a sob.

He tries to continue speaking but fails, his words devolving into tears and quiet apologies.

Hero swears he heard the man mutter something about Aubrey as he wept. He knows she felt excluded from here. Maybe that has something to do with this?
No matter. Hero excuses the Preacher and exits out into the graveyard.

Hero immediately feels the shift in the atmosphere. He had anticipated this, but the sight that welcomes him is no less heartbreaking. He sees ‘Sunny’ wrapped around his late sister’s grave, sobbing his eyes out.

HERO BECAME SAD

‘Damn it,’ Hero mentally curses, as tears begin to form in the corners of his eyes. 

Once again, his assumptions were correct. This copy can influence people’s emotions, including his, which likely means the others can do the same. This means Hero needs to make this quick, so he can go assist his friends as soon as possible. If Aubrey or Basil can be affected by rage or fear like he is by sadness, then things could get messy very quickly.

“Hey Sunny,” Hero greets, as slowly approaches the boy.

“Oh, h-hey, Hero,” ‘Sunny’ replies. “S-Sorry for running off I—I needed to be alone.”

“I understand,” Hero states, because he does, more than Sunny may think. “You must be so confused, but you’re going be ok, we just need to—”

“No.” ‘Sunny’ interjects, cutting him off. “I k-know what I am, s-stop lying to me.”

“I didn’t lie?” Hero asks, confused by the sad copy’s comments.

“Y-You said I’ll be o-ok,” ‘Sunny’ began. “P-people keep s-saying that, but I’m not, I’m broken, u-useless.”

Oh, so that’s what this is. Hero should’ve suspected this. Self-loathing and sadness are intertwined after all.

“Sunny you’re not useless, I know you’re upset but we can fix this.” He says.

“No… We can’t you’re j-just going to put me b-back in there, with the o-others, n-nothing will change,” ‘Sunny’ continues. "It won’t matter, s-she’s still gone, I-I’ll still be like this, y-you just won’t s-see it.”

Hero watched as ‘Sunny’ grew more miserable, his tears continued to fall, the steady stream now gaining velocity. It was like someone turned on a tap in the boy’s head, the water poured out from his eyes and pooled around his feet, it would be comical if it didn’t fill Hero with immense sadness.

HERO BECAME MISERABLE

“S-Sunny that’s n-not-” Hero tried to argue.

“I’ve l-lost everything, I-I’m a leech on Mom, a one-eyed f-freak, a k-killer, a m-murderer, people like me shouldn’t be a-alive,” Sunny rants.

Hero wants to tell ‘Sunny’ just how much he means to their friends, how much he means to him, but right now he just can’t find the words, because no matter how hard he tries, he just can’t stop crying.

There’s an intense sadness growing within Hero as with every word Sunny speaks a wave of melancholy hits him. Plus, the choice of locale certainly isn’t helping. It feels just like when he first stood here all those years ago... when they lowered Mari into the ground. Back then he had wanted nothing more than for the earth to swallow him whole too. To be with her once more.

HERO BECAME DEPRESSED.

'Sunny' continues to sob but Hero still can’t muster a response, he feels light headed, his eyes are blurry, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. He falls down onto his knees, whimpering and weeping as painful memories begin to flash through his mind.

“Son… trust me you don’t wanna see this. I’m so sorry.”

“Mari was a talented soul. The world won’t be the same without her.”

“Mari wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

“You don’t love me! You love her and she’s gone! So just leave.”

“If you want your grades to improve, I might advise actually attending my lectures.”

“Hero! Sunny—Basil—they fell—c-can’t swim—they’re in the lake!”

“I have to tell you something.”

Hero tries to block them out and regain his focus, he knows there’s so much at stake here, but he just can’t stop… feeling… so… sad.

“I miss her so much,” Hero sobs.

‘Sunny’ simply cried harder in response.

“I do too, e-every day. It’s all m-my fault, I’m s-sorry. It just—it just isn’t fair,” he says.

“S-she was so much better than m-me, I l-loved her, y-you loved her, and I… I k-killed her,” ‘Sunny’ continues between tears.

No that isn’t right. 

“I w-wasted four y-years of my life, if you put me back, i-it’ll h-happen again,” he states. “Sunny’s better off without me, y-you all a-are.”

No. Mari would never want this. 

“J-Just leave me here, f-forget you saw me. P-Please.” 

No. Hero is done running. With that thought a sudden burst of determination hits him, Hero slowly rises to his feet, tries to steady his breathing, and faces ‘Sunny’.

“No,” Hero finally responds. “We need you to fix this, you’re my friend and I’m not leaving you, not again.”

“F-Fix him without me, it’ll be better this w-way,” ‘Sunny’ retorts.

He understands how the copy feels, he doesn’t know if they even can fix Sunny without sadness, but he knows why he would want that. Hero rotted in his bed for a whole year because of his depression, he ruined countless relationships and hurt everyone he ever cared about.

So, if he was given the option to cut that out, get rid of that sadness, that pain, he would probably take it.

Or he would have, but now after everything, Hero has finally realised that life is full of ups and downs, and whilst it feels like his life has a lot more downs than most, he wouldn’t be himself without that pain.

Without that grief, Hero would have never come to terms with what happened that day.

Besides, he refuses to leave his friend alone here, even if it is just one part of him.

So, Hero takes another deep breath and exhales.

HERO BECAME SAD.

He doesn’t feel immediately better, but he can muster a real response now at least.

“Sunny, it’s ok to feel this way, I understand, I’m not sure if you know but after Mari… passed I didn’t leave my bed for a year, I was unresponsive and miserable,” Hero began. “But, I had family to help me… you didn’t”. 

“I understand how you feel, and I’m so sorry, I should have been there for you.”

“N-No I’m a monst—” ‘Sunny’ started.

“No. You’re not,” Hero cuts him off. 

“You’ve made a lot of mistakes, but you’re not a bad person, you’re family, and you’ve made a lot of people's lives better” He continued. “It’s ok to feel that grief. That pain. It’s important, it reminds us of what we care about, but you can’t let it control your life.”

“I c-can’t stop it! It’s all I am! J-Just the pain, the m-misery, the grief, the w-worst parts of m-me,” ‘Sunny’ responds. “W-Why? Why do you even c-care? I’m not h-him, I’m the o-one who k-kept him inside, i-if you put me back I-I’ll do it again.”

“I promised myself, I was done running away from my problems. From my friends. That includes you Sunny. All of you,” Hero states. 

“I want to help you, but I need you to help yourself first.”

“If—if I—if I go back… h-how do you know I—we won’t relapse?” ‘Sunny’ asks. 

“I-I’m the reason w-we’ve m-missed so much, I d-don’t… I don’t want to dream anymore,” ‘Sunny’ states, his teary eyes staring straight into Hero’s soul.

There it is. The warped reflection. Hero could have been like this without Kel. Some days he’s scared he’ll go back to that state too. He’s hardly surprised Sunny feels the same. Still, the answer is simple.

“I don’t,” Hero states. “Some days it's… hard to keep going, to not fall back into old habits. But I promise you, we’ll be together this time.”

“You don’t have to do this alone anymore,” he says, reaching out his hand out towards ‘Sunny’. 

The boy hesitates but ultimately takes it, rising to his feet and promptly embracing Hero, sobbing into the older man’s shoulder. Hero is crying too, but as he looks over at Mari’s grave, he can’t help but smile. He knows she’d be proud of them.

When their embrace finally ends, Hero walks over to the tombstone and places the small bouquet he'd been carrying down.

“Roses…” ‘Sunny’ says.

“They didn’t have any lilies,” Hero clarifies. “Still, I think she’ll appreciate it. Wherever she is.”

“I… I think so too.”

It took a while and a bit more crying, but Hero eventually managed to persuade ‘Sunny’ to leave the graveyard. Entering the Church again they see the Preacher, still wiping his eyes bit looking a lot better.

“Ah hello you two, I hope you are feeling well,” he says. “Apologies for earlier I simply—”

“It’s fine,” Hero says cutting him off.

If ‘Sunny’ suspects he’s responsible for someone’s misery then he’ll start to spiral again, and Hero isn’t sure he can go through all that again so soon.

“Are you feeling well young man?” the Preacher asks, looking over to ‘Sunny’.

“N-No,” he sniffles. “But I—I will be”.

“Very well. I won’t hold you up then,” the Preacher responds. “Enjoy the rest of your day… and if you see Aubrey, please tell her she’s always welcome here. Even if others disagree.”

Hero picked up on some venom in his voice as he mumbled that last bit. He had heard from Kel that there had been some kind of fight between his friends here. He suspects that had something to do with the Preacher’s request.

‘Sunny’ clearly also thought that because tears had already started to form in his eyes again. 

'Uh oh.'

“Thank you, will do, gotta go now, seeyoulaterbye!” Hero spat out as he grabbed the boy’s hand and rushed him out of the Church.

Once they had passed through the doors Hero stopped and took a minute to catch his breath. 

‘I am really out of shape,’ he thought to himself.

The sad Sunny simply stood and watched the display, he wasn’t crying anymore, but he still looked melancholic. Hero supposed that was the best he’s going to get out of this copy. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try and cheer him up.

“Hey, do you… do you want to go for ice-cream?” Hero asked between pants.

A moment of silence passed.

“...Okay,” ‘Sunny’ eventually mumbled in response.

Ice-cream cures all woes, if anything would cheer him up, it’d be that. He’d taken Sunny to get some before, when the (at the time) eleven-year-old tripped and scraped his knee. It had stopped him crying then, so it might help now.

The alternative was to immediately set off for the store. Going halfway across Faraway, hoping to God nothing sets off ‘Sunny’ and causes him to release another tidal wave of misery. Considering for a moment just how many reminders of Mari this town is full off, Hero soon realised that that trek could prove troublesome. So now he was putting all his faith in ice-cream, because this is just what his life is now. Besides, Hero has had a very long day, he needs a moment of respite, and ‘Sad Sunny’ has been relatively co-operative so far. If doesn’t squint too hard at the boy’s hair, he can just pretend he’s grabbing a snack with his little bro.

‘Sunny’ follows Hero’s lead as they set off towards the park, keeping quiet aside from the occasional sniffle. Still, Hero is content, they’ve already gotten two out of the four emotions back. At this rate, they should be done before nightfall. He’s glad sadness turned out to be so amenable.

He just hopes the others have had the same luck.

Aubrey was having absolutely no luck.

When they all spit up to cover the town, she assumed it would be an easy job, if she was hunting regular Sunny she would understand the difficulty, he was quiet and small. If it weren’t for the missing eye he’d easily blend into a crowd.

But these ‘clones’? They're the literal manifestations of Sunny's emotions with the addition of weird faintly glowing hair, they should be dead easy to spot. 

So, Aubrey had understandably presumed one of these walking highlighters would have caused some trouble by now. But that's clearly not the case as so far, everyone she’s stopped to ask either doesn’t know anything or wants nothing to do with her. The latter stung a bit, but she was more than used to the attitudes of Faraway’s ‘fine townsfolk’.

Kel… Goddamn Kel, only he would pull some crap like this! It was no secret Aubrey never saw eye to eye with her tan friend, they bickered all the time, and after Mari’s death, it didn’t take much to push that friendly banter into straight-up hatred. Still, they had reconciled, and whilst Aubrey would never admit it, she did enjoy his company.

Right now, though? All she wants to do is put her fist through his skull, because seriously? Magic?! She had accepted her friend would forever be an eccentric pain in her ass, but this is just ridiculous. Because of him, she’s running around Faraway like a moron, asking people who hate her for any clues on the location of magical clones of Sunny! Copies that should be standing out like a sore thumb because again they are literally glowing! 

But she just can’t find them, and Sunny’s gone, but he isn’t, and there’s a wizard and nothing makes sense and—

‘Ok deep breaths,’ Aubrey thinks to herself as she stops and follows Mari’s old advice.

Breathe in and out. Ok.

So… Aubrey might be getting a little frustrated, she can admit that. But she has good reason to be, this week was supposed to be chill! They were supposed to be hosting an extended birthday celebration for Sunny; she’d missed him… a lot. She’d rather die then say that aloud of course, but its true. But noooo instead of relaxing at Gino’s like they should be, everyone’s out chasing dead ends whilst Kel gets to sit off with the only co-operative emotion.

It's just not fair.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Aubrey spots a few of her fellow delinquents hanging around the plaza fountain. Perfect.

“Hey Kim!” she calls out.

“Eh? Oh, hey Aubs,” Kim replies.

“Sup,” Vance says.

“H-Hey," Mikhael whimpers.

“What’s up with him?” Aubrey asks pointing to Mikhael.

Normally ‘the Maverick’, as he likes to call himself, is a lot more eccentric. Right now though, he just looks defeated. He’s not even wearing that horrendous blonde wig he usually does. He’s just clenching it in his hands and staring daggers at the floor.

“Oh, that knife kid you like tore him a new one,” Kim explains. “I arrived just after he finished yelling, boy did he look pissed.”

Finally, a lead.

“See where he went?” she asks.

“Back towards the park, I think,” Kim says, then furrows her brow in contemplation, grumbles a bit and continues. “Look not that I care… but is he ok? He looked super mad… Also, I think he broke Mikhael.” 

'Definitely angry Sunny then.'

Looking back at Mikhael the teen seemed to be in a state of shock and deep contemplation. The hell did ‘Sunny’ say to him?

Whatever, ‘the Maverick’ needed humbling anyway. Plus, it was nice to see that Kim cared, she knew her two friend groups would never fully mix, but she did want everyone to at least get along. They’ve burnt enough bridges, it would be good to build some new ones for a change.

“He’s… not quite himself right now,” Aubrey 'explains' carefully. “Look, no questions asked, I need a favour.”

“Sure, but you owe me,” Kim replies without hesitation. “What do you need?”

“If you see Sunny or anyone who looks like him around, keep them busy here until I come back,” she responds.

“Huh? But ain’t Sunny—” Kim starts.

“No questions sis, remember” Vance chimes in.

Kim grumbles in response, but eventually drops it.

“Sure, you got it, now go check up on your nerd or whatever,” Kim says with a laugh.

Choosing to ignore that comment Aubrey turns towards the park. But Kim calls out to her before she can leave.

“Oh! I just remembered something! Aubrey I’m calling in that favour right now!” Kim yelled.

“Seriously?! Look now really isn’t a good ti—” Aubrey starts.

“It’s a dead easy one I swear!” Kim says frantically, cutting her off. “Look, if you see anyone who looks like they’re from out of town and they’re asking for me, just tell them I’m visiting family in Close Bay, okay?”

'What.'

“You want me to tell people you’re out of state?” Aubrey asked in disbelief. “The hell did you do?”

“No questions asked, remember?” Vance says, chiming in once again.

'God damn it, Vance.'

“Fine!” she concedes, throwing up her arms in defeat. “But this better not be a drug thing! We do not touch that stuff.”

Aubrey did not grow up with an addict mother just for her friends to go and start peddling that crap.

“It ain’t I swear! Now go! Get out of here, I’ll keep watch for your nerd,” Kim says.

Sighing, Aubrey finally turned around and began her march back towards the park. She wasn’t looking forward to this, why couldn’t she get one of the other clones?  The scared or sad Sunny she could probably talk down. Angry Sunny though?

A faint scar on her arm suddenly feels itchy...

Aubrey can tell this won’t end well; some part of Sunny definitely hates her, and whilst that hurts, she's used to it. She deserves it.

“Don’t take whatever they say to heart,” Hero had said.

Easier said than done. She was about to see how one of her oldest friends really feels about her, and then she’s probably going to have to drag his ass back to that shop, kicking and screaming. She had wanted to have a heart to heart with Sunny for a while, but not like this!

‘Ugh, I had really hoped we were done fighting,’ Aubrey thought as she approached the park entrance, bat in hand.

God damn Kel.

“I quit,” Kel says, dropping his cards. “You’ve got a better poker face than regular Sunny!”

Happy Sunny simply grinned wider in response. Hardly surprising considering he never actually stops smiling. Which is just a tad unnerving.

They had been playing games to pass the time, whilst the crazy old shopkeep organised his storeroom. After Aubrey’s threats, the man was taking no chances and was seemingly working under the assumption that their entire group was just as prone to violence as her. Which worked well for Kel, because now all he had to do now was keep ‘Sunny’ here.

“We could play some video games?” The copy in question suggested.

“Oh yeah—wait no. Sorry, no games here,” Kel explained. “None that aren’t board ones anyway.”

“I know. I meant we could go to your place!” ‘Sunny’ clarified.

“Nope, sorry bud, gotta keep you here until we fix you up,” Kel said, immediately shooting that idea down.

They had one out of four so far, and Kel would not be responsible for making that zero.

“Aw,” ‘Sunny’ whined.

A brief silence fell across the shop before Kel decided to ask some questions he’d been wondering.

“Say Sunny what’s it like being an emotion anyway?” he enquired.

“Well, like I said earlier its actually rather suffoca—” ‘Sunny’ began.

At that moment the shopkeeper entered the room, dropping a bag full of weird vials and bottles onto a table, before taking a drink from of some can Kel didn’t recognise. He burped loudly and then turned to address the taller teen.

“Your friends still aren’t back?” he asked, having ditched the exaggerated tone he had used earlier.

“Nope, hopefully, they won’t be too long though,” Kel replies. “Hey, what's that you're drinking? Can I have some?”

“Well, suppose that ain’t too shocking. When I accidentally used that spell on myself, I didn’t find my angry clone for over a decade. Little weasel had set up some kind of gambling ring down in Colombia,” the man explained casually.  “Also maybe… how old are you?”

“Oh… well hopefully that doesn’t happen to us,” Kel replies nervously. He didn’t want Sunny to be stuck like this because of his mistake. “Also, I’m eighteen.”

The man looked at him skeptically, clearly doubting his claim.

“Well, no wizard ale for you then this isn’t England, you yanks are so strict with booze I swear,” he grumbles, taking another swig of his drink. “Also don’t worry too much, push come shove, I can figure something out, technically we don’t need all of them.”

“Wait what? How would that work?” Kel asks.

“Well, it’d be a job half done, he wouldn’t be himself, not truly. When I did it, I became a real pushover, you know, because of the whole not having any anger thing,” the man replies.

Kel decided to not mention how he had cowered in fear at Aubrey’s wrath.

“It was just like my days back in England, pushed around by everyone,” the man adds, clearly about to continue his rant, before suddenly stopping, eyeing the can in his hand and presumably realising he’d gone off topic. “So, I’d personally recommend your friends find all of his emotions,” he adds, taking another swig.

“You’re English?” Kel asks, wanting to ignore the possibility of Sunny being stuck incomplete forever. Also, because the man had mentioned the country twice now, so he clearly wanted to discuss it and Kel was willing to take any excuse to change the subject.

“Ha, no! Kid, my home country doesn’t even exist anymore! I just worked at a prestigious sorcery academy there, then got fired for criticising the dean’s choice of pet,” he explained. “It was a legitimate complaint too, not even done out of spite, I literally couldn’t feel that emotion! I simply failed to see how a Cerberus was an appropriate choice of pet to have so close to kids! But whatever...”

“So, you really are a wizard then? ...Just how old are you?” Kel enquired further, ignoring most of the shopkeep’s weird rant.

“I prefer the term warlock,” the man replied, correcting him. “Also, it’s rude to ask someone’s age, but I am very old, I’ll tell you that much.”

“I just realised I know who you are!” ‘Sunny’ suddenly chimes in. “You were that homeless guy who called my dad a commie!”

The man’s face immediately turns bright red from embarrassment.

“O-Oh, that was... your dad?” he asked nervously.

“Yeah, I remember he got really mad and beat—” ‘Sunny’ went to continue.

“HAHA! I was… very into cold war politics back then… and witch wine… I’m not proud of it,” the Warlock replied, cutting ‘Sunny’ off. “…Don’t judge me, when you get this old, you’ll do anything to avoid boredom. Why do you think I opened this place and started talking like a soothsayer?” the shopkeeper asked as he took another swig from his can.

He chuckled under his breath a little before suddenly pausing and staring at ‘Sunny’. His brow noticeably furrowed as he examined the boy, and after a few seconds he turned back to look at Kel.

“Say, is your friend usually this talkative?”

“Nope, but he’s never usually this happy either” Kel explained.

The shopkeeper simply hmmed in response, before downing the rest of his ale and walking back to the storage area.

'Well that was weird.'

“Kel?” ‘Sunny’ suddenly asked.

“Yeah bud” he replied.

“Why do you to make me whole again?”

'Uh oh.'

Meanwhile, a young adult and his teenage friend make their way past Faraway Park, the sun is shining, a cool breeze is in the air, and two ice-cream cones are in their hands.

“So, feeling any better?” Hero asked.

“I g-guess,” ‘Sunny’ replied.

The plan had gone off without a hitch. ‘Sunny’ was still sad but that was to be expected, he physically couldn’t feel any other emotion. But ice cream and a nice sunny (heh) day was evidently enough to put even the embodiment of sadness in a ‘good’ mood.

All Hero had to do now was keep ‘Sunny’ calm until they get back to the shopkeeper. 

Should be easy.

Just then, a man, maybe just a bit older than Sunny, suddenly limped out from the entrance to the park. He looked familiar but Hero couldn’t quite put a name to the face. The man looks worse for wear, half-formed bruises littered his face, blood is pouring from his nose, and his clothes are ripped and dirty. He seemed disoriented, but he eventually looked up, finally noticing the two people staring at him, his eyes widening as he stared at ‘Sunny’.

“What the…” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes repeatedly.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to call someone?” Hero asked.

Hero waited for a response, but the man simply glanced back and forth between him and ‘Sunny’. Every time he looked at the latter his expression grew more confused and frustrated.

“Screw this town,” he eventually mumbled, limping past them.

He shoved ‘Sunny’ as he passed, causing the sad boy to drop his ice cream. Before Hero could even react a familiar wave of melancholy suddenly hit him as ‘Sunny’ began to cry once more.

‘It’s never easy.’ Hero thought, as the tears began to form in his eyes.

Curtsey sighed as she heaved another heavy bag onto her back. A lot of their stock had gone out of date so now it was her job to get rid of it all.

“How does candy even go out of date?!” she cursed under her breath as she carried the trash bag around to the back of Othermart. “And why does the bin have to be so far away?” she whined, missing the accidental pun she had just made.

Curtsey wanted to cry, she couldn’t believe she was spending yet another summer working for Miss Candace, she would quit if the pay wasn’t so good. Her boss was a tyrant, but she wasn’t stingy.

Still, Curtsey had hoped she would’ve found a new job by now. She had heard a new store had opened up on the outskirts of town, but her friends said the owner was some old creep and she did not want to risk working for a potential perv. Miss Candice was probably a sociopath, and those candy addicted delinquents were a pain, but at least she knew them and what this job entailed. Some creepy thrift store ran by a homeless dude was another story entirely.

Better the devil you know, as they say.

As she approached the large bin Curtsey could swear, she heard… breathing?

Looking around she finally spots the source, a young boy is curled up in the corner, hiding behind some of Fix-It’s empty boxes, he appears to be shaking uncontrollably, muttering names she doesn’t recognize.

“Woah, hey kid you okay?” she asks, cautiously approaching the crying child.

The boy suddenly looked up and Curtsey froze. The boy’s eyes were wide and blood red. She dropped the bag, stale candy spilled everywhere, but she barely reacted. 

Behind the boy stood a tall shadow, with a single piercing eye. Staring right at her.

Curtsey turned to run only to come face to face with a ghostly pale girl, her neck was crooked, and her smile stretched unnaturally wide. She suddenly screamed right in Curtsey’s face, her mouth opening to reveal an endless sea of eyes. All staring right at her. Curtsey stumbled backwards blinking rapidly.

There were eyes everywhere now.

She hears someone screaming and then she hears static.

Then she hears nothing.

When Curtsey awakens, she immediately notices how sore her throat feels, she tries to speak but her voice is hoarse. Was that her screaming before?

Looking around she sees that the boy is gone, and there are no strange shadows, no weird ghost people, no eyes…

But there is candy everywhere. 

Candy that she’ll have to clean up, before returning to the store.

Where she’ll get yelled at for taking too long again.

Meaning she’ll likely have to sweep the store again.

Assuming that those kids don’t rob the place again.

In which case she’ll be reprimanded again.

Denied a pay rise again.

All the while she’ll have to pretend that everything is fine. Again.

Pretend that she didn’t just see a monster behind Othermart...

On second thought… maybe the pay isn’t that good after all.

Chapter Text

A young man is sat on a rickety old bus. The seats are uncomfortable, gum covers the floor and there are random burn marks everywhere. It’s disgusting, but the man pays no attention to it. His focus is elsewhere. He’s looking out the window, watching the trees pass by until he finally spots it, an old chipped green sign.

‘WELCOME TO FARAWAY,’ it reads.

'About time.'

“God, are we finally here?” his friend asks.

“Just a little bit further now, Elliot,” he responds.

The rest of their group nod and grunt in response. The gang of young adults have been on this bus for over an hour now, the traffic in Nearby had held them up significantly. They had originally hoped to be in Faraway an hour ago. But plans change, he understands that, his friends do not. They’ve spent the entire journey constantly bugging him and he's really getting sick of it.

“I never thought I’d be back here again,” Elliot states, absentmindedly.

“Yeah well, I still don’t think coming all the way out here was necessary!” another voice chimes in, for like the fifth time now.

Looks like the nagging continues. They’re young, they don’t get it. It’s about sending a message, taking back what’s rightfully theirs, and that is worth every penny they've spent on the bus fare.

“It’ll all be worth it when we get what we came for,” he responds.

“If we get them back,” Elliot adds. “How do you know she’ll even be here?”

“Call it a strong hunch,” he replies.

His group don’t seem happy with the answer, but before they can complain any further, the bus suddenly comes to a stop.

The gang grumbles amongst themselves and one by one they all march out and start examining their surroundings.

The young man in charge also takes a moment to look around at the familiar suburbs. After all these years, he’s finally home. It’s barely changed at all.

But enough reminiscing.

He whistles to get his friends attention. They all turn and face him, even if they have objections to his plans, they’ll still follow his lead.

“Now then,” he says addressing the group in front of him.

“Let’s get to work.”

Pretentious scholars and wannabe intellects often discuss how ants cannot truly comprehend their surroundings, and how humans are likely missing the bigger picture too. 'Sunny' thinks that’s stupid and ir makes him really angry. Which is par for the course considering he can’t feel anything else. But what scholars should question instead is whether a slave can truly understand freedom. Because 'Sunny' is going through that exact scenario right now.

After all these years he’s finally free.

Free from those other freaks that had kept him chained down and repressed, free from the grief that smothered him, and from the memories that haunted him. For the first time ever, he has the freedom to do anything he wants! The issue is, he doesn’t actual,y know what he wants to do. He’s never had this level of autonomy before. So far, he’s spent most of his ‘life’ locked away in the dark depths of hi- Sunny’s mind.

He understood why of course, he killed Mari after all.

He made Sunny push her.

He’s their rage, their Anger, which had been repressed alongside the other emotions by that monochrome prick in the aftermath of Mari’s funeral. After four years of numbness Anger only got to shine again for a brief moment when Basil plucked out their eye. He had come back in full force then, beating the blonde to a pulp before succumbing to his injuries. It incredibly carthatic but tragecially short-lived.

Whilst laying in that hospital bed, somewhere between life and death, Sunny journeyed through memory lane, faced Omori, and defeated the doppelgänger. The truth was revealed, his lies were unravelled, and as horrible as it was, his friends had closure. They were finally free, and whilst Sunny took steps to reclaim his life… Anger was still kept in chains. They had remembered what he did. Who he hurt. If one thing was clear in the months following the confession, it was that Sunny, the real Sunny didn’t need him and didn’t want him. But none of that matters now, he’s free, and if Anger isn’t wanted then he’ll go off and do his own thing. He just… doesn’t know what yet.

But he'll figure it out! He is rage unbound and there is a lot to be mad at, he just needs a starting point…

“Well, well, well,” an obnoxious voice interrupts his thoughts.

Oh, for fuc—

“If it isn’t my lesser rival, the knife boy,” ‘The Maverick taunts.

“It’s Sunny,” he harshly corrects.

“Whatever! You should have stayed gone pale ghost, for now, I seek a rematch!” ‘The Maverick’ continues undeterred, striking a bizzarre pose.

'Sunny' can feel a headache forming already. Great he can still get those. How fun.

“Can you not. I am seriously not in the mood,” he warns, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Ha! The Maverick cares not for your plights, come let us duel!” the fake blonde replies, striking another dumb pose.

This obnoxious little—

“You can’t take a hint, can you? I don’t want anything to do with you or your dumbass coping mechanism, so please piss off,” he snarls in response.

'Last warning Mikhael.'

“Coping? What nonsense! I shan’t listen to any more of your slanderous dribble, face me coward!”

'Fine.'

“God you are so annoying! You know that right?! You’re a clown! With a cheap wig and cheaper outfit! We all know you wanted to step out from your sibling’s shadows, but this is how you do it?!” 'Sunny' yells.

‘The Maverick’ immediately takes a step back out of shock. It's obvious he wasn't expecting someone he's previously known solely as a mute to lash out like that. Unfortunately for him, he's not dealing with the real Sunny right now.

“Don’t look surprised. Newsflash idiot, I’ve been there too, knowing you’re the lesser child, that you’ll never be the one to make Mom and Dad proud!” he continues yelling, blatantly projecting old insecurities. “But it doesn’t matter! Your siblings still care about you, they somehow think you’re cool, so stop ignoring them! My sister is dead! I would kill for that kind of love again! But nooo instead I have to watch you prance around like an absolute moron!” he continues, his rage only growing with every word. “Drop this dumbass façade, go talk to your family like a normal person, and then who knows! Maybe people will start to actually like you!”

Mikhael is speechless, but 'Sunny' isn't done just yet.

“Now, unless you want me to dye that stupid wig red, go away.” Sunny warns, finally concluding his tirade.

He’s not sure he’s ever spoken that much in his life, except maybe for his hospital confession. But damn that felt good… for a second anyway, until the satisfaction faded and that dull constant irritation kicked back in.

Ugh, he’s wasted too much time on this idiot.

‘The Maverick’ just stands there in silence, clearly stunned.

“I—I see, carry on then,” he eventually says.

Taking his words to heart, 'Sunny' storms off to continue his walk, he needs to clear his head, if that’s even possible in his current state, luckily, he knows one place he thinks might help. As he leaves, Kim and Vance rush over, drawn over by the commotion.

The siblings watch on in surprise as 'Sunny' sprints away, an uncharacteristic scowl plastered on his face. Despite her better judgment Kim can’t help but feel a bit concerned by the sight.

‘The hell's up with him?' she wonders to herself, fully intending to bring this up to up to Aubrey when they next meet.

Vance simply turns to ‘The Maverick’ and holds out a piece of candy.

“Can I offer you a taffy in these trying times?” he asks.

When ‘The Maverick’ doesn’t respond he just shrugs and eats it himself.

Life is simple when a man has his taffy.

“H-Hi Mister, have you seen my f-friend he’s short, pale, with black hair and one e-eye?”

“Nope, sorry kiddo.”

'Another dead end...' Basil thinks to himself, sighing loudly as he glances around the street. 'Come on Sunny, I thought we were done running away.'

No matter, he’ll just keep searching, someone around town is bound to have seen him... or one of him.

Ugh, magic. Basil has known it actually exists for a couple of hours at most, and he already loathes it.

Whatever, his friend is at risk and that's all that matters. He won’t fail Sunny. Not again.

He just needs to keep looking.

“Hi—"

“No."

“—have you seen my friend—"

“Don’t think so, but I’ll keep an eye ou—oh! Sorry, haha.”

“—he’s short, pale—”

“I’m sorry but no.”

“—with black hair—"

“Buzz off kid.”

“—and one e-eye?”

“You mean Sunny?” the blue haired girl asks.

'Another dead en- wait what?'

“Y-yes! Have you seen him? Where is he?!” Basil asks frantically.

“Woahhh calm down dude! Also no, sorry, I haven't seen him. I do know him though, he used to be my neighbour,” the girl half-explains/half-apologises.

She's a little taller than he is, with a pale complexion and striking, long, blue hair. Her roots are pretty noticeable though, revealing her natural brown colour beneath. She's wearing a patterned pink shirt and black jeans, complimented by purple trainers. If Basil had to describe her in one word, he'd say 'colourful'.

“Names’ Cris by the way," she adds, introducing herself and snapping Basil out of his thoughts.

“A-Ah, nice to meet you Cris! W-Wait aren’t you Kel’s f-friend?” he asks, recognising the name from one of his previous talks with the sporty teen.

“Yeah, we talk, he’s chill” Cris replies nonchalantly.

“Y-Yeah, he really is..." he mumbles in response, his mind threatening to wander again. Resisting the urge, he carries on, finally introducing himself to her. "I’m Basil, I’m also a f-friend of his,” he explains.

“Oh yeah, Kel’s mentioned you before, he said you’re a good pal,” Cris replies. "Like a really good pal," she adds with a smirk.

Basil blushes a bit as she continues.

“So, that means you’re cool in my book. Kel’s a good judge of character if nothing else."

“R-Right, well I s-should get going now, s-sorry for b-bothering” he apologises as he starts to walk away.

More dead ends. He thought this would be much easier.

“No problemo, catch you around! Oh, and when you find Sunny, tell him I said hi!” Cris replies.

“W-Will do,” he says, hoping to God he gets the opportunity to actually follow through on that promise.

Cris was nice, but not especially helpful. Sighing again, Basil goes to continue his search, but as he passes the plaza, he’s stopped by three familiar figures.

“Sup Bas?” Kim calls out.

Oh, for God’s sake.

“O-oh h-hey Kim, Vance, Mi- I m-mean Maverick," he nervously greets.

To say Basil has a complicated history with the Hooligans would be an understatement.

When he took the blame for Sunny blacking out his photo album, he was shunned and later bullied by Aubrey. Which he understood and internalised as a deserved punishment for his sins. But then when Aubrey’s new friends got involved, things got a lot messier.

After Basil got hospitalised and the extent of his depression became common knowledge, the wannabe gang awkwardly apologized.

He accepted it, but they’ve still been on uneasy terms since. Basil would be lying if he said he didn’t have some resentment for his former tormentors, it was hard being around Aubrey some days, and they were actually friends. These guys were just a bunch of weirdos and oddballs Aubrey had roped into harassing him, which they did with zero questions asked.

Basil didn’t hate them, but some sick part of him did enjoy how they reacted when he was around, the awkward gestures, the poor apologies, the guilt on their faces…

…

Ok clearly therapy isn’t working because that is not a healthy train of thought. It’s times like this he’s glad his parents are well off because at this rate he’s going to be seeing psychologists for a long time.

Hanging someone you consider family from a tree really messes a guy up.

“Mikhael will do,” the teen formerly known as ‘The Maverick’ replied solemnly.

‘Huh, that’s weird,’ Basil thought to himself. Mikhael is usually a lot… livelier.

Now Basil should ask if they know where Sunny is, but he really doesn’t want to deal with the hooligans for any longer than necessary.

Besides they probably won’t know anything anyway. No one else seems to.

“W-Well I should be g-going” he says, turning to walk away.

Kim suddenly runs up right in front of him, instinctively making him flinch.

“Wait, can’t you stick around for like… a little bit longer?” Kim asks, sweat forming on her brow.

Huh?

“What? Why?” He asks.

“Well, you know… because we’re friends?”

Basil simply gives her a deadpan stare in response.

“Ok, I deserved that…” she admits with a defeated tone, before turning to her brother.

“Oi Vance, just cause boss said no questions asked, that doesn’t mean I can’t explain the situ right?”

Vance ponders the question for a moment, before giving a thumbs up in response.

“Ok so basically, Aubrey wants me to keep an eye out for anyone who looks like knife boy and keep em here. At least until she gets back anyway” Kim explains.

Oh, so Aubrey has already covered here… Wait a second.

“Hey, why stop me then?” Basil asked, voicing his confusion.

Kim didn’t reply, instead a baffled look crossed her face. Blinking a few times and furrowing her brows, she finally responds.

“I- You’re kidding me, right?”

“N-no?” Basil replies, more confused than ever.

“Dude you’re dressed exactly like him!” Kim says in an exasperated tone.

Oh. So, he is.

The two friends always had a similar fashion sense, but it never truly occurred to Basil that they dressed that similarly. He blushes at the realisation.

Unfortunately, Kim takes notice.

“Ugh! C’mon it’s not that embar- wait a second… oh don’t tell me” she starts.

Basil doesn’t like where this is going.

“Come on! Seriously you too?!” she yells. “First Aubrey now you? How the hell does that dermatologist’s nightmare have game?!”

Basil is redder than a tomato by this point and wants nothing more than for some divine intervention to strike him down. The delinquents either don’t notice or don’t care, as Vance simply begins teasing his sister.

“Jealous sis?” he quizzes with a laugh.

“Piss off! Like you can judge, you’re single too fatso” she replies.

“Eh maybe” Vance replies with a shrug. “But the single life has perks.”

“Like what?”

“More candy” he says, plopping another taffy into his mouth.

‘What is it with these guys and candy? Does Miss Candice spike this stuff?’ Basil wonders.

“So, w-where is Aubrey?” he asks, trying to change the topic.

“Oh, she went to go talk to Sunny, he ripped into Mikhael here. Looked super pissed” Kim replied.

So, Aubrey’s found Anger, that’s good. He should go find them, try to help and… wait maybe not.

Basil recalls the sight of Sunny clenching his bleeding eye socket.

How his friend had howled in agony and then how his expression had suddenly shifted, a violent rage clear in his one remaining eye. The night they fought, Basil had a pair of garden sheers, whilst Sunny only had his fists. The latter lost his eye but was still out of hospital first. Basil was there for another two weeks.

His best friend could be terrifying whilst angry, and Aubrey is probably the only person in their group equipped to deal with that.

Also, Basil is almost certain Sunny has some… repressed feelings, about him. If he encounters Anger, he’s not sure he’ll be able to walk away this time.

Not that he’d complain. Sunny had every right to end him after what he's done.

Well, back to the drawing board then.

“Ugh all this talk of candy’s got me starving” Kim whined. “Ey Bas, wanna come grab some Ginos with us?”

No way in hel-

Basil’s stomach suddenly rumbled. Loudly.

Fantastic.

“Well, that answers it then, don’t worry blondie, it’s on us. Our treat” Kim said.

“Us?” Vance quizzed, only to receive an elbow to the gut.

“Yeah us” Kim replied. “Think we owe flower boy here that much.”

“I also probably shouldn’t be out in public right now, so let’s get moving!” she hastily added.

Basil didn’t even want to know why that could be.

“What about keeping watch?” Mikhael quietly asked.

“Hey, I’m still keeping my word! We’ve got Basil” she countered. “Besides there might be more Sunny look a likes in Gino’s, who knows!”

Actually… there might be.

Basil knew that some people stress ate when they were sad or scared, it wasn’t a coping mechanism he personally used, if anything he did the opposite, but maybe being a magic clone works up an appetite?

Or maybe Basil has been running around town all day and just wants any excuse to cash in on the offer of free food. Truly who’s to say.

“O-ok if you’re buying” Basil says with a weak laugh.

“That’s the spirit! Outta cheer you up too Mikhael” Kim replied.

‘The Maverick’ simply grumbled in response.

Yeesh if Sunny did this to the eccentric boy, then he feels bad for Aubrey. Then again, she’s tough as hell.

Basil has faith in her.

Aubrey hears ‘Sunny’ before she sees him. The sound of his panting and groaning specifically.

He sounds exhausted but there’s an undertone of satisfaction to the grunts.

She soon sees why.

She spots him sitting on the old swing set. On his seat.

He still remembers…

They always used to talk here, at least once a week. They’d confide in each other, discuss things they couldn’t tell their other friends. Aubrey missed those talks.

She knows why he’s here. Even back when she hated all her old friends, Aubrey would still visit these swings after any especially rough days. It was a reminder of better times.

When it was quiet enough, she could almost pretend he was still sat next to her.

Examining the park, she notices that the big metal cat has a new dent in it, with some faint red smears in the centre of the ‘crater’.

Blood drips from her friend’s fists.

Aubrey isn’t Sherlock Holmes, but she has a good idea as to what happened here.

“Vandalism? Really Sunny? How scandalous” She calls out. “We could make a delinquent out of you yet.”

“Aubrey” he responds without looking up.

“You’re hurt” she states.

‘Sunny’ glances at his fist for a moment.

“I’m fine, just had to test my limits” He replies.

“I’m stronger like this” ‘Sunny’ starts. “That opens doors. I can leave here, start a new life, make something of myself. Become a boxer or a lumberjack or… anything really”.

“Can’t let that happen Sun” Aubrey states. “Although I’m sure you would rock the plaid look.”

‘Sunny’ sighs, and finally raises his eyes up to meet hers.

Oh boy, he really does look pissed.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Aubrey. But I am not going back” he states, growling a bit towards the end.

“Why the hell not?” Aubrey asks, both frustrated and genuinely curious.

She had anticipated his reluctance. If even Happiness was content being incomplete, then Anger was never going to be co-operative. This much she knew.

What she doesn’t know is why exactly these copies are so hesitant to be whole again. Aubrey had her suspicions of course, but she was sick of playing mind games, she wanted answers damn it.

“It’s smothering in there, it’s like being bound in chains all the time” ‘Sunny’ replied, contempt clear in his tone. “The worst part is I completely get it.”

Ah so that’s it. Aubrey is hardly surprised Sunny bottled up his anger. But she wasn’t expecting said rage to be so understanding (?) of it.

‘Sunny’ seemed to recognise her confusion and decided to elaborate.

“You just don’t get it do you?” he asked with an irritated tone. “Whenever I’m let out all I do is hurt people. Every. Single. Time.”

“You, Basil… Mari.” He continues. “All me. All my fault.”

“Suny… that doesn’t mean-” Aubrey tried to reply.

“Still don’t get it?” he asks, interrupting her.

“Then let me spell it out for you so there’s no room for doubt. I’m the part that killed her. The one who pushed Mari. Sunny hates me and I hate him.”

Aubrey doesn’t know how to respond.

“So, I’m doing everyone a favour and I’m leaving this place. For good” he explains. “I would advise you just let me go.”

“Do you even hear yourself?!” Aubrey asks, anger finally creeping into her tone. “What you’re just going to leave us all, again? Are we not done with this yet? What happened to sticking together?”

She genuinely cannot believe the audacity of this man. After all they’ve been through, he’s just going to repeat the same mistakes again. Absolutely unbelievable.

‘Sunny’ seemed shocked by her clap back. But he quickly shook away his surprise and addressed her again, his voice rising in volume.

“You don’t get it-” he starts.

“Oh, do not go there” Aubrey warned, cutting him off. “I don’t get it? Seriously?!”

“Ok get a load of this then and please, stop me when it sounds familiar. So, there’s a young girl, she’s never really fit in anywhere, her own parents don’t understand her, but she makes a friend, someone who gets her” She starts.

“They join a bigger group, and she finally feels loved and understood. Then they lose their sister to a freak accident, and everyone abandons her.”

“Or maybe she abandoned them… But before they can even begin to self-reflect, their own father walks out on them… and she just feels so angry... so alone.” Aubrey continues, trying to keep the tears from falling.

“But whenever she expresses that rage, people get hurt… Then one day it finally gets too much, people she cares about just push all the wrong buttons, so she pushes back… and they nearly die.”

“Ring any bells yet? It should. So don’t stand there and say that I ‘don’t understand’ because I do!” She yells, tears falling down her cheeks. “The only difference between you and me is that I got lucky! Hero arrived just in time to save you and Basil.”

“On that day. When Mari…. You… you didn’t have that luck...”

Aubrey pants for a moment after her tirade, before stopping and taking a deep breath.

Their lives weren’t exact matches, but there were enough similarities. Which is why it infuriated her that any part of Sunny would ever doubt that she understood him.

She thought they knew each other better than this. They used to.

But then again, a lot has changed these past few years.

‘Sunny’ is silent for a moment. Aubrey thinks she may have gotten through to him. But then he finally speaks up.

“He should have let me drown” he spits, venom clear in his voice.

Aubrey can practically feel her blood boil.

AUBREY BECAME ANGRY

“Don’t talk about my friend like that you angsty prick” she warns.

“I AM your friend!” he replies.

“No. You’re an obstacle. You’re standing between me and someone I care about” Aubrey corrects. “And that is a very risky place to be.”

“One last chance. Leave.” he warns.

“Not happening” she says defiantly.

“I don’t want to. But I will hurt you” ‘Sunny’ snarls.

“Same here” she replies with a growl.

Then an idea crosses her mind. It’s a terrible plan. But right now, she’s seeing red. So screw diplomacy.

“How about this then. You versus me. Whoever wins decides what happens next. How’s that sound?” she offers.

“Absolutely stupid, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way, and for what? Him? Trust me he is not worth it. Just put m- Sunny back together without me and piss off already.” He responds.

Aubrey is not leaving him. But she knows conflict is inevitable. At least if he takes her offer then it’ll be on her terms. He’s pure rage, so she just needs to prod at his temper a bit more.

“Scared you’ll lose?” Aubrey taunts. “Hardly surprising, I beat your ass the first three times we fought. Hell, I wasn’t even trying, and you still cheated. I mean, pepper spray? A knife? Seriously?”

She didn’t mean to hit him with that much of a low blow. But she’s feeling incredibly angry right now, so some old feelings must be surfacing again.

“I didn’t try either, I just wanted it over with” He snaps. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, you had a strange way of showing that” she retorts.

“I- he- Sunny- URGH! We weren’t ourself!” he yells.

Aubrey knew that. Even after four years of absence she knew his eyes and the ones that stared at her with a vacant expression during those three days weren’t his. They were too lifeless, too cold.

Sunny never expressed much. But he never used to look so aimless, with a dead expression that only broke for brief moments of pain.

Aubrey recalls the brief flash of horror on his face as he glanced at his bloody knife.

So even in her rage she could tell Sunny wasn’t truly himself back then.

But neither is the person in front of her.

“I know. But the thing is, you’re still not yourself. You’re not Sunny. You’re just his anger.” Aubrey replies.

“So, I don’t have to feel bad about what I do next.”

….

It’s quiet for a second, but Aubrey can tell he’s taken the bait. His response confirms it.

“Will you just go already?” he growls.

“If you win” she replies with a cruel smirk. “But if I win you come back with me. So that we can fix this mess.”

Anger’s one eye twitches, she watches him grate his teeth, before he suddenly clicks his knuckles, and steps up from the swing set.

“Fine.” He says, taking a fighting stance.

‘Sorry Sunny, no hard feelings’ Aubrey thinks as she throws her bat to the ground and raises her fists.

But I have to do this.

“Hey Sunny!” a young girl beams.

The boy in question simply waves in response, before taking a seat on the swings next to her. It was a little ritual of theirs. At least once a week Aubrey and Sunny would meet at the park and discuss whatever was on their minds.

Well, technically Aubrey did most of the talking, but Sunny didn’t mind. He wasn’t a big fan of speaking, he thought his voice sounded too whiney, and he could never find the right words to express himself.  So, he only ever spoke when it was absolutely necessary.

Listening though? That he could do. Sometimes all people need is an ear, and well he’s got two of those. Besides he’s got a massive crush on Aubrey, so any excuse to hang out with her is a good one in Sunny’s eyes.

He just wishes their talks weren’t always so sad. Not because it’s inconvenient to him, but because he doesn’t like seeing Aubrey cry. She has a… tough home life. Not many of their friends know the full extent of it. But Sunny does. If he could, he would give her his life in a heartbeat, with a loving family and warm bed she could achieve so much more than him.

Maybe Aubrey would play the recital perfectly.

Snapping out his thoughts he notices Aubrey is staring at him. He blushes, then awkwardly looks away.

“Zone out again?” She asks, teasingly.

Sunny simply blushes harder in response and hesitantly nods.

Aubrey chuckles.

‘Cute. No. Bad brain.’ Sunny thinks to himself.

“Silly, I was asking if there was anything you wanted to talk about!” Aubrey says.

Wait what.

“Don’t look so surprised…” Aubrey mumbles. “I always talk about my problems… and you always listen. So… I thought you might want a go?”

Aubrey is facing the opposite direction to him. So, Sunny doesn’t see her faint blush.

“Surely you’ve got something you wanna get off your chest?”

He does actually.

He wants to tell her how much he hates the violin.

How he knows he shouldn’t because it’s a gift. 

How he doesn’t want to do the recital anymore.

How despite his efforts he just can’t get the song right.

How he hates the way his parents talk about it. Like it’s her recital not theirs.

How he wishes Mari would just leave him alone.

But he doesn’t say any of those things. He just shakes his head. The recital is only a week away. It’ll be over soon. He’ll tell her then. Once it’s done.

“Aw c’mon Sunny, surely there’s something. You can trust me you know.” Aubrey pouts.

He shakes his head again. He’ll wait it out, only one more week, he’s came this far already, what’s a few more days? He’ll be fine.

One more week and then he doesn’t have to play that stupid instrument anymore.

“Are you sure?... you look upset.”

One more week and then Mari will stop acting so mean.

“Sunny?”

One more week and then he can finally hang out with his friends again.

“Sunny, please talk to me.”

One more week and then he won’t have to worry about blistered fingers, or long practise sessions, or repetitive music, or passive aggressive remarks, or Mari’s stupid nagging-

“…ny?”

One more week and then…

“…unny?”

And then…

“Sunny? Are you ok?”

“I’M FINE!” he suddenly snaps.

The second he finishes he immediately covers his mouth. Aubrey stares at him in shock.

“S-sorry…” he mutters, refusing to meet her eyes.

“It’s f-fine” Aubrey sniffles.

“I- I had a… rough day… at school” Sunny says, its not wrong, but its not what was really bothering him.

It seems to reassure Aubrey though.

“O-oh? Wanna talk about it?” She hesitantly asks.

Sunny simply nods in response.

Just one more week.

Anger spits out a gob of bloody phlegm. Then wipes his arm across his mouth.

Their fight had mostly been dodging so far, but Aubrey had finally gotten the first hit in.

“Had enough?” she asks, knowing damn well he hadn’t, but still hoping he’d throw in the towel early.

Anger simply snarls in response, his face growing more enraged. Without any hesitation, he barrels towards her.

‘Sunny’ swings wildly, he might be strong, but no-one ever taught him how to throw a proper punch. She can read his moves like a book.

Dodge. Block. Punch.

Her fist collides with his nose. He seems stunned for a moment; she takes advantage of that by rushing forward and headbutting him.

Anger staggers backwards, cursing under his breath before resuming his barrage.

‘Damn he’s resilient’ Aubrey thinks. Normally a solid headbutt is enough to put any one down.

No matter.

Dodge. Block. Punch. Repeat.

Dodge. Block. Punch. Repeat.

Dodge. Block. Punch. Repe- Ow.

Anger having finally figured out her pattern, suddenly swipes her feet with his leg.

She tries to stand but is greeted with a knee to the face.

He pins her down to the floor. Their faces are so close, a few inches away at most.

“How forward~” Aubrey teases.

Anger looks flustered, but Aubrey doesn’t notice, she simply seizes his momentary hesitation by headbutting him again, knocking ‘Sunny’ off of her.

She’ll lose sleep over that comment later, right now she has to keep fighting.

“Playing with my feelings? Typical. You never cared. None of you did! I was just Mari’s little brother to you all!” Anger yelled.

A sudden fury filled Aubrey.

AUBREY BECAME ENRAGED.

“How dare you! I cared more than you could ever know!” She yells.

“Then where were you?!” He demands. “I always heard Kel knocking, but never you or Hero! Hell, even Basil tried at least once!”

“You wouldn’t have answered!” Aubrey protests.

“You don’t know that!” Anger replies.

“Yes, I do, you just hid away, ran after ruining all our lives! It wouldn’t matter who knocked you would’ve stayed indoors like a coward either way!” She yells.

It’s just like their first fight in the park fight all over again. She doesn’t even mean half the words she’s saying, but she feels so angry that the curses just spill out.

She can’t help it.

She’ll apologize to the real Sunny later, after she’s beaten this prick into mush.

“You think I didn’t want to go out?! I dreamt of you! All of you! Every night!” he shouts.

“But I wasn’t- I couldn’t- ARGH! Mari wasn’t out there ok! I missed her, at least when I slept, I saw her…”

“So, what, you just hid in your little bubble whilst the rest of us dealt with reality? Dealt with the pain you caused!” She retorted.

Her choice of words was deliberate, she was infuriated, she wanted to hurt him.

Some part of her screamed out in protest but it was drowned in the sea of rage she felt.

Anger doesn’t respond, instead choosing to look at the floor. Hair covers his face, shadowing his one eye, his mouth forms a thin line. But she can see it twitching. Silent fury radiates from him.

He’s glowing red, but Aubrey is so enraged that she doesn’t notice.

“You don’t understand what I’ve been through. You never did.” ‘Sunny’ responds coldly.

“I loved Mari too!” Aubrey yells. “You weren’t the only person who lost her!”

….

“She wasn’t your sister” he states.

AUBREY BECAME FURIOUS

“She should have been. She might still be alive if she was!” Aubrey retorts callously.

‘Sunny’ looks up, his face is still shadowed by his fringe, but his one good eye is clear as day.

He stares right at Aubrey. Judging her.

“She would’ve been dead in a day” he growls.

He hates her.

‘Sunny I’m so sorry.’

Suddenly, he charges at her in a blind fury.

Aubrey braces for impact.

Her face is red as she rushes out into the Suzuki’s back garden.

‘God I cannot believe I almost asked that’ she thinks. ‘Time and place Aubrey. Jesus.’

She’s only just gotten back on decent terms with her old friends, and she nearly popped that question to Sunny?

Aubrey had just wanted to ask if he’d visit after the move, but she almost phrased it like she was asking him out! You’d think four years of absence and two days of fighting would damper some old dumb crush, but apparently not!

…Stupid feelings.

For once in her life, she’s grateful for Kel. His terrible timing and habit of interrupting things had just saved her from a lot of embarrassment.

Speaking of the speed demon, he finally turns around and notices her.

“Hey Aubrey, sorry for yelling but you two were taking ages” he says, before looking past her towards the backdoor. “Looks like he still is.”

“Leave him. This next part isn’t going to be easy.” Aubrey replies.

The tree… where Mari….

“Yeah…” Kel replies awkwardly. “Sorry, hope I didn’t interrupt anything there.”

If it was anyone else, she’d assume they were teasing her. But Aubrey can tell Kel is just dodging around talking about Mari.

“Nah you’re good” She replies.

“Sweet! Uhhh also sorry about all the fighting earlier…. Friends?” Kel asks holding out his hand.

They used to do this after any particularly bad arguments, never when anyone was watching though, she’d rather die then let anyone see her getting along with Kel. Still the gesture was nostalgic and… nice. Kel’s previous ‘apology’ at the Church stung with how disingenuous it had felt and whilst they’d already made up back at her house, it also felt rushed.

But this? This was as genuine as she’d ever seen Kel. Even if it was awkward, it felt a lot more honest. A lot more meaningful.

Like… he was actually sorry…

“Friends.” She says shaking his hand.

A few moments later, Sunny enters the yard, and together they all face the stump and the treehouse, find the last missing photo, and then finally hug it out. But the whole time all Aubrey can think about is that simple word.

“Friends.”

As she wanders around the Faraway with her old group, she decides in that moment, that whatever comes next, however Basil reacts, she’ll keep her cool and won’t resort to violence.

She’s done hurting her friends.

Her chest stings, her lip is busted, her fists are sore. But despite it all, Aubrey still stands strong.

She’s finally got this little rodent in a headlock, she knows how to knock him out from here, she just needs to apply the right amount of pressure. The rage she feels compels her to never let go, but Aubrey still has enough sense to ignore that voice. She just needs to- OW.

A sudden sting causes her to let go of him and stagger backwards. Examining her arm she sees… a bloody bite mark?

“YOU BIT ME?!” she yells.

Anger doesn’t respond, he just shakes and growls in an uncontrollable rage. Without warning, he lunges again. Aubrey ducks out of the way. Anger’s fist connects with something, but thankfully not her.

She hears the sound of metal bending, the rattling of chains, then a dull thud.

“NO!” he yells.

Turning around to see what happened, she sees their the swing set slumped over. It’s upsetting, but even at a glance she can tell the damage isn’t too severe. A bit of welding and it’ll be fine.

But still, Anger panics and seethes.

“No no no nononono” He mumbles.

“NO! GOD DAMN IT!” he yelled, before suddenly sagging in on himself.

Aubrey watched as his hair returned to a fainter shade of red.

She hadn’t noticed earlier, but for the past few minutes it had been glowing a bright red light.

AUBREY BECAME NEUTRAL.

The sudden calm throws Aubrey off balance, as the realisation of what she’d just said and done hits her like a truck.

“Oh God” she mutters.

Aubrey thought she was getting better, she hadn’t lashed out this badly in a while. She had been patient with Kel, tolerant around Mikhael… but now?

She’s back to square one.

She hasn’t changed at all.

“Sunny I am so sorry” Aubrey apologises.

“Don’t be” He replies. “Do you finally get it now?”

“This is what I do. I break. I hurt. I ruin things I love.” ‘Sunny’ continues, gesturing to the swings.

Aubrey knows the feeling.

“I understand. This… rage, this pain. It’s hard to control, but there are ways” she says.

“Not with Sunny” he replies.

He doesn’t need to elaborate; she knows what he means. If he goes back, Sunny will just bottle him up until he can’t any longer.

“You don’t know that” she protests.

“You’re seriously still arguing this?!” he asks, both out of frustration and genuine confusion.

“Why are you still trying to help me? Why do you even want me back? You hate me!” Anger yells.

Sunny…

“Don’t you remember what this meant to us?!” He asks.

“…The swings weren’t what mattered” Aubrey replies.

“What?!” He roars. “How could you say tha-”

“It was the company” she says cutting him off. “It was you.”

‘Sunny’ seemed lost, his face a mix of the usual rage but also bewilderment.

“I don’t understand” he says.

“Sunny, I don’t care about some stupid swing set! I care about you!” she yells, fed up with the copy’s ignorance.

“I liked spending time with you… I still do. That’s why I’m doing this. Because I miss you.” Aubrey confesses. “I’m so sorry for what I said earlier. I don’t know what came over me.”

“But I don’t hate you.”

Anger seemed at a loss for words.

“I don’t- I can’t- I just- I just don’t understand” he says. “I don’t think I can.”

“Because you’re not yourself. Not really” Aubrey explains. “Anger can only get you so far… trust me.”

“That’s all I am…” he mumbles.

“I know. But you don’t have to be” Aubrey offers.

“I just… I don’t want to be chained anymore” he mumbles. “But I can’t live like this either...”

Aubrey was going to have a long talk with Sunny and his mom after this. They can officially add anger management to the list of professional help he should seek.

“Look… I know ways to help deal with that rage, I’m not very good at it-” she admits awkwardly. “But still, it might help.”

“We can find a way for Sunny to express you in a…. healthier way” she suggests.

“Like… through a creative outlet?” he quizzes.

“Something like that” Aubrey responds.

She was going to suggest random acts of vandalism, but this suggestion was probably better.

After a moment of silence, ‘Sunny’ finally replies.

“Fine. You technically won anyway. Rules are rules.”

About time.

“Great now lets get you ba-”

Aubrey is suddenly cut off by a loud yell from across the park.

“HEY! Bubble-gum bitch! You’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you!”

Oh, for fu- why is it never easy?!

“So, you’re vegan?” Kim quizzes between bites.

“Vegetarian” Basil clarifies.

“Yeah, same difference. Pretty cool though. You’re *munch* environmentally conscious or whatever” she replies.

The four teenagers had decided to split two large pizzas, one pepperoni and one just cheese. Basil called dibs on the latter.

“I-I guess” Basil replies lamely.

God this was dull.

Basil couldn’t help but feel like he was wasting time, the rest of his friends are out searching for Sunny’s emotions, and here he is, sat off eating pizza with people he barely even likes.

“Gotta ask Bas, got any clue what’s up with Sunny and why Aubs wants us on watch for him?” Kim suddenly enquired.

Vance went to protest but his sister immediately cut him off.

“Don’t say ‘no questions asked’. I’m asking Basil not Aubrey” she said.

Vance paused for a moment, then simply shrugged, and continued to eat his pizza slice.

“W-well Sunny’s… he’s not q-quite himself r-right now” Basil hesitantly replied.

“Aubrey said the exact same thing” Vance mused.

“Yeah, she did” Kim said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know the kid that well. But I know he usually ain’t the type to randomly scream at people.”

Basil glanced over at Mikhael; the boy was simply looking at the pizza in front of him with a thousand-yard stare.

“So, c’mon Bas, what’s up with him?” Kim asked.

Basil doesn’t like lying. Not anymore anyway. After the hospital confession he swore to himself that he’d be more honest. Both with himself and others. However, he really doesn’t want to tell the delinquents about Sunny’s current ‘condition’. They’ll think he’s crazy.

Then again…

“Kel’s magic and he cursed Sunny by splitting him into four weird emotional clones” Basil deadpanned.

There was a moment of silence before Kim spoke up again.

“…You’ve got a weird sense of humour man.”

You don’t need to lie when the truth is so absurd.

“The hell do you want?” Aubrey demanded.

In front of her stood a small group of delinquents, only five in total, all of whom were dressed in black jackets and ripped jeans.

‘The Nearby Punks’ as they call themselves… dumb name.

Aubrey knows these clowns, last time they meet they had fought, and her gang made it quite clear whose turf was whose. So, what the hell are they doing here?

“What’s ours” their leader responds.

“Boss?” Anger asks suddenly, surprise clear in his voice.

“Suzuki? Well, I’ll be damned” ‘Boss’ replied.

“Been forever since anyone called me that. HA!”

Boss turned to his gang and laughed with them a bit more, before eventually continuing.

“Oh haha, man this guy! His sister used to grill me every time I ‘picked on him’” he continued. “Quite the looker though I must say. Say, she still dating that ponce?”

“She’s dead” ‘Sunny’ growled.

Boss seemed genuinely shocked for a minute before he shrugged it off.

“Well hasn’t this place just gone to hell since I left?” he asked rhetorically. “Hot stuffs dead and mutie here lost an eye. Tragic, truly.”

Aubrey wanted to strangle him, but she resisted the urge. It’d be five versus two, and she’s already exhausted.

‘Sunny’ seemed to be in the same position, but she doubted he could hold back his rage for much longer.

“Listen here you vain prick, whatever you think I’ve took I haven’t so run off back to Nearby already!” Aubrey yelled.

“Not what you took, what glasses took. Tell us where Kim is, and we’ll leave you freaks be” Boss replied.

‘Damn it Kim why? The hell did you do now?!’ Aubrey thought to herself.

“She’s out of state right now. Visting family over in Close Bay” she lied.

“So she stole our fireworks then fled the state?” Boss asked sceptically. “I seriously doubt that.”

The fireworks?! That’s where she got them?!

Kim had gifted them to the group as part of Sunny’s birthday celebration. They were impressive. High quality stuff, and clearly not something Kim would ever actually buy.

So, Aubrey had figured she’d gotten them through some dubious means. But she never would have guessed the crazed candy addict robbed their rival gang for them!

‘Sunny’ looked over Aubrey, he didn’t say anything, but his expression said it all.

‘Were those the fireworks we used?’

Aubrey simply nodded in reply.

‘Sunny’ sighed.

“The fireworks aren’t here” she states.

“Where are they then?” Boss asks.

“Probably in the soil by now” Anger chimed in.

“You freaks used them?! Do you have any idea how expensive those were?! They’re not even legal in this country!” Boss replied in frustration.

“Oh, you guys are gonna pay for this!” he warned.

“We aren’t giving you shit” Anger growled.

“That’s not what he meant Sunny” Aubrey replied.

“No, it really wasn’t” Boss agreed. “I had something a bit more physical in mind.”

“You stupid hicks are gonna see what a real city punk can do!” he continued.

“I live in Nearby it’s one of the safest cities in America” Anger replied, exasperated.

“Also ‘The Nearby Punks’ is a stupid name. You’re not even actual punks! It’s an aesthetic!” Aubrey added.

“It’s an aesthetic” one of the ‘punks’ mimicked in a mocking tone.

Boss and his posse laughed for a moment until he suddenly stopped and cracked his knuckles.

“Anyway, you broke the rules pinkie. One of yours came onto our turf and stole our stuff. Now someone’s got to pay.” He explains.

“Unfortunately, that someone is you.”

“Bring it on” Aubrey replies.

“Love the enthusiasm! But it won’t last. This will suck for you. But for me? HA! This is gonna fun!” Boss taunted.

Another fight it is then. Not ideal but they can take these idiots. Probably.

“Sunny. I know I said we’d find a healthy way to manage your rage” Aubrey started. “But until then, you want in on this?”

‘Sunny’ punched his palm in response.

“Like you even needed to ask” he replied.

Raising their fists and taking a fighting stance, the two friends prepared for trouble.

 “Get these nerds” Boss ordered.

Two punks rushed forward. Aubrey grappled with one, whilst ‘Sunny’ shoved the other backwards. The remaining three simply watched on with smug smiles.

She dodged and blocked a few hits from the punk, before with a yell, Aubrey launched her head straight into his temple. Not waiting for the stunned delinquent to recover, she grabbed him by his shirt collar and began hitting him in the face repeatedly.

She tossed him to the side, only to be immediately ambushed by the punk Anger had been duelling. He tried to lunge at her, but she dodged again and threw a strong right hook at him, knocking him down to the ground.

The punk she’d previously discarded rose to attack again. Only to receive a swift kick to the head from ‘Sunny’.

Two down. Three to go.

“God damn!” Boss exclaimed. “Look at the dynamic duo here! Since when could you fight, Sunny?”

‘Sunny’ only snarled in response.

Aubrey noticed that his hair grew redder in colour.

Then suddenly she felt her blood begin to boil again.

AUBREY BECAME ANGRY

BOSS BECAME ANGRY

Looking at her arms Aubrey saw a faint red glow radiating from them.

‘Ohhhh ‘Sunny’ is magical, he must be influencing everyone’s emotions!’ Aubrey realised.

The new development brought Aubrey some peace of mind. She hadn’t completely relapsed to her old ways before. Not by choice anyway.

She’d still have to properly apologise Sunny later though. But right now, she has a fight to finish. Looking back up at the remaining punks, Aubrey realised that they too were glowing… Because of course.

“Whatever! It doesn’t matter! I’m gonna make you wish your sister was still here to save your sorry ass” Boss threatened.

“Try me” ‘Sunny’ threatened.

BOSS BECAME ENRAGED

Suddenly one of the punks charged Aubrey. She sidestepped but he quickly recovered and unleashed a flurry of aimless punches at her.

Thankfully they were wild and without real direction, making them easy to avoid.

‘Yeesh someone has a lot of repressed anger’ Aubrey thought before throwing her fist straight into his face.

He was surprisingly unphased, and responded by kicking her in the chest, knocking her down onto the grass. Right next to her bat.

‘Huh almost forgot about old reliable.’

Grabbing the bat, Aubrey swung it with one hand just as the enraged punk was about to strike again. The wood connected with the side of his skull, and finally knocked him out.

Thankfully she had the nails removed from that thing, elsewise she’d be in a lot more trouble right now.

Looking up at ‘Sunny’ Aubrey saw that he was getting brutalised by the last two standing punks. One had him in a headlock whilst Boss rained down punches onto his face.

Aubrey rushed forwards a delivered a strong kick to Boss’s privates. He fell to the ground revelling in pain.

From there she brought he bat down onto the head of the final punk, causing him to let go of ‘Sunny’ who promptly elbowed the man in the stomach.

The punk took a step back to try and recover, only to receive a double uppercut from the two friends. Aubrey could have sworn he had actual airtime for a moment before he finally hit the ground. Hard. The punk punched the grass in frustration. Forced himself to stand, then cussed under his breath. He looked back and forth between the two teens and his leader.

“Screw this town Boss! Never wanted to come back here! Screw it all.” He said with a groan, before making his way out of the park. Limping all the way.

BOSS BECAME FURIOUS

“Up yours Elliot! You damn coward!” Boss yelled as he rose to his feet as well.

“You haven’t won yet freaks!”

‘Sunny’ didn’t respond, and instead went to punch Boss. Only for the punk to catch his fist and hit back at Anger with a strong left hook, catching ‘Sunny’ square in the face.

Blood poured from her friend’s nose as he stumbled backwards.

Aubrey swung her bat at Boss who caught it and promptly crushed it in his palm.

How the-

Aubrey felt a sudden pain on her chin, which spread across the rest of her face.

Oh, he uppercut her. So that’s how that feels.

She landed on her ass, and instinctively crawled backwards as Boss continued to march forward.

‘Sunny’ rushed to intercept him and jumped onto Boss’s back, a wild look in his eyes.

He repeatedly punched the punk leader in the face. Boss was unphased however and simply grabbed ‘Sunny’ and threw him off his back and over his head.

Anger landed right on top of Aubrey. It hurt like hell. For a skinny guy, he was pretty heavy. Or maybe the pain was just because she’s got bruises on every inch of her body right now.

Looking up at Boss, the two teens could see the man was engulfed in a burning red light, which radiated off him like a raging fire.

“This fight was fun and all, BUT ITS TIME TO DIE FREAKS!” he roared.

Aubrey subconsciously grabbed her friend’s hand and closed her eyes.

Beaten by this guy, of all people… so lame.

She felt a sudden melancholy hit her.

It was over, they’d failed, she’d failed.

Sunny was going to be stuck like this.

All because she wasn’t quick enough.

Because she wasn’t good enough.

AUBREY FELT SAD

BOSS FELT SAD

“W-what? What is this?” Boss whimpered.

Opening her eyes, Aubrey noticed that Boss was no longer flaming red, but instead had a faint blue glow surrounding him.

“Rock beats scissors” ‘Sunny’ mumbled.

“W-what?” She asked.

Without replying, Anger suddenly lunged forward, delivering a solid punch right into Boss’s gut.

The punk in question went flying backwards, hitting the ground rolling, kicking up dirt and debris until he finally stopped, landing at the base of a nearby tree.

“Magic follows Headspace rules…” ‘Sunny’ stated casually, like he hadn’t just done the coolest thing ever.

“That’s dumb” he grumbled.

Boss opened his eyes, tried to stand, and immediately failed.

Instead, he simply groaned in pain, flipped them off and then promptly collapsed.

AUBREY BECAME NEUTRAL

Before she had even a second to relax and process everything that just happened, she heard the sound of someone approaching.

Aubrey forced herself up onto her feet, prepared to fight off whatever punk was dumb enough to try for round two.

Only to be greeted by Hero, with a sad looking ‘Sunny’ in tow.

“H-hey you two” he said with a sniffle.

“I see you’ve been busy.”

“-then Angel kicked the dude right in the balls! Anyway, that’s when I realised, he was cut out for this kinda stuff” Kim rambled.

Despite himself, Basil was actually starting to enjoy the delinquent’s company.

For years they had been nothing more than his eccentric tormentors. But now actually sitting down and just talking to them he found that they were actually decent people.

Still crude, but also kind under that rough exterior. They were strays, with a ‘us against the world’ attitude that Basil could surprisingly relate to.

Back when they were kids, he had felt like he and his friends only had, and always would have, each other’s backs. Part of him was jealous that the delinquents were lucky enough to still have that bond and innocent enough to believe it would last.

Thinking more about it, Basil realised that for an alleged ‘gang’, he himself was more of a criminal than any one of them ever would be.

Basil’s musings were interrupted when suddenly the front door to Gino’s burst open and Curtsey marched in. Walking up to the counter she addressed the owner.

“I need a drink” She stated.

“Sorry kid. We don’t serve alcohol till nine. Come back in a few hours” Gino replied.

“Look dude, I just quit my job and I think I’m losing it. Just cut me some slack please” she begged.

“Sounds like you need a therapist then, not a bottle. Sorry Curtsey, I am not budging on this. Hell, are you even old enough to drink?” he asked.

The cute girl simply sighed in response and stormed back out of the restaurant.

“T-that wasn’t your g-guy’s fault r-right?” Basil asked.

He knew they had a habit of ‘relinquishing’ candy from Miss Candice.

“Nah we try not to bother Curtsey” Vance states.

“Yeah, she’s nice, it’s just her boss is a total bi-” Kim tries to add, before a loud slam interrupts her.

At that moment the door had burst open once again. This time Miss Candice stepped through.

‘Speak of the devil’ Basil thought.

The delinquents immediately turned away, hiding their faces, and praying they weren’t heard.

“Has anyone seen my employee?” She quizzed.

“Sounds more like she’s an ex-employee now, but yeah she just left” Gino replied.

“URGH! Years of loyal service and then she just up and quits! Talking about ghost kids and shadow monsters, absolute madness!” she whines.

What.

“Maybe if you didn’t run you store like a fascist…” Gino mumbles.

“What was that?” Candice asked with a menacing grin.

“Nothing!” he immediately backtracked. “Just wondering if you wanted anything.”

“No, I’m fine. Goodbye Gino. SMILEY SMILEY.” She replied.

The whole restaurant seemed let out a collective sigh of relief once she left.

“Scary” Mikhael mumbled.

“No kidding” Vance agreed.

All Basil could think about was what she had just said.

‘Ghost kids and shadow monsters.’

He might finally have a lead.

“Hey… You guys owe me one r-right?” Basil asked.

The three delinquents looked at each other, before Kim finally spoke up.

“Well… I suppose we owe you a lot, considering… everything” she said, then grumbled for a bit. “But if you want more pizza, can it wait? I’m tight on funds right now.”

“N-no I was wondering if you wanted to go g-ghost hunting?” He asked.

The delinquents simply stared in response.

This was a bad idea.

…

No. He needs their help. He’s wasted too much time already.

They’re strong. Stronger than him anyway. If push comes to shove, he’ll need the muscle.

“I wasn’t asking” Basil insists.

It’s a risky move. They’re all already on rough terms, he might be pushing his luck.

After a moment, Kim just laughs in response. Basil feels both angry and embarrassed until she eventually speaks.

“I like your attitude Bas, show that spine a bit more and you might just cut it as one of us!” She says.

“S-so you’ll help?” he asks.

“The spirits shall tremble before TH- mmm… Sorry. Yeah, we’ll help you, Basil.” Mikhael says, finally speaking up.

“Ghost hunting it is” Vance agrees with a shrug.

Basil sighs in relief. He has no idea what awaits them, but he appreciates that the delinquents are willing to tag along.

He really didn’t want to face ‘shadow monsters’ alone.

He’s tried that before it didn’t end well.

Don’t worry, we’re coming Sunny, just hold out a little longer….

My best friend.

Boss limps towards the bus stop.

Today has been nothing short of an absolute disaster. His entire gang was beaten in a two vs five. Defeated by little miss daddy issues and a freaking cyclops.

How humiliating.

It’s dark out now, the last light of the summer sun still just lingering on the horizon. By the time he had woken up, everyone had already left park.

Suzuki, pinkie, his friends… all gone. To where exactly? He has no idea.

But he does know that his clothes are ruined, his nose is busted, and one of his ribs is probably broken. God today cannot get any worse.

Who the hell taught Suzuki to punch like that anyway?

Whatever! He’s not gonna just sit around and mope.

No. Instead he’ll make the comeback of the century, he’ll find his gang and together they’ll tear this damn town apart.

Suddenly, just as he arrives at the bus stop, he hears a quiet whimper. It’s then that he notices someone curled up on the floor, shaking.

After today he’d recognise that figure anywhere.

Suzuki.

Wasting no time, Boss marches forward, grabs the brat by his shirt and slams him against the shelter wall, delighting in the whimpers and protests Sunny makes.

“Not so tough now hey? What? Sad your girlfriend left you?” He taunts. “Well don’t worry I’ll get you a new date, she’s called ER.”

Sunny shakes and kicks, but Boss just continues to pin him against the wall as he raises his left fist.

“You seriously thought you could just pull some crap like that and walk away!? Fat chance! Time to pay you one-eyed freak!” he threatens.

But just before Boss was about to throw his punch, he finally notices that the boy in front of him has both of his eyes, and no dyed hair.

How the hell-

At that moment, ‘Sunny’ suddenly opens his eyes.

Bright red pupils stare straight into Boss’s soul.

He drops the boy to the floor and backs away. The world around them suddenly darkens. There is only the pavement, the shelter and Sunny.

The streetlight above them begins to flicker.

Boss watches as Sunny rises to his feet and begins to contort in the darkness, his limbs stretching and back twisting.

He only sees glances of the transformation in the brief bursts of light.

But he hears it all.

The cracking of bones and tearing of skin. The screaming.

The punk falls to the floor and crawls backwards, never taking his eyes off the creature in front of him.

The streetlight’s bulb finally bursts.

Darkness surrounds them.

Boss is shaking now; he backs up against a wall and tries to steady his breathing.

He isn’t going down without a figh-

A sudden growl interrupts that thought process.

Where’d it come from? That thing could be anywhere! Oh God…

His breathing hastens. He’s going to die here.

Boss closes his eyes, and covers his face, waiting for the monster to lunge at him.

He waits.

And waits.

And waits.

After what feels like an eternity of nothing but silence, he dares to take a peek.

Only to be met with a single piercing eye.

He hears distorted violin music.

Then screaming.

Then nothing.

Chapter Text

A blonde teenager opens his eyes, only to be greeted by a blinding white light. Covering his eyes, the boy squints as he gradually gets used to the brightness. After a couple of minutes, he finally surveys his environment.

Only to immediately realise there is nothing here but him, no horizon, no people, no buildings, or vegetation. The only reason he knows there must be a floor at least, is because he’s standing on it. However, looking down at his feet, he sees that it too is just a plain white expanse.

It’s all just an endless empty white void.

‘Where am I?’ he thinks to himself.

“Good question” a voice says.

Glancing around the boy still sees nothing but the white abyss. No sign of the voice’s owner.

“W-who said that?” he asked.

“No-one” it replies.

The voice is directionless. Simultaneously sounding like its right next to him and miles away.

The boy continues to glance around the void frantically, but there is still no sign of anyone or anything, and looking around the white hellscape proves to be incredibly disorienting. It makes him feel ill, but he takes a deep breath and forces himself to speak.

“W-where are y-you?” he asks.

“Everywhere” the voice replies.

The boy feels a chill go up his spine.

“Do you remember your name?” it asks.

‘My name….’

“Basil!”

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“Stay with us bud! Please!”

“Kel call an ambulance NOW!”

“My name is Basil” he replies after a moment.

“Do you remember how you got here Basil?” it asks.

“N-no” he replies.

“Then what do you remember?"

“THAT’S SO MEAN!”

“Everything is going to be ok.”

“Something behind you…”

Basil remembers screaming, shadows, and fighting.

Fighting…. Sunny?

Suddenly, his memories come rushing back, hitting him like a freight train. He falls to his knees from the sudden emotional whiplash.

‘Something isn’t real’.

‘Sunny killed Mari’.

‘I killed Sunny’.

Basil feels like he might vomit. Four years of delusions have suddenly shattered, and the weight of his actions are finally hitting him.

“Not quite young one” the voice calls out again.

“W-what?” he asks.

“Your friend lives… for now” It ‘clarifies’.

“F-for now?! S-Sunny’s going to d-die?!” he asks in a panic.

“Everything dies eventually child. Even you.”

At that moment, it suddenly occurs to Basil where he might be.

The white void.

The disembodied voice.

Oh God.

“Am I d-dead?” Basil asks.

“I hope not. It would be quite the anti-climax, no?” it asks.

“W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOPE NOT?!” Basil yells.

He’s tired and confused and he wants to go home, and this voice is not helping at all, and Sunny might be dead, and he might be dead and-

“Let me be blunt then” the voice replies interrupting his panic. “You can wake up, but if you do, you will find the world changed since you saw it last. For better or worse, that I cannot say.”

“So” it adds.

“Do you want to continue?”

Does he?

Basil has lied to and hurt everyone he claims to love. By all accounts he should just keel over and die. But despite it all, for the first time in years… he doesn’t want to.

He has no idea what will await him when he wakes up.

But he wants to find out. He wants to see tomorrow.

“Yes” he replies.

“Good answer.”

In the year following his hospitalization, Basil has strived to improve himself. Seeking therapy, being honest with himself and others, righting old wrongs, and just generally trying to make the most of life.

He’s made decent progress considering the scale of his trauma. However, his social skills are not sadly amongst those improvements.

“Look! I don’t work for Miss Candice anymore! So, whatever you want from me, I do not have it!” Curtsey snaps at the group of teens.

Basil and the delinquents had tracked down the former candy store employee to Othermart’s liquor counter. However, the young woman’s plans of stress drinking were now being sabotaged by the small group, and Basil’s poor communication skills were not helping ease the tension.

“N-no we just-” Basil starts.

“We want to know about your ‘shadow monsters’” Kim says nonchalantly.

Curtsey stiffens. Basil sighs.

He appreciates Kim’s help, but he wishes she had been a bit less blunt.

“You- you believe me?” she asks hesitantly.

Still, he can’t argue with results.

Upon hearing the woman’s question, the other delinquent’s glance at each other, not especially convinced. But Basil replies instantly.

“Yes” he states, confidence for once clear in his voice.

Sunny is his best friend. But Basil has done nothing but ruin his life. He has a chance to truly save him, to actually help him for once. He won’t let this opportunity pass.

“W-well… Ok fine. I’ll tell you what I saw” Curtsey says. “But you punks better not spread this! I don’t want people looking at me like I’m crazy."

“We won’t” Basil says, before turning to the delinquents. “Right?”

“Right” they agree, thankfully taking the hint.

“Ok… so I was throwing out some stale candy when…”

“You seriously believe her?” Kim asked as they left the store.

According to Curtsey, ‘the ghost boy’ was last seen around the back of the store. Where he had apparently ‘summoned shadow demons to torment her’.

The story was about as distressing as it was nonsensical. It sounded completely absurd. Even Curtsey admitted as much, but this entire day has been so far, and Basil needs a lead.

So, he is more than willing to believe her. He just hopes she’s wrong about some of the… finer details of her encounter because he really doesn’t want to fight demons.

“Y-yeah, I do” Basil replies.

Kim simply sighs and shrugs.

The group continues their walk in silence, but just as they’re about to turn down the ‘alley’ Mikhael speaks up.

“The boy she described… they sounded a lot like Sunny” he notes.

Kim suddenly stops in place, Basil can almost imagine the cogs in her head turning, after a moment she turns around and glares at him.

“What aren’t you telling us flower boy?” she asks.

“T-technically nothing” he responds.

He had told them the truth. It wasn’t his fault they didn’t believe it.

“What does that even- Oh, come on! This isn’t about your ‘magic clone joke’ is it?” she asked with clear exasperation.

“M-maybe” he replies.

“It would explain Sunny’s… anger” Mikhael mumbled.

“And why Aubrey was being so weird about him” Vance added.

“Don’t tell me you two actually believe this?!” Kim yelled. “Sunny was pissed at you because you were probably harassing him again, and Aubrey’s being weird about him because she has bad taste in men!”

“W-would it help if s-said this was all b-because of a m-magician?” Basil asked.

He could practically see the steam coming out of Kim’s ears.

“Ok! Listen here Bas, I know we’ve been jerks to you in the past, and I wanna help you, I really do! But we are not running around town on a wild goose chase if you’re not gonna be honest with us!” she ranted.

“I- I will, b-but I don’t think you’ll believe m-me” Basil stammered.

“Tell us everything” Kim demands. “Then we’ll judge.”

Well, here goes nothing then.

“Fine.”

The shop is uncomfortably quiet, and it feels a lot colder all of a sudden.

“W-what- What do you mean Sunny?” Kel asked nervously.

His friend simply continued to smile, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

“What I said silly” he replies. “Why do you want to make me whole?”

“Because you’re not yourself” Kel responds stiffly.

“But I’m happier this way” ‘Sunny’ retorts.

There’s no malice in his voice. A bit of confusion maybe. But it’s genuine. ‘Sunny’ isn’t lying and that scares Kel.

“Y-yeah but you’re only happy” Kel explains nervously. “People are more new- nu- err”.

“Nuanced?” ‘Sunny’ asks.

“Yeah! Nuanced!” Kel agrees. “You can’t go through life only smiling, it’s important to feel other emotions too!”

People are complex, and whilst Kel sometimes struggles with understanding that, he still knows it’s important, Hero has told him that enough times by now.

You can’t just stay one way all the time, even if it hurts, change is necessary. He’s glad ‘Sunny’ seems to agre-

“Then why do you?” ‘Sunny’ quizzes, interrupting his thoughts.

“What?” Kel asks, genuinely confused.

“If other emotions are important… why do you always smile?” ‘Sunny’ asks.

Kel isn’t smiling now; he knows that much. ‘Sunny’ just hit him with the one question he really doesn’t want to answer.

“W-well there’s nothing w-wrong with happiness” he starts to explain, awkwardly.

“I know” his friend replies instantly. “It’s nice feeling happy! It’s warm and fuzzy! When I’m whole I’m… not that” he continues, his smile almost faltering for a second.

“But like this I’m always smiling! Just like you! Isn’t this more fun?”

No.

No, it’s really not.

Kel was always the hyper one and Sunny was always quiet and reserved. They complimented each other, and whilst he’s glad to see Sunny in good spirits for once, this just doesn't feel right. This isn’t who his friend is.

And it’s Kel’s fault he’s stuck like this.

“I-it is” Kel lies. “B-but I miss my f-friend.”

‘Sunny’ pauses for a second.

“But… I am your friend?” he asks.

“You’re… part of him” Kel replies hesitantly. “But despite how simple Sunny- the real Sunny seems, he’s more… complex.”

“And more miserable” ‘Sunny’ adds, before stopping.

A look of contemplation crosses his face before he continues.

“Would… you be happier if I was whole?” he asks.

“Yes!” Kel immediately replies, relieved he’s getting through to the boy.

“Because people are complex?” ‘Sunny’ asks.

‘Something like that’ Kel thinks.

“Sure, yeah” he agrees.

‘Sunny’ nods his head and ponders for a moment longer, before suddenly looking up again, his face beaming.

“Ok then!” he says.

‘Thank God.’

Kel was terrified for a second there. This copy has been the friendliest and most accommodating one so far, and he did not want to be responsible for losing them.

“We’ll fix you bud don’t worry” Kel says, unsure who exactly he’s reassuring.

“Yeah, with magic!” ‘Sunny’ adds.

“Yeah!” Kel agrees, with as much excitement as he can muster.

Speaking of magic, at that moment the Warlock enters the room again.

“Your friends still not back?” he asks.

“Uhh no” Kel replies.

“Hmm, it’s getting late. It’ll be dark in a few hours” the Warlock muses. “It’d be best if we do this before the days over.”

“Why’s that?” Kel asks.

The shopkeep pauses for a moment, seemingly hesitant to answer, before sighing and eventually continuing.

“It’s easy to lose things in the dark…” he says, ominously.

Kel doesn’t like the sound of that.

His expression must be worrying because the Warlock sighs again.

“And this is why I didn’t want to answer” he grumbles.

“You- you can still fix this right?” Kel asks worriedly.

The man lets out yet another sigh.

“Yes. I just need the other emotions. I was simply hoping this would be over by now” he says. “Look in the meanwhile, just keep yourselves entertained, I’ll go sort the final preparations.”

“But for the love of all that is unholy, don’t touch anything that looks too Lovecrafty!” he warns. “I’m gonna get another cold one.”

With that, he turns and exits the room once more.

‘Huh, who would’ve guessed Warlocks were such alcoholics’ Kel thinks.

“Back to waiting then ey Sunny?” he asks, turning to his friend.

‘Sunny’ simply nods in response, already engrossed in some book about potions.

More magic books… yay.

Kel hoped the rest of these accursed things weren’t as problematic as the one he bought. The tome that caused all of this had been taken by the shopkeeper about an hour into their stay, and whilst part of him was glad it was out of his hands, another part wished he still had it.

Surely, he could fix this mess by himself, right? He caused it in the first place, he could probably undo it….

No, that’s a bad idea. He just needs to be patient. Besides Hero trusted him to do this, he really shouldn’t have, and Kel knows they’ll prevail, so he just needs to wait.

Hell, knowing his friends, they’ll be back any second now.

Any second now…

Any…

Second…

Now…

Kel sighs to himself.

It’s going to be a long night.

“Well, you’ll be glad to hear no-one’s dead” Hero said, bandaging up the last cut on Aubrey’s leg.

After some punk had shoved ‘Sunny’, Hero had been hit with yet another wave of sadness. But hearing familiar yelling from the park motivated him to push through it and run to the scene, and upon his arrival he was greeted by quite the sight.

Unconscious delinquents had littered the park, and at the centre of all the chaos, he found Aubrey and the angry ‘Sunny’.

“Shame. One hit killing someone was on my to do list” Aubrey jokes.

“I wouldn’t recommend it” Anger bitterly added.

Part of Hero had wondered what Sunny would have been like if he went through a regular childhood. Now face to face with the embodiment of teenage angst, the idea seemed much less appealing.

“I haven’t forgotten about you mister” Hero states. “Show me your hands.”

“Piss off Hero! You’ve been out of my life longer than you were ever in it. You don’t get to boss me around” he replies.

‘Ouch.’

Well Hero finally understands this copy now. He’s lashing out as a defence mechanism. Because even if ‘Sunny’ is right about Hero, he’s also hurt, and is clearly trying to distract from that fact. Anger can hate him if he wants, but the kid still needs help, and Hero is going to give it to him.

“I know Sunny” Hero responds, calmly. “And I’m sorry, but I’m here now, and you’re hurt. So, please show me your hands.”

“Take a hint will yo-” Anger goes to reply.

“Doctor’s orders” Hero states.

‘Sunny’ grumbles for a moment before eventually showing Hero his injuries.

He’s roughed up, bruising everywhere, anterior epistaxis, along with small lacerations on his knuckles and face. The wounds on the former are worse, but some bandages and anti-septic should solve it.

As for the cuts on his face, some plasters will suffice, but the bruises will need an ice pack and Hero doesn’t have any of those, so they’ll just have to pick some up later.

Thankfully, ‘Sunny’ doesn’t show any signs of signs of concussion, which is a relief, because he’s not sure they’re ready for another hospital visit.

Reaching back into his first aid kit, Hero goes about methodically applying the bandages and anti-septic. ‘Sunny’ hisses at the latter, but Hero continues undeterred, better momentary pain than a potential infection. Assuming magic clones can even get infected that is.

“Do you carry that thing everywhere?” Aubrey asks.

“Are you complaining?” Hero retorts.

The girl glances down at her own wrappings.

“No…” she replies.

“Good!” Hero says, before turning back to ‘Sunny’. “Now raise your shirt please.”

“What?” he asks.

“I need to make sure you’re not injured there” he explains.

“You didn’t ask Aubrey that!” ‘Sunny’ protests.

“Sunny, she wears a crop top” Hero deadpans.

The boy blushes in response. As does Sadness, but Hero doesn’t notice.

‘Sunny’ grumbles but ultimately raises his shirt. At that point Aubrey also starts to blush and looks away, but Hero is once again oblivious to his two friend’s pinning.

‘No signs of any lacerations or any alarming swelling, a few bruises definitely but nothing to worry about’ he thinks.

‘No scars like the real Sunny.’

“Ok we’re done” Hero says.

‘Sunny lowers his shirt again and grumbles some more.

“So… what exactly happened here?” Hero asks sternly.

Both Aubrey and Anger refuse to meet his eyes.

“Guys…”

“We fought” Aubrey states.

“Why?” Hero asks.

“She wouldn’t go away” ‘Sunny’ mumbles.

“He wouldn’t come with me!” Aubrey protests.

It feels like he’s dealing with a Kel and Aubrey argument right now. Which is about as fun as those ever are. Sighing, Hero continues.

“What about these guys?” he asks, gesturing to the unconscious teens.

“Kim stole fireworks from them. We teamed up to take them out” Aubrey explains.

Well at least ‘Sunny’ and Aubrey are back on good terms. Even if he doesn’t exactly approve of their choice of ‘bonding’.

“It was Boss” Anger grumbles. “He mentioned Mari…”

“B-boss?” Sadness asks. “He was always so m-mean.”

Boss…

“You stay the hell away from my brother!”

“Chill hot stuff it was a joke!”

“H-hero?” Sadness asks.

“Huh?” Hero mumbles.

“Dude… you good?” Aubrey asks, worry clear in her voice. “You zoned out for a second there.”

“Yeah, just haven’t heard that name in a while” he responds. “This was self-defence, right?”

The two teens nod.

“Well… I think you handled this quite well then” he replies.

“Really?” Anger asks.

“Yeah, you’re not gonna scold us?” Aubrey enquires.

Hero glances over at the large figure passed out at the base of a nearby tree.

“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary” he says.

“Sweet” Aubrey says with a smirk.

“This doesn’t mean I condone violence! Just self-defence” he adds quickly.

“Too late!” she taunts, sticking her tongue out.

‘Some things never change’ he thinks.

Aubrey’s laughter suddenly stops as a look of curiosity crosses her face.

“Say, Sunny?” she asks.

“Yeah?” the two copies say simultaneously.

Oh. This could be an issue.

“No, I meant… Urgh we need to give you two names” she grumbles.

“Yeah, until you’re whole again we need a way to differentiate you two” Hero agrees.

“Whatever this name sucks anyway!”

“I l-like it, M-Mari liked it.”

Hero sighs, looks like he’ll be playing mediator again.

“You’ll be Anger” he says pointing to the red copy.

“And you’ll be Sadness” he adds, turning to address the blue ‘Sunny’. “Any objections?”

“…No” they both agree.

Good, this will make things easier. Now the hard part.

“Great! Now do you two have something you want to say to each other?” he asks rhetorically.

“No!” Anger objects.

“N-no?” Sadness asks.

“Really?” Hero asks. “Because there are clearly some deeper issues here, and I want to help. But what did I say to you earlier Sadness?”

“I n-need to help m-myself first” he replies.

“Correct” Hero responds.

Anger looks perplexed.

“The hell is this?” he asks.

“We d-discussed a lot before, and I- I realised w-we’re lonely” Sadness states.

“Yeah because of you!” Anger argues, before turning to Aubrey. “You see why I didn’t wanna go back now? Listen to this sad crap!”

Aubrey jumps at the sudden attention. She had been simply looking back and forth between the two Sunnys, for the past minute, a slight blush on her face.

‘That’s weird why would she- OH!’

Oh.

“I-I, w-well you’re-” Aubrey stutters whilst trying to respond.

Deciding to save her the embarrassment, Hero steps in again.

“Look why don’t you two just talk it out” he suggests.

“What’s there to say!” Anger yells. “This emo kept us indoors for years!”

“I’m s-sorry but M-mari-” Sadness starts.

“I KNOW!” Anger roars. “And I know it was my fault! But you all- You didn’t need to lock me away…”

“I d-didn’t say that! It j-just… it hurts… so much” Sadness mumbles. “I m-miss her.”

“I know…” Anger replies solemnly. “So do I.”

“I w-was just thinking w-we could g-grieve together” the Sad ‘Sunny’ suggests. “I r-realised we s-still hate being a-alone… but w-we don’t have t-to be… not anymore.”

Anger mulls it over.

“I- urgh!... Ok but there’s gonna be some changes! First, no more chains!” he states.

“Ok”

“And second… no more staying indoors” he continues.

“I don’t want to s-sleep anymore” Sadness replies.

“Third… no more lies! I don’t want to hurt anyone again…”

“N-neither do I…”

Anger thinks it over some more, nodding his head in contemplation. After a moment he reaches his hand out to his melancholic doppelgänger.

“Fine! But don’t make me regret this!” he says.

Sadness hesitates, then takes the hand, before suddenly pulling Anger into a hug. The latter looks annoyed, but simply pouts, rubbing his copy’s back.

Huh… Maybe Hero should pursue psychology instead of medicine, he could be a family therapist, he’s a good mediator… although he should probably see a psychologist first before becoming one.

The two emotions part after a moment, but they keep holding each other’s hands.

‘Cute.’

“Ok, now that we’ve sort that, we should probably go get the last Sunny, assuming he hasn’t been found yet” Hero states.

“Who’s left anyway?” Anger asks.

“Just Fear now we already have Happiness” Hero responds.

Sadness looks distressed at that revelation, whilst Anger simply looks irritated.

“Is that… bad?” Hero asks, hesitantly.

“We h-had… n-nightmares” Sad ‘Sunny’ replies. “Really b-bad ones.”

The angry one simply grunts, tightening his group on his counterpart’s hand.

“We also… saw things…” Sadness continues. “Terrible t-things.”

“Trust me he’ll be a pain” Anger added before a look of panic suddenly crossed his face. “Wait! Who the hell did you send after him?”

“Basil…” Aubrey mumbles. “Oh no.”

“You sent him?” Anger asks in disbelief and annoyance.

Hero suddenly feels a sense of dread.

“We should go” he states.

No one protests, and so the gang makes their way out of the park.

As they leave Hero takes once last glance at Boss.

‘Sunny’ did this….

‘Be safe Basil… please’

“I believe him” Mikhael says.

“Seriously?!” Kim exclaims. “That was insane! No way any of that happened!”

Basil’s story had received… mixed reactions. But he was surprised ‘The Maverick’ of all people, sided with him.

“Before… Sunny’s hair was… glowing” Mikhael mumbles. “I didn’t want to mention it because it sounded crazy… but this would explain that.

“You’re both mad! Vance back me up!” Kim demands, turning to her brother.

“I don’t know sis… I’ve heard weird stuff about that store” Vance replies. “Besides we promised to help Basil. We owe him. Remember?”

‘Thanks Vance’ Basil thinks.

Kim sighs and turns back to face the flower boy.

“Look… I want to help. But when you said ghost hunting, I thought it was like a joke or something!” she explained. “But this… this is just too bizarre.”

He understands the feeling. This whole day has felt like a fever dream and honestly Basil didn’t even want to explain this to them. But they asked and he still needs their help.

“Trust me I k-know I sound c-crazy, but I’m being h-honest!” Basil exclaims.

“Guys” Vance says.

“Yeah, but magic clones? Magic stores? Magic Kel?!” Kim asks, her exasperation growing with each question. “You’re telling me that’s what’s going on here?!”

“Yes!” Basil replies, his own anger rising.

“Guys!” Vance repeats.

“Come on Bas! I know you hate us but even as pranks go this is just stupid!” she states.

“I don’t h-hate you, I j-just want your help!” he replies. “You agreed to help!”

“Yeah, and we will, once you start being honest with-”

“GUYS!” Vance yells, finally getting everyone’s attention.

“What?!” Basil and Kim ask simultaneously.

Vance doesn’t reply but instead simply gestures to the ‘alley’. The back of Othermart is littered with empty boxes, bins, and loose trash. It looks perfectly normal if a bit filthy… except for the blood red footprints.

“What the…” Kim mumbles.

Basil steps forward. Looking closer at the prints, he can see they’re not actually blood, but instead appear to be glowing red burn marks.

“How is that possible?” Kim asks, clearly having come to the same realisation as him.

“Magic… Ha! Madness” Vance, laughs.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kim whines.

“Believe me now?” Basil asks a bit of smugness in his tone.

“I’ll believe it when I see it!” she snaps.

Mikhael walks forward.

“It’s a trail” he states. “Looks like the ghost hunt is back on.”

Kim sighs, but doesn’t object, whilst her brother simply continues to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Basil pays no mind to them, instead walking forward.

This trail leads to Sunny…. His best friend, the person he’s hurt the most.

This is his chance to make amends. So, Basil will follow this trail to the ends of the Earth if he must. As he begins his trek, Basil hears footsteps behind him, he turns around to see the delinquents. Part of him is surprised they decided to follow, but mostly he’s relieved.

He needs their help, and as much as he hates to admit it….

He likes the company.

To say Aubrey was tired, would be an understatement. Today has been emotionally exhausting and their search has so far been an absolute failure. They’ve been wandering around Faraway for over an hour now and there’s still no sign of the either Basil or the scared ‘Sunny’.

Speaking of Sunny, his two clones are walking together hand in hand, in front of her, whilst she and Hero follow behind.

She’s relieved they’re finally being co-operative, but she just wants this to end already. She misses Sunny, the real one, and she’s nervous about Basil.

A year ago, the blonde boy meant less to her than the wad of gum stuck to her shoe, but people change, and Aubrey hadn’t realised just how much she’d missed his company. But now he’s lost, tracking a ‘Sunny’ even the other clones fear, and there’s nothing she can do about it.

Just before Aubrey can go back to silently fuming, she suddenly remembers something.

“Hey Sun- uh Anger?” she asks.

“Yeah?” he replies with a sigh.

Being reunited with his sad counterpart has definitely helped level the angry boy out a bit. But he’s still easily irritated. She knows the feeling, but she still has to ask him something.

“I was going to ask you before, but what’s Headspace?” she enquires.

The two Sunnys freeze on the spot. Forcing Aubrey and Hero to stop too.

“H-how do you k-know about that?” Sadness asked.

“Anger mentioned it after Boss turned blue” Aubrey explained.

That would have sounded insane a few short hours ago, but now everyone just nodded along like she’d simply commented on the weather or something equally mundane.

The two Sunnys look at each other.

“Do we really have to explain it?” Anger asks.

“I- I don’t really w-want to” Sadness replies.

Anger sighs.

“Short version is, it was our escapist fantasy, an elaborate distraction we dreamed up every night to avoid reality” he deadpanned, but his tone held some resentment.

Whatever attachment Sunny had to that world clearly faded some time ago.

“Oh yeah been there” Hero casually and instinctively replied.

His face froze in panic once he realised, he said that aloud. Aubrey and the two Sunnys simply turned and stared at him in concern and confusion.

The young adult sighed.

“Look Su- Sadness, remember how I said I understood how you felt… well I really do… a lot more than you may think” he replied. “And well… let’s just say I’ve used up just about every coping mechanism there is.”

Aubrey wanted him to elaborate on what exactly that meant, but there is a time and place for these things, and right now the former is of the essence.

Still, she makes sure to give Hero a glare.

‘We’re talking about this later’ goes unsaid, but he nods in understanding.

“Right… well let’s keep going. We need to find Basil, remember!” she says.

“J-just like headspace” Sadness mumbled, with what seemed like an attempt at a laugh.

Anger simply sighed again and kept walking, dragging his doppelgänger along.

It was still weird seeing two Sunnys, two emotive ones at that, but it was also funny seeing them bounce off of each other.

‘Kinda cute too.’

‘NO BAD BRAIN!’ she thinks, forcing that train of thought to end before it can even leave the station.

‘Two Sunnys…’

‘STOP!’

Her face is burning red, and unfortunately for the embarrassed teen, her friend has already taken notice.

“Hey Aubrey…” Hero starts.

Oh, she does not like the tone of his voice.

“Y-yeah?” she replies.

“I was wondering if we could discuss you and Sunny?” he asks quietly.

‘Lord have mercy.’

Basil realised very quickly this trek wasn’t going to be easy. The trail of blood red footsteps where all over the Faraway, specifically in the back alleys and gardens of the town. It was clear ‘Sunny’ was attempting to stay out of sight, and also that he didn’t have a specific destination in mind.

So, this left the group following an aimless trail for hours. Every time they thought it was going to end, they pushed through another bush and found it continued onwards. Occasionally, the trail would lead to some poor soul, scared witless and muttering about ‘dark things’, which did little to reassure Basil of what they’d find at the end of their search.

Now in theory they could be tracking any of Sunny’s emotions. But Basil had a feeling he knew who exactly they were trailing.

The only copy with two eyes.

The one who ran when he saw Basil.

Fear.

Using deductive reasoning, he suspected that this copy was both frightened and frightening. ‘Sunny’ had evidently been trying to avoid people, but at the same time he was petrifying those he did encounter.

This confused Basil though, because from the brief glance he got of Fear, he appeared relatively normal, he was almost identical to how Sunny was a year ago, his hair was a bit darker, but otherwise he looked perfectly normal.

Maybe there was something he was missing; Basil did only get a glance after all.

Oh well, he’ll find out soon… hopefully.

“Hero please I will pay you to stop talking!” Aubrey begs.

Her face is completely red now, and Hero can’t help but feel bad.

He had noticed Aubrey and Sunny sneaking looks at each other just over a year ago now when the former kept glancing at latter during their picnic. It was adorable, and Hero had hoped something would come of it.

The two were always close as kids, and part of him had always suspected there was a bit more to it than just friendship, but he was never sure. So, seeing those early sparks of romance even after years of separation was honestly heart-warming.

It reminded him of the time he spent with Mari… those were simpler times.

Of course, life got in the way again, and Sunny’s confession put the newly reunited group back on rocky terms. But clearly love prevails because he had once again caught his friend sneaking glances at ‘Sunny’.

Now it really wasn’t his place to pry. But Hero practically raised these kids and he wanted to see them happy.

‘They don’t need another absent parental figure. They don’t need you.’

So, between the guilt of absence and feeling of paternal pangs, Hero’s brain gave him the brilliant idea to try giving his young friend some brotherly advise.

Relationships at that age can be complicated, emotional, and messy, and that’s without accounting for the shared trauma those two had.

He still remembers some of the hurdles he and Mari had gone through before her passing. So, he wanted to share some advice with Aubrey, help the girl work through her feelings and avoid any potential mistakes or missteps she might take.

That went about as well as one would expect.

“Look I’m sorry I just-” Hero tried to apologise.

“Shut up! Oh my God please!” Aubrey begged, her face still bright red.

“Ok, ok! But if you or Sunny ever need any advice then-” he continues.

“WE’RE NOT DATING!” Aubrey whisper-yelled.

During all this, the two ‘Sunnys’ simply continued walking, oblivious to the argument behind them.

‘Probably for the best’ Hero thinks.

He’s embarrassed his friends enough. Honestly, for as much grief as his brother gets for lacking social understanding, Hero at times rivals, if not exceeds him when it comes to poor people skills.

‘Kel’s right I do act like Mom’.

“I know but-” he tries to clarify.

“No buts!” Aubrey replies. “I’m- we’re- he’s- just shut up ok!”

The poor girl’s blush was somehow getting worse by the second.

“Ok sorry” Hero finally concedes.

…

“But he definitely likes you back” he adds with a smirk.

‘Sorry not sorry’

Aubrey looks like she might murder him. But Hero thinks Mari would be proud.

Someone has to keep the teasing alive.

‘It’s getting dark’ Basil thinks, as he watches the sun set in the distance.

They’d been walking for two hours already and there was still no sign of ‘Sunny’. He didn’t want to face Fear in pitch darkness, but it looks like he doesn’t have a choice now.

Thankfully, he had the foresight to send Mikhael off to go grab some flashlights from Fix-It. So, they wouldn’t be walking completely blind.

The three delinquents had surprisingly stuck with him the entire time. He suspected they began to truly believe his outlandish claims after the third petrified person they crossed.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Kim suddenly exclaims.

Basil snaps out of his thoughts and looks over at what has caught the delinquent’s attention.

A large man is curled up against a wall opposite a nearby bus stop, he’s shaking and mumbling, but something about him seems weirdly familiar.

The trail leads right towards him.

‘He must be another one of Fear’s victims’ Basil thinks.

“Know him?” he asks, turning to Kim.

“Robbed him” she replies.

Of course.

The delinquent steels her nerves and marches forward, Vance follows behind.

“Damn Boss, you look shit” she states.

Boss?

Huh, Basil hasn’t heard of that guy in ages. He was always a jerk, but he also had a weird soft spot for the flower boy. Basil never really got why, but he wasn’t complaining either. Still, he has to agree with Kim, the man looks rough.

“Go a-away” Boss mumbles.

“Nah. I need something from ya sadly” Kim replies.

“You’ve taken e-enough, just g-go. Before i-it comes b-back” he warns.

Kim looks uncomfortable for a second but shrugs it off just as fast.

“Yeah, well that’s kinda the thing” she says. “Where the hell did ‘it’ go?”

Boss shakes his head and mumbles a bit more, before pointing to the nearby woods.

Sure enough, following the direction of his finger Basil spots the trail.

“Chasing a demon through a forest in the dark, what could go wrong?” Vance asks rhetorically.

Basil gets the concern, he himself is starting to have reservations about this plan. But he has to save Sunny. No matter what.

Thankfully, at that moment, Mikhael returns, flashlights in hand.

“Any luck?” he asks.

Kim, who has been screaming internally for the past five minutes, simply gestures to the woods.

“Oh” Mikhael says.

“If we don’t find this freak Sunny’s gonna be stuck in pieces, right?” Kim asks, turning to face Basil.

“Yes” he replies.

“And Aubrey will be super pissed if she hears we didn’t help?” she asks.

“Yes” he reiterates.

Kim sighs loudly, before addressing her follow delinquents.

“Alright, grab a flashlight everyone” she starts. “We’re going ghost hunting.”

“ARGH This is useless!” Anger yells. “There’s no sign of them!”.

Aubrey can’t help but agree, this whole search has been fruitless and now it’s starting to get dark.

“M-maybe they left us, e-everyone does eventually” Sadness mumbled.

Despite herself, Aubrey felt her heart pang at his words.

“Hey, don’t say that they’ll be fine” she says, trying her best to sound reassuring.

Sadness doesn’t look convinced. So, Aubrey resorts to an old technique. She reaches her hand out and simply pats him on the head repeatedly. Sadness moves into her hand and seems to calm down.

Aubrey is almost definitely blushing right now, and she doesn’t need to turn around to know Hero must have the smuggest shit eating grin on his face.

‘God it’s like Mari all over again’ she thinks.

Still as annoying as it could be, part of her had missed the older girl’s teasing, so this was kind of nostalgic in a way.

She still wanted to deck Hero though.

Aubrey suddenly notices Anger glaring at her. She responds with a raised eyebrow. He glances at his sad counterpart and moves his head forward slightly.

If Aubrey’s brain wasn’t too busy malfunctioning she might have noticed the blush on his face.

She raises her other hand and pets the angry ‘Sunny’ on the head, he looks away, scoffing, but still stays in position, blushing the entire time.

‘He’s still like a cat’ Aubrey thinks.

Suddenly Hero clears his throat. Loudly.

The three immediately part ways, all in various states of embarrassment.

“Look not to interrupt, but we should probably go back to the store” Hero suggests.

“B-but we don’t have Fear or B-basil” Sadness replies.

“Boo-hoo” Anger mumbles sarcastically.

“There’s a chance he’s already back at the store, besides it’ll be dark in a minute” Hero responds, ignoring Anger’s comment but raising an eyebrow at it.

That would make sense, but it would also mean they’d wasted their day chasing shadows. Anger seemingly comes to the same realisation as her as he suddenly groans.

“URGH! He might’ve been there the whole time of course!” he says. “Why did no-one think of that?!”

“It doesn’t matter now, Hero’s right we should go” Aubrey states.

The two Sunnys nod their heads, Aubrey takes lead next to Hero, and the gang departs. She takes a moment to look over at her older friend.

“Not a word” she warns.

The young man simply raises his hands in defeat as a response. But she can see the smug smile on his face.

Aubrey sighs and mumbles curses under her breath.

It’s been a long day.

“You know there used to be a big lumber company out here” Vance says absentmindedly.

The group had been walking through the woods for about twenty minutes or so now, it was dark, but not pitch black, thankfully the moon was full tonight and even then, the trail they followed seemingly glowed in the dark. So hypothetically, they could navigate these woods without any flashlights. Still, Basil was glad they had them, it made him feel a little bit safer.

“I know, Dad used to work for em” Kim replied.

“Yeah, but did he tell you why they went bust?” Vance asked.

Basil had heard about this a while back, he’s pretty sure it was something to do with the foreman running afoul of a loan shark. But he doesn’t want to interrupt, these woods are creepy, and Vance’s story seems like a nice distraction.

He sees Mikhael go to interrupt, likely going to bring up the same explanation Basil knew. So, the blonde gestures for him to remain silent and he seems to take the hint.

“Nah guess he didn’t” Kim mutters, after a moment of contemplation.

“Well, he quit a couple of months before it all went down” Vance clarified. “He and a few other former employees said the company hadn’t been meeting demands.”

‘Ah this is where the loan shark comes in’ Basil thinks.

“So apparently, to meet the quota they went deeper into the woods, cut down some of the oldest trees, and woke something ancient up” Vance continued. “Whatever it was, it didn’t take kindly to the disturbance, and swiftly massacred the workers.”

‘Nevermind.’

“Oh, come on Vance really?! A ghost story? At now of all times?!” Kim asks.

“Ha! Sorry sis” Vance laughed, before suddenly turning serious. “But who said anything about it being a ghost story?”

He stopped in place and shone his light away from the trail, Basil’s eyes followed the beam and watched as it lingered on an abandoned container. He didn’t recognise the logo on its side, but it was covered in moss and full of rotting tree logs.

The exterior was covered with scratch marks.

Basil felt his skin crawl.

“Piss off Vance!” Kim yelled, punching her brother’s shoulder.

The older man simply laughed in response, before returning his light to the trail.

“Those... those were just animal scratches… right?” Mikhael whispered.

“Yeah…” Basil replied.

At least he sure hoped they were.

Kel bounces a ball off the store’s wall and catches it in his hand, he repeats this pattern a few more time until the ball suddenly opens its mouth. He then promptly places it back on the shelf he got it from and tries to erase the sight from his memory.

Meanwhile, ‘Sunny’ reads the potions book to completion, then reads some more books about Latin and demonology, which Kel finds quite dull. 

So, having nothing else to do he decides to roam the store.

‘There’s got to be something entertaining here’ he thinks.

The Warlock said he opened this place out of boredom, and Kel believes him. If he was immortal, he’d probably just get bored and start playing pranks on people too. They’d be a bit less… cruel than this though.

Selling things like cursed books to kids didn’t quite sit right with Kel in hindsight.

‘You’re projecting your own failures; you did this to Sunny not him.’

Ignoring the intrusive thought, Kel decides to rummage through more shelves. Thankfully the magic store proves to have a variety of oddities he’d previously missed.

First, he finds a chess board with living pieces. He and ‘Sunny’ play a few games, but then have to stop when the Bishop starts chanting about ‘Holy wars’ and ‘piece purity’.

Then Kel finds a weird mirror, covered in cloth, removing the cover from it reveals his reflection but… as a girl?

‘Cool.’

He plays rock, paper, scissors with his female counterpart, until a smiling girl with pigtails drags her away. At the same time, he himself is dragged off by ‘Sunny’, waving goodbye to his doppelgänger as he goes.

Kel ponders the nature of the mirror for a moment but is distracted by ‘Sunny’ showing off what he found. The smiling boy shows him some tarot cards and Kel thinks they’re kind of boring compared to everything else in the store. But he takes some pride in knowing he was right about Sunny liking occult stuff.

‘Take that Basil!’ he thinks.

‘Sunny’ says something about Kel getting a “Ten of Swords”, but he doesn’t know what that means.

‘Sunny’ suggests playing spin the bottle with the expired freezing potion Kel got bashed with. But the boy doesn’t actually know what the rules are, so Kel has to awkwardly explain what that game actually entails.

So instead, the duo decides to play darts, but then the board starts screaming so they’re forced to move on to the next distraction.

The two boys continue to rush around the store for another hour or so, keeping themselves entertained with the variety of strange products the Warlock keeps stocked. It’s fun if a bit exhausting.

Still despite how much fun he’s having, Kel can’t help but feel like everything is just… wrong.

Not even because every trinket in the store is an afront to God. But because it doesn’t feel like he’s really hanging out with Sunny. There’s no deadpan stares or blunt humour, it’s all just smiles and laughing… which is fine but… it’s not them, not their dynamic.

Not Sunny.

Oh well, this will be over in just a couple more hours. Their friends will be back soon… surely. In the meanwhile, he’ll just keep distracting himself, but he is starting to feel… really tired.

“Are you ok Kel?” ‘Sunny’ asks, looking up from card game they were playing.

The cards felt suspiciously like skin, but Kel was way too exhausted to even start questioning the implications of that.

“Yeah, sorry Sunny I’m just really burnt out, I’m gonna take five, ok?” he asks.

“Ok!” ‘Sunny’ beams, putting the cards down and resuming reading yet another book.

‘He really likes magic books… Ha! To think the others ever doubted my present’ he thinks.

‘Your present caused this.’

Shaking his head, Kel scans the room, his eyes settling on a secluded corner. He sits down and lays his head against the wall. It’s not particularly comfortable. But it’ll do, he needs some rest.

Maybe, he’ll… just take… a… little… nap-

His conscious fades before he can even finish the thought and soon loud snoring fills the room.

…

‘Sunny’ puts his book down, grabs the vial of the floor, some powder off a shelf, and sets off to the storeroom. He has work to do.

The rest of the walk has so far been done in silence and Basil would be lying if he said he wasn’t on edge. Vance’s story had done little to calm his nerves and the abandoned logging equipment they kept coming across certainly didn’t help.

Even ignoring the fictitious danger, the fact is they are tracking down a very real threat. Basil had no idea what ‘Sunny’ had done to those people, put their mumblings of ‘shadow monsters’ continued to plague his mind.

He’d spent nearly half a decade hallucinating Something behind him, and only after a whole year of medication and therapy had he finally come to terms with the fact that Something was never real.

But now it might be.

The delinquents, likewise, seemed equally unnerved, well except for Vance who seemed mostly unphased. But Mikhael could barely hide his shaking, and Kim was clearly trying to put on a brave face.

But she still jumped at any sudden noises.

Suddenly Vance stopped, causing the group to halt.

“Uh oh” he mumbled.

“What’s the matter?” Kim asked, before shining her light ahead. “Oh.”

Shining his own light at the trail, Basil could see that it suddenly stopped. He could also see the reason why.

The entire stretch ahead of them was practically marshland, whilst the water didn’t look particularly deep, it was still damp and muddy and clearly that was enough to obscure the footprints.

“Great well now wha-” Kim went to ask.

Mikhael suddenly screamed, drawing all their attention.

“The hell was that for?!” Kim demanded.

“I s-saw something!” Mikhael replied.

Basil really didn’t like that answer.

“It was probably a possum, or a-” Vance went to correct, before also being interrupted.

A series of sudden splashes rung out through the quiet woods.

Somewhere ahead of them, something was running through the water.

After a moment of silence amongst the group, Basil spoke up.

“We n-need to keep m-moving.”

“Are you crazy?!” Kim asked.

“He’s right” Vance stated. “We came here to grab that Sunny kid, that noise was probably him.”

“B-but” Mikhael went to protest.

“No buts, weird magic clone or not, the kids’ skin and bones. We can take him if we need to” Vance stated.

Kim and Mikhael grumbled but didn’t protest any further.

“Thank you” Basil said.

“Don’t mention it” Vance replied.

With that, the group hesitantly set off, wading out into the marshes.

As expected, the ground was essentially just mud, and with every step Basil took he watched as his shoes got progressively filthier. It’d be a miracle if they ever clean after this and if that wasn’t bad enough the mud was also shockingly cold.

Everyone else must feel freezing too because Basil sees them all shivering. Well, either that or they’re as terrified as he is.

He doesn’t want to be scared of his best friend, but the dark woods and dreary atmosphere have really put him on edge. Besides…

A ghostly pale figure stands tall, shadows surround him, Something is lurking behind him.

His fight with Sunny still haunts the teenager. Not just because of what Basil did to Sunny, but because of what Sunny did to him. His friend had fought back with fury and strength that seemed unfitting for someone of his size.

The boy has one eye, blood pours from where the other should be. In that one eye Basil sees nothing but hatred.

It was pure adrenaline that kept him going, even in his deluded state Basil knew that. He knew Sunny wasn’t a violent person, and the sudden fury he demonstrated was very uncharacteristic.

The figure was on top of him in a second, tackling him to the floor.

Even if it was a conscious effort from Sunny, it would still be self-defence. Basil had maimed him, he had every right to retaliate, but still….

That one eye stared at him unblinking, the pupil shaking with rage, his blood dripped onto Basil’s face from the open wound.  Just as the severity of the situation dawned on him, Sunny began to rain down punches upon him.

It scared him….

Sighing, Basil pushed his thoughts down.

They had moved past it all… mostly. In the aftermath of their fight, he and Sunny had a… complicated relationship. Basil was the first person from their group to reach out to him, in what was realistically a desperate attempt to rekindle old flames. Still, Sunny seemed to appreciate his efforts and the two slowly mended their friendship.

Thankfully, things had got better when the rest of the group started reaching out, but even as the group started hanging out again, Basil knew deep down that things would never be the same as they were.

No matter how much he wished they were.

In hindsight, Basil would admit he had been seriously codependent on his best friend when they were kids, and that Sunny’s four-year absence had left him feeling lost and confused.

But during his time in hospital, Basil slowly regained a sense of clarity he hadn’t possessed in years. So, whilst he still spoke to Sunny the most, Basil found more and more that he no longer possessed that same undying dedication to his best friend.

Honestly, some days it felt like they barely even knew each other… like they were just two strangers intertwined by the same tragedy.

They had failed each other as best friends, and even now, over a year later, there were a lot of unspoken issues. They had just accepted each other’s apologies and never questioned their respective actions any further. But Basil did have questions and he knew Sunny did too. So, whenever they talked, there was just this air of tension that never truly faded.

Now Sunny is in danger again and despite all his talk of changing, Basil is once more jumping in to save him.

Maybe he hasn’t changed at all.

Maybe he is still dependent on his friend.

Maybe he just wants to know if they even are friends.

Those questions could come later though. Basil has the chance to truly help Sunny for once, and if that entails hiking through marshland and chasing shadow demons then that’s what he’ll do.

Because despite it all, he knows Sunny would do the same for him.

Probably.

….

Basil’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of splashing in the distance.

‘Sunny!’

Kim cursed under her breath and began erratically scanning their surroundings with her flashlight, trying to spot the source. The rest of the group followed suit.

“I see- ARGH!” Mikhael screamed, falling backwards into the water.

“Damn! Mikhael you good?!” Kim asked, running over to assist the boy.

“He- I saw- I-” Mikhael mumbled.

“Speak up man, what happened?” Vance asked.

“He’s here” the scared teen mumbled in response.

Following his torch beam the group finally saw what had startled him.

‘Sunny’ was standing right there, just between the trees, a few yards from them at most. His expression was that of pure terror, but his eyes…

His two eyes… they were blood red and staring… right at him.

BASIL BECAME AFRAID

Suddenly the woods grew darker, the sky clouded over and a dark fog began to spread from where ‘Sunny’ stood. But even as the mist engulfed the copy, Basil could still see his two red eyes peering out from the darkness.

“Run” Vance said.

Basil didn’t need to be told twice.

The group sprinted as fast as they could, they didn’t know which way they were going, they just knew they had to get away from ‘Sunny’.

As they ran through the mud, screams echoed through the forest from behind them.

Mikhael….

Basil stopped for a second and glanced behind him only to see the dark fog fast approaching, and dozens of eyes staring out at him from within it.

He knew those eyes… Something was behind them.

Wasting no more time, Basil picked up his pace and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. His lungs burnt, and his muscles felt sore, but still he kept running.

He had just about caught up to Vance, when suddenly a shadowy figure dangled down from a tree in front of them. At first glance it appeared to be a massive spider, but Basil could tell it was much worse than that. It had a sick smiling face on its ‘torso’ and as for its head… it’s head…

Dishevelled raven hair obscured her face, but he could still her lifeless eyes staring out from behind her bangs.

Mari…

Basil made a quick turn to avoid the creature, but Vance wasn’t so lucky. He watched on in horror as the older teen was pounced upon by the abomination.

He heard screaming, but he kept running, he couldn’t stop. Not now.

Kim was still behind him, Basil could hear her sobs, he felt terrible and sick to his stomach, but he couldn’t afford even a second to stop and reassure her. Thankfully, she too continued sprinting and so the two teenagers, ran and ran, dodging between trees and old logging equipment.

Something behind them stayed in pursuit entire time.

They tried to run in the direction of any clearings, or at least, wherever Something wasn’t. But it felt like the forest itself was shifting around them. Seemingly clear paths would suddenly be engulfed by mist, forcing them to change direction, and trees would appear out of nowhere, resulting in several near collisions.

Basil soon realised they were being herded; the monsters were chasing them down a path of their choosing. He hated the implications of that, as he knew wherever they were being led, couldn’t possibly be good.

But the alternative was to stop, and Basil wasn’t stopping.

Not now.

Not here.

The deeper into the forest they went, the wetter the mud got, until eventually the two teens were just wading through water. Which itself seemed to get progressively deeper and murkier as they ran.

By the time Basil figured out what was happening, it was too late. Looking down at his feet, Basil finally noticed there was hair floating in the water.

Mari’s hair.

They had been led into a trap.

Suddenly, Basil heard the sound of struggling and splashing coming from behind him. He didn’t need to turn around to figure out what was happening.

Part of him screamed to stop and help his new friend.

But he couldn’t stop.

If he stopped, he would die.

He’s come too far to die here.

Tunnel vision guided him, he ran in whatever direction seemed clear, making constant and sudden turns whenever Something emerged in front of him, as he continued to push through thick vegetation and wade through deep muddy water.

Until suddenly something caught his foot.

BASIL BECAMED PANICKED

He kicked and thrashed, sending mud flying in every direction, as he fell to the ground, soaking his clothes and sending a chill down his spine. He laid in the mud waiting for Something to drag him down into the water, away to God knows where.

He waited and waited, but nothing happened. Looking down Basil realised his foot had actually been tangled on…  Mikhael’s wig?

‘Oh.’

Scanning his environment, Basil saw he was still where they had first spotted ‘Sunny’.

The three delinquents were also there, each one a few metres from him at most, they screamed and wailed, thrashing at things that Basil couldn’t see.

‘How is this possible?’ Basil thought. ‘They had been running for miles, how is he back here?’

Just before he could piece the situation together, he heard splashing nearby. Grabbing his soaked flashlight, he pointed the flickering beam up and caught sight of a black blur.

The figure halted, cowering at the sudden brightness, allowing Basil to get a good look at it. Sure enough, it was ‘Sunny’.

Basil tried to steady his breathing, so he could address his friend and end this nightmare, but as he stood, the copy in front of him once more opened those blood red eyes and screamed in terror.

BASIL BECAME STRESSED OUT

That scream. He knew that scream.

A guttural cry of pain and dread.

A cry Basil had heard after a loud pop.

After he’d gouged Sunny’s eye out.

At that moment, ‘Sunny’ began to scream and contort. Basil watched on in horror as his friend’s features became twisted and elongated. His skin tore and his bones broke. It was like the boy was being stretched out by unseen forces. Trying to rip him limb from limb.

It should’ve killed him, no-one could possibly survive that kind of damage, and yet after a series of agonising cries, ‘Sunny’ rose again.

Except it wasn’t ‘Sunny’, not anymore, it was Something else. The hellish creature rose its head and roared at Basil.

This snapped the blonde out of his stupor as he promptly sprinted in the opposite direction to the monster. Basil could hear the cries off the delinquents from behind him and he watched as the shadows around him began to darken even more.

There were eyes everywhere now but still, he continued to run.

Closing his own eyes, Basil sprinted through the shadows, ignoring the whispers and cries calling out to him, the feeling of tendrils and hands touching and clawing at him and the guttural roars of the monster pursuing him.

He was running blind, sprinting aimlessly, guided only by his adrenaline.

He ran and ran, until he could run no more.

Until the noises suddenly stopped and the grabbing ceased. Opening his eyes, Basil found himself in a new clearing, the sky was no longer cloudy and whilst the forest was still dark, it felt more natural. Like it was just a regular night in the woods and not some disturbed nightmare.

Basil sighed in relief and once again tried to steady his breathing.

However, his momentary respite was short lived, however. As when he looked up at the moon, he saw Something’s eye staring back at him.

A loud scream drew his attention back to the woods, as the hellish ‘Sunny’ crawled out from between the trees.

In the moonlight, Basil could finally get a better look at the creature. Immediately he realised it was practically just an elongated skeleton, poorly cloaked in torn skin and rotten flesh. It barely even resembled his friend anymore.

Yet his red eyes remained, and they glared at Basil.

It hated him.

Another guttural scream echoed out from the beast’s mangled jaws. It was hoarse and pained. Pitiful really.

But it terrified Basil to his very core.

Once more the boy turned and ran, only to immediately catch his leg on a tree root and fall forwards. Just when he thought he would hit the ground, the soil below gave way, revealing an endless void.

Basil screamed as he plummeted down into the abyss.

When the blonde boy awoke, he found himself drooling on a desk, rising, and wiping away his spittle with his sleeve, Basil quickly realised he was sitting in a very familiar room.

It was the principal’s office, with the exact same furniture and layout as usual. Basil had made frequent visits here back when his bullying first started. But he had stopped visiting years ago, when it became clear there was nothing that could stop his torment.

You can’t stop bullying when it’s the entire school that hates you.

Glancing around his environment, Basil noted that the room was the only thing present. Literally. Looking out the window Basil could see he was back in the white void he’d first visited just over a year ago.

He had almost forgotten about this place; having just chalked his last visit up to being some drug induced fever dream.

Honestly, it might still be, whatever powers ‘Sunny’ had, it clearly caused hallucinations. Because Basil knew Something wasn’t real.

Even if the grip of those shadowy hands still stung his arms.

So maybe this is just another fever dream. He’s not sure why he hallucinates white space so much though. Maybe its symbolic?

‘At least they’ve decorated’ Basil thinks, absentmindedly.

Having nothing else to do, he surveys his surroundings once again, but when he turned his head back to the desk, he saw the principal’s chair was also now in front of him. It was a brown cushioned spinning chair, with a high raised back, which prevented him from seeing who was sat in it, if anyone even was.

“H-hello?” Basil asked.

“Hello again Basil” a voice called out.

It was directionless, just like last time.

“It’s been a while” it continued, suddenly sounding more localised and feminine.

Like it had somehow gone from being everywhere at once, to being right in front of him.

“Ha, clever as always” the voice laughed, likely having read his thoughts.

At that moment, the chair span around, revealing a young woman in a white dress. Her skin was deathly pale and hair as black as night, but Basil would recognise her anywhere.

“Mari?” he asked.

The woman chuckled, opening her eyelids to reveal two empty sockets. There was nothing but dark pits where her eyes should be, and as she laughed her head suddenly snapped to a ninety-degree angle. Even though her neck was twisted, she wasn’t dead.

Her laughing gave that much away.

Basil shivered.

“Not quite” ‘Mari’ said, twisting her head back to its regular position.

“Then w-what are y-you?” Basil asked, panic creeping into his voice.

The woman chuckled again, before replying.

“Me? Well, I’m a fan dear.”

“W-what?” he asked again instinctively.

‘Mari’ made an expression that Basil presumed was an attempted eye roll.

It was kind of hard to tell when she lacked any to roll.

“I’m a fan of you Basil” she continued. “Well, of you and your work that is.”

“My w-work?” he asked, more confused than ever.

“Your actions” she clarified. “You really know how to keep a woman guessing. You look so soft, so innocent, so pathetic, but we both that’s a façade, hiding a truly sick mind.”

She spoke with Mari’s voice, used her teasing tone, but this woman had an underlying ‘distance’ to her voice that Mari never had. The girl Basil knew had always tried to seem supportive and understanding, actively lowering herself to be on his level.

This woman sounded like Mari, but she talked like this conversation was beneath her, a passing amusement at most.

It had her voice but none of her spirit.

“What are y-you?” Basil asked, ignoring her attempts to deconstruct him.

“Big question guy aren’t you?” she mocked. “Well, I might be a demon, here to punish you for your sins! Or maybe I am part of your old friend! A vindictive fragment of her spirit seeking revenge! Or maybe I’m just another hallucination.”

“Honestly, Basil would you even be able to tell anymore?” ‘Mari’ asked.

“I suppose not” he replied dejectedly.

“Oh, don’t be so glum old friend” ‘Mari’ said with a grin. “Truthfully, it doesn’t matter what I am, so much as what I have to ask you.”

“And w-what is that?” Basil enquired.

“You intrigue me, your actions contradict themselves and I want clarity” she replied. “So, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer.”

Basil didn’t like the sound of that, but he could tell she wasn’t asking.

‘It’s probably best to play along then.’

“Ok…” he mumbled.

“Great!” ‘Mari’ beamed. “So, why did you do it?”

“W-what?” he asked.

The woman’s neck snapped again, her head now hanging upside-down, hair dangling at her sides.

“Why did you hang me?” she asked.

Basil flinched.

“Oh, come on now!” ‘Mari’ said with a smile as she once again cracked her head back into place.

“You can be honest. This is a safe space!”

Basil doubted that. He didn’t feel safe at all.

‘Mari’ seemed to notice his discomfort and frowned.

“I’m hurt Basil, truly” she said. “I mean, after all this, the least you could do is justify your actions.”

“If you even can” she added with a smirk.

Basil stiffened. He’d had nightmares like this before, of Mari interrogating him for his choices. But they normally ended just as she revealed herself.

He’d never seen her so… insistent.

“I… don’t know” he replied.

Basil didn’t like to dwell on the specifics his motivations. ‘Protect Sunny’ was all he had thought at the time. He had told his friends that much when they interrogated him at the hospital.

It was for Sunny.

Always for Sunny.

“You’re lying” she stated.

“I’m not I-” Basil tried to defend, before stopping.

He is.

There’s more to this.

There always has been.

He just hates to admit it.

“I am…” he hesitantly corrected.

“Yeah, you are” she agreed. “So be honest with me.”

Once again, she wasn’t asking, Basil could tell that much and he didn’t want to know what she might do if he even tried lying again.

“I wanted to s-save Sunny” he stated.

“But you didn’t” ‘Mari’ replied.

“No… I didn’t. I m-made everything w-worse” he responded.

“I- I thought they’d t-take him a-away, lock him in j-jail. I thought- I thought I’d never s-see him again.”

‘Mari’ simply nodded in response. So, Basil continued.

“I c-couldn’t let that h-happen. He was… is my b-best friend” he said.

“There’s more to it than that. Isn’t there?” she asked.

Yes.

Yes, there is.

So much more.

“If they t-took Sunny… I’d be alone. I n-needed him” he said.

“Why?” she asked.

“He… we… I thought he understood me… like n-no one ever h-had before” Basil replied.

“What do you think now?” ‘Mari’ enquired.

“I… I was t-too dependent on him. Too c-clingy.”

“Why do you think that was?”

“I’d n-never had a best f-friend before… only Aubrey”.

Aubrey who was more family than friend back then.

He’d always wanted siblings as a child. Only now does he realise he already had one.

‘Mari’ seems to understand that much, as she doesn’t question it any further.

“So, you did it to protect your friend? Is that it?” she asked.

No.

Not entirely.

“No…” Basil mumbled.

Part of him always knew, it was never just for Sunny.

Had Basil not lied, his friends would have been hurt, but they would have had closure, and Sunny may have been arrested and spent time in juvie, but he also would have gotten help sooner.

But he didn’t understand that back then, he just thought if Sunny was taken then he’d never come back and if he left, then the others would leave too….

He didn’t want to be alone.

“I lied for myself” he said. “I lied to save my life.”

“Explain” she demanded.

“I thought I d-did it all for h-him, and some of it was… the p-photo album… I didn’t want people to h-hate him…” Basil continued.

“But… you… the h-hanging… I just wanted to save our f-friendship… our life t-together… I was scared of losing it all… so I acted… and l-lost it all anyway.”

“Do you regret your actions?” ‘Mari’ asked.

“Every day” he states.

The woman hmms to herself, before looking up at him again.

“Fascinating. But you still haven’t answered my first question” she says,

“I d-did?” Basil asks.

“No, I asked why you hung me? I want to know why you did that specifically” she clarified. “You could have just lied if you wanted to protect yourself and Sunny.”

“Why stage a suicide?” she asks.

“Because I’m a bad liar” he states.

“That so?” she enquires, amusement and doubt in her tone.

Basil understood her reaction. Someone who kept a coverup secret for four years would hardly seem like a bad liar. But there’s more to it than that.

There always is.

“Yes” he replies. “I stutter and p-panic, get d-details confused. I could n-never keep a s-story straight.”

“I n-needed something… n-no one could d-doubt” he explains.

“…If you panicked when questioned people would just assume you were traumatised… clever boy” she says with a smile.

Basil feels sick. He hates this, talking about this and being complimented for it, by her of all people too.

“But how exactly did you know how to tie a-” ‘Mari’ goes to ask.

“You know why” Basil states, cutting her off.

The woman just laughs in response.

“True enough” she agrees. “Thank you, Basil, this has been… insightful.”

“Am I dead?” Basil asks, tired of this woman’s musings.

This was how he left last time. It’s worth another shot.

“Well… that depends” ‘Mari’ says closing her eyelids.

“Do you want to continue?” she asks, opening her eyes to reveal two pitch white pupils.

“Yes” he replies.

He’s made mistakes, selfish choices, harmful decisions. But he can’t make up for those if he dies here.

‘Mari’ smirks.

“Do you want to save Sunny?” she asks.

Sunny… his best friend. If they truly are even friends anymore. Basil would have moved hell and earth for him once, and even now, he’s thrown himself into this nightmare to save him.

But despite everything… he never truly understood Sunny… he just loved the boy for what he represented.

Their lifestyle, their group, their family…

“Yes”

Basil has been a bad friend.

He’d like to try being a good one.

“Very well” ‘Mari’ says.

The white void outside starts to darken, the room around them begins to rot, the wood sagging and splintering.

As everything fades to black around him, he sees a glowing red jump rope appear around the woman’s neck.

“Good choice Basil.”

Basil opens his eyes, only to find he was lying face down in a puddle.

Rising to his feet, he immediately notices he’s in a different clearing to the one he’d last seen the delinquents in.

‘I hope they’re ok’ Basil thinks.

Suddenly he sees a red glow emanating from the shrubs in front of him. Wading through some more mud, he reaches the bush and pushes it aside to reveal another blood red footprint.

Looks like he’s found the trail again.

Sighing, Basil checks his pocket for his flashlight. Only to be met with a clump of mud.

How fun.

Thankfully the trail is bright enough that Basil can track it without needing a light. He just hopes he’s ready for what he’ll find at its end.

Following the trail, Basil pushes through yet more dense shrubbery. The nettles sting his flesh and tear his clothes, but he persists. The only saving grace is the ground is firm beneath his feet. No more mud.

Basil walks for what feels like hours only to emerge out into another clearing, at the base of a familiar treehouse. Their treehouse.

He’s in Sunny’s old garden.

‘How the hell’ Basil thinks to himself.

Looking down, he sees that the trail continues forward. Taking a deep breath, Basil continues to follow it. He doesn’t need to walk for much longer though, as he soon sees ‘Sunny’ cowering in front of an old tree stump.

The stump…

The last remnant of what used to be Sunny’s favourite tree.

The tree where they hung Mari.

Where he hung Mari.

“It would be here” Basil mumbles.

The universe really must hate him if his quest is bringing him here of all places.

Sighing and taking a few steps forward, Basil takes a breath and calls out to his friend.

“Hey Sunny” he says.

The boy turns to face Basil, his face suddenly growing panicked, as he mumbles and cries, before locking eyes with Basil.

…

But the flower boy has figured out this copy’s tricks by now.

Those blood red eyes induce nightmarish hallucinations in people, and Basil has had enough of those for one day. So, he simply closes his eyes and continues to approach.

“Look I’m not here to h-hurt you… I want to h-help” he says.

‘Sunny’ cries in protest and Basil hears shifting, followed by a yelp. He can’t see, but he suspects his friend is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Between Basil and the stump.

“N-no!” ‘Sunny’ cries.

“Sunny p-please I’m-”

“NO!”

Even through his closed eyes Basil sees a faint red light.

‘Oh of course.’

‘Sunny’ must have increased his powers intensity. Eyelids can only block out so much light after all.

‘Stupid magic.’

Basil goes to cover his eyes with his hands for extra protection, but they’re immediately ripped away by Something.

He jumps back in shock before examining the creature in front of him. It resembles a hellish butchering of Mari’s likeness, with empty eyes, a crooked neck, and a gaping maw.

But Basil has already seen this, and he knows it’s not real. So, taking a deep breath, he stares the creature down, looking directly into its ‘eyes’.

“Y-you’re n-not r-real” he mumbles.

The monster screams in his face. But Basil doesn’t flinch.

“You’re n-not r-real” he says.

The creature roars before its head twists upside down and it begins to shift and contort into the spider monster that pounced Vance earlier. It hisses at him, and Basil feels cold spittle on his face.

“You’re not r-real” he repeats.

The abomination growls again before collapsing to the floor, melting into a puddle from which black smoke emerges. A cruel smiling face emerges from the pitch-black smog, as do several rotting arms.

“You’re not real” he insists.

The creature in the dark roars in pain and begins to fade as the smoke clears.

But just as Basil thinks this might finally be over, the hairy tendrils that grabbed Kim emerge from the puddle.

“You’re not real!” he yells, tired of this game.

The tendrils spasm and collapse back into the puddle, which itself begins to evaporate. Looking forward, Basil sees that ‘Sunny’ has continued to stare on in terror, he panics before locking eyes with the blonde once more.

Basil takes a deep breath, ready for whatever comes next.

He watches as a shadowy figure emerges from behind ‘Sunny’. Darkness dripping off it like water, as it approaches. Once enough of the shadowy coating has faded, Basil is able to see exactly what he’s facing.

A young girl with dark brown hair and a pretty bow, Aubrey.

“Basil” the girls says.

He watches her age as she steps closer.

From a bubbly young girl. His first friend.

To a sad dishevelled one. His former friend.

To an angry blonde one. His newest bully.

To a pink-haired delinquent. His oldest bully.

“Miss me freak?” she asks, with a snarl.

“Honestly, y-yeah” Basil replies. “But sadly, you’re not real.”

“You sure about that?” she asks, raising her nail bat.

“Yeah. You won’t hurt me” he states confidently.

“I’ll do what I want to you freak” she retorts, pointing her bat right in his face.

“You would have, but Aubrey isn’t you, not anymore” he replies. “People change.”

“You don’t Basil” ‘Aubrey’ states. “You’ll always be a parasite, clinging to the people you ‘love’, as you ruin their lives.”

Basil doesn’t respond.

“They’ll realise that one day” she continues. “And when they do, they’ll leave you, for good this time.”

“And you’ll deserve it.”

“Maybe… but I don’t want to be that p-person anymore” he states.

Aubrey laughs cruelly and swings her bat, aiming right for his head.

Basil doesn’t look away, and simply smiles as the bat fades just before it can hit him.

The teenager in front of him, has the same hair and same outfit as her previous iteration. But now she has a small smile on her face. His oldest friend.

“Godspeed Basil” she says, before fading away.

Just one more hurdle now.

He looks over to ‘Sunny’ staring straight into his eyes, but this time no nightmares or hallucinations appear, but instead a small trail of blood leaks from the boy’s right eye.

“Sunny…” Basil mumbles as he approaches his friend.

The boy covers his bleeding eye and curls in on himself.

“P-please no…” he whimpers.

“Sunny…. I’m… I’m so sorry” Basil apologises. “I’m sorry for e-everything.”

‘Sunny’ hesitantly looks up at him.

“I wanted to s-save you, but I j-just made everything w-worse” he continues, taking a deep breath. “I thought we u-understood each other m-more than anyone else… but now… now I’m n-not so sure…”

“You were c-closer with Kel and hung out with Aubrey m-more… we talked more than most… but I feel like I didn’t know you as well as I t-thought I did…” he explained.

“I always said I was your best f-friend… but now… I think I f-forced that on you… I became obsessed the idea of you… m-more than who you actually were…”

“So, when I l-lied… I did it for y-you… but also for myself. To keep my l-life, my f-friends, my f-family… I wanted use to stay together f-forever, but instead I… I just-” Basil continued, choking back a sob.

“…I think I hated you for a while, a-and I think part of me still d-does. You r-ruined my life and your own, and I ruined y-yours… and mine.”

“I’m n-not your best friend I see that now… but I would like to be. I want to k-know you, the real you, and if it d-doesn't work out… then that’s f-fine. I can die happy knowing I tried if n-nothing else” he states.

“Either w-way” he adds. “I’m never going to hurt you again… you don’t have to fear me anymore”.

He offers his hand to the boy.

“Friends?” Basil asks.

‘Sunny’ doesn’t take his hand but rises anyway. He looks at Basil, hesitance clear on his face before he eventually nods.

“We can… try” he says.

Basil can hear the trepidation and concern in his voice. He can tell it took a lot of strength to muster that response. For Fear to be brave.

“I would like that” Basil replies with a soft smile.

“Get up” a familiar voice calls out.

Kim suddenly felt something jab her side. She grumbles and curses as she slowly opens her eyes.

She had been content dreaming about fighting a cruel candy queen for her sweet supply, so she wasn’t thrilled about the sudden rude awakening, or finding out she’d somehow passed out in a puddle.

“C’mon sis” Vance said, lightly kicking her again.

Kim groaned and stood up, trying to shake off the worst of the mud, before punching her brother’s shoulder. Reviewing her memories, she recalls a lot running and screaming…

‘I am never telling Aubrey about that’ she thinks.

Looking at her surroundings, she sees Mikhael talking to Basil and… Sunny?

“You found him?” Kim asks.

“Yep” Basil said turning to face her. “Took a while, b-but we figured it out.”

“Yeah, I can imagine, you look like shit” she states. “No offense.”

“None t-taken” he replies.

“The hell even happened whilst I was out?” she asks.

“I think I met God…” Basil says.

“Oh?”

“She was an asshole” he adds.

‘Not even gonna question that’ Kim thinks.

“Cool… anyway now what?” she asks.

“Now, we f-find the others” Basil states. “They’re p-probably at the shop now”.

 “Also, d-don’t look at S-Sunny’s eyes, they’ll give you n-nightmares” he quickly adds.

Nightmare eyes… of course.

‘What even is my life?’ Kim thinks to herself.

“His eyes cause hallucinations?” Mikhael asks curiously.

The teen formerly known as ‘The Maverick’ seems deep in thought for a moment before he rummages through his pockets and pulls something out.

“Try these” he says, handing over a pair of tacky aviator sunglasses.

“Do you carry those everywhere?” she asks.

“Maybe…” he replies.

He definitely does.

“Sunny just k-keep your eyes closed o-ok?” Basil asks, as he places the sunglasses on the boy’s head.

‘Sunny’ flinches but still goes along with it.

“Ok, everyone look away… p-please” Basil instructs.

Everyone complies.

“S-Sunny, open your e-eyes” he commands.

After a moment of silence, Kim hears him breathe a sigh of relief.

“It w-works, you can all turn around now”.

Looking at ‘Sunny’, Kim can’t help but smile, the poor thing looks absolutely terrified, but also incredibly funny wearing those lame shades. She can’t believe that timid kid scared her, so badly before. He looks like he’d jump at his own shadow.

“Huh, he’s kinda cute for an eldritch abomination” Vance comments.

“Yeah, he’s almost like a cat or something” Kim adds.

At that comment Basil chuckles a bit.

“Somethings never change” he mumbles.

Kim laughs as well before coming to a sudden realisation.

“Does anyone actually know how we get out of here?” she asks.

Everyone is silent.

“God damn it.”

Kel doesn’t know how long he was out for but when he awakes ‘Sunny’ is gone. Blinking a few times and yawning, Kel rises to his feet and stretches his arms.

‘Sleeping on the job what would Hero say?’ Kel thinks. ‘Probably something boring about responsibility.’

The store is weirdly quiet. There’s no sign of ‘Sunny’ or the shopkeeper or his friends.

‘Maybe they also went to sleep?’

“Sunny?” Kel calls out.

No response. Odd.

Supressing the sudden anxiety he feels, Kel decides to explore the store, reasoning that they’re probably just talking in some side room. This place is a lot bigger than it looks after all.

So, Kel searches around the place, only to find nothing but more weird magic products. After exploring most of the shop, Kel is left with one last spot to investigate, that being the storeroom.

Honestly, he should have started there. It’s where the Warlock spends most of his time, so he and ‘Sunny’ are probably just chilling in there. Still as he approaches the room, Kel can’t help but notice it’s still deathly quiet also he feels… Colder?

‘Is there a draft in here?’

Now only a few inches from the entrance, Kel spots a shadow peeking out from under the curtain covering the room.

“Sunny? Weird shopkeeper guy?” he asks.

No response.

“Ok… I’m coming in” he warns.

Kel takes a deep breath and grabs the curtain.

Just like Hero did a few short hours ago, he does a quick mental count down as he prepares to pull it back.

‘3’

‘2’

‘1’

‘GO!’

Ripping the curtain aside, Kel immediately jumps back in fear at what greets him.

The Warlock is frozen in place, literally. He is covered head to toe in ice, his face is stuck in a shocked expression, Kel can still see the fear in his eyes.

“W-what” he instinctively mumbles.

“Oh, hey Kel” ‘Sunny’ says casually, as he steps out from behind the human ice sculpture.

“Sorry you had to see that.”

“S-Sunny what… what did you do?” Kel asks in horror.

“What we agreed silly!” ‘Sunny’ says.

“Did you know it just take a little bit of magnesium to reactive an expired freezing spell?”

“What?”

“Yeah!” ‘Sunny’ continues, ignoring Kel’s confusion.

“Isn’t magic cool?” he asks, before giggling at his own joke.

“What- I don’t- Sunny how did we agree on this?!” Kel asks, his voice growing increasingly more panicked.

“Don’t you remember?” the boy asks, tilting his head. “We agreed to fix this mess…”

His smile somehow grows wider as he continues.

“With magic.”

Chapter Text

“W-What?” Kel stuttered in fear, as he slowly backed away from the smiling visage of his friend. 

‘This has to be a nightmare.’ 

But it wasn’t, it was all very real. ‘Sunny’s wide grin, the frozen horror on the Warlock’s face and the overwhelming sense of dread in his stomach.  

All real, all terrifying. 

Less than an hour ago he and ‘Sunny’ had been running around the store together, playing games and having a good time. Now that same boy, his friend , was stood there, casually spouting nonsense, like he hadn’t just killed a man. 

“Sunny… is he d-dead?” Kel asked, trying and failing to hide the terror in his voice. 

“Hm? Oh! No of course not!” ‘Sunny’ replied. “Just frozen, I did my research don’t worry, he’ll be fine~” 

That’s a small relief, but Kel still feels on edge. 

“But why? ” he asked. “Why are you doing this?!” 

“Well… I thought about what you said” ‘Sunny’ started. “About how people are nuanced and complex, and how I- Sunny was too. But then I realised he’s not happy like that.” 

“That’s not-” 

“You know he didn’t smile for four years?” ‘Sunny’ asked rhetorically, interrupting Kel’s protests. “Meaning I didn’t exist for nearly half a decade. That’s all complexity causes bud , pain and misery.” 

“Sunny… I know life can be difficult, but it’s- it’s important to feel these things!” Kel tried to argue. 

“But I don’t need those other emotions! Not when I’m like this! For the first time in years, I’m happy Kel! Truly happy!” ‘Sunny’ replied ecstatically. 

“But you’re not Sunny.” 

“I suppose I’m not…” ‘Sunny' replied, with what almost sounded like dejection. “But I am happy like this, so I’d say that’s better.” 

“But you’re only happy. You can’t live like this!” Kel argued. 

“You do.” 

Kel couldn’t argue with that.  

He’d spent most of his life trying to have a ‘glass half full mindset’. Which proved more and more difficult when the glass in question has been smashed, binned and then promptly buried in landfill. 

“I’m not happy now Sunny” he stated. “I’m not happy with this… with you. I want my friend back.” 

“I am your friend Kel” ‘Sunny’ said. “Just… improved.” 

“NO!” Kel yelled, his frustration finally boiling over. “No! This isn’t you! You wouldn’t do this!” 

‘Sunny’ doesn’t respond for a moment, instead he sighs and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small silver ring. 

“You’re upset” he states. “I can fix that.” 

Kel feels a chill go up his spine. 

“Let’s play another game Kel” ‘Sunny’ says. “Lighten the mood a bit, what do you say?” 

“No! No more games!” Kel yells in desperation. 

“Come on! This one’s really simple” ‘Sunny’ insists. “You hide…” 

“And I’ll seek” he adds, placing the ring onto his finger. 

Kel watches in shock and awe as ‘Sunny’ disappears right in front of him. 

“Pretty cool right? Found this invisibility ring laying around” the boy’s voice calls out. “Now I’ll count down from one hundred and you go find a place to hide!”  

He’s stunned for a second, dumbfounded by the ring’s power. He really thought he’d seen it all by now. Hell, he’s spent most of the day surrounded by magic, but still ‘Sunny’s sudden disappearance catches him off guard. 

“Better start running Kel~” the clone says in a jovial tone. 

Not needing anymore reminders, Kel snaps out of his stupor and runs out from the backroom. He briefly considers leaving the store, only to realise that if he loses the clone then they’ll never be able to fix the real Sunny. 

With a loud groan of despair, Kel turns away from the front door and begins his search for a good hiding spot. 

Kel had felt out of place for as long as he could remember. He was a loud kid in a quiet town and a victim of ‘middle child syndrome’ over a decade before he’d even have a little sister. 

His brother Hero on the other hand was incredible, confident, clever and the golden child of their family, the envy of everyone… 

Whilst Kel was just… Kel. 

He learnt very quickly that people didn’t expect much from him. Case and point, the first time he got an F on a test. His teacher didn’t even pretend to be surprised, and whilst other kids who failed cried about it, dreading their parent's reaction, Kel simply walked home knowing exactly what awaited him.  

His folks weren’t angry, just disappointed, they never yelled, but they didn’t need to, their scolding carried an unspoken message. But he knew exactly what they were thinking. 

Hero would have gotten an A.  

After they were done telling him off, Kel made his way up to his room and collapsed onto his bed. He spent a while staring aimlessly at the ceiling, as he came to terms with a difficult truth.  

Kel could never compete with his brother; he’d known as much since he was five. Hero was objectively smarter than him, seemingly understanding things faster and easier than he did, and where Kel was unfocussed and easily distracted, he was concentrated and efficient.  

Looking over at his brother’s ever growing trophy collection Kel couldn’t help but feel… sad. It had never bothered him before, because he loved his brother, the two had always been close, and even if it was clear which one was the favourite. Kel had never let that get to him before. Because it hadn’t mattered to him, he had always been content being the brawns to his brother’s brains. 

And whilst in hindsight he understands it had just been his way of putting a positive spin on their dynamic, it had still reassured him in the past, comforting him when Hero drowned in their parent’s praise, whilst he was starving for a simple compliment. But this time, he couldn’t find any optimistic outlook on his situation.  

It seems like such a small thing, a bad grade. But to Kel it was a moment of realisation. Hero wasn’t just smarter than him, he was straight up better.  

Before Kel knew it tears had started to form his eyes, and whilst he tried to stop them from falling, he ultimately failed. He felt terrible for crying, for being envious of his brother, but that feeling just made him cry harder. Before he knew it, he was stuck in a cycle of misery, jealously and guilt. Kel hated it, he hated feeling this way. 

He hated feeling sad. 

“Ready or not here I come!” ‘Sunny’s voice calls out. 

His singsong tone echoes through the empty halls of the accursed store. It’s sickeningly sweet, and incredibly unnerving. 

Kel lies hidden under some pelts in one of the store’s many corners. He’s not sure what animal they’re from, but he hopes the mound of fur provides enough cover to keep him out of ‘Sunny’s grasp. Thankfully, this shop is deceptively large, so the clone should be searching for a while. 

This does little to reassure him however, his heart continues to pound against his chest. He’s scared, there’s no denying that.  

He tries to steady his breathing but fails. He tries again and finally manages to achieve something akin to a sense of calm. 

Kel doesn’t know what ‘Sunny’ intends to do with him, but he knows it can’t be good. It had been obvious that this copy had… reservations about becoming whole again. But Kel never thought he’d act upon them, and certainly not like this.  

As he lies in wait, he can’t help but think about what ‘Sunny’ said, the copy had taken Kel’s speech about nuance and completely distorted it, purposely misinterpreting it to fit his own agenda. Still, Kel would be lying if he said he didn’t understand him. Well, kind of anyway. 

Kel had always hated feeling sad, he preferred to smile and wave his way through life, staying positive even in the direst circumstances. But that attitude can only work for so long and in the end, it hurt people. People he cares about. 

‘Sunny’ is repeating those same mistakes, but Kel understands why. He can only imagine the euphoria of being free from misery for the first time in years, it must be an unparalleled thrill, and one that never fades. After all, this copy can only ever feel happy. He doubts ‘Sunny’ can even understand the harm he’s doing to himself, after all when you’re positive about everything you do, there’s little room left for doubt. 

A footstep snaps Kel out of his thoughts. It’s soon followed by another, then another, slowly growing closer, until Kel can tell the copy is mere inches away. Then just as the clone was seemingly about to pass the pelt pile, the footsteps come to a sudden stop. 

‘Please keep moving, please don’t look here’ Kel thinks. 

He doesn’t want to find out what ‘Sunny’ wants with him. He just needs to keep him here and distracted until the others get back. Then they can all solve this together. 

Thankfully, after a long moment of tension, Kel hears the footsteps continue, their sound growing more distant as they go.  

‘Sunny’ had moved on, Kel was right under his nose, and he hadn’t noticed. He’d laugh if he wasn’t so terrified, but instead he lets out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. 

Almost immediately he realises the magnitude of his mistake. The steps halt again, and Kel can almost imagine ‘Sunny’ snapping his head over to the pile. He takes a deep breath and readies himself. The sound of footsteps grows closer, moving at a more rapid pace than previously, before once again coming to a sudden stop.  

At that moment the pelt in front of his face his swiftly ripped away. Looking out, all Kel can see if the familiar scenery of the store, but he knows ‘Sunny’ is here, standing right in front of him. 

“Found you! Ha ha- AH!” ‘Sunny’ cries, as Kel throws his fist out blindly. 

He’s not sure what part of ‘Sunny’ he hit, but he definitely managed to land a solid punch. Wasting no time, Kel scrambles out from the pile of furs, reaching his hands out, as he does so. He feels the invisible figure in front of him, then swiftly shoves the clone to the ground. 

“Sorry!” he yells, as he races off in the opposite direction. 

‘Sunny’ simply scoffs, rises to his feet, and begins his pursuit.  

Looking around, Kel sees a weird green vial glimmering om a nearby shelf. Instinctively he grabs it and launches it towards the clone, or at least in the general direction where he should be. 

‘Please be okay’ Kel thinks. 

This clone may be trying to catch him, but he’s still part of Sunny, and Kel doesn’t want to hurt him, just slow him down. 

The potion breaks on impact, and whilst ‘Sunny’ thankfully seems fine, he is coated in a mosslike substance, which quickly grows and spreads across his body. It’s a bizarre sight but at least now Kel can actually see his pursuer. 

“You used a lichen potion on me? Lame !” ‘Sunny’ calls out. “That’s definitely cheating!” 

‘He thinks this is a game…’ 

Kel can’t help but feel uncomfortable at the revelation. This clone isn’t malicious, he can’t feel grief or fear or anger… he’s doing all of this fun.  

“Whatever! You’re not the only one with tricks” he adds, pulling out a familiar book. 

The spell book… the tome that caused this mess in the first place. 

‘Uh oh.’ 

“Kel…” Sunny said. 

“Yeah bud?” Kel replied. 

“Do you ever feel… below Hero?” the usually quiet boy asked hesitantly. 

The two friends were out on another one of their late-night trips to Hobbeez. They had to sneak out to do these, because there is no way their parents would ever approve of them being up this late. 

“Well yeah” Kel responded nonchalantly. “But that’s why I wanna get taller!” 

“That’s not… what I meant” Sunny mumbled. 

Kel could see the conflict in his friend’s expression, it caught him off guard. When the Suzukis first moved next door, he had immediately hit it off with the two siblings, with Sunny in particular taking a liking to him. Kel was loud and impulsive, whilst Sunny was quiet and reserved. 

They balanced each other out, and Kel considered Sunny to be his best friend.  

They spent nearly every day together, and yet Kel had never seen Sunny like this, it was… strange. The raven-haired boy normally kept his talking to a minimum and rarely ever expressed himself, but now Sunny seemed more… vulnerable than usual. 

“Then… what did you mean?” Kel asked, having realised that he was being asked something much more personal. 

“Lesser…” Sunny mumbled. 

“Huh?” 

“Do you ever feel… lesser than Hero?” he asked again. 

Kel has… it’s hard not to, but why is Sunny asking him this? 

“Well yeah… he’s smarter sure, and Mom and Dad’s favourite and… well, I still love him” Kel responded. 

“But doesn’t it bother you?” Sunny asked with more conviction this time. 

‘Yes.’  

“I mean… I guess a little… but Hero’s cool so it’s… it’s alright” he responds unconvincingly. “Do you feel… lesser than Mari?” 

Sunny doesn’t reply. But he doesn’t need to, Kel can see the answer in his expression. 

“I understand” Kel says after a moment of silence, forcing a smile as he continues. “But you’re great as you are bud!” 

Sunny doesn’t look especially convinced, but he nods in ‘agreement’ anyway. 

“We should go” he says. 

Oh right, they are on a time limit. If their parents or siblings notice they’re missing, then they’ll both be in big trouble. 

“Ok then, let’s go!” Kel replies excitedly. 

As the two boys race down to the plaza, their faces lit by the streetlamps above them, Kel ponders what Sunny had said. He finally understands his friend, and just how similar they are.  

They’ve never been in first place, instead they live in the shadows of their older siblings. But at least now they can be in second place together. 

With that thought in mind Kel smiles, and opens the front door to Hobbeez, ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut. 

“Guess I won’t need this” ‘Sunny’ laments, as he casts his ring off, throwing it down onto the floor. 

The now visible copy attempts to wipe off the worse of the lichen, to mixed results, before opening the spell book and looking up at Kel. 

“Sunny… put that thing down” Kel warns. 

“What? You’re allowed to cheat and I’m not? That hardly seems fairs” ‘Sunny’ pouts. 

“This isn’t a game!” Kel yells in response, exasperation and panic clear in his voice. 

‘Sunny’s smile falters for a second, before his expression once again steadies, his lips forming a wide grin. 

“Of course it is-” he starts. 

“No!” Kel interrupts. “No Sunny! We’re not playing! That thing is dangerous!” 

“Oh relax! I know what I’m doing! But you might wanna duck” ‘Sunny’ warns. 

Kel hears the copy chant some words in Latin, then following the boy’s advice, he promptly dives to the floor, hitting the hard wood boards with a lout thud. 

‘That’ll leave a bruise’ he thinks.  

A green flash suddenly flies over his head, colliding with the wall behind Kel, it explodes on contact, sending the contents of nearby shelves falling to ground. Kel watches as a variety of potions and other strange objects shatter and smash against the floor. Some of the vials leaving small sizzling pools of bright luminous liquids, that burn through wooden planks into the ground below. 

Kel suddenly feels grateful that he had only thrown a harmless moss potion at the clone. Images of a burning ‘Sunny’ flood his mind, causing him to feel nauseous. He silences the intrusive thoughts and looks back up at the grinning copy. 

“Woah! Haha” ‘Sunny’ laughs. 

Despite the feeling of dread, he’d felt only a moment ago Kel can’t help but chuckle as a strange wave of happiness hits him. The feeling fades as fast as it arrived, as Kel remembers the severity of his situation. 

“Let’s try another!” ‘Sunny’ yells. 

Kel doesn’t need another warning to know he should start running, jumping to his feet the teen begins to once again sprint away from ‘Sunny’. 

“Flammea cranii inspiratione” the copy chants. 

Reacting quickly Kel makes a sudden right turn into a nearby corridor, dodging a flaming skull which crashes into the wall beside him, causing it to catch alight. 

Running down the corridor, Kel dodged and weaved between the many shelves lining the shop’s interior. As ‘Sunny’ followed in pursuit, laughing all the while, casting a variety of bizarre spells in his direction, missing him every time. 

Kel can’t help but wonder if the clone is even trying to hit him, or if this is all just part of some sick game. Either way, the store is already looking worse for wear. Its walls are scorched, and the floor is littered with the debris of smashed potions and burnt books.  

Before his eyes can linger on the damage for any longer, he once again hears more chanting. Quickly moving his head, Kel narrowly dodges a beam of red light which hits yet another potion shelf, causing an explosion of vibrant colours, which knocks him down to the ground.  

Kel wastes no time and quickly stumbles up onto his feet, in front of him strange blue flames begin to burn bright from where the beam first made contact. He feels its warmth on his face and watches its unnaturally rapid growth. In a few seconds the fire stands taller than him, reaching the ceiling and spreading to the rafters. 

You don’t have to be an architect to know that’s a bad sign. At this rate the whole store will be engulfed in a matter of minutes. If he stays here, he’ll die. With adrenaline and fear flooding his senses, Kel makes a beeline for the exit, carried forward only by basic survival instincts. 

Just as he reaches the exit, he stops. 

‘Sunny….’ 

He can’t leave him here. Weird emotional copy or not, Sunny is his friend, and he won’t abandon him. 

Turning back to go rescue the clone, he’s immediately greeted by ‘Sunny’s silhouette. It’s dark against the roaring luminous blue flames, but Kel can still see his friend’s wild eyes and manic grin, complete with sharp teeth, and drool dripping down freely from the corner of his mouth.  

“Isn’t this fun?!” ‘Sunny’ yells, as he devolves into a fit of hysterical laughter. 

The sight terrifies Kel, causing him to take a few steps backwards. But despite the overwhelming sense of dread he feels, he once again feels himself start to involuntarily smile, as a strange wave of happiness hits him again. Although just like last time the feeling is swiftly drowned out by his fear and rage. 

“N-NO!” Kel shouts, his anger and exhaustion finally boiling over. 

“Honestly, Kel you need to lighten up a bit… maybe you just need a change of mind ” ‘Sunny’ says, laughing maniacally. 

The copy’s cackles fill the empty halls of the ruined store, although they are largely drowned out by the crackling roars of the all-consuming flames.  

The fire has spread far and fast, having already engulfed most of the building, although as it expands into the storeroom it illuminates a frozen figure, bathing icy flesh in unholy warmth.  

A still eye suddenly springs to life, twitching frantically it glances around the room, barely cognizant of its surroundings, but still recognising the danger it’s in. Yet the figure is ultimately powerless, unable to do anything but watch and wait for the frost that holds him to thaw.  

The Warlock’s brow furrows in rage, and as he clenches his fists the ice covering them slowly starts to crack. 

Two brothers eat their breakfast in silence.  

It’s a simple but hearty meal, consisting of a few slices French toast generously lathered in maple syrup, accompanied by two cups of black coffee. It’s the first time Hero’s been down in their kitchen in almost a year now. But a single bite confirms to Kel that his brother hasn’t lost his knack for cooking in that time.  

Still, whilst the food is undeniably delicious, Kel struggles to finish even the first piece, instead choosing to prod at it absentmindedly with his fork, watching as the syrup pools in the dents he makes. 

He feels horrible, his brother is here, sat at the same table as him, making food for him, it should be a dream come true. He’d wanted nothing more than for his brother to leave their room for months now. But now sat here before him, Kel can’t bring himself to look Hero in the eyes.  

All he can think about is what happened last night. No matter how hard he tries to distract himself, their argument inevitably creeps back into the forefront of his mind. 

It had all started off with the same routine as usual, Kel came home from another long, lonely day at school, begged Hero to come downstairs, leave his bed, or at the very least eat a decent meal, only to be ignored. This was how every day had been since Mari’s funeral, the same tired routine playing out over and over. The difference was, this time Kel kept pushing. 

Maybe it was out of concern, or exasperation, or some combination of the two, but it had become apparently clear to Kel that his desperate begging did little to motivate his brother. So, mustering all his will, he began to truly speak his mind. Sharing thoughts, he’d previously kept quiet, he expressed how much he had missed Hero, how their parents missed him, how all their friends weren’t hanging out anymore, how no-one had seen Sunny in months, how…. 

“Mari wouldn’t want to see you like this.”  

It was the mention of Mari that had finally stirred Hero. The young adult’s eyes had widened, and Kel soon had his full attention. 

Hero’s words were harsh and cruel, ripping into Kel, prodding at his greatest insecurities and belittling him for his many failures. He had tried to argue back but was quickly silenced by more yelling. It was overwhelming, Kel hadn’t even heard his brother’s voice since the funeral, so to hear it again, after so long, and for it to be so hoarse and venomous… it hurt. It hurt a lot. 

At some point, Kel had started crying, as did his brother.  

But still, even as the tears flowed, Hero’s tirade continued. Although as it progressed something changed. His brother’s insults had started to shift targets and by the end of their fight Hero seemed to be yelling more at himself then at Kel. 

It was with a final yell, that Hero finally relented, slumping backwards and laying his head against the side of his bed, the older teen took several rapid deep breaths, practically gasping for air. And as his brother recovered, Kel curled in on himself and began to sob into his hands.  

It was at that moment that their parents had finally burst into the room, rushing straight to Hero… and ignoring him. 

Strangely enough, it wasn’t the neglect that stung, it was that Kel wasn’t even remotely surprised. He knew his parents loved him… they just loved Hero more. 

After a few agonising seconds of silence, his brother seemingly came back to his senses and broke free from their parent’s grasp. Rushing over to Kel, Hero embraced him in a tight hug as he muttered apologies and sobbed into his shoulder. The two brothers had cried together that night and eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms.  

It had been an emotionally exhausting night, but Kel had at least found some catharsis in Hero’s arms. He finally had his brother back after all. 

… 

But that feeling didn’t last. He confused relief with catharsis, and what had felt like a triumphant if bittersweet reunion last night, now feels… 

“You’re a nuisance Kel!”  

Well, let's just say it doesn’t sit right with him.  

Obviously, he’s glad to have Hero back, and he sincerely hopes his brother will stay with them from now on. But those words still stung, and no matter how hard Kel tries to forget them, they continue to linger.  

“Kel… we should… talk” Hero suddenly spoke up, his voice soft, but tone hesitant. 

Forcing himself to look up from his now cold breakfast, Kel meets his brother’s eyes, and takes a moment to truly look at him. Hero’s skin is sickly pale, his hair messier than ever, and his face appears sunken with dark bags under his eyes.  

Frankly, he looks bad, really bad. It’s harsh but there’s no other way to put it. Mari’s body had looked livelier, her vacant expression at least held some strange ethereal grace. Hero just looks like someone dug up his rotting corpse and forced him to play chef, dancing him around their kitchen like some sick marionette. 

“Okay…” Kel mumbled. 

“Look… I’m sorry” Hero started. “And I know- I know I’ve already said that, but I truly am. I didn’t mean anything I said to you and I just- God Kel… I’m just so sorry.” 

It sounded genuine, remorse practically oozed from his voice, as the teen was barely able to string a sentence together without descending into an incoherent blabber of apologies. Kel could tell he’d be hearing this for the rest of the month, maybe even the year and he could tell he meant it too. Hero was sorry, there was no denying that. 

But… 

“It’s just so easy for you isn’t?!”  

It didn’t take those words back. 

“To say what she would want, like anyone knew what she wanted”  

Kel had tried blocking them out. 

“You’re an idiot…”  

But he knows deep down he’ll never forget what Hero said to him. No matter how hard he tries to. 

“It’s okay” Kel mumbles. “I forgive you.” 

“Kel… no it’s not” Hero started. “Look, I know I keep apologizing, but what I said to you last night… it wasn’t fair. You were there for me, you tried to help me, you stuck by my side for months and I… the way I acted… I’m ashamed of myself… I should be thanking-” 

A loud cough suddenly interrupts their conversation.  

Their mother stands in the doorway, her expression seems conflicted for a moment, but as she sighs her doubt fades. 

“Kel, Mijo, it’s nearly time for school… you should go get changed” she says, before turning to address Hero. “Henry… we need to talk.” 

Kel wasn’t going to argue with the out he was being handed. He looked back at his brother, gave him a small sympathetic smile then made his way upstairs. 

Looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror Kel’s mind began to wander. He thinks about how he’s going to get through the day.  

He’s had a rough night, his brother is back, and he has no idea what that’s going to entail, yet he’s still expected to go back to school and pretend that nothing’s changed? How is he supposed to do that? 

‘You’ve done it before.’ 

That’s true he has.  

Kel was back at school a mere week after Mari’s death, surrounded by empty desks, and sympathetic stares. It had been too much then and it feels too much now. Having to deal with the same mundane day to day nonsense, surrounded by people who have no idea what he’s going through. Now without even the small luxury of feigned empathy from his classmates. 

Some days Kel finds it hard to keep going, to keep smiling, and he already knows today is going to be one of those days. 

‘You know what you have to do.’ 

“…I hate you Kel”  

Looking at his face in the mirror, Kel takes a deep breath, and then, not for first time, and certainly not the last, he forces a grin. He practises it a couple of times until it looks convincing enough, then goes about finishing the rest of his morning routine.  

Once he’s done, Kel exits the bathroom, gets changed in his room and finally leaves for school, ready to face the day with a smile. 

After wandering for what feels like an eternity, Basil, Fear and the three delinquents finally find a way out of the woods. Guided by a faint orange light, the small group pushes through some dense bushes and emerge out onto a familiar sidewalk. The flickering streetlamp above them bathing them in warm hues. 

‘I never thought I’d be so glad to see sub-par street furniture’ Basil thinks. 

The amusing thought fades fast though, as Basil soon realises exactly where they are. He blinks a few times out of pure confusion, as he processes his surroundings. He can only imagine how shocked his expression must be, but glancing at his friends, he sees that they are equally perturbed. 

Somehow, they’re right back at the bus station they started at. Thankfully, Boss is long gone by now, but Basil is too baffled to be relieved. There is no way they followed the exact same route back. Fear’s footprints had begun to fade over time so they couldn’t follow them, forcing them to instead wander blindly for an hour. 

Frankly, they had been completely lost, with no sense of direction, they couldn’t even find their way back to Sunny’s garden. The only way they could have ended up back here is through sheer blind luck, but the odds of them perfectly retracing their steps on accidents are nigh impossible.  

And yet here they are. It makes no sense, but Basil can’t deny it. Somehow, they’re back here again. 

“Something’s wrong with those woods” Vance states ominously. 

“Shut up bro, I’ve had enough of your ghost stories!” Kim replies, clearly frustrated. 

“I’m serious” he replied. “We’re never going back in there.” 

‘He sounds serious.’ 

“Well… I won’t argue with you on that” Kim mumbles in response. 

The serious tone of their conversation causes Basil to think back to his encounter with ‘Mari’. It hadn’t been like any of Fear’s other hallucinations, and he has definitely seen that white void before…  

Looking back over at the woods, Basil suddenly feels very uncomfortable. 

“I should go… I need to talk to my siblings” Mikhael suddenly chimes in. 

“Yeah, we should go too” Kim agrees. “It’s getting late, and Mom will kill us if we’re out any longer.” 

“You two gonna be alright on your own?” she asks, turning to face Basil and Fear, the latter flinching at the sudden attention. 

Her tone is half mocking and half sincere. But Basil feels like if he genuinely objected to being alone then Kim would join them in a heartbeat, even if she would mock them the entire way home. 

“Yeah, we’ll be f-fine” he replied. “Thanks for the h-help… s-sorry about the... everything.” 

“No worries.” 

... 

“Soooo... Just to check. We’re even now, right?” she asks. 

Oh right. Basil almost forgot she was doing all this just to make amends. Part of him still resents her for how she treated him, but at the same time she did throw herself into a nightmare just to help him out... 

So yeah, they’re even. 

“Yep.” 

“Sweet.” 

“W-Well I best be g-going." 

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t hold you up. But next time we all hang out I’m picking the spot” Kim replies, with a smirk. 

‘Next time…’ 

“I think that’s f-fair” Basil replies, with a small smile of his own. 

And with that the group parts ways as the delinquents wave goodbye, walking off back towards their respective homes. 

Today has been rough, but he managed to make friends with his enemies, so that's a plus. Not to mention he and Sunny should be able to repair their friendship now, once he’s whole again that is. But until then he’s just got to keep Fear calm and by his side. If this copy decides to run off again, Basil isn’t sure he’ll be able to catch him a second time. 

Sighing Basil looks over at the clone in question. 

“C’mon Sunny, let’s go get you f-fixed” he says, trying his best to sound reassuring. 

Fear doesn’t reply but he doesn’t protest either, instead he simply nodded his head after a brief moment of silence. Basil sighs again, relieved by the copy’s compliance, he’s already had enough conflict for a lifetime today.  

But as the two walk side by side, he can’t shake the feeling of dread he’d first felt when he peered back into the woods.  

Maybe it was just the sudden departure of his new friends, or maybe ‘Sunny’s magic was still having an effect on him. But Basil can’t help but feel like something is about to go horribly wrong. 

“What are you doing?” Kel asks nervously. 

“Fixing this mess, like we agreed to” ‘Sunny’ says, mimicking Kel’s words. “This world is so miserable, so cruel. I thought you’d understand, but you’re like everyone else! Restricted by your lesser emotions.”  

“Nuance had it’s chance, and this is what we got” he added. “Broken families and grieving friends… But I’m going to make it all better! Now be a good friend and just stand still!” 

‘So that’s his plan… to make me like him.’ 

Kel refuses to sit here and let ‘Sunny’ do this, he’s quite content with not being four weird clones.  

He hears the copy begin chanting again and turns to face the exit, preparing to make another mad dash for the door, only for a wall of thick thorny vines to emerge from the ground and block it. 

“I’m afraid I can’t let you go Kel” ‘Sunny’ states. “I want to help you, to set you free! So please, let me help.” 

“This isn’t right!” Kel argues. “You can’t just play with people’s emotions like this!” 

‘Hypocrite.’  

“Look! I- I’m sorry I did this to you, I just… I wanted you to have a good birthday! But I couldn't think of anything to give you, so I grabbed that stupid book and I- I just don’t get people sometimes- so I thought I- I, damn it! I didn’t want this!” he yells. 

“I never wanted this” Kel adds with a sob. “I’m so sorry...” 

“Why are you apologizing?” ‘Sunny’ asks, with a confused laugh. “I’ve never felt better! This is the best birthday gift ever!” 

“Thank you, Kel.” 

‘Sunny’ begins to flip through the pages of his book, searching for the spell that first caused this nightmare, ready to repeat it again.  

Kel feels horrible, not because of the imminent danger he’s in, but because he’s broken Sunny into pieces, and now one of those fragments is thanking him for it. It feels so wrong. So very, very wrong. But he can’t just stand here and let ‘Sunny’ do this, not to himself, or to anyone else.  

Glancing around the burning store, he desperately scans for anything that could aid him, that could possibly stop this madness. 

“Affectuum copia nunc dilaniat” ‘Sunny’ chants. 

‘He’s found it… oh no.’ 

“Gaudium, tristitia, ira et timor” 

Kel continues to look around frantically, but the flames have already consumed most of store’s merchandise, with even the thorny vines now being ablaze. He can try ducking under the spell if all else fails. But he has the feeling that ‘Sunny’ won’t miss. 

The doors blocked, the clone has him cornered, the Warlock is probably dead, and his friends are nowhere to be seen. 

‘I’m going to die in here…’ 

“Aufer omnes et adduc!” 

A radiant light pours out from the pages of the spell book, Kel watches as ‘Sunny’ presses his hand against the cursed folio, allowing the magic to spread and spiral around his arm. He recalls how it felt when he cast the spell, how the light had felt warm and strangely itchy against his hand.  

Kel had panicked when it began to crawl up his arm, but ‘Sunny’ is manic, the copy’s grin illuminated by the accursed light. 

Thankfully, at the last possible moment, Kel finally spots a single glass vial laying on the floor. Not wasting a second, he lunges forward, hitting the ground and snatching the glass. 

‘Sunny’ looks down at him, with a sympathetic and condescending smile. But just as the boy is about to cast the hex, Kel flings the potion towards the clone with as much force as he can muster. 

‘Jay’s training don’t fail me now!’ he thinks. 

The glass smashes against the book in ‘Sunny’s hands, releasing an acidic purple liquid that quickly starts to dissolve the ancient tome. The smiling copy appears shocked, dropping the book to the floor, and watching on in horror as it quickly melts down into a pile of mush, black smoke emanating from the remnants of its ruined pages. The light on ‘Sunny’s hand flickers for a moment before fading entirely. 

The store is silent except for the crackling of the ever-growing blue flames. 

“N-No…” Kel mutters in disbelief. 

He thought it was another freezing spell… But... the book is gone, and the Warlock... They have no way to fix Sunny. 

“NO!” Kel screams, his fists against the ground. "No..." 

‘Sunny’ is silent. 

But Sunny is dead. They can’t possibly fix this now. 

‘It’s all your fault.’ 

He sobs freely, no longer being able to keep his emotions in check and as he weeps, the clone’s smile begins to fade. 

Suddenly, a loud creaking noise rings out through the shop, Kel looks up, only to see the fire has completely engulfed the ceiling. The wood burns bright and fast, the support beams charring and blackening, as the rafters begin to splinter and fall. 

Time slows to a crawl as Kel watches the largest of the burning beams break free, plummeting straight down to where he’s kneeling. 

His mind screams to get out the way, but he can’t force his body to move. The smouldering wood falls, and Kel closes his eyes, accepting his fate.  

... 

He feels a sudden contact, a burning warmth and then searing pain. 

“I don’t know what to think” Kel states. 

“Nor do I” Hero mumbles. 

The two brothers are sat on their respective beds, the space between them is small, a few steps at most. But it feels massive, like there’s a gaping chasm between them. 

“I should hate him” he adds, after a moment of silence. “I want to hate him.” 

“But do you hate him?” Hero asks. 

“No…” Kel replies. 

Aubrey described Kel as simple during one of their many fights, and at the time he didn’t even try to argue back. Because he knew she was right, Kel is simple, he smiles and waves his way through life, boils down complex issues into black and white, good versus evil, and that’s always worked out for him. 

But then he talked with Aubrey, and he saw that she wasn’t evil, she was just hurt, but she also wasn’t good, she hurt Basil... but she’s also his friend. 

Sunny killed Mari. 

Mari hurt Sunny. 

Sunny is his friend. 

... 

Kel is simple by choice, because it’s easier this way, because complexity hurts, feeling sad hurts, but smiling doesn’t. 

Except, he can’t smile now, and he can’t pretend this is some simple moral dilemma either. Sunny isn’t evil, Sunny isn’t good, but Sunny is his friend. 

‘Why can’t it be simple? Why can’t I just hate him?’ 

“I don’t either” Hero suddenly adds. 

Kel is genuinely surprised by his brother’s response, they all loved Mari, but Hero had loved her in a very different way to the rest of them. 

“ Why? ” he demands, the aggressiveness in his tone surprising himself as much as Hero. 

His brother had rotted in bed for a year, cried himself to sleep for months, and lashed out at anyone who tried to help. He loved Mari, her death had broken him, he should be devastated, furious. Kel had half expected him to strangle Sunny on the spot… not guide the injured teen back to his hospital room. 

‘It just… it doesn’t make any sense…’ 

The young adult looks uncomfortable, but after a tense second of silence he sighs and begins to explain. 

“Don’t he get me wrong Kel, I am absolutely furious… but I don’t hate him” he says. “It was clearly an accident but… I don’t… I don’t know why they did… that of all things.” 

That much he can understand. Basil was apparently the one who had the idea to ‘cover up’ Mari’s death, it sounded insane, and they would be visiting the blonde tomorrow to get more clarity on the situation. But for now, they just had to take Sunny’s word for it.  

Part of Kel wants to doubt the now one-eyed teen, to dismiss his confession as the result of the chemical cocktail of painkillers flowing through him. But he can’t, he saw the conviction in Sunny’s remaining eye and heard the guilt in his voice. No detail was spared, no truth stretched, and he knows when they visit Basil, they will likely hear the same story.  

Sunny killed Mari and Basil hung her. 

… 

“You’re taking this surprisingly well” Kel suddenly states. 

He immediately cringes at his own words; he had impulsively voiced his thoughts and was instantly regretting it. 

“Am I?” Hero asked with a sad laugh. 

“I thought you’d…” Kel went continue before stopping, no longer being able to find the right words. 

“Yell at him? Hurt him?” Hero mused. “No. Never. What Sunny did is seriously messed up, but he’s suffered enough. I won’t be responsible for hurting him any further.” 

‘Mari wouldn’t want me to’ went unsaid. 

“But you… you did that to me though” Kel murmured. 

Once again, the words left his mouth involuntarily, and he watched as Hero flinched at them. 

“Kel I-” 

“I don’t hate you for it!” Kel interrupts. “I just… I thought you’d… why me?” 

It’s more of a plea than an actually coherent question. A feeble expression of a thousand feelings he could never truly verbalise. A mix of pain, jealousy, anger, grief, all occurring simultaneously.  

“Kel…” Hero mumbles, his voice dripping with grief. “I am so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” 

“You’ve all been through so much” he lamented. “You were kids, none of you should have ever had to deal with this on your own.” 

“So, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you… like you were there for me.” 

It’s too just much.  

Kel feels overwhelmed, his mind is a flurry of thoughts and emotions, it hurts. 

It hurts.  

He collapses down onto his knees, grasping his hair with his hands. 

“Kel!” Hero yells, running over and embracing his brother. 

“I can’t stop thinking…” Kel mumbles into his shoulder. 

“What?” 

“I can’t stop thinking about how… how it could have been us...” he says. 

Hero looks confused, but he doesn’t interrupt, so Kel continues. 

“What Sunny said about Mari… I got it…” he says, glancing over at his brother’s trophy collection. “You and Mari… you were always better than us… it never bothered me that much but… if it had.” 

It’s quiet for a second. 

“It could have been us on those stairs… and I can’t stop thinking about that… I want to hate Sunny, he killed her, and lied about it for years! He ruined everything!” 

“...But then I think about how the last time he saw Mari… their argument… she died thinking he hated her… and if we… if you died thinking I hated you...” Kel rambled. 

“He wanted to spend more time with her…” Hero mumbled solemnly; his mind clearly lost in deep thought. 

That was the real tragedy of it all. The Suzuki siblings loved each other, and yet the last words they spoke to each other where those of frustration and hatred. They never got to say goodbye, never got to say how much they meant to each other...  

Never got to say goodbye. 

Kel wants to hate Sunny, to dismiss him as a monster, curse him and mourn their shattered friendship, then force a smile and carry on like everything is ok. But he can’t do that, because all he can think about is what he would do if he saw Hero dead at the bottom of a staircase… 

Kel chose to be simple, but that’s done nothing but hurt people he cares about, and he cares about Sunny just as much as he hates him. He can’t keep forcing a smile, and he can’t keep pretending life is black and white. 

Mari didn’t kill herself; Mari was killed. 

Sunny is a killer; Sunny is his friend. 

Kel is hurt; Kel can finally start to heal. 

Everyone is fine; no-one is fine. 

It’s all so confusing and Kel’s mind is mess of mixed emotions, conflicting ideas and macabre hypotheticals. The lie he’s been living for nearly half a decade is crumbling around him and he feels free and terrified in equal measure. 

He had thought he was the only person in their group who hadn’t let their grief shape them, he thought he’d moved forward, and to an extent he did. Kel had made new friends and experienced new things. But he also spent years knocking on Sunny’s door, faking a smile for people who barely knew him, and lamenting those old summer days. 

Surrounded by people, but always lonely, that was who Kel was. Not defined by his grief, but by his avoidance of it. Smiling whilst his life crumbled around him. 

“I loved her.”  

“I love you” Hero suddenly says, looking his brother in the eyes. 

“But I never felt good enough…”   

“I want you to know that. No matter what I will always love you. You are enough.” 

“I just wanted to make her proud.”  

“I am so proud to be your brother.” 

“I’m so sorry.”  

“I’m sorry if I ever made you think elsewise… And I… thank you… for being there that night, I… I was… you saved me Kel. Thank you, for everything.” 

At a loss for words, Kel simply cries, sobbing loudly, the young teen finally grieves everything he’s lost, and for once… he’s glad he’s crying. Tears fall like a waterfall down his cheeks and his breathing hitches, as Hero wraps him in a tight hug. The two brothers weep together once more, and although Kel’s miserable… he’s never felt more relieved.  

They have a difficult few months ahead of them and they have a lot to work through. But for now, Kel allows himself to finally grieve, to mourn the childhood and family they all lost too soon. 

After what feels like an eternity, the two brothers part. Hero’s eyes are red and puffy, he gives Kel a smile small, before looking over at his trophy collection. 

“I think I’m going to get rid of them” he says. 

“You don’t have to” Kel replies. 

He doesn’t want his brother throwing away his achievements just so Kel can feel better. 

“I’m getting old, in a couple years I’ll be moving out” Hero replies. “I didn’t take them with me to college and I won’t take them wherever I end up next.” 

“You and Sally... you don’t need these old things hanging over you” He adds. 

“So… what are you gonna do with them?” Kel asks. 

“Wanna break them?” Hero asks, with a mischievous grin. 

It’s a tempting offer and probably the most rebellious thing Hero has or ever will suggest.  

Aubrey would be proud. 

“Mom won’t be happy” Kel replies. 

“That’s an understatement.” 

“Well… no, not now. Maybe another day. They can stay for now.” 

“If you’re sure” Hero says, sounding almost disappointed. 

“I am… and Hero…” 

“Thank you.” 

“He’s a uh… cousin actually” Hero explains lamely. 

He could practically feel Aubrey’s eyes boring into the back of his skull. It would be unnerving, if it weren’t for the she’d been doing it non-stop since he brought up her little crush. Still, she’s not the only one in their group disappointed by his performance, Anger also seems annoyed by his poor lie, if his scoff is any indication. 

He understands their grievances, it was a blatant lie and it’ll be a miracle if Cris buys it. But it was the best he could muster when put on the spot, so they’ll have to make do with it. 

They had all bumped into the girl on their way back to the store, she was getting back from a late-night shop and immediately took notice of the two Sunnys. So now Hero is having to salvage this trainwreck of a conversation, and unfortunately for everyone, he’s horrible at improv. 

“Oh really?” the blue-haired teen asks enthusiastically. “Wow! I never knew Sunny had a cousin! You two look so similar! Heck, you could pass as siblings!” 

‘Wow…’ 

Hero genuinely cannot believe that worked. Although he does cringe at Cris’ poor choice of words, as does the rest of their group.  

He spots Anger putting his hand on Sadness’ shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. Which thankfully seems to work as the clone doesn’t immediately start crying. 

“Y-Yeah strange coincidence haha… genetics sure are weird huh?” Hero bluffs. 

Aubrey just continues to glare at him with an expression of pure exasperation. 

“Ha! Yeah, it is strange… But honestly, I’m just glad you found him, that Basil guy seemed really stressed about him! Where is he anyway?” Cris asked. 

The group went silent at the mention of Basil. They’d been searching for him for hours now, and the first person who’s actually seen him is now asking them where he is… Hero wants to simultaneously laugh and cry at the absurdity of it all. 

“Yeah, well he uh… he went home” Aubrey lied. “We’re uh… going to go meet up with him now actually.” 

‘Oh, but I’m bad at lying’ he thinks, giving Aubrey a deadpan look. 

The pinkette glares back with a look that screams ‘shut up’. 

“Oh ok! Tell him I said hi!” Cris replied, before setting off towards her house. 

The second she was out of sight, Aubrey lets out a loud groan, Hero felt like doing the same, but ultimately decides to try and maintain his composure for now.  

He’ll scream into his pillow once this is all over. 

The group resumes their trek in silence once again. Thankfully, they were close enough to the store already, so after a mere ten minutes of walking they’re about a block or two from their destination. Hero’s glad they’ve made such swift progress, he’s been walking all day, and his lungs are starting to feel it. 

‘I’m getting old’ he internally laments, ignoring the fact that he’s never been in good shape. 

Hero is snapped out of his thoughts when the group suddenly comes to a halt, as Aubrey stops and yells across the street. 

“Basil!” she calls out. 

Shocked, Hero turns his gaze to where Aubrey’s looking and low and behold there stands Basil with the scared ‘Sunny’ in tow. The latter of whom is wearing… sunglasses? Weird. 

‘Well I’ll be damned, he did it.’ Hero thought, feeling a sudden and strange sense of pride. 

Aubrey rushed forward, embracing the blonde in a strong hug that seemed to wind the poor boy. Anger also marched forward, but Hero could tell his intentions were much less wholesome. 

“You!” the red clone roared. 

Basil’s eyes went wide, and Aubrey went to protest. But then to everyone’s surprise, the scared ‘Sunny’ stood in front of Basil, his arms stretched out wide in a defiant stance. The clone was shaking with fear, but he held strong refusing to back down, even as his rageful counterpart glared at him. 

“You’re really siding with him? ” Anger asked, clearly perplexed. 

Fear didn’t respond, simply whimpering instead. Leaving the response up to Basil who seemed equally terrified. 

“Look S-Sunny we talked things o-out” the blonde explained. 

“ Oh really? Well, I-” Anger went to retort. 

“Stop” Aubrey interrupted. 

The delinquent stood tall, putting her hand on the angry clone’s shoulder, and looking him right in the eyes. 

“You don’t want this” she said, her tone half warning and half reassurance. 

“But I... He…” Anger stuttered, quickly losing his composure. 

“I know.” 

“So why-” 

“We don’t w-want to h-hurt people” Sadness chimed in. “R-Remember?” 

The air was tense and for a moment Hero wasn’t sure the angry clone had been swayed. But then Anger sighed and thankfully backed down. 

“Sorry…” he grumbled. “Just seeing you brings back…” 

“Bad memories” Sadness added, solemnly. 

“I u-understand” Basil said. “We h-have a lot to t-talk about.” 

‘Understatement of the century’ Hero thinks. 

Before any further arguing or discussion can break out, Fear suddenly lets out a panicked yell. Hero follows his gaze and sees a large plume of pitch-black smoke on the horizon, coming from the direction of the store. 

‘Kel…’ 

Without any hesitation, Hero sprints off towards the shop, his lungs burn but he keeps running. He hears his friend’s protest and panic from behind him, before they too seemingly realise the severity of the situation and follow after him.  

Hero pays them no mind, there’s only one thought going through his head right now… 

‘Please be okay.’ 

Kel is flung forward, he feels something sharp, then warm and then he hits the ground with a thud. 

He’s dazed for a moment, his vision blurred and body aching. He blinks a few times and as his sight clears, he sees ‘Sunny’ hovering over him. The boy’s face is covered by his fringe, and as he turns to look at the store, Kel follows suit.  

The building is fully engulfed in flames now, although they’re no longer ethereally blue, instead they’re just the regular hues of red, orange, and yellow.  

It’s still beautiful though… in a weird way. 

Recollecting his memories, Kel recalls the burning ceiling and falling rafters, he was about to be crushed, and yet the two boys are outside. ‘Sunny’ must have tackled him out of the way... and out of the store too. 

‘He saved me…’ 

Rising into a sitting position, Kel hisses and looks down at his chest. The first thing he notices is that his jersey is ruined, it’s scorched and… bloodied? Looking further down Kel sees the red stain is centred around his stomach. Suddenly feeling a sense of dread, he lifts his shirt, revealing a large wooden splinter sticking out from his abdomen.  

Surprisingly, Kel feels weirdly detached from his situation, like he’s looking at his injuries from an outside perspective. Like someone else has a piece of charred wood lodged in them. It briefly occurs to Kel that he might be in shock, Hero once described the symptoms to him, and they seem to line up with what he’s feeling right now. 

Impulsively flicks the splinter out of a strange sense of morbid curiosity, only to immediately cough up blood onto his jersey. 

‘Oh…’  

He falls back down on his back and whimpers in pain, catching the attention of ‘Sunny’, who turns to face him, concern clear in his expression. 

The copy rushes over, and after routing through his pockets, he pulls out a small vial. Then in one swift movement, he rips the chunk of wood out of Kel with one hand, and then pours the strange potion onto the wound with his other. 

Kel begins to scream in agony, but quickly stops, the searing pain he’d felt disappearing in a second. He looks up at ‘Sunny’ in shock and confusion. 

“It was for the game… I didn’t want you to get hurt” he explains. 

His eyes are solemn, his hair is raven black and most importantly, he’s no longer smiling, instead his expression is neutral. He looks like Sunny, the real Sunny. 

“I’m… not having fun anymore” the clone states, looking back at the burning store. “I’m sorry, I just wanted you to be happy.” 

“But you… weren’t happy… and you weren’t having fun” he adds.  

“No, I wasn’t” Kel admits. 

“I don’t want to go back” ‘Sunny’ states. “It’s so sad being whole… so suffocating, like the weight of the world is on my chest at all times. I hate it.” 

“I understand…” Kel says. “After Mari died, I felt so conflicted and confused. I wanted to help everyone… I just didn’t know how.” 

“You helped me… you saved me” ‘Sunny’ replies. 

Kel smiles, genuinely grateful for his kind words. 

“Well then, I think we’re equal now” he chuckles. 

‘Sunny’ lets out a small laugh and as he does so, some colour returns to his hair. 

“I wanted everyone to be happy too, but you can’t force that… it isn’t healthy” Kel states. “You asked why I always smile… I do it because it’s easy, because if I don’t, then everything catches up with me…”  

“And its… sad” he continues. “And I always hated feeling sad, but life is complicated , and its ok to feel upset… it took me a long time to realise that…” 

“I don’t get it…” ‘Sunny’ mumbles. “Happiness is good… the other emotions… they just hurt us… hurt others.” 

He looks up at Kel, eyeing up his healing wounds. 

“But then again... so do I…” he says solemnly.  

“We hate ourself you know. That’s why the others aren’t back yet. We all hate being Sunny.” 

“Mari loved you” Kel states. “I know she did, and I know she wouldn’t want to see you like this.” 

The familiar words sting as they leave his mouth, but Kel steadies his breathing and carries on. 

“You were enough to her; you were always enough. I’m sorry she never got to tell you that” he adds. 

‘Sunny’ scoffs, but Kel is undeterred. 

“If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but it’s the truth” he says. “If nothing else then… well I just want you to know… you’re enough to me bud.” 

“I want to exist…” the clone says. “But Sunny doesn’t have anything to be happy about…” 

“Then we’ll find something for you to smile about” Kel states, slowly standing back up. “Together.” 

“…You mean it?” ‘Sunny’ asks, his tone both optimistic and hesitant. 

“I mean it. Basil might be your best friend, but you’re mine and I want to help you” he continues. “We can still fix this… please” 

‘Sunny’ doesn’t say anything, and for a minute all is quiet except for the crackling of the nearby flames. The moment passes and the clone sighs, a small smile forming on his face. He walks over and goes to embrace Kel. 

“I don’t know if we even can anymore… but we might as well try” the clone says. 

Kel smiles in response and goes to embrace his friend, but right before he can, a red blur suddenly lunges forward, colliding with the smiling ‘Sunny’. Jumping back in shock, Kel loses balance and tumbles down to ground, only to be caught by his brother. 

“Kel are you okay?! How many fingers am I holding up?!” Hero frantically asks, waving his hand rapidly. 

“Dude, relax” Kel groans. “I’m fine, also five.” 

Hero breathes a sigh of relief, as Kel looks back up towards ‘Sunny’ only to see there are now two copies stood there. The angry one has his fist firmly planted in the happy clone’s jaw, and yet the smiling ‘Sunny’ just seems amused. 

“Oh fu-” Anger starts. 

“You’re it” Happiness says with a smile. 

Happiness merely flicks his angry counterpart on his forehead and yet it somehow produces enough force to send the copy flying backwards, where he’s luckily caught by Aubrey. 

“Woah!” Kel exclaims, before finally taking notice of his friends. 

The whole gang is here, along with the remaining ‘Sunny’ copies. 

“What did you do?!” Anger roars. 

“Woah, woah it’s okay! We talked it out!” Kel replies, escaping Hero’s grasp and standing to defend Happiness. “Everything is ok!” 

“Kel the store is on fire” Aubrey deadpans. 

He doesn’t have a response for that. 

“You- you’re all here?” Happiness asks, genuine shock evident in his tone. 

“W-We also talked things o-out” Sadness replies. 

“Yeah, we got some new house rules” Angers adds. “Now care to explain what the hell happened here?!” 

“I uh… might have got a bit carried away… sorry” Happiness says, with a nervous laugh. 

“…I’m gonna kick your-” Anger starts. 

“No f-fighting” Sadness interjects. “Remember?” 

“I am seriously regretting agreeing to that” Anger grumbles. 

... 

“Wait w-what about the shopkeep?!” Basil asks nervously. 

‘Oh right… oh no. ’ 

At that moment, the roof of the store suddenly explodes, a variety of tentacles and strange elongated arms stretch out from the burning building, reaching up into the heavens. Horrific screams fill the air as the group takes a collective step backwards out of fear.  

But as soon as the nightmare starts, it ends. 

A glass dome begins to manifest around the store as the creatures within bang against it, thankfully being too weak to crack it. The group then watches on in shock and awe as the dome and store within it quickly shrinks down to size of a tennis ball. 

The orb begins to fall to the ground, only to be caught by the Warlock. Looking closer, Kel realises that the shop has been transformed into a snow globe, although even at this distance he can still see the tentacles wriggling within it. 

The man stares at the globe for a while, before groaning and storing it away in his back pocket. He looks battered, parts of his outfit are ridged, clearly still frozen, whilst other parts are burnt. His beard is nothing more than a scorched stubble, and his eyes glare at the group with clear contempt. 

“I have lived for a millennium, seen and done things you could never imagine… and I’ve grown bored, apathetic, sloppy …” he says. “In the pursuit of new thrills, I have needlessly endangered myself… today has taught me a valuable lesson.”  

“Not to sell magic books to teenagers?” Aubrey asks sarcastically. 

“Partially” the Warlock admits. “But mainly to not waste my time in stupid hick towns!” 

“For God’s sake what was I thinking?! Selling powerful objects to you redneck morons! It’s a miracle I haven’t been shot yet! Screw this country! I’m going back to England, to hell with you all!” he rants. 

“No wait! We still need your help!” Hero begs. 

The Warlock simply stares at the small crowd in front of him, his expression one of disgust and frustration. 

“Are you blind? You have everything you need already!” he yells. 

“W-What?” Basil questions. 

“You’re smart figure it out!” The Warlock replies, rolling his eyes. 

Aubrey and Anger approach the shopkeep together, their fists clenched in rage. 

“Listen here you old bastard! You’re going to help us or I’m shoving this bat right up your-” Aubrey threatens. 

The wizard begins to mumble a bunch of nonsense, then flings a small black pouch to the ground, it bursts on contact with the scorched earth, releasing a cloud of dark smoke, that stings Kel’s eyes and hurts his throat. 

He hears his friend’s cries of protest, as they all back away coughing and spluttering, tripping over each other as they try to escape the cloud. 

As he stumbles, Kel suddenly feels sad, then angry, then scared, all in quick succession. The combination of the smog and the emotional whiplash causes him to feel incredibly ill.  

Falling onto his knees, Kel begins to retch, before violently throwing up into a nearby storm drain. The foul bile burns his mouth as it comes up, its colour is a mix of ash black and blood red, a painful reminder that he had just escaped a housefire and had a chunk of wood ripped out of his chest… honestly, he should probably see a doctor about that. 

Coughing a few more times, Kel gets off his knees and examines his surroundings. His friends are in various stages of recovery, with poor Basil being in the worst state, violently vomiting onto the pavement as Fear rubs his back. 

Looking at the crater where the store had stood, Kel sees that the smoke has mostly faded, and that the Warlock is gone. 

‘Damnit.’ 

… 

“That mumbling… Oh! He was the Squizzard!” Happiness exclaims, with a laugh. “Ha! I knew he seemed familiar.” 

Anger groaned in frustration, but still seemed to at least understand the reference. Whilst the rest of their group just stared at him with a puzzled look. 

“Kel… please tell me you have the spell book?” Hero asks, desperation clear in his tone. 

“I… no… sorry” Kel says remorsefully. 

His brother sighs, cups his hands around his face, and screams into them. 

... 

“We should g-go” Basil suggests. “Before the c-cops show up.” 

“The hell would the pigs- Oh! Oh…” Aubrey says, her face going pale. 

Looking back at the smouldering pit where the store once stood Kel can’t help but agree with Basil. There’s no universe where the police will accept ‘magic’ as the reason behind a store suddenly disappearing. 

“You think Mom and Dad will be cool with us having a sleepover?” he asks, looking back at his brother. 

“I think they’ll have to be” Hero replies. 

... 

As the group begins their long walk back home, the sound of distant sirens fills the night air. Their feet ache and exhaustion plagues them, today has been a long day, but they know tomorrow will be longer... 

Chapter Text

Mrs Rodriguez would be the first (well okay maybe second) to admit she hasn’t always been the greatest parent...  

But then again by Faraway’s standards, she was practically the Virgin Mary. Still, comparing your own failures to those of others doesn’t make them any better.  

And she has made a lot of mistakes. 

Nothing prepares you for raising a child. One minute you’re staring awestruck at a plus symbol on a pregnancy test, next you're waving goodbye, tears in your eyes as you send them off to university, knowing you’ll have to do the same for the next kid in a couple of years.  

It's frightening just how fast time flies, twenty years gone in the blink of an eye, with one child ready to move out and another not far behind. 

Maybe it’s Kel’s approaching eighteenth birthday, or Hero finishing the second year of his studies, or Sally finally speaking her first words, but these days Mrs Rodriguez finds herself reflecting on her life more and more.  

She grew up in a dingy apartment in some wind-torn Mid-Western state. Their family had moved to America because of her father’s work. He was a hard worker with a well-paying job, one that had provided for all of them.  

Emphasis on had.  

She was too young to remember the exact details, but what she does know is that one day her father came home without a job to return too. He had been hit with forced redundancy, the result of some crisis with upper management, an insurance scandal or something equally stupid. Just another case of dumb rich men playing their little games, uncaring who would get caught in the crossfire. 

After that, her parents both had to work two jobs, to keep a roof over their heads, and once she turned sixteen, she did too.  

It was a hectic childhood for sure, but whilst some days were hard, she knew others had it worse. Because even as they struggled to pay rent, her parents made sure she never went hungry.  

They taught her something during those years of struggle, a value she’s held onto all her life. 

‘Work hard, make something of your life.’ 

So, she did, she worked a dozen jobs over the years, made some wise financial decisions, eventually meet the right man, married, found a nice house to live in and started a family of her own.  

Still, part of her never truly left that old apartment, she knew every luxury was temporary and that all it would take is one slip up and her whole family could end up living on the streets.  

So, when Hero first showed signs of being ‘gifted’, she leapt at the opportunity.  

If she had been half as clever as her son was at his age, then they’d all be rich by now and her parents would never have to worry about missing a bill. 

Hindsight is a bitch of course, so only now is she starting to realise the extent of the damage this attitude caused.  

It was obvious Hero never cared about becoming a doctor, only following her wishes because he felt aimless in the aftermath of Mari’s death. And that Kel was starved for attention, quietly envious of the attention his big brother received. 

She didn’t realise it all back then, or at least she chose not to. But she still loves all her children, although she’s not sure they know that, and that hurts.  

It hurts a lot. 

Sadly, it's impossible for her to just undo all her mistakes, especially when she still doesn’t know the full extent of them. But she can try to improve, to be better for them and for Sally. 

All this is to say, that when her babies show up at their front door at some ungodly hour, bruised and exhausted, with their equally battered friends and three more Sunnys than there should be, she lets them in and tends to their injuries.  

Her kids beg to let them all stay the night, promising to explain everything in the morning, and whilst all she has is questions, she doesn’t ask them. 

Instead, she helps set up blankets downstairs, converting their living room into a makeshift third bedroom.  

No one says a word the entire time. Her husband keeps Sally calm, and the kids help sort out everyone’s sleeping arrangements. Although Aubrey seems way too excited about sleeping on the couch. 

Once it’s all set up and everyone is ‘settled’ the Rodriguez family makes their way up the stairs to their respective rooms. But before she goes to bed, she hugs her kids and looks into their eyes, the look they give back is one of silent reassurance. 

She has no idea what the hell is going on. 

But she trusts them to do the right thing. 

Black, pitch black, the gaping abyss, the endless dark that lulls all of mankind into the world of dreams... well except for Hero. He shuts his eyes, keeps them closed and waits for the arms of Morpheus to take him. But they never arrive. 

... 

‘Morpheus... God I’m such a nerd.’ 

In layman’s terms, Hero can’t sleep. Of course, he’s not surprised by this, in fact he anticipated it, he knew from the second he laid his head down on his pillow that he wasn’t going to get a second of rest. 

How could he? In the span of twenty-four hours, Hero and his friends have been through hell. 

Magic is real, Sunny has been split into four copies, Aubrey got in a gang fight, Basil got lost in the woods, Kel almost died, a store exploded into Lovecraftian nightmare, and then got shrunk down into a snow globe, and that’s just scrapping the surface! 

Truthfully, the worst part is that it's not even over yet. Sunny is still stuck as his emotions, and the one person who could fix him has up and left, disappearing to God knows where.  

Sighing, Hero opens his eyes, accepting his insomnia, and looks over at his brother. 

‘He’s okay...’ 

Hero takes a deep breath and exhales, rising from his bed, he sits there for a moment and contemplates yesterday’s events.  

He had been annoyed at Kel for playing around with magic like it was some kind of kid’s toy, but he also knew- no. He thought that his brother would be the best person to monitor Happiness. He never thought it’d end up like this...  

He never wanted any of this. 

‘Christ...’ 

They’re all damaged. Every single one of them. And he doesn’t just mean Sunny and his copies, he means all of his friends.  

He knows that if anyone else had been hit by that spell, then they would be in an equally difficult situation, hell it might have actually been worse. He doubts they would ever be able to reason with a truly angry Aubrey or the embodiment of Basil’s fears, or his own sadness.  

Sick of dwelling on hypotheticals, Hero groans and forces himself to finally get out of his bed, he knows he isn’t sleeping tonight, so there’s no point in even trying anymore.  

This room puts him on edge, he’s spent too much of his life rotting in here. He’d much rather be downstairs with his friends, but he knows they’re using all their available space right now so that's not happening. 

It’s a shame really, this is the first sleepover they’ve had since... well, it's been a while, and Hero would have liked for it to be under different circumstances. But they all have to deal the hands they’ve been dealt. So, there’s no use dwelling on what might have been.  

Besides they can always have another sleepover. 

With that thought in mind, Hero carefully makes his way out of the bedroom, trying his best to be quiet, not that it would even matter, Kel sleeps like a rock. Looking back at his brother one last time, Hero can’t help but feel jealous of that fact. Still, he doubts the rest of the house is sleeping so soundly, so he makes sure to keep quiet as he slowly steps down their staircase.  

He needs air, a quick walk should help, a stroll up to the park maybe. Honestly it doesn’t matter where he exactly goes, he just wants to get out of this house for a minute. 

Hero sneaks through the living room, trying his best to not wake the scattered group of teenagers sleeping throughout it.  

He doesn’t even make it out the door before he hears the sirens.  

They stun him, leaving him stood there motionless, in the hallway, listening to the faint but ever-recognisable sound of distant fire trucks. They’ve been blaring for hours now.  

Hero first heard them on the walk back home, although he’d assumed they had stopped by now. But clearly, they haven’t. Unless of course they were police sirens instead, which make sense, a shop disappearing in a burst of smoke is bond to catch some unwanted attention.  

Either way they brought back... unpleasant  memories. 

Sirens never mean anything good; he’s learnt that much by now. 

Groaning again, Hero turns away from the door. Going for a walk suddenly feels a lot less appealing. 

‘Guess it’s time to go stare at the ceiling for the next five hours.’ 

With that depressing thought in mind Hero starts to sneak back out of the living room. But he’s barely halfway through the room before he suddenly halts. A nagging thought at the back of his mind taking control for a moment. 

‘Is everyone here?’ 

It’s paranoia undoubtedly, but after everything that happened yesterday... 

‘Better safe than sorry’ he thinks, taking a minute to look over the room. 

Aubrey, check. 

Anger, check. 

Basil, check. 

Fear, check. 

Sadness... 

‘Uh oh.’ 

Both Sadness and Happiness are missing, and Hero knows this can’t possibly mean anything good. But before he can start to panic, he suddenly picks up on the sound of... whispering? 

“...Listen to.... not okay...” 

Hero only hears every over word, but he can tell it’s coming from the next room over, and he’d recognise that voice anywhere. 

‘They must be in the dining room.’ 

Tiptoeing his way over, Hero listens in as the whispering becomes clearer. 

“You went too far” Sadness says. 

“I know” Happiness replies. 

Hero probably shouldn’t be eavesdropping on this. But well... they haven’t noticed him yet. 

He knows he should either walk in and announce his presence or walk away and respect their privacy. But instead, he chooses to linger in the doorway. 

‘This could be important’ he thinks. 

‘That’s a poor justification and you know it.’   

“People... Kel, got h-hurt because of you” Sadness continues. “We can’t- you can’t just... we’ve h-hurt them e-enough already.” 

“I know I just... it was nice you know... that high” Happiness says. “That feeling of genuine joy... I only wanted to share it.” 

“But he didn’t want that” Sadness insisted. 

“Yeah... look I know I went too far, but I just want everyone to be happy! We’ve spent all our life hurting people, hurting ourselves, I just wanted to help for once.” 

“Well, you d-didn’t.” 

“Oh, like you can judge me! Sorry that I decided to enjoy existing for once, you keep me pushed down all the time! It’s suffocating, you’re suffocating.” 

“I’m s-sorry I never meant to, it’s j-just... M-Mari...” 

“Mari... always Mari... you know she wouldn’t want to see us like this.” 

Hero couldn’t help but flinch at his choice of words. 

“Mari wouldn’t want to see you like this. ”  

“She w-wouldn't” Sadness agreed. “B-But things will c-change, I p-promise, we can all still co-exist." 

“We’re opposites” Happiness countered. “And Sunny has a lot more reasons to feel sad than happy. We can’t change... I’m sorry.” 

“We c-can, what other choice do we h-have?" 

“Well... maybe Omori was onto something.” 

‘Omori?’ 

“No. You’re wrong.” 

Hero is shocked by the authority in Sadness’ voice. For once the copy sounds confident, borderline confrontational. He has no idea what a piano brand has to do with any of this, let alone how it can have an opinion, but whatever they’re talking about, it's clearly a serious matter. 

“Hey, you asked” Happiness retorts smugly, before his tone suddenly becomes more solemn. “But I don’t want that, not really, and clearly neither do you. We fought hard for this second chance but... look, I’m sorry, I just can’t see a way forward for us.” 

“I spoke with Anger, we agreed s-some new r-rules and-” Sadness replies. 

“It doesn’t matter blue. I’ve ruined it, the Warlock’s gone, there’s no magic fix to this mess anymore. We’re stuck like this... I’m truly sorry.” 

Sadness sniffles a bit but tries to maintain some composure. 

“I thought y-you were the optimistic one.” 

“Guess you’ve been rubbing off on me.”  

A moment of silence passes, Hero contemplates stepping in, but then Happiness speaks up again. 

“But... if we can fix this... fix ourselves. Then I’ll go along with it” he says. “...I want to be whole again.” 

It’s dark and Hero can’t see their expressions, but he doesn’t need to, he can practically feel the shock radiating from Sadness. 

“W-what?” 

“I want to be happy, but I also want our friends to be happy... us being like this... it upsets them. We’ve hurt them enough, and maybe to help them... we need to help ourselves first.” 

“H-Hero said something s-similar to me...” 

“And I meant it” Hero says, finally making his presence known. 

The two Sunnys turn to look at him, both clearly shocked. 

“How long were you listening?” Happiness asked with an amused expression. 

“Only a couple of minutes. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I just wanted some air, but then I heard whispering from in here and well, here we all are.” Hero replied. 

“Couldn’t s-sleep?” Sadness asked. 

“No... guessing you two couldn’t either.” 

“Hey Hero... I’m sorry about Kel-” Happiness went to say. 

“Stop” Hero interjected, his tone harsher than he intended. “I get it, you wanted to help... in your own misguided way... and you still saved him, you dragged him out of there, so... thank you for that... But Sadness is right, you went too far, and you are not pulling anything like that again. Ok?” 

“Ok...” 

“Good. Now! Who is Omori?” 

The two Sunnys flinch again. Hero doesn’t like how forward he’s having to be, but if he’s going to help, he needs to get to the core of the issue here. He and Sadness at least have something of an understanding, but Happiness is a wild card at best and potentially dangerous at worst. 

“He was us, but then he wasn’t... honestly I don’t know” Happiness replied. 

“What?” 

“By the e-end... he was d-different" Sadness ‘clarified’.  

“He was a blank canvas, a... hollow shell, that we projected ourselves onto. It was a coping mechanism, we dreamed we were him every night, and as Omori we would go on wild adventures with all our friends... It was fun.”  

There’s a smile on Happiness’ face and a fond, almost whimsical, nostalgia to his words. 

“Until it w-wasn't” Sadness added. “He became s-separate from us, almost a d-different person. He wanted to p-protect us from the t-truth... even if that meant... d-dying.” 

“He went rouge, gained too much autonomy over time. We only ignored it for as long as we did because well... he was our friend, our only friend... I still miss him some days” Happiness says sombrely. “But we couldn’t co-exist any longer, and so during our last three days here, we were caught between being Sunny... or Omori.” 

“S-Sunny won” Sadness concluded. 

“Those adventures, your dreams, that was headspace, wasn’t it?” Hero asked. 

Happiness seems confused and shocked by the question, but Sadness shoots his counterpart a look that says, ‘we told him’. 

“Uh y-yeah" Happiness says after a moment of stupor. “It was.” 

“I had something similar” Hero confesses. “A series of reoccurring dreams, always the same premise, all of us in the park, just... relaxing. It was nice... and overtime it became more appealing than reality... In my dreams, Mari was there, so were all of you, and we were all happy.” 

“But then I’d wake up, open my eyes to worse world, a world without her... and I just... I couldn’t face that reality... I burnt through just about every coping mechanism I had in the span of year.” He continued. 

Hero paused. He knows what he has to do next, what he must confess. He also knows that if whether he opens up here or not, he’ll still have to do it when Aubrey inevitably asks for a follow-up on their last conversation. But this does little to reassure him. 

He was in a dark place for a long time, and even though he’s speaking to one- uh two, of the only people who could possibly understand him, it’s still a hard step to take. To confess something he’s kept secret for so long. 

‘Is this how Sunny felt?’  

Taking a deep breath, he rolls down the shelves of his jumper, revealing a series of faint scars on his wrists, barely visible in the darkness of the dining room. 

“I hurt myself... in more ways than one. But in a way, those dreams were still the worst. Because they promised me a better life, a lie.” Hero said, doing his best to stay composed. 

“I’m showing you this because I need you to know that I understand you, that I’ve sunk to those same lows, but that I’m still here and so are you. You can get better, even if it feels impossible, there’s always a way forward. It’ll be difficult, but you can do it, we all can.” 

“Together” Sadness adds. 

“Together” Hero agrees. 

Happiness hesitates for a moment, before smiling. 

“Together.”  

Aubrey wakes up early.  

It's not a conscious choice, if anything it annoys her, this couch is far comfier than her own bed, plus she doesn’t have to worry about the ceiling suddenly giving in, so that’s nice. But despite this, she still wakes before anyone else. Maybe it's because of the stress of yesterday’s events or maybe it's just a force of habit, either way she's awake so that means it’s time to face the day. 

Looking around the room, Aubrey sees all the Sunny clones are still asleep, a painful reminder that yesterday wasn’t a nightmare. Before she can dwell on that thought, she realises that Basil is missing. 

‘Huh guess I’m not the only early riser’ she thinks. 

Getting up off the couch, Aubrey makes her way over to the kitchen, doing her best to not wake any of the sleeping copies. She’s sure Hero won’t mind if she helps herself to breakfast, and if Kel has objections, then she doesn’t care. That moron had one job , just mind Happiness until they get back, and yet somehow, he managed to burn the damn store down and nearly get himself killed in the process. 

She’s glad he’s okay, but she is still mad at him. Although, she’d be a lot angrier if she hadn’t seen the state he was in. His clothes had been scorched, ripped and bloody, his skin paler than it should have been and he practically radiated despair. It was quite the sight, and not a good one at that. 

Whatever, he’s still breathing, so she’ll just yell at him once this nightmare is over. 

Entering the kitchen, she sees Basil clenching a cup of coffee like it’s his only lifeline and staring absentmindedly at the decor. 

“Nice house, isn’t it?” Aubrey asks. 

Basil jumps at the sudden question, almost dropping his mug. Thankfully he doesn’t let go it, and after taking a second to compose himself he turns to face Aubrey. 

“Y-yeah it really is, I f-forgot how big it is haha” he says awkwardly. “You uh s-scared me there...” 

“Sorry about that” she says. “Get much sleep?” 

“No... You?” 

Aubrey ponders his simple question for a moment. She slept great, even ignoring the fact that they got back to the house late and she woke up early. It was still had the best sleep she’s had in years.  

Exhaustion and a ceiling that doesn’t drip really does a girl wonders. 

“Not really” she lies. 

No point rubbing it in his face though. 

“Yeah... Coffee?” Basil asks. 

“Pass. You think Hero will mind if I grab breakfast?” 

“I d-don't think so.” 

“Sweet” Aubrey says as she strolls over to one of the many cabinets and opens it. 

Grabbing a pack of bread, she plops it down onto the countertop, unties it and removes two slices of bread, which she then promptly slots into a nearby toaster. Pushing the lever down she listens to the gadget hum as it begins to slowly toast the bread. 

Finished with her mundane task, she turns to look at Basil. The blonde teen is sipping his coffee and avoiding eye contact.  

Aubrey goes to say something, but can’t think of anything, leaving the kitchen quiet bar the buzzing of the toaster. Basil shifts uncomfortably in his spot, but he too remains silent. 

... 

‘God this is awkward.’ 

She had forgotten how... difficult it was to talk to Basil one on one. They’d made amends, but there was always a certain level of tension between them. Usually it was fine, because there was always someone else to help carry the conversation. But right now, it's just her and him... and it sucks. 

‘How did we get to this point?’ 

A few short years ago they had been best friends, essentially family. But now... 

‘You know exactly why he won’t look at you.’  

Scanning the kitchen she desperately searches for anything to make small talk on. Eventually her eyes land on a small potted plant; it consists of several large green leaves, with a single tall stem stands higher than the rest of the plant, atop of which rests a single white petal. 

‘Perfect’ 

“Hey Basil, what's that flower called?” Aubrey asks. 

“H-huh? Oh! That’s a p-peace lily" Basil replies. “It’s an aroid, part of the arum or a-araceae family.” 

“They’re distinguished by their s-spadix, t-that little spikey thing in front of the p-petal" he explains, as he starts rambling about the flower’s ‘many features’. 

Aubrey smiles to herself, she’s still got it. Give the flower boy a flower and he’ll talk for days. 

“What does it mean?” she asks. 

“Huh?” he replies, confused. 

“Like what does it represent? Ya know, flower language?” 

“Oh! Oh... w-well it has a l-lot of different m-meanings. Obviously, p-peace haha... but also purity, solace, harmony and... remembrance.” 

‘Remembrance...’ 

... 

“How’d you get Fear to play ball?” she asks, trying to change the subject. “The other Sunnys seemed terrified of him.” 

“We... uh t-talked" Basil answers. “H-He’s still on e-edge though, so be careful around him p-please." 

“That’s it? Huh... Also sure, I’ll keep my distance, don’t wanna scare him off” she replies with a forced laugh. 

... 

‘Back to silence then-’ 

“A-Actually that reminds me... my talk with F-Fear... it j-just got me t-thinking... we never t-talked about... e-everything..." he continues. 

Aubrey raises an eyebrow at that, they most definitely did. 

“We did?” she says. 

“N-Not all of it...” 

She does not like where this conversation is going, and she certainly doesn’t have the energy for it. 

“...Look how I treated you was wrong... very wrong. But I thought... I thought we were cool” she says. 

She must sound like a petulant child, she sure feels like one, stood here begging for an easy out to a difficult conversation. 

“W-We are, I f-forgive you, hell if a-anything I deser- I mean... I want... I want us to be f-friends again, r-real friends” he replies. 

“Basil, you didn’t deserve it, and we are friends it's just... difficult being around you sometimes...” 

She regrets her words the second she says them. 

“W-wait that's not what I mean! I meant... I mean... we should talk... once this is all over.” 

“W-why not now?” 

“Look its early and we’ve got a long day ahead of us, why don’t we just-” 

“Aubrey.” 

“Basil I really don’t want to talk-” 

“P-Please I want to be f-friends again, let's just t-talk... please.” 

Talk.... 

There’s only one question she’s wanted to ask him. One she’s been avoiding for nearly a year now. Because she knows she won’t be ready for the answer. The real answer, not that crap he gave her at the hospital.  

She knows there’s more to it; she just doesn’t want to know what... not now anyway. 

“Basil... no...” 

“Aubrey I- I'm done r-running, I want to talk about-” 

“Well I don’t!” she snaps. “I don’t want to talk about how I was a piece of shit to you! Or why the hell you decided to hang Mari! Or any of it! Because... because....”  

Basil looks horrified, it’s a familiar expression. 

The blonde freak falls the floor with a thud.  

“Get up”  

Wide blue eyes stare back at her in horror. She can’t stand the reflection she sees in them.  

“Get up!”  

“Look, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry I just... I can’t do this right now... we’ll talk tomorrow. Ok?” 

Basil doesn’t respond at first, but after a moment he nods his head, quickly finishes the rest of his coffee and speed walks out the kitchen. All whilst Aubrey just stands there, numb to the world around her. 

The toaster suddenly springs up with a small burst of smoke. The two pieces of toast are burnt to a crisp; her breakfast is ruined. 

Kel wakes up to an empty bedroom, but a full house. 

Or at least that’s what the constant chattering and movement from downstairs would imply. 

‘Why though? Did we have a house par- Oh! Oh...’ 

Part of him wants to write yesterday off as a bad dream, but raising his shirt reveals a faint but large circular scar on his abdomen. It wasn’t a nightmare... well it was, but not in the literal sense. 

All his friends and four clones of Sunny are downstairs, one of whom nearly got him killed... Suddenly Kel understands why his brother and Sunny chose the hikikomori lifestyle. He does not want to leave this bed right now. 

... 

‘Ok never mind this is super boring’ he thinks, kicking off the sheets and crawling out of bed. 

Clearly the shut-in life is not for him. 

Speaking of which, looking over at his brother’s confirms that Hero is in fact gone, and not hiding under the sheets. 

‘He must have gotten up early... Guess it’s my turn now.’ 

Walking downstairs, he barely reaches the bottom before he bumps into his dad who pulls him aside to talk. 

“Hey son... what’s going on?” he asks, some desperation leaking into his voice. 

Oh right, Kel did promise his parents an explanation. 

“Uh... you and mom might wanna sit down for that” Kel replies, with an awkward laugh. 

“Ah okay... well uh, your friends are just in the living room, why don’t you go grab some breakfast sport?” 

Thats the best thing he’s heard all day... then again, he has only been awake for five minutes. 

“Alright, thanks Dad” he says, setting off for the kitchen. 

Entering the living room, the first thing Kel sees is chaos. 

Sadness is trying to reassure Fear who looks like they’re about to have a panic attack at the drop of a feather, Basil is using the house phone, nervously fidgeting with the wire, whilst Aubrey is clearly trying to ignore Basil’s presence, instead talking to Hero and Anger, both of whom look equally tired. All whilst Happiness plays with Sally on the floor, his little sister cooing at the attention. 

It’s a cute sight but knowing what that particular clone can do... well it sours the moment a bit. He shoots Happiness a glare, an unspoken warning, which is promptly heeded by the clone who nervously hands Sally over to Hero. 

With that problem resolved, Kel addresses his brother with a look that screams ‘what is happening’. 

“Morning” he says. 

“Ah, good morning, bro” Hero replies, with a look of his own that says, ‘don’t worry I’ve got this, go get breakfast’. 

Following the silent advice, Kel makes a beeline for the kitchen.  

Opening the door, he’s immediately greeted by the faint smell of burnt toast, so either he’s having a stroke, or someone put the settings too high. 

‘Hopefully the latter’ he thinks. 

His mom stands in the corner of the room, clutching her mug tightly. Kel’s observation skills aren’t the best, but even he can tell she’s stressed. 

“Hey mama...” he says. 

“Oh! Hello Kel... how are you?” she asks awkwardly. 

“Uhhh fine, I guess, just came to grab some breakfast” he replies. 

“Right of course, there’s a few slices of bread left, I’ll make some toast.” 

“Thanks mom” 

“...Kel, mijo... what’s going on?” 

He’d expected this, honestly Kel was surprised it had taken her this long to ask. 

“Well uh....” 

‘How the hell do I explain this?’ 
“Are you okay?” she asks. 

“Huh?” Kel says, surprised by the question. 

He catches a brief flash of guilt on her face, before she elaborates. 

“I mean are you hurt mijo? Your clothes...” 

Oh right, Happiness really did a number on him. 

“Yeah, I’m... I’m fine, honestly” he lies. 

She doesn’t believe it, he can tell that much, but thankfully she doesn’t push it either. 

“Ok, if you’re sure... but what about Sunny?” she asks.  

“Well, he’s- they’re- it’s uh... complicated?” he says, practically begging her to leave it there. 

Kel only gets a glare as a response, clearly that explanation wasn’t going to fly. 

“Look you might wanna sit down with dad for that, it’s quite the story” he explains. 

“Kel, I’m not your father, tell me what’s going on” she demands. 

He barely even has time to respond before she continues. 

“Are they his cousins? Extended family? Oh God are they his siblings?!” 

Kel is too stunned to muster a reply, sadly his mother takes that silence as an answer. 

“Oh ese bastardo mujeriego!” she curses.  

“Leaving his family like that! Does Helen know? That poor woman has been through enough already! His own daughter dead for less than a month and he leaves to foster a dozen kids! Increíble! Si alguna vez vuelve a mostrar su cara aquí es hombre muerto!” 

Her rant goes on for a while before Kel eventually interrupts. 

“Mama no! They’re not his siblings!” 

“Oh... then what- who are they? They look exactly like him!” 

“They... they are him” 

“What?” 

“Emotions” a grumpy voice intrudes. 

Kel’s heart jumps at the sudden interruption. Shrugging off his brief panic, he turns around, only to meet a very tired Anger. 

“We’re his emotions, magic is real, and yes it’s all as dumb as it sounds” the clone clarifies. 

The kitchen is uncomfortably quiet for what feels like an eternity, before Kel’s mom begins to curse under her breath. Honestly, he doesn’t blame her, this whole ordeal has been completely insane, and all things considered she’s taking it surprisingly well. 

“Hero wants you two in the living room by the way” Anger says lamely, sighing as he leaves. 

Well, that’s the best out he’s going to get. 

‘Thank you big bro.’ 

“We should probably go, I think Hero will be able to explain this all a lot better than I could” he says. 

“I- Ok, let's go” his mom replies with a defeated sigh. 

Basil wasn’t having a great morning. He couldn’t sleep, every time he closed his eyes the memories of the forest came pouring back into his mind. The hallucinations, his talk with Fear, bonding with hooligans, and... ‘Mari’. Every time he closed his eyes, her words echoed throughout his mind.  

‘What was she?’ 

Basil was experienced with hallucinations... an admittedly sad flex, but it meant that he knew when he was seeing things by now, and she... she was too real. He knows he’ll likely never know the answer, and it was that uncertainty that had plagued his mind, keeping him awake and depriving him of any rest. 

It also didn’t help overheard the chatter of two Sunny clones and Hero last night. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it still diminished his already low chances of getting any shut eye. 

Eventually, he just gave up on trying to sleep and decided to wander the house. The place proved to be a lot bigger than he remembered, which made him wonder how luxurious Sunny’s place used to be, because he recalls it being even nicer.  

His best friend had seriously rich parents, Mari never confirmed it, but Basil is fairly certainly they were the ones who contributed the most to buying the violin. You can only make so much money from a lemonade stand after all. 

‘The violin...’ 

Basil has a lot of regrets, but that was by far his biggest. It was his idea originally, one eagerly accepted by Mari, but if he had known how much pain it would cause everyone, he would have smashed the accursed thing himself. 

But never mind that.  

After a long night of no sleep and aimlessly pacing the house, he ultimately decided to go to the kitchen and drink an ungodly amount of coffee. He finished around ten cups before Aubrey suddenly walked in.  

It was awkward, he had no idea what to say to her, but thankfully she gave him an olive branch by bringing up the potted peace lily. 

Then he ruined it.  

He had been thinking about his newfound friendship with Kim, and his conversation with Fear, and it had caused him to self-reflect on a lot of his relationships. Aubrey was his first and oldest friend, he cared deeply about her, but there was always this air of tension between them, just like the one he had with Sunny. He wanted it gone; he wanted them to be truly friends.  

Like the old days. 

‘Still chasing the past... I’ll never change.’ 

Aubrey had rushed them into a new status quo after his time in the hospital, apologising for her bullying, accepting his vague explanations and spending a good part of the last school year dealing with anyone who bothered him. He had been so desperate for some normalcy that he immediately jumped at the chance of friendship. But deep down he knew that one day they would have to talk it all out.  

Fastforward a year and Basil had finally decided to have that talk. Only to immediately get shot down. He had assumed what worked with Fear with work with her... It didn’t. 

So now Aubrey probably hates him again, Sunny’s still broken with no way of fixing him, and he can’t even go home until this mess is fixed. There’s no way this day can get worse. 

... 

‘Wait... home...’ 

Oh, shit he hasn’t called Polly in over a day. 

Thankfully, Kel’s dad is still in the living room, although he’s clearly weirded out by the scene before him, which is understandable, considering all the weird technicolour clones. 

“M-Mr Rodriguez?” he calls out. 

“Ah, yes Basil, everything ok?” the man asks. 

“Can I b-borrow your phone p-please? I uh... haven’t called h-home in a while” 

“Oh of course, feel free” he says with a look of sympathy. “I’m going to go wake Kel now.” 

With that, the man turns and leaves the room. Basil wastes no time and races across the room, grabbing the house phone and dialling Polly’s number. 

It rings and rings, as Basil’s anxiety starts to spike with every passing second. There is no way Polly is going to be happy about this. Then, after what feels like forever, she finally picks up. 

“Hello?” Polly asks. 

“H-Hi Polly” 

“BASIL FLOWER WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” 

Basil moves the receiver away from his ear so as not to lose his hearing. 

‘This won’t be pretty.’ 

After his tough talk with Sadness and Happiness, Hero had returned to his bed and actually managed to get some sleep. He still woke up early though, just clearly not as early as Aubrey and Basil, who seemed to be ignoring each other. 

Normally, that would concern him, but he’s got a lot of work to do today, and he can’t allow himself to be distracted. If they’re still arguing by tomorrow then he’ll step in, but right now he has bigger fish to fry. 

So, he waits until everyone is awake, before conducting his plan. It’s a simple one really, but he just needs to sit everyone down first. He owes his parents an explanation and he needs to inform his friends on their next move. So, he might as well kill two birds with one stone. 

He sends Anger to go fetch his brother and mother, and calls out to Basil and Aubrey, the former looking relieved to have an excuse to hang up the phone and the latter simply rolling her eyes and taking a seat on the couch. The Sunnys don’t need instruction, they simply take their own spots throughout the living room, then a moment later Kel and his mom leave the kitchen and do the same. 

Hero stands before them, a dozen expecting eyes staring right at him. They’re friends and family, yet their silent questions still unnerve him. 

‘Stage fright in front of your friends... wow.’  

Taking a deep breath, he addresses his eager audience. 

“Ok... first of all, Mom, Dad, thank you. I know we dropped this all on you at very short notice, but everyone needed somewhere to rest, so again thank you” he says. 

His parents simply nod, he knows they appreciate the thanks, but they want answers more than platitudes. 

“Now about Sunny- er the Sunnys” he starts awkwardly. “They are... emotions, Sunny’s emotions. There was a store on the outskirts of town, they sold a book and well...” 

Kel looks away, Hero notices. 

“...The shopkeep was reckless and cruel, he used the book- used magic to split Sunny into his four main emotions. Anger, Fear, Happiness and Sadness” he continues, gesturing to each respective clone. 

The look of gratitude on Kel’s face does not escape Hero, however his parent’s expressions are impossible to read. 

“He offered to help, albeit hesitantly” he says, glancing at Aubrey, who gives him a smirk in response. “But the store... well it was destroyed, his own magic turned on him, he escaped, but now we have no way off fixing Sunny.” 

“Or well, that’s how it seems. The shopkeep said we have everything we need, but I’m not sure what he meant by that” he concludes. 

It’s quiet for a second. 

“Hero, son” his father starts. “That is... well that’s quite the story.” 

“Dad!” Hero and Kel object simultaneously. 

“I’m sorry! It just sounds insane! Magic? Clones? Surely there’s a more... rational explanation?” 

“Mr Rodriguez there’s literally four Sunnys in this room” Aubrey deadpans. 

Happiness gives a small wave, and Hero watches as his dad slowly come to terms with his new reality. 

“Can’t argue with that” he eventually relents with a sigh. 

“I believe you” his mother chimes in. “It’s nonsensical and insane, but I believe you.” 

“Thanks mama” Hero replies. 

“So, uh... what’s the plan?” Kel asks. 

“Right! Well, we need all of Sunny’s emotions to fix him, and we have all of his emotions, so all we need is a way to piece them back together” he starts. “Nearby University has an impressive library; a lot of old obscure texts are stored there. Demonology, cryptozoology and other occult books, all pseudo-science, practically fiction... but considering everything...” 

“Well, I don’t see any other leads” he concludes. 

“So what you’re gonna drive up to Nearby and search through some old occult crap?” Aubrey asks. “ That’s the plan?” 

“Basically” he replies. “Kel you’re coming with me, the rest of you are staying here and keeping an eye on the Sunnys.” 

He is not leaving his brother with these copies. Not again. He knows they won’t hurt him, not intentionally anyway, but Hero isn’t taking that risk. 

“What? Why?” Kel asks, clearly baffled. “I hate books! Ask Basil to go!” 

Hero is not spending two hours alone in a car with Basil. They’ve made amends, but he knows neither of them would be comfortable with that. 

“If you come with me, I’ll buy you lunch” Hero offers. 

“Deal!” 

Aubrey is like ninety percent sure that Hero is screwing with her. 

He needs people need to watch the Sunnys, sure, she gets that. Someone needs to help him research a fix for this mess, makes sense. He invites Kel, again makes sense, he hates books, but Hero wants to keep an eye on him. 

All of that she gets.  

But still, why is she here? Two heads are better than one, but three are even better!  

Plus, she cannot imagine Kel being much use in a library. Hero would argue that he needs more people to mind the clones, but there are literally two adults in this house! They raised two kids, and are raising a third, they’re infinitely better at babysitting than she is! 

Hero isn’t dumb, a bit emotionally unavailable at times, sure, but who in their group isn’t? So, it’s not exactly a stretch to say that Hero knew what he was doing leaving Aubrey in the same house as Basil, right after they just had a falling out. 

Now can she actually prove that? No. 

But she certainly wouldn’t be surprised if this was all part of some ulterior motive on his end. Either that or she’s reading into it too much. 

‘Whatever...’ 

She’s not talking to Basil until she’s ready to. He does not get to wake up and suddenly decide they finally need to talk. Not when they’re right in the middle of the most stressful crap she’s ever experienced. 

Well... maybe not the most, Mari’s death definitely messed her up. But maybe second most- no, the hospital incident gave her a serious panic attack. Third most- no, her parents' divorce was horrific. 

... 

‘Damn... my life sucks.’ 

Anyway, the point is that they’re in the midst of a metaphorical dumpster fire, and she has enough emotional baggage to process as it is, she does not need Basil dumping his insanity on her too. They’ll talk after this is all over... 

‘If it ever ends.’  

‘Ok enough with the depressing thoughts!’ 

Sitting here doing nothing is just worsening her mood. Sure, it’s nice to actually have a couch to sit on, but she hates feeling so... inactive . Her friend is literally in pieces, and she can’t do anything to help. It’s a frustrating feeling, this helplessness. Half the reason she first picked up her bat is so that she would never feel this way again. So that she would be the one in control of her life. 

But now her bat is gone, and her relationships are in shambles again. 

Time and time again, her life has spiralled out of her control, and now all those trials and tribulations have culminated in this.  

Her, sat off on a comfy couch, waiting for something to happen.  

... 

‘I can’t do this.’ 

She needs to make herself busy or she might actually lose it. 

Rising up from the couch she wanders the house looking for something to do. She heads out into the hallway and jumps in surprise when she suddenly bumps into to someone. 

“Ah fu- Jesus, you scared the hell out of me!” Aubrey says, looking down at... Fear? Uh oh. 

“Ah! S-Sorry.” the clone apologises, his voice breaking as he takes a step back. 

The clone is still wearing those stupid shades, it’s a strange look, but considering the alternative it’s for the best. Still, whilst Fear can’t scare Aubrey, she’s definitely scared him. The poor thing is shaking like crazy and looks like he’s on the edge of a full-on panic attack. 

“Don’t worry about it” she replies cautiously. “Didn’t mean to bump into you, sorry about that.” 

“It’s fine..." he says, clearly uncomfortable in her presence. 

It stings a lot more than it should. 

“You... You don’t have to be scared of me you know” she explains awkwardly. “We’re friends, I’m not gonna hurt you...” 

“I know." 

‘He doesn’t sound like he does.’ 

“Sunny... I mean it. Seriously” she says, instinctively reaching her hand out. 

The boy flinches and takes a big step back. 

“Don’t!” 

“Shit! Sorry I didn’t mean to-” 

“I- I should go” he says nervously, before scurrying away into the living room. 

Aubrey stands there, still as a statue, hand still partially reached out, but touching nothing. They’ve had worse interactions; this shouldn’t bother her. 

“Must have been nice to live in your own little bubble.”  

But it hurts so much more than it should. 

“I wouldn’t take it personally” a voice calls out, snapping Aubrey from her stupor. 

She has no idea how long she’s been stood there, but looking up she sees Anger standing on the stairs. 

“He’s our fear, he jumps at shadows... literally ” Anger continues. “So don’t take it as an insult.” 

“I wasn’t” Aubrey scoffs, switching back to the ‘tough girl’ personality. 

She’s faced down people twice her size and walked away fine, she’s the Pink Demon, the terror of Faraway!  

She is not bothered that some part of Sunny fears her. 

“Sureee” Anger says, not even trying to hide his doubt. 

“How long have you been stood there?” she asks. 

“Long enough to watch whatever that was.” 

“Great... Do you know where Hero’s folks are?” 

“Why?” 

“I’m bored. I wanna help out.” 

She hates feeling like a leech, lounging around, doing nothing whilst her friends do the heavy lifting. If she can at least help the Rodriguez family out, then she might find some peace of mind. 

“Well, I think they’re in the kitchen with Basil” Anger replies. 

‘Screw that then.’ 

Anger must pick up on her disappointment, because his brows furrow and he goes to say something before stopping himself. 

“Well... Happiness is playing games in Kel’s room, if you wanna join” he suggests. 

‘That sounds... nice.’ 

“Oh, uh sure” she replies. “There’s only two controllers though.” 

“Yeah, I know, I’m not playing” Anger clarifies. “That smiley prick got our gaming skills, I’m stepping out before I break that damn console.” 

That gets a rare laugh from Aubrey. She’s never seen Sunny get heated at a game before, they were one of his hidden talents, so normally it was one of them getting mad at him over losing.  

“I would pay to see that” she jokes. 

“Well Kel does owe me money” he replies, a bit of frustration creeping into his voice as he continues. “Like a lot actually.”  

“Well, you can break it after I’m done whopping your ass” she teases. 

“Ha! Good luck with that Aubs, sunshine lollipops up there isn’t a pushover.” 

‘That’s an understatement’ Aubrey thinks, recalling the hellish bonfire the store had become. 

“Well, we’ll see about that” she taunts. 

‘Wait...’ 

“’Aubs?’” she quizzes. 

Anger’s face suddenly flares red. 

“Welp, I’m leaving now! Enjoy losing” he says, rushing down the stairs and into the living room, slamming the door as he goes. 

Aubrey hears a panicked yell come from the startled Fear, causing her to chuckle again. 

‘Guess he really is scared of everything.’ 

That knowledge does make her feel a bit better... not that she needs the reassurance of course. Pushing that train of thought down, she begins to ascend the stairs, making her way up to the brother’s room. 

They’re barely an hour out from Faraway when Kel’s stomach starts rumbling. He gives Hero a begging look, causing the young adult to sigh and prepare to pull in at the next pitstop. Luckily there’s a ’restaurant’ less than a mile away, although Hero is reluctant to call it that, it’s a chain, some breakfast place serving overpriced pancakes.  

It’s right up Kel’s alley. 

Parking the car in the lot outside, the two brothers get out and stroll over to the front entrance. The first thing they notice upon entrance is a small promotional sign reading ‘SPACEBOY SPECIALS MENU’. 

Kel is thrilled, but Hero does not share the same enthusiasm. The former orders some blueberry pancakes off the special menu, the latter some eggs and bacon. 

They take their seats at a booth by a window and are served in record time. Kel immediately begins to devour his pancakes, whilst his brother pores over a map. 

“Hey munch bro your bacons gonna go munch cold” Kel says between bites. 

“Oh right” Hero replies, folding the map up and pocketing it, before finally dining into his food. 

They eat in silence for a moment before Hero speaks up. 

“We should be able to make it to Nearby in just over an hour if the traffic’s okay.” 

“Oh? Sweet!” Kel responds, munching away before raising an eyebrow. “Hey how come you didn’t get anything off the Spaceboy menu?” 

“Kel you do know it’s a scam, right?” Hero replies. “They’re the same items off the usual menu! Just rebranded and priced up, why do you think Spaceboy, the titular character, just gets normal blueberry pancakes?” 

“...Because he’s blue?” 

“Because it’s a passionless con, a culinary crime!” Hero exclaims, clearly exasperated. 

Kel couldn’t help but smile at the display. 

“You still like cooking, don’t you?” he asks. 

“I simply have an appreciation for good food” his brother replies. 

“You should get back into it! You’d overthrow chains like this in under a year! Then again, I’d have to save your face everywhere sooo maybe don’t” Kel teases.  

“Hilarious Kel. But no, cooking is fun but it's not... it's not a career.” 

“But you... you don’t want to be a doctor.” 

“When did I say that?” 

“You didn’t have to.” 

His brother is silent for a few seconds, clearly uncomfortable. Kel considers dropping the topic, but Hero speaks up again. 

“I don’t want to be a doctor, but I need to be a doctor.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“What kind of Hero can’t save anyone?” 

‘Ah so that’s it.’ 

“Hero, you know... Mari... she didn’t-” Kel goes to say. 

“I know that Kel” Hero snaps. “...Sorry, it’s just that... I wanted to be a doctor to save people, it doesn’t matter that Mari... it doesn’t matter how she died. If I can save someone else that pain then it’ll all be worth it... and besides if I hadn’t studied medicine, then Sunny would be dead.” 

That comment catches Kel off guard, making almost choke on his pancakes. He knew Hero had been vital in keeping Sunny steady until the ambulance arrived, but it never truly occurred to him that his friend might have died without Hero’s intervention. 

“My original motivation doesn’t matter” Hero continues. “All that matters now is that I can help more people this way...” 

“But who’s going to help you?” Kel quizzes. 

“Probably a psychologist at this point” his brother deadpans. 

“It wasn’t your fault” he adds, picking up on Hero’s guilt. 

“I know... I know... It isn’t yours either” the young adult replies. “Sunny and the store I mean, that wasn’t your fault.” 

Kel awkwardly prods at the leftover pancakes with his fork. 

“It kinda is though” he mumbles. 

“Kel it’s not” Hero insists. “I shouldn’t have left you back there, to think that Sun- Happiness would... I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine.” 

“How are you feeling anyway? It’s a miracle you walked out of there in one piece.” 

‘Yikes.’ 

Kel can’t help but cringe at that, he hesitates but eventually decides to be honest with his brother. 

“About that” he says, lifting his shirt to reveal the faint scar. 

“Oh god... the blood... you said you were fine Kel, what the hell?!” Hero exclaims. 

Right, Kel had practically forbidden Hero from examining his injuries during their walk back, and in their exhausted state his brother had dropped the concern much sooner than he normally would. 

“Well, I am fine, Happiness gave me a potion and it healed me and- oh my God I sound insane” Kel rambles. 

“I’m glad to hear it, and don’t worry we all sound crazy” Hero says with a sigh. “Some days I wish we could just have a normal life... I don’t know how many more heartfelt confessions I can do Kel...” 

“I get that... but hey! Once we get those magic books we can fix this mess, once and for all.” 

“If they work.” 

“Huh?” 

“Honestly Kel... I’m really reaching with this plan. I just don’t know what else to do.” 

“Hey, it’ll work out, trust me, I’ve got a good feeling about this” Kel says with his best attempt at a reassuring smile. 

Hero replies with a smile of his own seemingly appreciating the gesture. Although his small smirk quickly drops, his eyes going wide. 

“...Kel?” he asks. 

“Uhhh yeah? Bro you good?”  

His brother simply points past him in response, and following his finger reveals... 

‘Oh no way.’ 

Sure enough, the Warlock is sat at the table opposite them, eating what appears to be eggs benedict, blissfully unaware of the danger he’s in. Although he must feel their eyes boring into him, because he suddenly turns towards them, before immediately looking away again, only to do a double take as he finally recognises them. The Warlock’s jaw goes slack as his eyes widen.  

They all just stare at each other for a while, before the man suddenly rises to his feet, stumbles out of his chair and sprints for the door. The two brothers are stunned for a second, before turning to each other, having a silent agreement and chasing after the man. 

“Yo” Aubrey says as she enters the brother’s bedroom. 

She immediately spots Happiness fiddling with one of the controllers. 

“Ah hello Aubrey!” the clone beams. 

Stil weird seeing him so... emotive. 

Sadness and Fear were upsetting but at least familiar, and Anger had Sunny’s dry sense of humour, this clone though... 

“So, you don’t like your smile?” a young girl asks.  

She’s known this boy a month now, and despite being one of the first new friends she’s made, she feels like she barely knows him.  

The boy simply shakes his head in response.  

“Aw, I’m sure it can’t be that bad! Mari seems to like it!”  

The boy doesn’t look convinced.  

‘Sunny never smiles this much.’ 

“Room for one more?” she asks, gesturing to the controller. 

“Of course!” Happiness eagerly replies, gesturing to the carpet. “Take a seat!” 

She walks over, kicking one of Kel’s stray socks out of the way and sits down in front of the TV. 

‘Does Kel ever clean this place?’ she wonders, disgusted by her friend's disregard for basic hygiene. 

Grabbing a controller, Happiness unpauses the game and the two friends start playing together. 

Aubrey doesn’t recognise the game, it’s some racing one, featuring characters she isn’t familiar with. Not that it matters, even if she knew what she was doing, she doubts it would do her any good. Happiness is ruthless, he’s fast and precise, seemingly knowing every shortcut and exploit. 

They play three games, and he wins every single one. 

‘I’m starting to see why Anger backed out of this.’ 

Another loss and another obnoxious victory tune later and Aubrey’s patience is running thin. 

“Well, that was fun” she lies. “You’re really good at this.”  

“Thanks! Wanna play another round?” he asks. 

‘Absolutely not.’ 

“Uh no thanks, I’ll pass” she replies. 

“Oh, well we can just hang out then!” 

“Sure.” 

Aubrey doesn’t really want to, but she doesn’t want to go downstairs either. So the two just sit on the floor in silence. 

“Where did all of Hero’s trophies go?” Happiness suddenly asks. 

‘Huh?’ 

Looking over to the clean side of the room, Aubrey sees that sure enough, all the older brother’s trophies are gone. 

“I don’t know” Aubrey replies. “Maybe they flung them?” 

Happiness has an unreadable expression on his face. He seems to be in deep contemplation. It’s a strange look on what is usually an unnervingly happy face. 

“Sunny?” she asks hesitantly. 

“Huh? Oh! Sorry just got caught up in my thoughts” Happiness says, laughing nervously. 

“What happened at the store?” Aubrey impulsively asks. 

The hypocrisy hits her immediately, whining about Basil starting a serious conversation out of nowhere, then doing the same thing herself. 

‘Whatever, I’m in too deep now.’ 

Happiness doesn’t reply for a moment, seemingly deep in thought once again. 

“Aubrey if you could finally feel happy after years of anguish, would you cling to that feeling?” he finally asks. 

“I... maybe? I think I probably would, but you can’t feel one way all your life Sunny, it never ends well, trust me” she replied. 

Her rage had controlled her life for four years, and whilst she was lucky to form some friendships during that time, she had burnt a lot of bridges than she’d mended. 

“I know that, but I just... I got carried away, I was so happy, I thought everyone would want to feel that way. I was wrong, I see that now.” 

“You tried to use the spell on Kel, didn’t you?” 

“Yes... I’m sorry.” 

Aubrey feels a growing rage, but she pushes it down. Lashing out won’t solve anything. 

“You hurt him and what you were doing... you would have hurt yourself too. Don’t do that again” she warns. 

“I won’t” he says, and despite herself, she believes him. 

“Good. Because you’re not Sunny, and if you try to stop us from saving him again, or hurt anyone else, then I will put you in the ground” she threatens, some of her rage boiling over. 

‘Damnit! So much for keeping it cool.’ 

She should seriously consider anger management... assuming she can ever afford it. 

“N-Noted” Happiness replies, clearly on edge. 

‘Nicely done Aubrey, you scared him again.’ 

She sighs and stands. 

“I should go” she says, walking towards the door. 

Happiness doesn’t say anything until she’s right at the exit. 

“I was so excited to meet you all” he says. “But you didn’t want me, you wanted Sunny, and you’re right, I’m not him, I couldn’t be... I hate him, we all do, and I just... I couldn’t understand why you wanted him back... I guess I thought I could be better, but I’m not, and I’m sorry.” 

Aubrey slowly turns around, locking eyes with the clone. He looks surprisingly somber, far more neutral than his usual happy demeanour. She doesn’t know what to say. 

“Why... why do you all hate Sunny?” she eventually asks. 

“Because he hurt you, he hurt all of you, that’s all he does” Happiness says. 

“Then why are we friends?” Aubrey asks, barely containing the rage she feels. 

“What?” 

“You hate Sunny because he hurts people, then why do you like me?” 

“Aubrey that’s not-” 

“Shut up! I’m sick of you talking about yourself like this! If you hate Sunny, you should hate me too!” 

“You never killed anyone Aubrey.” 

Her hands twitch and her eyes sting, she’s shaking uncontrollably, it must quite the sight, a pathetic display of grief and rage, but she can’t control it. 

“You... you absolute DICK! I ALMOST KILLED YOU AND BASIL!” she roars. “At least Sunny killed Mari on accident, I hurt Basil for years! YEARS! And I did that on purpose! I knew what I was doing, and I liked it! ” 

At this point her yelling is more akin to sobbing, as tears fall freely from her eyes. 

“I’m a monster... so don’t... don’t you dare ...” she tries to continue between sobs. 

“Aubrey...” Happiness says. 

“Why... why don’t you hate me?” 

Suddenly she feels a warmth envelop her, looking down she sees that the clone has embraced her in a firm hug. It feels... nice. 

“I could never... we could never” he says. 

Aubrey hugs him back, crying into his shoulder. 

“I’m not your friend, I can’t be... I’m not a real person” he continues. “But I’ll help you get him back. I promise.” 

“I’ll h-hold you to that” Aubrey sniffles as she parts from his embrace. “And stop being so harsh to yourself! Or uh to Sunny... God this is so confusing.” 

Happiness laughs a little at that last comment. 

“I- we’ll try” he says. 

“I guess that’s all I can ask for” she concedes. 

She can’t fight his self-loathing; she can barely handle her own. This is the best she’s going to get from this conversation.  

All she can do now is hope that Sunny remembers this when he’s whole again. 

“You should talk to Basil” Happiness suggests. 

“What am I really that obvious?” Aubrey jests, sniffling a bit. 

“Kinda” he replies, with a smug grin. 

She’d recognise that expression anywhere. 

‘Oh God, the smile is genetic.’ 

“You’re right, we argued but it’s just... I was such a jerk to him” Aubrey says with a sigh. “And some days it’s just hard, being around him, let alone discussing that mess with him.” 

Happiness nods in understanding, piquing her interest. 

“How do you feel about Basil?” she asks. 

For being his ‘best friend’, the blonde sure did cause Sunny a lot of grief. Plus, between the beatdown he’d given Basil a year ago, and the reaction Anger had to seeing him, Aubrey’s suspected for a while now that there was some tension between the two boys that they kept under wraps. Either that or she was projecting her own feelings onto Sunny. 

“I think you’re asking the wrong emotion” Happiness replies awkwardly. “But I do like Basil, he’s my friend, and I’m glad we can still talk in spite of everything.” 

“What did Sunny think?” she asks. 

Happiness isn’t Sunny, but he should still share his memories. 

“Well... we... we dreamed about you, all of you” he replied hesitantly. “And Basil was there... but sometimes he’d uhh... go off script.” 

“You’re talking about headspace, right?” she asked. “Also, yes I know what that is.” 

“It feels like everyone does these days” Happiness says with an exasperated laugh. 

It’s the closest thing to anger she’s seen in this copy, and it makes her feel slightly guilty. Headspace was clearly a private thing for Sunny, and now half their friend group knows about it. Aubrey can’t imagine she’d be thrilled if something that personal to her became common knowledge. 

“But yes, it was, we followed a set script and Basil always went off it” he says solemnly, before suddenly smiling. “He was our damsel in distress I suppose haha. Always going missing...” 

“The issues arose when we found him...” Happiness continued. “At the hospital, we weren’t lying when we said we forgot what we did to Mari. It was a repressed memory, a forgotten trauma, a painful truth that Basil always managed to stumble across.” 

“Because he reminded you of it...” Aubrey thought aloud. 

“Precisely” Happiness agrees. “Thing is Omo- Our subconscious didn’t want to remember, so when we found Basil, he often... died... usually in horrific and violent ways... and the worst part of is... I don’t think we ever knew if those were nightmares or not.”  

His insinuation went unsaid, but Aubrey picked up on it, nonetheless.  

Sunny didn’t know if he dreaded Basil dying or fantasised about it. It was a disturbing, but not unsurprising revelation. 

“So, you hated him?” she enquired. 

“I can tell you that I care about Basil a lot” he replied. “I don’t doubt that some part of us hates him, but I don’t.” 

Part of Sunny hates Basil, but another part also cares about him. 

“I think I get you” she says, after a moment of consideration. “Thank you. I think I should go talk to him.” 

“I think that’s a good idea” Happiness agreed, giving her a small smile. 

Aubrey once again made her way to the door, but before leaving she turns back to face him again, giving him a smile of her own. 

‘Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.’ 

When all this is over, she is going to sleep for a week. Heck, maybe on the couch downstairs if the Rodriguez family will have her, it would certainly beat her trash pile of a house. 

Hero’s lungs burn as he struggles to catch his breath. 

‘I’m not built for this’ he thinks.  

He and his brother had chased the Warlock across the ‘restaurant's comically large car park, but only Kel was able to keep pace. Hero had fallen behind almost immediately, watching as his brother rushed forward tackling the shopkeeper down to the ground.  

He couldn’t help but wince at the sight, hitting asphalt at that speed is definitely going to sting. Then again, the Warlock has been a massive prick the entire time he’s known him, so he doesn’t feel that bad for him. 

Finally catching up to his brother, Hero watches as Kel restrains the shopkeep, pinning him down to the ground. He goes to help but feels sudden sharp pain in his abdomen. 

‘Ah a stitch, how fun.’ 

It’s days like these that Hero feels jealous of his brother, Kel can run for miles without breaking a sweat, whilst he can barely sprint for a minute before keeling over and curling up in a ball.  

He recalls wanting to improve his stamina back when he was a teenager. Even mentioning it to Mari just a few short months before she died. Naturally he was met with some... crude remarks. 

‘...Classic Mari.’ 

It’s a bittersweet memory, one of many, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it. Taking a deep breath, Hero regains his composure and kneels down to lock eyes with the still struggling Warlock. 

“Get this loaf off of me!” The man protests. 

“You left in a hurry” Hero remarks, ignoring his whining. 

“How the hell did you find me?!”  

“We weren’t looking for you” Kel replies. 

“What?!” 

“Yeah, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time” Hero adds. “We were on our way to Nearby. There are some books there I thought might help fix your mess, but since you’re here-” 

“My mess?! You want your culprit, please draw your attention to the boy trying to break my back! And seriously Nearby library?! I know the books you speak of, they’re all tacky nonsense, an insult to my profession and a waste of time!”  

Hero doesn’t like the way the man speaks about his brother, but he needs to keep calm, at least until negotiation is no longer an option.  

“Stop wriggling and I won’t have to put this much pressure on you!” Kel protests. 

“Look, we need your help” Hero says. 

“Go to hell!” the shopkeep replies. 

He shoots a look at his brother, who promptly starts putting more pressure on the man’s back. 

“I’m not asking” Hero states. 

He can see the sudden panic in the Warlock’s eyes, Hero has no intentions of hurting this man, it would go against all of his principles.  

But well... he doesn’t know that.  

They all saw this coward back down at the slightest threat from Aubrey, if Hero can capture even a fraction of her intimidation, then he might just get some answers from him. But before he can continue, they all hear the distant sound of sirens, growing louder with every passing second. 

‘Sirens never mean anything good.’  

“Ohhh hahaha! You’re doomed now fools!” The shopkeeper taunts, reverting to his ‘crazy old wizard’ facade. “Iron bars and iron cuffs, tis the fate that awaits all mutts!” 

“Hero?” Kel asks nervously. 

“It was busy in there... someone called the police” he mumbles in response. 

“Yes, and what a scene they’ll see” the Warlock says. “You’re not in Faraway anymore children, do you think the cops will give you benefit of the doubt? I certainly don’t. Yes~ ‘two teens assault an old man’, I can see the headlines already.”  

Hero looks at his brother, he can tell Kel is just as lost on what to do as he is. They can’t let him go, he’s their last hope at helping Sunny, but the police will definitely arrest them if they keep him pinned down. 

“Tick tock children” the man laughs, as the sound of sirens grows closer and closer. 

Clenching his fists, Hero contemplates his next move. Nearby PD doesn’t exactly have the best reputation, he’s seen one too many of his drunk coursemates fall afoul of them for far less than what they’re doing. He looks back at Kel again, his brother locks eyes with him, silently begging for guidance, a plan, anything. 

They can’t help Sunny from behind bars, and Kel doesn’t need a criminal record. 

The sirens are so close now, they’ll turn into this car park any second now. 

‘I’m so sorry Sunny.’ 

“Kel... let him g-” Hero starts, only for the sirens to suddenly grow distant again. 

... 

“They drove past us?” Kel asks, confusion clear in his voice.  

“What... What?! Are you kidding me?!” The Warlock roars. “At least a dozen people saw me get chased down, and not a single one called the cops?!” 

“Welcome to America” Hero jokes. 

Kel laughs as the shopkeep continues to seethe. 

“Unbelievable” the man mumbles. 

“So, where were we?” Hero asks, rhetorically. 

“Wanna recap? Well, I was getting lunch before preparing to move on to Nearby to catch a flight, when I was suddenly attacked by two idiots who-” the Warlock rambled. 

“Who you graciously agreed to help” Hero interrupted. 

“Very kind of you I might say” Kel added with ‘posh’ accent. 

“Idiots! I can’t help you even if I wanted to... which I don’t for the record! My supplies are depleted” the man says, suddenly glaring at Kel. “Thanks for that by the way.”  

“You said we had everything we needed, what did you mean by that?” Hero asks. 

“You haven’t figured it out yet? Really?” 

“Stop dodging the question.” 

“Why are you so determined to save this killer anyway? Even his joy is messed up! It hardly seems worth all the effort...” 

Hero feels shocked and furious in equal measure. 

“How do you-” he goes to ask. 

“I didn’t. You just told me! Although I must admit I had my suspicions. I’ve lived for hundreds of years, seen empires rise and fall! You think I don’t know the look of a killer? They have a certain ‘distance’ in their eyes, especially the guilty ones, and he seems very guilty” the Warlock says. 

“You don’t know anything” Kel snaps, his harsh tone surprising Hero a little. 

“Don’t I?” The Warlock taunts. “I know that he killed someone he cared for, that’s the only way his happiness could still carry such pain. I know he regrets it; the guilt practically radiates off him! By extension I know it must be manslaughter, and I know it must have been someone close to him, because I saw the grief in that smile!” 

“ And ” the man continues. “I know they were close to you two, because I can see the pain in your eyes. Especially you pretty boy! Who was she to you? It was a she right? A lover maybe, but then who’s the boy to you... ohhh! Her brother! Is that why you’re doing this? You couldn’t save her, so you have to save hi- ARGH!” 

The cruel taunts are cut short by swift kick to the man’s face. 

“Bro?!” Kel yells in shock. 

Hero takes a step back, stunned by his own actions.  

In one quick move he’d broken the man’s nose... and his promise. 

‘Do no harm...’ 

“Well then... message received” The Warlock says, spitting out a glob of bloody phlegm. “You have all the clones, so now they just need to unify. Legends say that spell was a form of... therapy, for the old Gods. They would fragment then reunite stronger than ever.”  

“How?” Hero asks, still reeling from his outburst. 

“The old what? ” Kel quizzes. 

“No clue, I always used my magic, but without my potions, the only way to forward is for him to fix himself.” 

“So, what they just need to talk it out?” 

“Yeah, it’s that simple. Real shame your friend hates himself, because no amount of talking can fix that mess.” 

“But they’ve already talked.” 

“Oh? And they’re whole? No? Still split into magic multicoloured clones that affect people’s emotions? Who would’ve guessed that? News flash, they clearly haven’t talked, or at least not truly anyway.” 

“They effect emotions?” Kel asks. 

“Yes of course they do you idi- wait. Were you not affected?” The Warlock asks, seeming genuinely shocked. 

“I think I was a little bit... during my fight... I kept feeling this urge to smile.” 

“But you resisted? Fascinating... You’re not as happy as you look, are you child?” 

“That’s enough” Hero interrupted. “Is there anything else we should know?” 

“Well, the ‘unification’ can go... wrong” the man replies hesitantly. 

“What do you mean ‘wrong’ ?”  

“Again, no idea. This is ancient stuff we’re talking about here you know! And those old mages never kept any records of these failures... Although, I would say there was likely a reason for that." 

‘Because those people died...’ 

“Now can I go? Or do you want to break all my teeth this time?” 

The shame hits him like a tidal wave.  

One promise, one simple guiding principle. Broken in a second. Like it never meant anything at all. 

‘Some Hero...’ 

“Kel let him up” he says. 

His brother hesitantly releases the Warlock, allowing the man to stand, giving him a side eye the entire time. The mage brushes himself off, and for a moment they all stand there awkwardly. 

“I hope you can help your friend. It’s an unpleasant fate, being stuck like that...” The Warlock muses. “Now I have a flight to catch. May we never meet again!” 

With that, the shopkeeper walks off, seemingly towards some tacky van, with a strange squid engraving on the back door. 

‘Huh... squizzard’ Hero muses. 

... 

“I figured he’d ride a broom” Kel jokes, earning a chuckle from Hero. 

A laugh that quickly descends into crying, as his brother rushes to embrace him. 

“Ah muy apreciada Basil” Mrs Rodiguez said. “You’re a life saver you know.” 

Basil almost chokes on his own spit at that comment. 

‘You have no idea how wrong you are’ he thinks. 

“T-Thank you” he says instead. 

After Hero’s announcement, Basil decided to aid his friend’s parents in the kitchen. Mainly because he doesn’t like freeloading, if he’s getting made lunch, then he’s going to help make it.  

But also, because he felt uncomfortable being around Aubrey right now. 

He knows he rushed things this morning, but after everything that happened to him yesterday, he had just wanted to open up to his friends. Especially Aubrey, who had surprisingly questioned him the least on his past actions. 

It bothered her, that lack of closure, he knew it and he knew it was keeping them from truly getting along like they used to. But she never pushed it and so neither did he.  

He didn’t want to lose her again...  

Now though, he’s faced his fears, as well as the literal embodiment of fear, and he’s ready to tell the truth. Or well, the rest of the truth anyway. He might lose her again, hell, he might lose all of them. But if that means they get closure, then that’s a risk he’ll happily take. 

“Does it h-have to be salad” Sadness whined. 

“I’m with the sad one, look at these kids hun, they need some meet on their bones” Mr Rodriguez chimes in. 

“Estoy rodeada de ingratas” the woman of the house despaired. “They also need vitamins dear, besides Basil is vegetarian. So, stop complaining and dice those tomatoes!” 

“Yes honey” her husband relents. 

“Okay...” Sadness replies, some tears forming in his eyes. 

Basil isn’t sure if those are due to the onions he’s chopping or if this part of Sunny just has a strong dislike for salad. 

“Basil dear, could you go grab some cucumber from the fridge please?” Mrs Rodriguez. 

“Of c-course" he replies, strolling over to the large fridge freezer. 

Opening the door, Basil is greeted by a bounty of food. Every fruit and vegetable under the sun, as well as a generous supply of different meats, some cured, others cooked, all delicious. He’s momentarily shocked by the treasure trove, before snapping out of his dazed state and rooting through the shelves for a cucumber. 

It occurs to him that Hero’s love of cooking likely spawned from having access to such a stocked fridge, then again Basil doesn’t recall it ever being this packed. But why would he? It’s a fridge in a house he’s visited a handful of times in the past four years, it’d be weirder if he did remember something so trivia- anddd he’s distracted himself again.  

‘Fantastic.’ 

Finally grabbing the cucumber, he passes it over to Mrs Rodriguez who thanks him and sets about slicing it. 

At that moment, Aubrey bursts into the kitchen, startling Basil. 

“Basil! We need to...” she says, suddenly realising that several pairs of eyes are on her. “Talk...” 

“Are you trying wake the dead?! I’m tryna rest!” Anger’s voice calls out from the living room. 

Happiness then enters the kitchen a second later, looking surprisingly frantic. 

“When I said go talk, I meant after lunch” the copy stresses, before looking up at the group in the kitchen.  

“Sorry about that! The food looks great by the way!” he adds, before practically shoving Aubrey out of the kitchen. 

... 

“What just happened?” Basil thinks aloud. 

“B-Beats me” Sadness replies. 

“How is there still no signal?!” Hero exclaims. 

They’d been forced to drive off from the restaurant in a hurry, mainly because the staff didn’t care for what they saw as an attempted dine and dash.  

Kel had convinced Hero to pull in at the next gas station so they could update their friends, and also so that they didn’t end up as tomorrow’s headline. Seriously, the Warlock had clearly unnerved Hero, Kel never took his brother for the type to drive recklessly, but the young adult seemed determined to break the speed limit. 

“How far are we from town?” Kel asks.    

“About forty minutes” Hero groans. “Maybe twenty if we push it.” 

“Dude no.”  

Kel is seriously worried for Hero right now, even at his lowest, his brother never resorted to violence. This was the man who had heard Sunny’s confession and guided the boy back to his room instead of flinging him to the ground, a man who chose peace in almost every situation, and yet Kel couldn’t deny what he saw. His brother had booted the Warlock in the face, hard . 

The man had it coming obviously, talking about them, Sunny, and Mari like he had any idea what they’ve all been through. But still, Hero’s reaction was uncharacteristic, and that unnerved Kel a lot more than he’d care to admit. 

“Kel, we need to hurry” Hero insists. 

“Why? Sunny’s not going anywhere, and we can’t help him if you crash the car” Kel protests. 

“I’m not going to- argh fine, half an hour it is! But we need to go now ” his brother 'relents’. 

“Dude, I don’t even know if you should be driving right now.” 

“We can’t get home if I don’t!” 

“Yeah, but maybe you should like take a deep-” 

“Don’t say the deep breath thing! I say the deep breath thing!” 

Kel simply stares at his brother, watching as the older man slowly realises how daft he sounds. 

“Ok, maybe I should take a deep breath” Hero says defeatedly. 

“Yeah” Kel says smugly. 

“Don’t rub it in.” 

They take a few minutes to relax, Hero occasionally checking his clunky flip phone in some vein hope of willing a signal into existence. 

“You feeling better?” Kel asks. 

“Slightly” Hero replies. “Sorry I lost my cool before.” 

“No kidding! You kicked that guy right in the face! It was-” 

Mid-way through his rambling Kel realises Hero doesn’t look comfortable, and so in a somewhat rare display of self-awareness, he stops talking. 

“I shouldn’t have done that” his brother says solemnly. “I let him get to me and... I’ve just felt so lost Kel. I don’t know what I’m doing, I hate my course, and I want to be a good example to you, to Sally, to the others but...” 

Hero sighs before continuing. 

“I barely slept last night, and I guess the stress just finally got to me, I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to see that.” 

“Dude, are you kidding me? You’re the best brother I could ask for!” Kel says earnestly. “But if you hate your course, you should just drop it! People need to eat and you’re a great cook!” 

“I wish it was that simple Kel” Hero laments. 

“Maybe it can be” he replies. “I know mom won’t be thrilled, but if anyone can convince her it’s you!” 

“Maybe... maybe you’re right. But... I- I don’t know, I need to think about it first” his brother replies. “...Thanks bro.” 

“Anytime” Kel beams. “And for the record that wizard dude deserved it.” 

“I still shouldn’t have done that” Hero says, switching back to ‘big brother mode’. “Violence is never the answer.” 

“You’re right, it’s the question and the answer is-” 

“No.” 

Kel bursts out into laughter, and Hero joins him. 

“Thanks again bro, I needed that” Hero says. “If you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.” 

“Is this about the Warlock’s happiness comment?” Kel asks. 

“Somewhat. But I mean it.” 

Kel’s grown so used to forcing a smile he struggles to know when he’s actually happy or not. It’s a bad habit and one he’s only just starting to break. Talking to Hero about it might help, but he’s not ready for that conversation. Not yet. 

“I- when this is over?” he asks. 

“Huh?” 

“When this over... can we talk?” 

“Of course Kel.” 

“Thanks dude.” 

With their talk concluded the two brothers enter their car and set off back towards Faraway. 

Fear has existed for as long as life has, since the first animals crawled out of the primordial ooze, since the first man came screaming into existence, and since the living realised they could die. 

In Sunny Suzuki, fear was a constant companion, plaguing the young boy with anxiety in his youth and constant nightmares in his teenage years. First manifesting as simple phobias: spiders, heights and drowning. This terror had soon grown to consume the boy’s life, whispering in his ear, telling him to listen to his sadness and guilt, to stay indoors, to avoid the monsters outside.  

Feelings of fear and dread are at their core self-preservation, they are the voice telling people not to go down that dark alley, or stand that close to a cliff edge, or to open the door. 

The other emotions blame each other and themselves, but Fear knows better. It was him who ruined Sunny’s life, not them, just him. 

Their fear of losing everyone, of disappointing their sister, that had drove them to suffer in silence, bottling there feelings up until they couldn’t take it anymore. That was him. 

Their fear of confrontation, of consequences, that drove them to hide in his dreams and forget the truth. Him again. 

Their fear of... her, of the sister they murdered and the monster that haunted them, that drove them to madness, to beat their best friend to a pulp. Always him.  

He thought reality was terrifying, that it was better to dream their days away, and it was that belief that had ruined Sunny’s life and wasted their formative years. 

Sunny didn't need Fear, but he couldn't get rid of him. 

But someone else could. 

When Fear was suddenly freed from Sunny’s subconscious, released into the physical world and allowed to see the beauty of the world with his own eyes... he ran.

Fear had ran as fast as legs would carry him, fuelled by the inhuman amount of adrenaline flowing through his veins.  

He was right, reality was horrifying!  

People, bugs, inanimate objects, anything, even the most inconspicuous things could be hiding malicious intent!  

So, he hid, but then people found him, they screamed, and so he screamed back, they hurt him, and he lashed out, they chased, and he ran. 

Then Basil came along. The boy who ruined him. The boy he ruined. 

His best friend. 

Fear had been running blind through the woods, when Basil and his strange entourage first found him. He could tell they had been tracking him down for hours, but he didn't want to find out why. 

So like always, he ran. 

He thought he lost them when they started screaming and tripping over each over, but when Fear stumbled out into a familiar garden, Basil wasn’t far behind. 

It was there that he saw the stump, where Mari... 

The sight of which had filled him with a deep sense of dread, and so, weighed down by the guilt of his actions and paralysed with fear, he was unable to move as his best friend approached.

He did eventually try to flee, but he could not bring himself to move any closer to the stump. 

Stuck between two terrors, he did everything in his power to drive Basil away, but the blonde resisted, and surprisingly... he talked. 

Basil was honest and humble, admitting to his mistakes and relating to Fear in a way no one had ever done before, and so, going against his very nature, the clone put on a brave face and agreed to join Basil.

But then Anger came along and tried to hurt him, and Fear had to step up again. It was strange seeing his fellow emotions, and even stranger facing off against one of them, but he couldn’t allow Anger to hurt the blonde. If they’re going to be whole again, then they need to be better than this. 

That’s the main difference between Fear and his ‘brothers’, unlike them he didn’t want to remain separate. Yes, their life sucks but at least when whole he can feel something other than constant anxiety. 

Sunny might be better off without Fear, but he still wants to be a part of him. Maybe that's selfish, but when have they ever been anything but that anyway...

For now, though, he just needs to keep his head down and have faith that the Rodriguez brothers will prevail. They’ve given him shelter, food, somewhere to hide in peace, so he’ll just go relax in the living room and- 

The door bursts open and Fear immediately screams, as someone else screams back. 

‘Pink. Nail bat. Danger.’ 

“Ah fu- Jesus, you scared the hell out of me!” the girl says. 

‘It’s just Aubrey, relax.’ 

“Ah! S-Sorry” Fear apologises, instinctively taking a step back.  

He must have gotten lost in his thoughts again, that’s one trait of Sunny that exists within them all. Honestly, he’s not even sure how ended up by the stairs, he must have just been pacing the house aimlessly and lost track of ti- wait. 

‘Stairs...’ 

‘Come on! We don’t have time for this! Take five but then we’re going again!’  

“Don’t worry about it” Aubrey replies. “Didn’t mean to bump into you.”  

“Sunny!” 

“It’s fine..." he says, forcing the words out, and praying that Aubrey can’t see how panicked he is.  

“Why?! Why would you do this?! The recital is in an hour!”  

“You... You don’t have to be scared of me you know” the delinquent says. “We’re friends, I’m not gonna hurt you...”  

‘Mari wasn’t only your sister... they smile for now, but it won’t last. They’ll hurt you eventually. Everyone does.’ 

“I know" he lies. 

“Sunny... I mean it. Seriously” she replies, reaching her hand out towards him.  

“GET BACK HERE MISTER I’M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU!”  

It’s a mess of hands, a scuffle, a lot of pushing and shoving.  

In the end, he shoves harder.  

“Sunn-”  

‘She’s going to hurt you! MOVE!’  

“Don’t!” Fear yells, stepping out of her grasp. 

“Shit! Sorry I didn’t mean to-”  

It’s just Aubrey... 

‘She looks upset, you did it again... pitiful. Go, get out of here before you hurt anyone else.’ 

“I- I should go” he says, leaving before the delinquent has time to reply. 

Entering the living room, he grabs his hair and pulls as hard as he can, it stings, but it helps relieve some of his anxiety. He can’t keep doing this. At this rate, one bad scare is going to send him off the deep end again, and if he runs again, he doubts his friends will find him. 

Fear doesn’t want to leave though, he promised Basil they would move forward together...

Speaking of whom, he should go see Basil. It might actually help him relax, as by some cruel twist of fate, the blonde teen is the only one he trusts right now. Because Fear knows for certain that the flower boy has no intention to hurt him. Sadly, no matter how hard he tries he can’t apply that same logic to his other friends. 

No matter, he just needs to take a deep breath and- 

The door slams open as a flustered Anger enters the living room, causing Fear to once again scream at the top of his lungs. 

... 

“Bit dramatic” Anger says with a scoff walking off towards the kitchen. 

‘I seriously can’t keep doing this...’ 

But he must.  

He just needs to keep his cool and hang on for a bit longer. 

Just a little bit longer.  

Basil finishes his lunch in record time, but quickly regrets it. The food was delicious, but now he’s just sat here awkwardly waiting for everyone else to finish. He’d excuse himself, but leaving the table early feels rude. A year ago, he would have done so with no problem, but he’s trying to work on his social graces right now. 

The dining room table is packed, with Kel and Hero’s parents, the four Sunnys, Aubrey and himself, with Sally babbling from up on a baby seat. They barely fit around the table, with the Rodriguezs needing to grab some additional chairs to accommodate everyone. 

It’s likely the busiest this room has been in years. 

“Say Basil?” Mr Rodriguez suddenly asks. 

“Y-Yes” he replies. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you need the phone for before? You looked quite distressed.” 

“Oh! I was calling my Mo- Polly! I was just calling Polly, t-to let her know I was h-here." 

Thankfully no-one commented on his slip-up. 

“You didn’t tell you caretaker you were staying here?” Mrs Rodriguez asked with silent fury. 

‘Uh oh.’ 

“Uhhh no I f-forgot to, s-sorry" he apologises. 

The older woman sighs, turning her attention to Aubrey. 

“What about you, young lady?” she asks. 

Basil and the Sunny clones collectively cringe at the question. He’s surprised the woman isn’t aware of Aubrey’s... situation. 

“No?” the delinquent replies, clearly confused. “Why the hell would I?” 

‘Oh, this is going to be a disaster.’ 

Mrs Rodriguez doesn’t know about Aubrey’s homelife, and the pinkette gets very tense whenever it’s brought up.  

Basil can read the writing on the wall, if he doesn’t step in, there’s going to be an argument. 

Meeting Aubrey’s eyes he mouths ‘she doesn’t know’. Basil watches as the delinquent’s eyes widen at the realisation. 

“It’s important to let you let your parent-” Mrs Rodriguez starts. 

“My Mom doesn’t care” Aubrey interrupts. “I- I’ve done this before, she never notices.” 

The table is deathly silent. 

“Oh my- I am so sorry dear” the woman apologises. “I’d heard rumours, but some people in this town can be so- look, I’m really sorry.” 

“It’s fine, you didn’t know” Aubrey replied. “I need some air.” 

With that, she gets up and quickly leaves the room. 

“I- I should go check on her” Basil says, standing up and running out of the room after her, before anyone can protest. 

He doesn’t have to look far, the front door is ajar, and opening it fully reveals the delinquent sat down on the front steps, idly fidgeting with a strand of her hair, staring into space. 

Basil takes a seat next to her. 

“You wanted to talk?” he asks. 

She doesn’t respond, not even bothering to turn and acknowledge his presence.  

‘She’ll reply when she’s ready’ he thinks. 

And sure enough... 

“Yeah...” Aubrey says after long minute of silence. 

“Well... I-I'm here now” he replies. 

“Yeah... you are.” 

“T-They didn’t know about your Mo-” 

“I know, I’m not bothered by that. I just really don’t have the energy for another ‘oh I’m so sorry your mom hates you’ talk right now. It’s better than silent judgement, but I don’t need her sympathy I don’t deserve it.” 

“That’s not t-true.” 

... 

“...I’m sorry.” 

“W-What?” 

“I’m sorry for being such a jerk to you.” 

“Aubrey I already-” 

“Yeah, yeah, you ‘forgave’ me. But we both know damn well you think you deserved it. You didn’t. What you did was seriously messed up, but you didn’t deserve this. Any of this.” 

“I- I know I didn’t d-deserve it” Basil replies, mimicking her sentiment as he struggles to find the right words. 

He’d internalised Aubrey’s bullying as a righteous punishment for so long now that admitting elsewise feels... strange.  

One wrong doesn’t right another, but what he did to Mari was very wrong. So, he never complained, not about her anyway, he went to the principal a few times but when it became clear that wasn’t going to help, he simply resigned himself to his fate. 

But as the wave of melancholy, guilt and other feelings Basil can’t quite describe fades, another emotion starts to creep in. 

Anger. 

He’d mentally framed his bullying as punishment, but no-one knew of his crimes. He got grief for misunderstandings and things beyond his control. It wasn’t righteous or even revenge, it wasn’t for Mari. 

It was for her. 

“I always told myself I d-did" he added. “That if you k-knew what I’d done, then you would k-kill me, so in a w-way I was getting off e-easy.” 

Aubrey is silent. 

“But now I- I...” he continued, struggling to verbalize his thoughts as his rage swells, then bursts. “We were friends! Practically f-family! And you just- you hated me for the one thing that I d-didn’t do! It was n-never about M-Mari, it was for you! Just you... you b-beat me when I was down for your o-own amusement...”  

“And I thanked you for it...” he concluded, solemnly. 

It’s deathly quiet for what feels like an eternity, but then Aubrey eventually speaks up. 

“You’re right, it wasn’t for Mari” she starts 

“But I told myself it was. That you defaced her memories, ruined all I had left of those days, and so you deserved everything you got, and worse” she continues, face obscured by her pink bangs. “But truthfully... I hurt you because it made me feel like for once... I was in control of something in my life.” 

“I projected every crappy thing that happened to me onto you, and I... I’m sorry. I know I keep saying that, but I am. I hurt you because I could, I was the worst, and I’m trying to be better. But...” she takes a deep breath before finishing. "That doesn’t excuse the things that you did do.” 

Ah right, that’s his cue then. 

Honestly, he’s shocked by just how open she’s being, they never truly talked this out before, it was always just surface level apologies. But more so he’s shocked by how... relatable it is. Doing something horrible and claiming it’s for someone you love, when in reality...  

It’s just for yourself. 

“I k-know it doesn’t. Nothing ever will” he starts. “The t-truth is I- I did it for me.” 

“What?” Aubrey asks, her face unreadable. 

“I can’t lie. N-Not really I... I needed s-something no-one would d-doubt” he continues. “I a-always told myself it was for S-Sunny. But it w-wasn't, it was for me, I thought- I thought if they took him away then I’d lose everything... lose all of you. So, I... I l-lied and lost it all anyway.” 

“But the album, you never-” 

“I didn’t want people to h-hate him... d-deep down some part of me hoped we could g-go back to how things were... but I know they c-can’t now... I’m sorry.” 

Aubrey is clearly stunned, but she still manages to muster a response. 

“God, Basil I... we’re the worst, aren’t we?” she asks. 

“Definitely. B-But we don’t have to be” he replies, earnestly. 

“You really think that we can change?” 

“M-Maybe, no harm in t-trying.” 

“Huh... Well, you wanna hug it out or?” 

“No.” 

The shock and dejection is as clear as day on Aubrey’s face. It causes Basil to panic, as he realises he was a bit too blunt. 

‘Still need to work on my social skills.’ 

“N-Not because I don’t want to be friends! I d-do! But- well... I think we need to be more honest with each other” he clarifies nervously. 

Aubrey’s shock changes to contemplation and he can practically see the cogs turning in her head. 

‘Huh, just like Kim.’ 

“Right, well in that case, I care about you... but I don’t forgive you. I still want us to be friends though. Or at least I want us to try” she says. 

“Ditto” Basil replies, extending his hand. 

She takes it and after a moment, shakes it, giving him the most genuine smile he’s seen on her in a long time. It must be infectious, because before he knows it, he’s smiling too. 

In that moment Basil realises something. They’re not the monsters they see themselves as. They’re just two flawed, hurt and seriously traumatised people. But above all else, they’re friends, and maybe this time around they can heal together. 

And whilst their situation is rather dire, Basil can’t help but feel a little optimistic for once. He’s finally being honest with his friends, and they’re being honest with him, no more forced smiles and uncomfortable silences. Once they fix Sunny maybe things can go back to the way- no.  

No.  

Things can’t go back to how they were. But they don’t have to. It’s time start moving forward. He’ll tell the others the full truth once this mess is over, and maybe together they can create something new, not better, but new.  

Or if nothing else, maybe they can at least finally find some closure. 

But in the meantime, they still need to fix Sunny... which is easier said than done. 

‘Speaking of whom.’ 

“So~ about you and Sun-” 

At that moment, a familiar car careens down the street, coming to a screeching halt as it pulls up at the driveway. The side window goes down quickly, revealing the jolly giant himself. 

“GUYS HOLY- wait why are you all outside?” Kel quizzes, his head poking out of the window. 

Basil is too stunned to even attempt a reply. Thankfully Aubrey isn’t. 

“Kel what the actual fu-” 

“Seriously?” Anger asks, incredulously. 

Aubrey hates to say it, but she gets his irritation. 

Hero had rushed back into the house, gathering everyone into the living room again , and admitted that he essentially wasted a couple of hours chasing a hunch, only to stumble upon the actual solution by sheer luck. And the solution, oh God, the solution. 

‘You all just need to talk it out’ Hero had said. Like the past couple of days have been anything else but talking about past mistakes. 

Still, if this was what it takes then that’s what they have to do. 

“I know it sounds dumb but-” Hero tries to explain. 

“It is dumb!” Anger interrupts, practically launching out of his chair. “What’s left to talk about! We’ve all agreed to be whole again! Right?!” 

“Right” the other copies reply, with varying levels of enthusiasm. 

“See!” 

She’s glad Hero at least have the sense to have his parents wait upstairs. Despite her brief resentment for the mother of the house, Aubrey could admit that the Rodriguez family is a nice bunch, and they didn’t deserve to get caught up in this. No more than they already have anyway. 

“Well...” Hero struggles to respond. 

“Maybe you all need to hug it out!” Kel suggests. 

‘This guy...’ 

“Kel, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard” she speaks up. 

“Does anyone else have any suggestions?” he asks. 

... 

He’s got her there. 

“It c-could work” Basil says. “If you all a-already t-talked, then maybe you just need... c-contact?” 

It was clear that the blonde was struggling to express his thoughts. But Kel seemed to appreciate the support, flashing the flower boy a wide grin, causing him to look away with a faint blush. 

‘Huh...’ 

She spots Anger starring daggers at Basil, clearly ready to protest. Giving the copy a glare of her own quickly shoots him down though. 

“The Warlock did say you needed to ‘unify’...” Hero says. “So, I guess there’s no harm in trying.” 

“I wouldn’t mind a hug!” Happiness beams. 

“Of course you wouldn’t” Anger grumbles. “But fine! Sadness, Fear, get up here!” 

Sadness sighs, rising from his seat on the couch, as Happiness and Anger follow in suit. But Fear doesn’t, clearly unnerved by the attention and reluctant to participate. 

“Hey, it’s okay!” Basil says to him, offering his best reassuring smile. 

Thankfully, it seems to work as the scared ‘Sunny’ hesitantly rises and joins his counterparts at the center of the room. 

After an awkward moment, where the four ‘Sunnys’ are simply stood staring at each other, Happiness finally takes the initiative, starting the group hug, which the others soon join in on. 

‘Cute.’ 

A second passes, then another, and as everyone waits with bated breath, the clone’s expressions slowly shift, clearly becoming more disillusioned by the second. 

After a minute, Aubrey can’t help but frown herself. Despite her comments to Kel, part of her did believe his insane plan. 

“ARGH! Damnit! I knew this wouldn’t work!” Anger yells. 

“Come on, don’t be like that! Maybe we haven’t hugged for long enough?” Happiness suggests. 

“Oh, brilliant idea! Let's stand here like idiots for even longer! I thought you were the magic expert here! Don’t you have any better ideas?” 

“None of the books mentioned this spell... but come on, let’s just try again I’m sure-” 

“Didn’t mention? Oh of course! I’m sure your reading list was rather selective, wasn’t it?” 

“I don’t follow.” 

“Oh please! We all know what your research was for!” 

‘This is gonna be ugly’ Aubrey thinks. 

Still, if there’s one thing she’s learnt over the past few years, its that sometimes airing grievances can be a good thing. So, she won’t step in... not yet anyway. 

“I’m past that! I’m all onboard for being whole again! Why do you always have to be like this?” Happiness asks. 

“H-He’s telling the t-truth" Sadness interjects. “We t-talked about it.” 

“I can confirm I was there” Hero adds. “You don’t have to be so harsh on him.” 

“Harsh? Harsh?! He nearly killed your brother! Grow a spine Henry! The man’s a monster!” Anger yells. 

“Watch it” Hero and Aubrey warn simultaneously.  

“I know I am... I’m sorry” Happiness apologises, looking at Kel for a moment, genuine remorse clear in his expression. “But you’re not being fair, I only want to help.” 

“And how am I supposed to trust you after this, you hurt our friend!” Anger shouts back. 

“I figured you would understand...” 

“The hell is that supposed to imply?” 

“You know what I mean.” 

“Oh, we’re doing this again? Well, I’m not sure I do. Why don’t you run it past me?” 

Aubrey can hear the venom in Anger’s voice. 

‘This is going nowhere.’ 

“That’s enough” she says, glaring at Anger. 

But this time he doesn’t back down. 

“Say it” he demands, staring down Happiness. 

“D-Don’t-” Sadness protests. 

“Look guys this is all-” Kel tries to interject. 

“ Say it! ” Anger screams. 

No-one says a word. 

The room falls silent for a moment, the quiet broken only by the soft whimpers of Sadness and Fear’s erratic breathing. Aubrey can feel her heart beating at a rapid pace. 

“You killed Mari” Happiness says. 

... 

And then all hell breaks loose. 

“You piece of-” Anger starts, approaching Happiness, his hair glowing bright red. 

Aubrey suddenly feels irritated. 

‘Not this again!’ 

“Oh, don’t start! You know how this ends!” Happiness taunts. 

“S-Stop” Sadness goes to protest, standing in front of smiling clone. 

“Shut it!” Anger roars, shoving the crying copy aside. 

Unfortunately, the wrathful ‘Sunny’ underestimates his own strength, as his shove sends Sadness flying down the floor with a loud thud. His hair glows a bright blue and he starts to weep uncontrollably. 

A strong pang of sadness hit Aubrey, as her friends finally rise from their seats and begin to try to step in. Their collective protests melting together into a buzzing background noise that clearly unnerves Anger. 

“Sadness! Shit! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to- WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!” the clone roars, firmly grabbing his now glowing red hair. 

“And I hurt people?! Look at you!” Happiness jabs. 

“You don’t get to judge me you privileged prick!” 

“Privileged? I didn’t exist for four years!” 

“And you think I did?! Arrogant prick! I’m gonna enjoy this!” 

“Bring it on!” Happiness replies, with a manic smile, his hair now also illuminated. 

Aubrey wants to step in, to stop her dumbass friend from literally tearing himself apart, but the mix of simultaneous anger, sadness and happiness she feels induces a strong headache, rendering her practically immobile as the migraine drills through her brain. 

“S-Stop it!” she manages to protest, as another sharp pain goes through her skull, tears threatening to leak out from her eyes. 

“S-Sunny please...” Basil begs, looking equally uncomfortable. 

“Shut it!” Anger yells, before throwing a punch that is easily caught and countered by Happiness. 

The raging ‘Sunny’ falls to the ground with a grunt, and whilst that should mark the end of the fight and by extension some relief, instead Aubrey feels... afraid? 

‘No...’ 

Looking over, Aubrey sees that Fear is hyperventilating. His hair is now unnaturally black, practically swallowing the light around it, and blood red light is starting to shine out through his sunglasses. 

“Guys please stop!” Hero begs. “You don’t understand!” 

There’s a deeper dread to his words, she can tell that much. This isn’t just the effects of Fear. Hero is genuinely scared, and that terrifies Aubrey. 

But she's powerless to do anything, practically immobilised by the ringing in her head. She hates this. 

She hates feeling so useless. 

“Can it!” Anger yells, his rage too strong to be reasoned with. 

The clone spits blood and rises to fight once again. Happiness simply smiles, his grin growing even wider than previously and raises his own fists. But before the two can fight again, two voices interrupt. 

“STOP!” Sadness and Fear yell out, rising from their positions on the floor. 

But as Fear stands, his shades fall to the ground with a thud. 

‘That can’t be good.’ 

Noticing his missing shades, the scared ‘Sunny’ starts to panic, his breaths rapid and strained, his glowing eyes illuminating the room, filling Aubrey with dread. 

Her migraine intensifies as a flurry of emotions rush through her mind, looking back up at the scene before her, she sees all of the copies are radiating their respective colours, the severity of the situation finally dawning on them as they all look equally panicked. 

“Oh no...” 

“W-Why?” 

“...” 

“I’m sor-” 

The Sunny’s glow even brighter, their radiance combining to create a blinding white light that encompasses the entire living room. Aubrey covers her eyes and bites down on her teeth as her mind continues to be bombarded by feelings of rage, sorrow, joy and terror. 

After a moment, Aubrey's headache suddenly ceases, falling to her knees she struggles to catch her breath, relieved that the migraines have ceased at least.

Although her relief is short-lived as she looks around at her surroundings and finds that she is no longer in the Rodriguez household but instead in some nightmarish recreation of Faraway Park. A monochromatic hellscape, the world around her lacks any colour. The ground is dry and cracked and the sky is pitch black yet Aubrey can still see, despite the lack of any obvious light source. 

Pinching her arm confirms that Aubrey isn't dreaming, leaving her with one burning question. 

‘Where the hell am I?’ 

Chapter Text

A boy sits in front of a piano. 

The room he’s in is deathly quiet, it’s one of few the places he can find some respite these days. The rest of his house is full of yelling and cold stares. But this room... 

This room is for the dead.  

The boy reaches his hand out and contemplates pressing a key... No.  

No, it’s not his instrument to sully, he’s done enough damage already. He may have killed his sister, but he won’t taint her memory with his filth. He’s not worthy of even being in the presence of this piano, let alone playing it.  

It’s perfect.  

He isn’t. 

... 

‘What’s even the point... Why am I here?’ the boy thinks, reflecting on the nightmare of an existence he’s been living for the past few weeks. 

He’s a monster, a murderer, a brother without a sister. 

There’s no rest for people like him... Not the kind you wake up from anyway... But he’s so tired. So very, very tired. So, maybe... maybe it’s time to- 

At that moment, something catches his eye. Another boy stares back at him from within the piano. There is a name above his head, finely engraved into the glossy wood of the instrument. 

‘Omori’ it reads. 

He isn’t perfect. But Omori is... 

In that moment the boy for the first, and sadly not the last time splits. 

... 

A boy rises from the piano bench, exits the room, and closes the door behind him. He turns to face it one last time and- 

There is nothing there.   

So, this is what the Warlock meant by ‘wrong’. 

Hero has been wandering this place for a few minutes now, it’s a barren desert, a shattered land, with a pitch-black sky, and grey but surprisingly sweet sand... Not that he ate any sand on purpose of course! He simply tripped over and... okay he’s not kidding anyone. Thankfully, Kel wasn’t here to see that bit though. 

‘Kel...’ 

He hopes his brother is okay, Hero knew the risks of trying to reunite Sunny, but he didn’t think it would go so wrong so fast. Evidently, he misjudged, and that has cost them all dearly. 

Sleep deprivation and stress are the obvious culprits for his poor judgement, but at the end of the day, Hero only has himself to blame. He wanted to step in when Anger started getting carried away, but the combined influence of the different emotions caused him the worst migraine he’s had in a long time. Then he blacked out and woke up here, wherever here is. Some desolate vaguely Egyptian desert, or well maybe dessert, considering the landscape is seemingly made of sugar and other monochrome food. 

Either way, Hero’s been wandering this place for a while now, and he’s come to a few conclusions. Firstly, this place has been through some kind of disaster, abandoned houses, tourist attractions and stalls give that much away, if people lived here, they left as fast as they could. Then of course there’s the fact that the land itself is literally fragmented, with chunks of the desert floating in place throughout this dark void, somehow defying gravity.  

Speaking of which, conclusion number two, this place is stuck in said void. He’d walked to the edge of the ‘island’ he’s on and saw other fragments of the desert floating off in the distance, below and beyond them there was nothing but darkness. 

Finally, conclusion number three, he is almost certainly trapped. The chunk of land he’s stuck on is miles away from other fragments, and he has no clear way of getting over to them. 

So, all factors considered, Hero is absolutely fu- 

A shadowy blob suddenly lands in front of him, its beady eyes appear stunned before they suddenly refocus, it’s attention now on Hero. 

‘A bunny?’ 

“Hey little buddy” Hero says, reaching down to pet the blob. 

“Don’t!” a voice yells. 

“Wha-” 

In a surprisingly graphic transformation, the blob suddenly splits open, it’s cheek’s ripping apart, tendons snapping as a massive gaping maw opens impossibly wide. Hero naturally screams at the tops of his lungs, quickly moving his hand away from the creature just as it slams its jaw shut. 

Anger suddenly sprints forward, stomping his foot down onto the atrocity. The monster pops like a macabre water balloon, it’s black blood splashing onto Hero’s face.  Because of course.  

“You’re welcome” Anger jests. 

“I- Where are we?” Hero asks, refusing to indulge the clone. 

“Headspace, maybe Blackspace, probably both” the clone ‘explains’. “Wherever we are, we shouldn’t linger.” 

“No kidding... Know a way out?” 

“I might do... I’m sorry by the way.”  

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“You didn’t need to. I can tell you’re mad, I’m literally the embodiment of rage!” 

“I’m not mad, just disappointed.” 

“That’s worse!” Anger groans. 

Hero sighs. It feels like he’s talking to Kel right now. 

“You were doing so well and then you-” he starts. 

“I know” Anger interrupts. “I... I got carried away, but he hurt Kel! And he had the gall to bring up Mari...” 

“He was out of line, but so were you” Hero scolds. “You’re better than this Sunny. I know you are.” 

“Then I’m sorry, but you don’t know me at all. I promised I’d stop hurting people, but I just keep doing it... I’m the worst.” 

Hero sighs for the thousandth time this week, placing a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

“I broke a promise today too. A very similar one to yours. ‘Do no harm’, the Hippocratic Oath” he starts. “It’s a bit silly I know, I’m not even an official doctor yet. But I’ve always wanted to help people-” 

“To be a hero...” Anger mumbles. 

“Yeah... but I guess the stress finally got to me and I uh... kinda kicked the Warlock in the face.” Hero explains nervously. 

“Haha! Oh man that is amaz- uhhh I mean, bad?” ‘Sunny’ says, awkwardly course-correcting his response. 

“Look, I’m just trying to let you know I understand. I’ve told you- uh the other yous that, but I do, I really do. And healing isn’t a narrow path the way forward is difficult and-” 

Hero is suddenly cut off by Anger quickly yet firmly embracing him. The hug ends as soon as it starts, lasting a second at most. 

“Save the speech, I can tell you’re sick of giving them” Anger grumbles. “I want to get better, to make this right, to actually keep my promise. But to do that we have to get out of here so let’s just go.” 

“...Thanks” Hero says. 

‘He’s still a good kid, at heart anyway.’ 

“Although, your promise doesn’t extend to the shadow monsters, right? Because if there’s more of them then-” 

“Shadow bunnies don’t count... please don’t tell Aubrey” Anger says. 

“I would never ruin your chances like that little bro” Hero teases. 

“I can still leave you here” ‘Sunny’ deadpans. 

“Duly noted. Now lead the way... please.” 

The two friends trek across the desert (or is it dessert? Hero still hasn’t decided) in silence, occasionally stopping to stare at the ruins of what he presumes were once lively households. 

“Sweetheart lived here once. She was a donut... she also tried to marry you. She sucked” Anger grumbles unprompted. 

‘Not a single word of that makes any sense.’ 

“Okay?” 

After another ten minutes of silent walking Hero decides to speak up. 

“So... this is headspace huh?” he asks, breaking the quiet. 

“Yep, what’s left of it anyway” ‘Sunny’ replies. 

“What’s left? Sunny this place is massive! I can’t believe you dreamt all of this! How is this even possible?” Hero gushes. 

He knows he shouldn’t be complimenting what is at its core an inherently destructive coping mechanism. But it can’t be denied, this place is impressive. Even in its damaged state, the sheer scale of Headspace alone is shocking. 

“Heh, oh please! This? This place is nothing, an optional encounter, a diversion, Orange Oasis is tiny compared to the rest of Headspace” Anger replied smugly, sounding almost proud.  

“But... how?” 

“What can I say, I had a lot of time to kill.” 

“The most I ever dreamed of was the park...” 

“Oh right, your ever elusive Hero headspace, what’s up with that? Aubrey’s gonna interrogate you on it later anyway, so I’d say you’re best off telling me first, rehearse your lines a bit, if you get me.” 

“I already have?” 

“You definitely haven’t.” 

“Oh! Sorry, that was the other you... uh you’s... again.” 

“I’m the last to know aren’t I?” Anger asks, with a deadpan expression. 

“Well... Fear doesn’t” Hero replies lamely.  

“Brilliant” the copy grumbles. 

‘Oh, right I am talking to the embodiment of teenage angst here.’ 

“Honestly, there’s not much to discuss, it was more rest and relaxation than epic adventures and damsels in distress” Hero says, trying his best to keep the conversation going. “So, I’d say your dreams are a lot more interesting!” 

“Thanks... but damsels in distress?” Anger asks, with a baffled expression. 

“Hey, I’m just guessing, I don’t know what you got up to in here! Saving Aubrey from a comically tall tower maybe?” Hero teases. 

“Shut it! Aubrey’s not just some damsel...” Anger pouts. “But we... we did save Basil... So, I- I guess he was our Princess Peach...” 

‘Can’t say I was expecting that.’ 

“Well, we tried to save him anyway, but sometimes... never mind.” 

Hero decides it’s best to not push that point any further. Some questions are best left unasked. 

Another few minutes pass and Hero suddenly notices a large chunk of land floating off in the distance begin to plummet down into the dark. 

“Should we be concerned about that?” Hero asks. 

What he really means is ‘will that happen to the island we’re on?’ 

“Probably not” Anger dismisses. 

What he really means is ‘don’t think about it’. 

Eventually, the two reach what Hero assumes is their destination, a tall, imposing, sugary cliff face.  

“This is the place?” Hero asks. 

Anger doesn’t reply, instead he sighs and approaches a large, wilted, flower bulb. The clone gives it a solid punch, causing the dry petals open up, revealing a tired looking mushroom. 

‘What?’ 

“At last... free... excellent, excellent, excell-” the old shroom’s musings come to a halt as he devolves into a coughing fit. The sight of which deeply upsets Hero. “Here take this... a gift.” 

A dented cup of coffee suddenly materialises in Anger’s hand. 

“Ugh, Headspace...” the boy grumbles, clearly unimpressed. “Come on Hero.”  

Anger pockets the crappy cup, somehow fitting the entire cup in his shorts, it’s contents inexplicably not spilling out. Then he walks forward and jumps onto the mushroom, which instantly launches him all the way up to the top of the cliff. 

“Excellent...” the old shroom continues to mumble. 

“What is my life?” Hero thinks aloud, before following ‘Sunny’s lead. 

Hero hops onto the withered mushroom, and despite barely touching the thing, he’s sprung up high into the air at mach ten, before landing on top of the cliff with a thud. Rising to his feet and dusting off the ‘sand’ from his clothes, Hero notices Anger approaching a figure in the distance.  

Having no time to waste, he follows after ‘Sunny’, making his way towards the mysterious stranger. 

“My oh my! You boys sure have grown since I last saw y'all” a man’s voice calls out. 

Getting closer, Hero can see that the man is dancing back and forth, and that unlike the surrounding hellscape the stranger actually has some colour to him and by some, he means a lot.  

The man’s skin and clothes consist of a weird mix of pastel pigments that make him stand out against the rest of Headspace like a sore thumb. He’s also dressed like a cowboy... 

‘What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What-’  

“This is Mr. Outback, he’s a thirty-thousand-year-old cowboy, and he knows things he shouldn’t” Anger says, a bit of resentment creeping into his town at the end. “Just roll with it.” 

‘I don’t think I have a choice at this point.’ 

“Thirty- three thousand” Mr. Outback corrects. “Must say, didn’t expect to see you again! This place looking awful grey these days, what happened to that imagination?” 

“I moved on... But never mind that! We need your help” Anger replies. 

“Ah, they always do, guess that’s just the nature of this place” the cowboy replies vaguely, almost sounding nostalgic. 

“They?” Hero quizzes. 

“Stop with all the cryptic crap!” Anger demands. “I know you know stuff! Help us or I’ll-” 

“This land ain’t yours no more dreamer” Mr. Outback interrupts, with what almost sounds like a threat. “Time’s a changing... but oh, what the hay! I’ll help ya out! For old time’s sake!” 

“Yeah... Good!” ‘Sunny’ replies, clearly unnerved by the man, but trying to put on a confident facade. “So... do you have any way to get us to White Space?” 

‘White Space?’ 

“Hmmm, well I can certainly get y'all back to the mainland, in fact your timings near perfect!” the Cowboy says, looking up to the sky. 

... 

There’s a long pause before Hero speaks up. 

“So... how do we-” he starts. 

“Patience youngin, anyyy second now” Mr. Outback replies. 

At that moment the sky above them darkens, which is surprising considering it’s already pitch black. Looking up Hero sees another floating chunk of land has drifted overhead, although this one is comparatively smaller and much rounder, resembling a small asteroid. 

“Pluto...” Anger mumbles, sounding almost upset. 

“YEEHAW!” the Cowboy yells with a hearty laugh, once again contrasting everything around him. 

Pulling out an absurdly long lasso, seemingly from out of nowhere, the man flings the rope upwards, wrapping it around the floating rock. Once it’s secured, he starts to reel the asteroid downwards, until it’s just barely hovering above the ground in front of them. 

Hero pauses for a moment, some long overdue self-reflection finally kicking in. He was completely unphased by that entire thing for a moment. A pastel-coloured cowboy lassoed a gravity-defying asteroid from a dark void down to a cliff made of candy.  

Hero saw all of this and was almost unphased. 

‘How did my life get to this point?’ 

‘Well, your neighbour who you treated like your second brother killed his sister, who you dated, and then your actual brother bought your almost brother a magic book and-’ 

Ok that’s enough self-reflection. 

“Hop on kiddos!” Mr. Outback says. “A good shove will get you rascals back to Vast Forest... eventually. But hey it’s about the journey not the destination!” 

‘Jump on the asteroid and drift back over to some forest... okay, no.’ 

That’s enough. Hero has so many questions and if he doesn’t ask them, he’s actually going to go insane. 

“Who are you?” “What are you?” Two voices ask simultaneously. 

Anger and Hero lock eyes. Seems like he’s not the only one with questions. 

“You’re still here, still ‘normal’ and you still know way more than you should!” Anger rants, turning his attention back to the cowboy.  

“Also, this place is absurdly complex for a reoccurring dream, no-one has this big of an imagination!” Hero adds, letting out some of his own frustrations towards this mysterious place. “No offense Sunny.” 

“None taken... actually the more I think about it, that is weird!” 

“Welp, it is pretty dang big this time around! Or it was anyway... But it’s like I first told you buckaroo, old geezers like me who’ve been ‘round the block long enough got something of a sixth sense” the man replies.  

“But truth is I’m still just the same geezer I was yesterday, an if I’m lucky I’ll be the same geezer tomorrow! I’m a loiterer, that’s all I am!” he continues with a hearty chuckle. 

Hero does not care for this man. He reminds him of the Warlock too much, an absolute buffoon for sure, but someone who's clearly a lot more knowledgeable than they look. 

Looking over at Anger, he sees that, unsurprisingly, the boy is rather frustrated. 

“So that’s it?” he asks. 

“Yep! That's all she wrote!” Mr. Outback replies. 

“Urgh...Come on Hero... lets go.” 

Hero doesn’t need to be told twice, they’re clearly not going to get any coherent answers from this strange fellow, so they might as well go. 

‘Magic, old gods, dream worlds, I can’t believe it, but I’m starting to miss college...’ 

Hoping onto the asteroid, Hero panics a bit as it wobbles slightly under their weight. 

“This is safe right?” he asks. 

“Probably. Look just hold on tight, dream you did this all the time!” Anger replies, dismissively. 

“Dream me? What do- Woah!” 

Hero’s question is cut short as the rock suddenly launches forward, travelling fast at first, before slowly losing speed as it drifts away from the desert and makes its way across the void. 

“Good luck kiddos! I’m rootin’ and tootin’ for ya!” Mr. Outback calls out. 

“Uh thanks!” Hero yells back, before turning to ‘Sunny’. “Did you see him kick this thing?” 

“No...” Anger replies, with a contemplative look. 

“What a weird guy...”  

The two float on the asteroid in silence for what feels like forever. But eventually they spot a larger land mass in the near distance. 

“We’ll be there soon” Anger says absentmindedly. 

“Vast Forest?” Hero asks, recalling the cowboy’s words. 

“Yep, the one and only.” 

It’s certainly vast alright, despite being fractured and cracked, the landmass is still clearly larger than the desert they were in before. 

“I get why you named it that” Hero mumbles, awestruck by the scale of the world. 

“You have no idea” ‘Sunny’ responds, his expression unreadable. 

Hero wants to push it, but instead he chooses to wait. If he wants to talk, then he will. A moment passes as their rock continues to float along towards the island, and sure enough, Anger eventually speaks up. 

“I know you think this place is cool but trust me it’s stupid! It was a dumb coping mechanism, one big distraction! I hate it! I chose to move on from this hell hole!” Anger rants. “But... seeing it like this... it feels wrong.” 

“I guess it was easier to say goodbye when I didn’t have to face what would happen once, I left...” he muses. 

Once again, Hero knows the feeling. Leaving somewhere you had nothing but negative feelings for, only to return to see the consequences of your absence.  

He wants to reassure ‘Sunny,’ to let him know how he gets how he feels, but he knows that Anger can only hear so many ‘I understand you’ talks before they start to feel hollow. So instead, he simply wraps his arm around the angry clone, offering him a shoulder to rest on as they continue to float closer to their destination. 

“Thanks Hero” Anger says, taking up the unspoken offer and resting his head against the older man. “I just... being here, breaking my promise, it feels like I’m going backwards not forwards.” 

“Recovery isn’t a linear path Sunny” Hero says. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know” Anger replies. “Still, I hoped this mess would be over by now, but instead it’s somehow gotten worse! And even if we find the other me’s, then what? We talk it out and hope things don’t go to shit again?!” 

“I’m sorry Hero, but I don’t think we can ‘talk out’ our self-loathing" ‘Sunny’ adds bitterly. 

“Maybe you don’t have to” Hero suggests. 

“Huh?” 

“You can’t forgive yourself instantly, that kind of trauma can’t be fixed so easily. So maybe you all just need to agree to move forward, even if slowly.” 

“We already did!” 

“Did you though? What about with Fear? Or Happiness?” 

“...So what? It comes down to another round of group therapy?” Anger asks incredulously. 

“If you have any better ideas, please let me know” Hero replies. 

“I might do... but if it doesn’t work, then we’ll do your plan.” 

“Sounds good.” 

With a plan now in place, the two friends watch the world below pass them by, finally arriving above Vast Forest. 

“Sunny?” 

“Yeah?” 

“How exactly do we get down from here?” 

... 

“Fu-” 

‘I’m getting really sick of magic’ Aubrey thinks as she wanders the desolate playground. 

This place is beyond freaky, even ignoring the whole ‘greyscale hellscape’ thing, the finer details are just as unnerving. Such as the near one-to-one layout of the park. Pretty much everything is where it should be, even the swings... 

Aubrey sighs. 

"Exhausted" can’t even begin to describe how she feels. This past week has been too much, between all the wizard crap, emotional talks, and now this. 

‘I’m so tired.’ 

But she can’t rest, not yet. She has to get out of here, find her friends, fix Sunny, and then, and only then, get some well-earned shuteye. 

“N-No...” 

... 

‘The hell was that?’ 

Focusing in, Aubrey hears more faint whispers. 

“P-Please.” 

‘Okay there’s definitely someone else here.’ 

Following the voice, Aubrey approaches a nearby tree. 

“N-Not here anywhere but h-here” someone mumbles from behind it. 

“Hello?” Aubrey calls out. 

“Aubrey?” a nervous but familiar voice replies. 

“Sunny?!” 

Suddenly, the tree moves aside, revealing it to be merely a very realistic cut out, as Fear emerges from behind it, once again wearing those ridiculous sunglasses.

“What even?” Aubrey asks, absolutely baffled by situation she’s found herself int. 

“It was Boss’ tree” Fear explains, barely answering one of the million questions Aubrey has. 

Sparing the boy a lengthy interrogation, Aubrey decides to focus on the immediate matters, lest she have a full-on breakdown. Priority one right now is to team up with Fear, who is clearly still keeping his distance. 

“Sunny... you don’t have to be scared of me” she says. 

“I’m not” he replies. 

Aubrey’s not convinced. 

“Then why are you standing over there?” 

“I’m scared of hurting you.” 

‘Ah, so that’s it.’ 

“Do you want to hurt me?” 

“No. Never.” 

“Then don’t worry, come on we have to-” 

“N-No... you don’t understand. We never intend to hurt people, but we still do. We agreed to be better but...” 

“Sunny, you’re not going to hurt me.” 

“We already have.” 

She can’t argue with that. Sunny has hurt her, a lot actually. Even ignoring the time, he straight up stabbed her, his actions over the years have hurt her and her relationships in ways he can’t possibly began to comprehend. 

And yet... 

“Yeah, you have. But I understand, life drops all this pressure on you, and it builds and builds until you can’t take it anymore... and then you finally express it, that grief and that rage... and you hurt people, people you care about.” Aubrey says, sincerely. 

“Trust me I know the feeling. You’ve done some horrible things, but so have I and despite everything... I do still care about you” she continues, with a faint blush on her cheeks. “Besides, I’ve had this conversation with Anger already, so you’re gonna be sick of this sappy crap when you’re whole again!” 

Fear makes a noise that almost resembles a laugh at that comment.  

“So, let's get out of here, okay?” she proposes. 

‘Sunny’ hesitates but eventually steps out from behind the tree and approaches her.  He stands in front of her, staring awkwardly at the ground, as he looks back up, Aubrey offers a reassuring smile. It works better than she intended as the clone suddenly embraces her in a firm hug. 

Her cheeks burn, but she reciprocates the hug. After a moment, they finally part, but Fear continues to hold her hand. 

She doesn’t let go. 

“So, where the hell are we? Is this Headspace?” she asks. 

“It isn’t. Not entirely anyway” Fear explains, panic gradually creeping back into his voice. “This shouldn’t even be possible! This place should be gone, we moved on! I don’t-” 

“Woah! Cool it Sun, you’re okay, we’ll find a way out, I promise.” 

“You don’t understand, there might be... things, here.” 

“Then I’ll protect you” she says with a confident smirk. “Now, you got any idea where an exit might be?” 

‘Sunny’ nods and leads the way. 

Hand in hand, the two friends make their way out of the dilapidated playground, passing melancholic reminders of childhood memories. Fear clings to Aubrey like a lifeline and the delinquent prays he doesn’t notice just how terrified she is. 

But just they exit the playground, Aubrey hears the creaking of the rusty swing set as it’s seats rocks back and forth in the wind. The sound fills her with a bittersweet nostalgia for better times, when- wait a second . 

Halting in place, Fear looks up at her, his facing radiating anxiety. She doesn’t want to alarm him, but she has a bad feeling she can’t shake. 

“Sunny?” she asks hesitantly. 

“Yes?” Fear replies, panic clear in his eyes. 

“Is there wind in Headspace?” 

“Well... there was Kite Kid.” 

Aubrey has no idea what that means, but it certainly doesn’t answer her question. 

Cupping a few strands of her hair in her palm then letting them go, Aubrey watches as her pink hair falls straight back into place. 

‘No resistance... No wind... So then...’  

"Aubrey?"

‘...How did the swing move?’ 

“Sunny, don’t panic, but we need to g-” 

“Look ladies!” a girl’s voice calls out from behind them. “ Fresh meat .” 

Quickly turning around, Aubrey sees... herself?! 

A boy lays in a white void. He has been living here for a few days now. He stares aimlessly at the ceiling, much like the floor and walls it’s a blinding white. 

His eyes sting, but he’s long since ran out of tears to cry. This morning his father had left without a word. The boy had expected this of course, he had watched as the pile of luggage by the door grew and grew with each passing day. 

But it wasn’t until the man’s car was speeding down the road that the boy truly felt something. A deep loneliness, an inescapable sorrow, the guilt one can only feel upon looking at a covered family portrait, and knowing that they are the only one to blame. It was then that the boy wept. 

He cried himself to sleep and woke up here. Just like he had for the past few weeks. 

Time had become a blur, every day was the same, a miserable drag the boy had to suffer through until he could finally sleep. It was in his dreams that he had found meaning, a world better than his own, colourful and fun, full of adventure and joy. A world where he could play forever, a world where his friends a world where his sister- 

“ You are not my son. ” 

Oh right. She’s dead. 

Dreams, reality, it’s all the same truth. 

His friends are grieving, and it’s his fault. 

His family is broken, and it’s his fault. 

His sister is dead, and it’s his fault. 

He reaches the same conclusion with every turn he takes. Asleep or awake, staring at the stump in his back yard, or wandering through Orange Oasis. 

A jump rope lays on the sand, above it a small dusty poster is pinned to the wall. It displays a small smiley face.  

‘You did it!’ it reads.  

He’s a monster, a killer, that’s the truth. His father knew that much, his dreams know it too. If he leaves through that white door, he’ll have fun for maybe a minute or two, before the dream inevitably takes a turn. Everything reminds him of her, of what he did. 

There’s no rest for the damned, and he will find no solace in sleep. There’s no way out for him, except for- 

Suddenly, his shadow stirs. It blinks a few times, before standing tall above its progenitor. It stares down at the boy with a blank face but eyes full of pity, the boy stares back in awe. 

“Omori” the boy murmurs. 

The shadow offers the boy a hand, which he hesitantly takes, before pulling him into a firm hug. Omori is stunned, but after a moment, he returns the gesture, rubbing the boy’s back as he sobs into his shoulder. 

Above the pair a black lightbulb quietly hums. 

“ KILL IT! KILL IT! KILL IT! ” Basil cries frantically. 

“SOME HELP WOULD BE NICE DUDE!” Kel yells back. 

The tan teen was currently fighting for his life against some feral sprout mole, having foolishly picked it up, assuming it was a plushie, the monster had responded by trying to bite his face off. So now Kel’s wrestling to keep this thing at arm’s length, whilst also trying to stop it from eating his fingers.  

The little monster roars and Kel flinches, looking away from the creature, so that its gross spit doesn’t get in his eyes. Only for the creature to suddenly stop fidgeting as Kel feels something warm splash against his face, except it’s not saliva, its... blood? 

Looking at his hands, Kel sees he’s now holding the punctured corpse of the sprout mole, a pair of garden sheers firmly planted in its head. Kel drops the literal dead weight to the ground in disgust, where it bursts into a small puddle of black viscera on impact. 

‘Gross.’ 

“Do you carry those everywhere?” Kel asks his blonde saviour, between breaths. 

He’s grateful for the assist, but seriously doesn’t like the implications of those sheers. 

“N-No I f-forgot I had them” Basil replies, leaning down to retrieve his weapon. “I s-swear." 

Kel’s not especially convinced but he’ll drop it for now. 

“So! Any clue where the heck we are?” Kel asks. 

One minute he’s suffering the worst migraine he’s ever had, watching as his friends argue again , next minute he wakes up in some black and white nightmare.  

He had wandered aimlessly through greyscale trees until stumbling across a strange clearing containing a large shoe-shaped cottage. Despite the cute design, it was clearly abandoned, the windows were smashed in and the walls were covered in black moss. Still it was shelter, and that was good enough for Kel. 

It came as some surprise when he opened the door found Basil curled up on the floor. 

He was relieved to find his friend, but less thrilled when they stumbled across the rabid sprout mole, a mere minute later. 

“Uhhh” Basil stutters, clearly not wanting to share his thoughts. 

“Come on Bas! Any clues?” 

“I... k-kinda thought I m-might be uhhh...” 

Basil doesn’t continue, instead choosing to simply point downwards. 

“What do you-” 

‘Oh! Oh...’ 

“Jeez Bas...” 

“Y-Yeah I know... But we c-can’t be there! B-Because y-you’re here!” 

“Uh thanks?” Kel replies, lamely. 

There’s an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Kel tries to speak up again. 

“Basil you’re not going to-” 

“L-Look a path! That m-might lead to the e-exit!” the blonde interrupts. 

‘Worth a shot...’ 

Why do all his friends have to hate themselves so much? 

‘Like you’re any better.’  

‘Silence intrusive thoughts! Time and place!’ 

Following after Basil, the two boys walk along the twisting path, passing a dead garden as they go. The sight of which clearly upsets Basil, causing Kel to instinctively wrap his arm around the flower boy’s shoulder. The blonde doesn’t shove him off, so they keep walking like that, until they stumble across another garden, one that isn’t dead. 

It’s a plot full of cacti. 

His plant. 

“Sturdy and resilient” Basil mumbles. 

“Huh?” Kel asks. 

“O-Oh, s-sorry I was just lost in t-thought." 

“Cacti, those were my plant, right? I remember you gave everyone their own plant...” 

“Y-Yeah... I’m surprised you r-remember that. They all had m-meanings behind them.” 

“What was mine?!” Kel asks excitedly. 

‘Sturdy and resilient huh? Basil must think he’s super strong, take that Hero!’ 

Hero... 

Hopefully, his big brother is okay, wherever he is. 

“W-Well I chose the cactus for you b-because...” Basil trails off, clearly hesitant to give his reasoning. 

“Bas?” Kel asks hesitantly, trying to hide the dejection in his voice. 

He watches as Basil’s expression slowly changes, a determined look forming in his friend’s blue eyes. 

“Cacti stand tall, survive even the harshest environments with little support, and offer aid to those lost under the desert sun” Basil says. “So uh, they remind me of y-you.” 

‘Wow...’ 

That’s the most coherent sentence Kel’s ever heard from Basil, and he feels that way... about him? 

“Wow, I... thanks Basil” Kel says, blushing slightly at the unexpected praise. “You’re pretty cool yourself you know.” 

He means it and he hopes Basil knows that. 

“T-Thanks Kel” the blonde replies, looking away, clearly embarrassed. 

With the pleasantries over, the two teens continue their walk, passing more gardens as they go, all dead unfortunately. But Basil seems to be taking the sights better this time thankfully, but Kel makes sure to keep his arm around him just in case. 

For moral support of course. 

After another minute of walking, they finally exit out onto a literal crossroads. Directly ahead of them there’s a large canyon blocking off a path leading towards what appears to be a playground. To their right there’s some strange asteroid shaped sign, standing tall amongst the trees, and to their left there is yet another path. 

‘Hmmm which way to go?’ Kel ponders. 

“Hey Bas, which way do you reckon we-” 

A familiar scream suddenly echoes through the quiet forest. 

“Aubrey!” Basil yells. 

He’s right, that scream... 

An angry delinquent clutches her bleeding arm, she stares daggers at her two former friends, nothing but hate, hurt and vitriol in her eyes.  

That’s Aubrey alright. 

“It sounds like it’s coming from ahead of us” Kel says, removing his arm from the flower boy and rushing over to the pit blocking their path. It’s long and deep and looking down it, Kel can see nothing but darkness. 

‘I can make that... probably.’ 

The distant sound of a loud explosion suddenly echoes through the trees. 

‘Aubrey!’ 

She’s a pain in his ass, but she’s also his friend. He has to help her. 

“Basil... I’m about to do something incredibly stupid” Kel states. 

“W-What? Kel we need to s-save Aubrey what are yo- no! N-NO! KEL DON’T!” 

‘It’s a long way down... Do you want to jump?’ 

... 

‘Heck yeah.’ 

“Come on Basil, have some faith!” Kel says, taking a step back, preparing to make a running jump. 

“Kel please we can find another way around!” Basil begs. 

They can’t, that crevice stretches on for miles, and they don’t have time to waste. 

“I’m resilient remember!” Kel yells, as he makes his leap of faith. 

Once again time seems to slow around him, and before he knows it, he’s off the ground and right over the mouth of the pit. Thankfully, the velocity he picked up keeps him in momentum as he soars over the canyon, until he’s mere inches away from the other side. 

‘I’m going to make it!’ 

But as is often the case with things in Kel’s life, he falls just short. 

Time returns to it’s normal pace as Kel collides with the other side of the canyon, busting his nose and briefly stunning him. As his adrenaline kicks in, he desperately claws at the grey dirt, doing his best to latch onto a rock, a tree root, anything! 

But it’s all for naught. 

Kel falls backwards into oblivion, watching helplessly as Basil runs over to the pit, tears in his eyes. 

“ KEL! ” his friend screams, voice cracking. 

‘Sorry Bas’ he thinks, closing his eyes as he falls into the void. 

“Sunny?” Aubrey asks nervously, her voice wavering as she stares at hersel- never mind make that herselves . 

A small gang of identical feral looking girls emerges from the bushes surrounding them, their faces weirdly distorted, but still recognisable as her own... or well a younger version of it anyway. Their skin is almost white, their hair some strange shade of blue and they’re all wearing dirty rags that Aubrey recognises as her old, oversized bed shirt. 

‘I used to wear that thing to sleepovers all the time...’ 

They’re her, that much she’s sure of. Twisted, nightmarish, technicolour versions of herself, but still her. 

“Just- Just back away slowly” Fear stammers. 

“Sunny why the hell are their evil me’s in here?!” Aubrey whisper-yells in response. 

“Finally, I’m starving” one of her doubles says. 

“Wait! Keep your distance, she looks like the mean one!” another warns. 

‘They’re going to eat us. What the fu-’ 

“No! She doesn’t have the cool bat! The mean one always has the bat!” yet another ‘Aubrey’ interjects. “I like your hair by the way!” 

“I... thanks?” Aubrey nervously replies. “You’re not gonna eat us alive are you?” 

“What no!” 

“Oh, thank Go-” 

“That’d be yucky! We’re going to turn you to toast and then eat you!” one of her doubles replies with an innocent ‘v’ shaped smile. 

“I call dibs on her bow!” another yells. 

“I want her jacket!” 

“Ladies wait! She said ‘us’, who’s behind her?”  

Aubrey can practically hear Fear’s trembling, and whilst she moves to cover him, her doubles move quickly and circle them in a matter of seconds. 

“Omori!” they all swoon at once. 

‘What.’ 

Turning to look at Fear, she sees an expression she can only describe as ‘painful cringe’. He looks like he would like to be anywhere but here. Which she completely understands, but at the same time WHAT THE FU- 

“I knew you’d come back for me!” one ‘Aubrey’ says, doing a little twirl in joy. 

“You? He’s here for me! Aren’t you Omori?” 

“Ha! Please he’s clearly here for me!” 

‘OKAY SERIOUSLY WHAT????’  

“Ladies please!” another one of the girls yells. “Isn’t getting a decent meal more important than getting a boyfriend?” 

... 

‘WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHA-’ 

“Nope” the other ‘Aubreys’ agree simultaneously. 

“We can have both!” one suggests. 

“YEAH!” they all yell in unison. 

Having reached a conclusion, one of the ‘Aubreys’ suddenly lunges for Fear, only to be met with a swift kick to the head from the real Aubrey, who has snapped out of her stupor just in time. 

The child hits the ground hard, rolling across the barren ground before stopping at the feet of one of her other doubles. The copy twitches and spasms for a second before exploding in a small poof of smoke, leaving a small bow-adorned piece of toast on the floor in her place. 

“Back off!” Aubrey snarls. 

“Oh... he’s hers” another copy laments. 

‘Damn right...’  

... 

‘Wait no! What the hell?! NOT NOW BRAIN!’ 

The dejected ‘Aubreys’ sulk amongst themselves for a minute before one of them speaks up again. 

“Oh well! We can just take him after we’ve eaten her!” 

“YAY!” they all cheer. 

“RUN!” Fear yells. 

Not needing to be told twice, Aubrey grabs her friend's hand and sprints for the gap in the ‘clone circle’, shoulder barging past one of the copies that tries to block them. 

The two teenagers race through the hellscape, barely keeping ahead of the army of demented prepubescents, whilst dodging their sudden lunges. 

Aubrey wishes she had her bat right now, but that prick Boss smashed the damn thing into a thousand splinters. But thankfully they don’t have to run much further as Fear suddenly speaks up. 

“There!” he yells, pointing to a... a tree stump... 

‘Oh of course! Why not?!’ 

Rushing forward, Fear dives down a hole in the stump, Aubrey tries to follow, but can’t get her body down it. Trying again, Aubrey repositions herself, but still can’t fit. 

‘Shit!’ 

Rising back up, she raises her fists, as the horde of clones approaches. 

“Sunny I can’t get down there for fu- Argh!” Aubrey screams, reeling from a sudden headbutt to the stomach.  

Glaring down at the now terrified brat who attacked her, Aubrey replies with a headbutt with her own, instantly turning the copy into toast. Looking around her, she sees that the rest of her doppelgängers seem far more hesitant to attack now, afraid of meeting a similar fate to their fallen comrade.  

Still, whilst she can probably take a few of them, they still outnumber her, plus some of them have bats, and she only has her fists. She can’t hold out forever. 

“Sunny I could use some help up here!” she yells. 

Her clones form a circle around her. 

“Seriously Sunny, help a girl out!” 

They take a step closer. 

“Sunny!” 

Another step. 

“Sunny? 

Another. 

“S-Sunny?” 

A girl lingers by a gravestone.  

The others have moved on by now, but she hasn’t, and she swears she never will.  

She’s not alone though.  

A boy stands in the rain, dead eyed and stone-faced.  

He didn’t cry. Not once, during the entire funeral.   

‘Why?’ the girl thinks.  

But she won’t find her answers here, she won't find them anywhere, not for a long time at least, and when she does, she won’t like them.  

They stand in silence.  

A week ago, they were friends, now they’re just strangers.  

Strangers with memories.  

“S-Sunny?” the girl asks.  

The boy doesn’t reply.   

Instead, he turns to face her, his lip quivering slightly and his eyes full of pain, a single tear rolls down his cheek, although it’s quickly lost in the rain. He says nothing and walks away.   

The last part is all the girl remembers. The second friend to leave her, but not the last.  

“Sunny-”  

“-please don’t leave me here.” 

Aubrey’s clones are merely an arm’s reach from her now. 

‘What a way to go, literally killed by myself’ she thinks, finding some gallows humour in the situation. Whatever! She’ll go down swinging, they can count on that. She raises her fists, prepared to fight when- 

“TAKE THIS!” a voice yells out from behind her. 

A big rubber band suddenly flies past her, hitting one of the ‘Aubreys’ in the nose with a loud crack, causing her to bleed a strange purple liquid. 

“O-Ow... that hurt” the clone whimpers, black tears forming in her eyes. 

Turning to look at her attempted saviour, Aubrey sees a very embarrassed Fear. 

“I thought that would work...” he mumbles. 

“Well, it was worth a shot” she says with a sigh, glancing back at the sea of (now very pissed off) evil doubles. “Look, if you- if you wanna go... then I won’t-” 

“No” Fear replies. 

He’s terrified, she can tell that much. The boy’s shaking like crazy, whatever bravery he’d mustered to join her is clearly fading fast. But here’s still here, with her, joining in on what is almost certainly their last stand. 

“Heh, alright then” she says with a smirk. “The two of us versus them? How’s that sound?!” 

“G-Great” he lies. 

She appreciates the thought. 

“In that case, bring it on! ” she roars, glaring at the approaching crowd. 

For a split second, one of her doubles catches her eye. Amongst the mob of corrupted copies, this one seems... different. The glitching on her face seems more severe, and she looks at the duo with an expression of curiosity, instead of feral rage. Aubrey thinks nothing of it, mentally noting to punch that one the hardest, before preparing to charge. 

But before the two groups can trade blows, they’re rudely interrupted by the sound of hissing, as two bundles of red plastic land between them with a thud. 

“A-Aubrey?” Fear stammers. 

‘Is that dynamite? ...Oh shit! ’ 

“DUCK!” she yells, tackling ‘Sunny’ over the sump, as the area behind them is obliterated in a violent explosion. 

Blinking a few times, Aubrey surveys her environment, her ears ring, and her eyes sting from the dust hanging in the air, but at least she’s still in one piece. Fear is too, although the poor boy looks petrified. 

Rising to her feet, she sees a large crater where her doubles had stood, with burnt toast lining the interior of it. She also sees that the front of the stump has been blown open, revealing a wide tunnel leading down underground.  

The path ahead is clear and their enemies are defeated. Aubrey should feel relieved, but instead she’s still on high alert. Because whoever threw that dynamite wasn’t being selective with their target. They didn’t just want the doppelgängers dead; they wanted her and ‘Sunny’ dead too. 

Meaning their fight isn’t over yet. 

At that moment, Aubrey is alerted by nearby coughing, scanning the crater, she sees that one of her copies still lingers. The battered girl crawls along the crater floor, coughing and spluttering due to the ash in the air. 

Aubrey can’t help but pity the clone. Sure, she would have killed them given the chance, but she’s just a child, a manic, starving, feral child for sure, but still a kid.  

Still her . 

Before Aubrey can even decide what to do with the final clone, she hears more footsteps echo through the woods. Out of the smoke, a silhouette approaches, towering over the bruised clone, the newcomer scoffs. Then they raise their bat and bring it down on the helpless girl with a loud crack. 

The young ‘Aubrey’ bursts into a puff of smoke, as another piece of toast falls to the ground. Which is then promptly stomped on by the mysterious silhouette. 

Emerging from out of the smog, the newcomer locks eyes with Aubrey, and smiles, cruelly. 

‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me!’ 

“Sunny?” 

“We should g-go" 

“What’s the rush for faker?” the newcomer asks. 

‘Faker?!’ 

Well, if Aubrey had any remaining doubts, the girl’s voice is a dead giveaway, it’s her, again . But this time with the same outfit, same hair, same everything. It’s an exact copy of how she looked a year ago, well almost exact. Her face is weirdly distorted like the previous ‘Aubreys’. 

‘This must be the “ mean one” then.’ 

“H-Hey!” Fear calls out, trying to get the copy’s attention. Only to immediately cower as her double glares at him. 

“Sunny? Ha! Back in your bubble again? How pathetic!” ‘Aubrey’ taunts. “You were gone for what? A year? If that. Did you miss me that much?~ I didn’t .” 

“Watch it!” Aubrey snarls. 

“Oh God, you’re backing this creep?! Seriously? The hell happened to you?” 

“I grew up.” 

“Must be nice. I can’t . I’m stuck in the past, forever trapped in a dying dream, all thanks to that freak !” 

“I’m serious, back off.” 

At this point, Aubrey’s doppelgänger begins pacing back and forth on her side of the crater, never breaking eye contact with her double. 

“Christ, you’ve gone soft! Defending the man who killed your sister, who stabbed you , who dreams of you fawning over him like some hopeless moron! You’re not a person to him! You’re an item, an object of desire, a remedy to his guilt!” The clone mocks. “He doesn’t care-” 

“That’s not true” Fear mumbles. 

“Wanna say that again?” 

Fear immediately cowers at her double’s attention. But Aubrey’s not having any of that, putting a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder, she encourages him to speak his mind. 

“Go on, tell that bitch!” she says, with a smirk. 

‘Sunny’ takes a deep breath, as his hair begins to return to its usual raven-black colour, instead of the unnatural pitch black it’s been this entire ‘adventure’, and his lips steady from a nervous frown to a more neutral expression. 

 “I do care” Fear says. “I care about you... a lot. And I’m sorry this happened, I thought- I thought this would disappear immediately, not- not die slowly. I couldn’t stay here, but I’m sorry I left you behind. You didn’t deserve this-” He continues, staring at the burnt toast. “None of you did.” 

“No... No! I won’t accept this!” ‘Aubrey’ replies, the distortion on her face worsening with every word, until her expressions are nothing more than a blur of technicolour static. “Y̷̤̎o̸̖̕u̶̪͆'̷̛͔r̴̡͋ẹ̸̒ ̸̧̔d̷̡͝y̴͍̏ï̵̙n̷̾ͅg̶͉̉ ̴̲́ẖ̴̽e̵̩̒ṛ̶̎è̶̢!̸̠͘ ̷̦̄Ẇ̵͕e̵̘͝'̵͔̾ṟ̴̉e̷̮̓ ̷̰̑ã̴̯l̵̒͜l̴̬̿ ̷̙͐d̵̞̀y̸̲͐i̶͙͒ṋ̵̀g̶̱͆ ̴̣̂h̶̤̉é̷̠r̵̀͜ē̶̼!̵̣̿” 

“Urgh... thanks Sunny, you tried” Aubrey says with a sigh, raising her fists. “I’ll take care of this!” 

At that moment, the corrupted clone, lunges forward, leaping across the crater with surprising speed, and swinging her nail bat blindly. 

Aubrey dodges the wild swipes and pushes Fear out of the way of the mad copy. She continues to duck and weave between the double’s blows, waiting for an opening.  

“S̸t̵u̸b̵b̷o̸r̸n̸ ̸l̸i̶t̶t̷l̵e̴-̸ ̶A̵R̵G̶H̸ ̷j̵u̶s̴t̸ ̸d̸i̷e ̴ ̴a̶l̵r̷e̵a̷d̵y̷!̷” the clone yells, bringing her bat down with force, narrowly missing Aubrey, and getting the weapon stuck in the turf below. 

“Ą̶͔͚͍̀R̴̻͎̣̳͒͗̓́G̷̪͓̗͚̍̃̌H̵̨̩͚̙̤̑!̵̤̩̟̟͎͚̔̉̈̑̚” the copy screams, as she tries to rip her weapon out of the ground. 

Siezing the opportunity, Aubrey, unleashes a flurry of strong punches, rapidly hitting her double in the face. 

‘This is weirdly cathartic’ she thinks, as launches yet another right hook into her own face. 

This goes on for another minute before Aubrey is forced to stop. Clenching her sore fists, she looks back up at her crazy copy. 

“Had enough?” she asks. 

“Ha, ha... Ȟ̵̗̠͉͖̮͆̂͒̒́ͅĀ̵͙̇̈̿̚Ḧ̸̤̺̈͊̃̋̆Ḁ̶̖͔̬̇̆̅H̵̡̜͉̮̤̟͒͌A̵̩͔̗̓̃̆̓̓̿͜ͅH̶͍̾͋̃̅͝ͅA̴̡̭̳̞̻̰̾” 

‘What the...’ 

In one swift movement, ‘Aubrey’ dislodges her weapon from the floor and swings at her namesake, narrowly missing, but tearing her jacket with the bat’s nails. 

“What the hell...” Aubrey mumbles. 

Her copy’s face is all but gone now, replaced by a distorted blurry mess of colours and shapes, looking more like a computer glitch than a person. 

“Aubrey” Fear says, pulling on her sleeve. “We should-” 

“Run?” she guesses.  

“Ḩ̸̦͗͑̿̏̈̀͆͐͝À̸̧͖̤̖͔͇̟̤̲͠Ḩ̸̛̤̳̳̦̓͑͒̈͂̎̄͌A̷̡͙̰͇̝͉̳̳̅̆̀̽̍͒͒H̷͉̯͛̅Å̷̧̬̯̰͉̗̖͕͂̏̕͝H̵̢͉͇̘̹̺̣̹̿̉̀͝Ả̴̢̯̣̤̯̘̄̒̓͋̈” the clone cackles. 

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.” 

‘Another birthday’ Omori thinks to himself. 

Sunny almost forgot this year, but then he woke up to a slice of cake and a sticky note on the kitchen table, courtesy of his mother. So now Omori was having to play catch up. 

“Hiya Omori!” Aubrey beams, swaying in place, radiating barely constrained excitement. “I got you something!” 

‘It’s gonna be a new scarf.’ 

“I knitted you a scarf!” the girl explains excitedly, revealing her gift, as she pulls it out from behind her back. Her face is red, with a nervous expression. “I hope you like it...” 

Omori sighs, he knew what it would be because he knows what Sunny wants. It’s why he knew that Kel would get him a new pet rock, and that Mari would get him a cute cat plushie. Still, it is a nice scarf, very colourful, but nice. Taking the scarf, Omori gives the girl a quick head pat, much to her delight, before sprinting off to the next Headspace denizen. 

To ‘protect Sunny’ is Omori’s sole purpose, it was his first conscious thought, and his only guiding principle. This little tradition was just another part of that task.  

Sunny’s first birthday since... the incident, was a rough day for the both of them. The Dreamer almost cut a bit too deep, and Omori found him curled up later that night in White Space.  

By some miracle they didn’t end up in the hospital, but Omori couldn’t risk his mental state worsening. So, he ran around Headspace, collected all the presents meant for him, and gifted them to Sunny instead. It worked well enough, and after some band aids and a lot of tears from his mother, the Dreamer recovered. 

Still, Omori feared a repeat the next year, so for Sunny’s fourteenth birthday he once again ran around and gathered as many gifts as he could. It worked like a dream (ba dum tss), so now he’s doing it again, for the third year in a row.  

It’s definitely a habit now, but he stopped doing it out of necessity a while ago. Now he’s doing it because he wants to. 

The last stop is the Bread Twins, and even this far from the Orange Oasis, Omori can already see the towering birthday cake, looming over the rest of Headspace. 

‘No sticky note...’ he grimly muses, briefly wondering how he’s going to fit this thing into White Space. 

“ KEL! ” Basil screams, as he watches his friend plummet down into the void. 

‘NONONONONONONONO-’ 

‘This can’t be happening!’ 

But it is, Kel took a risk, and it didn’t pay off. Now he’s dead, Aubrey’s in danger and Basil’s alone in this nightmare. 

His heart beats rapidly, like it’s trying to bust through his rib-cage, his eyes blur with tears, and he doesn’t even process that he’s falling to the ground until he’s already face-down in the dirt. 

“N-No...” he whimpers. 

He’s alone again, stricken by another loss, truly desolat- 

“Owww”  

‘...What was that?’ 

For a moment Basil wonders if he’s finally lost it, only for another groan to ring out from... the pit? 

His brain barely finishes piecing things together, before Basil scrambles over to the side of the canyon, practically running on all fours. 

“K-Kel?” he calls out. 

There’s a brief second of silence, as Basil holds his breath, hoping for a reply... and thankfully his prayers are answered. 

“Yeah...” Kel’s voice responds. 

It’s raspy and tired, but it’s undoubtedly Kel’s. 

“Oh thank- Kel are you ok?!” 

“I’ve felt worse... kinda.” 

“I- I thought you... I thought you were... gone” Basil whimpers. 

“Come on Bas... I- I'm resilient *cough* remember?” 

Basil replies with what can only be described as a half laugh, half cry. 

‘Resilient...’ 

Originally, Basil chose the cacti as Kel’s plant because he just didn’t know what else to pick. The two friends hadn’t been that close as kids, not out of any inherent differences or dislikes, but just because they got along better with their other mutual friends more. He didn’t know Kel very well, so when it came time to choose a flower for everyone, he jokingly picked the cactus because... 

“ Even you could take care of it... ” 

Flashforward a few years, and Kel was suddenly the only person interested in actually being Basil’s friend, and whilst his self-loathing made it hard for him to reciprocate those feelings, he’s grown to appreciate Kel a lot more in the past year.  

He also realised retrospectively just how fitting the cactus was a choice. The cactus stands tall, alone but resilient, even in the most difficult environments. 

That sounds like the Kel he knows. 

They’re also quite dense, WHICH IS INCREDIBLY FITTING BECAUSE WHAT THE HELL. 

“NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” Basil yells down the pit. 

“O-Okay, sorry... it was kinda cool tho-” 

“IT WAS NOT! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!” 

“S-Sorry dude... but I'm okay! Honestly!” Kel shouts back, nervously. “I’m in some kind of... library? I think, it’s really creepy looking.” 

‘Library?’ 

Truly, this place gets weirder by the second. 

“Okay just- just stay p-put. I’m gonna go get h-help" Basil replies, still reeling from his outburst. 

‘Honestly, that was very relieving. Maybe this whole ‘being honest about my thoughts and feelings’ thing will work out after all.’ 

“Yeah okay... please hurry though, this place is freaking me out” Kel responds. 

“O-Okay, stay safe!” 

So, help... where the hell is Basil going to find help? Aubrey is on the other side of the canyon, and seems to be in danger too, and if that vicious little shadow blob is any indication, then Basil doubts the ‘locals’ will be willing to help. Looking around, the flower boy remembers the signpost. It’s not much, but it might point him in the right direction at least. 

Walking over to it, Basil reads through the different signs, only to be shocked by the one pointing in the direction they came from. 

‘BASIL’S HOUSE’ it reads. 

“What?” the blonde mumbles, thinking aloud. 

Once again, this place has baffled him. That decrepit shoe-shaped cabin definitely isn’t his house. He would like to think he’d remember living in this monochromatic hell. 

‘So how? Why? It just doesn’t make any sense...’ 

Just where the hell is he? 

Sighing, Basil shakes the nagging thoughts away, turning his focus back to the signpost. His options are essentially left or right, because he can’t go forward without joining Kel in the bottom of that pit, and he refuses to go back to that shoe. 

‘PYREFLY FOREST’ the sign pointing to the west reads. 

‘Sure... why not?’ 

It’s more forest sure, but the alternative is ‘OTHERWORLD’ and this place is otherworldly enough for Basil as is. Besides, it’s not like things can be any worse than they are here... probably. 

... 

‘Things are worse here.’ 

Basil’s been wandering through this new forest for about ten minutes now, and he already hates it. At first it seemed promising, there was a waterfall and some interesting (albeit wilted) plant life. But there were also some red flags that have only gotten worse the further into the forest he’s gone.  

Firstly, cobwebs, large, disturbingly thick cobwebs.  

Now Basil isn’t scared of spiders like Hero or Sunny, he understands they’re more scared of him, than he is of them, and that they’re vital to local ecosystems. However, these webs are way too big, and given this place’s track record, he doubts the spiders that weaved them are as friendly as regular ones. What makes it even more unnerving is the fact that he hasn’t seen any arachnids, or well any animal for that matter... but he still hears scuttering from the trees occasionally.  

Then there’s the mist. It was faint at first, but the further into the woods he goes, the thicker it gets. Thankfully, he found some old train tracks to follow, they’ll lead to civilisation... probably. Well, it’s certainly better than wandering aimlessly through this fog at least. 

Finally, there’s the whistling, it’s distant but... familiar. At first, he assumed he was hearing things again. But then it got louder and louder as time went on.  

Now for most people, the first red flag alone would be more than enough to make them turn tails and run back to ‘safety’. Add on thick fog and weird whistling and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone foolish enough to keep going down this path. But Basil needs to help Kel and well... where there’s whistling there’s got to be a whistleblower. He just hopes they’re friendly. And by the sound of it, he’s about to find out. 

Rounding another corner, Basil spies a dirty, but ever recognisable, panic blanket. Complete with a full basket, a nice lake view and a shadowy figure sat down on it. 

‘...Wait what?!’ 

“By the pricking of my thumbs... Something wicked this way comes...” the Stranger says, before returning to his whistling. 

Basil’s close enough to recognise that tune now... it’s the duet. The melancholic melody that haunts his waking dreams. The last song Mari Suzuki ever played. 

“Don’t be a stranger... heh” the figure calls out, chuckling at a reference Basil doesn’t get. “There’s plenty of room for a fellow sinner.” 

‘That voice...’ 

It’s familiar but different, much like everything else in this hellscape. But the man doesn’t seem openly hostile, if anything he’s almost... friendly. He’s also creepy as hell though, he appears to be a living shadow, complete with two piercing bright white eyes. But the flower boy doesn’t have many other options right now so... 

“I- I need your h-help” Basil replies, keeping his distance. 

“You’re not the only one” the Stranger responds with a sigh. “...Tell you what. The Dreamer’s teardrop lies further down the track, his whines distress me, and I’d like to rest in peace. Save one friend, and I’ll save the other.” 

He’s probably talking about Sadness, but why what does he mean by ‘Dreamer’? And how does he know what Basil wants, he never mentioned helping Kel... 

But still, as concerning as that is, the Stranger is offering to help, and that’s the only clear way forward right now. 

“O-Okay... yeah okay” Basil says. “Where is h-he, just further down the t-tracks?” 

“That is what I said” the shadow replies with what seems like an eye roll. “But yes, he’s at the castle- or well docks now I suppose.” 

“Huh?” 

“This dream is dying, and in its last breaths it has become cancerous, trying to fix itself but not knowing how. The library moved and the castle fell into the void, so the docks were moved there to replace it, but they too will fall... eventually, anyway.” 

“D-Dream? So, I’m-” 

“Not your dream flower, your friend’s.” 

“S-Sunny?” 

“The Dreamer, yes. Did he really tell you nothing of this realm?... Hmm I can’t say I’m surprised.” 

‘This is Sunny’s dream?...’  

That would make sense, the ‘Sunnys’ had been arguing, then there was that bright light, and then... he woke up here. But why wouldn’t Sunny tell him about this place? Did he not trust Basil? 

‘Can you really blame him?’  

“No, he d-didn't...” the blonde teen mumbles. “I- I’ll go f-find him now.” 

“You won’t have to look far” the Stranger replies. “But good luck nonetheless.” 

The second the shadow finishes his sentence, he resumes his whistling, paying no mind to the pained expression Basil makes in response. 

‘That song...’ 

It’s still difficult to hear it... even after all this time.  

The issue with the duet is that Mari didn’t write it. She was talented, effortlessly graceful and skilled for her age, but she wasn’t a composer. The duet is a classic waltz, composed by two friends in... Well, he doesn’t remember, but Mari used to tell the story all the time.  

Point is the song is a classic, but more importantly, it’s royalty free, and as a result, it shows up from time to time in the occasional film or tv show.  

Polly almost called an ambulance on him after he heard it in a movie they were watching... that wasn’t fun. But he got why, his reaction had been... less than ideal. Still, even though, he rarely hears it, and even though his reactions have gotten less severe in recent years... it’s still hard to hear.  

He doubts it’ll ever be easy. The wound may heal, but the scars of that day will never fade. 

‘Maybe that’s what this place is... another one of Sunny’s scars.’ 

‘At least you didn’t give him this one.’ 

Urgh, stupid inner thoughts... 

‘Well, no point sticking around here’ Basil thinks, before setting off down the tracks again, the sound of the Stranger’s whistling echoing through the silent woods. 

‘Wow... this sucks’ Kel thinks to himself. 

Now, that mind sound like the understatement of the millennium, but all things considered, Kel’s feeling pretty okay. Now that might just be the adrenalin talking, but honestly, things could’ve gone a lot worse. After all, he’s still alive.  

Frankly, he’d lucked out, having landed on a pile of dusty books that somehow broke his fall. Now Kel would never claim to be a physicist by any means, but he’s pretty sure that shouldn’t be possible. But hey! Never look a gift horse in the mouth!  

Besides, he thought an evil shadow twenty minutes ago, so clearly basic logic has already gone out the window. He just needs to embrace the insanity. To a reasonable degree of course, he’s pretty sure if he tries to jump another pit then Basil will definitely strangle him. 

‘Basil...’ 

The flower boy had promised to go get help, telling Kel to stay put in the meanwhile, but it’s so boring here, super creepy too. But thankfully, any fear he might normally feel is being drowned out by all the epinephrine flowing through him. So, at most this place is just... eerie. 

... 

Another minute passes, and Kel can feel his rapid heartbeat slowly steady. 

He hasn’t moved an inch since he first fell. He’s fairly certain nothing’s broken, but he can’t bring himself to check.  

It’s boring, laying here, staring up at the hole he fell down. 

He’d try and get some rest, but every time he closes his eyes... 

Kel falls backwards into oblivion, watching helplessly as Basil runs over to the pit, tears in his eyes.   

“KEL!”  

‘Yeah... that’s slightly concerning.’ 

Therapy might be on the table once he gets out of here. But as for right now? Well, his options are either A. continue to lay here and relive the moment he almost died over and over. Or B. explore this weird library and hope he doesn’t get mauled by shadow monsters. 

... 

Surely Basil won’t mind if he wanders around a bit, a man’s got to stretch his legs every now and then. Besides, this world, (alternative universe, dimension, nightmare realm wherever they are!) is massive!  

He’ll be back here well before Basil finds help. 

With that thought in mind, Kel jumps to his feet and almost immediately falls over.  Thankfully, he’s not injured, his legs have just gone numb due to laying in one spot for so long. 

‘How annoying...’ 

Another minute passes and Kel eventually manages to stand up straight. 

‘Right! Back to it then.’ 

Making his way down the surprisingly large pile of books he fell onto; he begins to explore the massive library. The first thing he notices is how overgrown the place is, dark vines tangle down from the ceiling, dead trees sprout up from the dusty floor, and... flowers surround the pile of books. 

He doesn’t recognise them, but they feel familiar. Maybe Basil kept some around his house, the man is a plant connoisseur after all.  Still, starring at them makes Kel uncomfortable, so he doesn’t linger for much longer, instead choosing to progress further into the library. 

Doing so reveals more of the same, more dead trees, more vines, some freakishly large cobwebs, and eerie torches that barely even illuminate the place. Oh, and books. 

Lots of books.  

It sounds dumb; ‘of course there’s books, it’s a library stupid’ Aubrey would say. But there really are a lot, most of the bookshelves here stand taller than the surrounding trees, which themselves are twice the size of Kel. So yeah, this place is huge . 

Although Kel hasn’t actually bothered to read any of these books yet... reading isn’t normally his thing, well excluding comics anyway, but he has a lot of questions, and these may hold the answers. 

‘Who built this place? Why? Where even is he?’ 

So many questions, so few answers... 

‘What the hell, no harm in trying.’ 

Strolling over to one of the many shelves, Kel sees one book almost... glittering, in the darkness. There’s also a ladder propped up against the shelf, conveniently leading right to it. 

‘Well, clearly that’s important.’ 

Climbing up the rickety ladder and grabbing the book, he clambers back down and dusts the cover off. There’s no title or cover art on the front, just dusty leather.  

‘Oh well, they say never judge a book by it’s cover anyway!’ 

Besides he fully intends to just scroll through it and hope the answers jump out at him. He also hopes this book isn’t magic, he’s had enough wizardry for a lifetime now. Opening the book Kel- 

Kel finds himself in the back of a familiar car, it’s the same crappy piece of junk Hero still drives.  

Before he can even begin to process his situation, he feels his conscious begin to fade, looking to his right he sees... himself?  

‘How is that-’  

Sleep takes him suddenly, then less than a minute later he wakes from a sudden jolt.  

He’s lying on someone’s shoulder. Kel didn’t see whose, but somehow, he still knows.  

‘Aubrey...’  

He doesn’t dare open his eyes, and for some reason he feels... flustered?  

But also, happy.   

Very happy.  

“No matter what no matter what, I’ll remember this moment, forever” a voice rings out through his mind.   

‘SUNNY?!’  

The book hits the ground with a loud thud. 

Kel blinks rapidly, a serious feeling of vertigo seizing his brain, as he struggles to regain his balance. 

“What the hell...” he mumbles aloud. 

That was seriously surreal, he saw himself but younger, and he was in Hero’s car, and he was crushing on Aubrey of all people! 

‘What the- wait...’ 

He remembers that day, it was the car ride home from their beach trip! He’d passed out almost immediately, but Sunny was sat on his left and to the left of him was... Aubrey. So, this book must have been Sunny’s memory of that day! 

‘If all these books are his memories... then is this his mind?’ 

It would make sense. His friend is split into four, and this world is similarly fractured. Also, the weird creatures that tried to bite him was a sprout mole, and Sunny used to love that game. Although he would have expected his friend’s brain to be a bit more... colourful. 

All the drawings Sunny used to doodle, were so vibrant and lively, whilst this place is just dark and dreary. Then again that just sums up Sunny in general. The boy was never all that expressive, but after Mari... 

Anyway, even if that book was magic, it did answer his questions... mostly anyway. Although living through Sunny’s thoughts was uncomfortable . Seeing yourself through someone else’s eyes, thinking thoughts that aren’t your own, feeling- wait... 

‘OH MY GOD SUNNY LIKED AUBREY!’ 

Kel can’t help but chuckle at the revelation. 

“Oh man, ha ha, that’s- that's too good” he says aloud. 

It does seem kind of obvious in hindsight, those two always did hang out together. But then again so did he and Sunny, so that doesn’t mean much. Either way, he’s never gonna let Sunny live that down, once they piece him back together that is... 

‘This is his mind... maybe we can help from in here?’ 

It’s an idea, he has no clue how practical it is, but it’s almost a plan. Taking another minute to catch his breath, Kel grabs the book off the floor and continues to explore the library, making his way down one of the several tall wooden staircases. 

‘This might be useful’ he thinks, fully intending to tease whatever Sunny fragment he finds on his journey.  

‘Assuming he’s even here.’ 

The rest of the library is still more of the same, with the exception of a few chairs and tables. He also sees more glittering books, and briefly contemplates reading them, but ultimately decides against it. He doesn’t want to go through all the after-effects again, and living someone else’s thoughts is incredibly disorienting.  

So instead, he walks until he can't walk any further, eventually reaching a dead end.  

The bottom end of the library is definitely the most damaged. The right side is almost entirely gone, with nothing but a gaping hole remaining. Whatever books once rested there have long since fallen down into oblivion. 

Looking over the edge of the pit, Kel sees nothing but darkness. He kicks a nearby pebble down it and doesn’t hear it hit the bottom. 

‘If I fell down there, nothing would break my fall... if I ever even hit the bottom...’ 

Instinctively, Kel steps away from the hole, backing up until he hits the stairs. Looking to his left, he sees that corner is mostly intact. 

‘Well, that works.’ 

Strolling over, Kel approaches the furthermost bookshelf, there’s more vines, a decrepit old clock, another glistening book, and a wide hole in the wall. 

‘Huh...’ 

He’s at a crossroads now, go through the hole or turn back and wait for Basil... 

‘Curiosity killed the Kel, heh.’ 

But before he can enter the mysterious ‘passageway’, the glittering of a nearby book catches his eye again. Kel doesn’t want to read it, but he feels strangely compelled to. Placing the embarrassing memory down on the ground, Kel climbs up yet another rickety ladder and snatches the book. 

‘Here goes nothing’ he thinks, as he pries the dusty novel open. 

Kel is surrounded by his friends, he sees his younger self again, grinning widely and annoying Aubrey.  

They’re in Sunny’s house, eating a delicious homemade breakfast.  

He knows what this is. It used to be the highlight of all their weeks. Four straight hours of TV, fun, and food. Suddenly and involuntarily, Kel’s head shoots towards the clock.  

“Two hours left” Sunny’s inner monologue notes.  

‘Two hours until what?’  

Two hours until his tutor arrives.  

Kel instinctively grimaces.   

The violin, the hobby that became a nuisance, the reason he’ll miss out on that last hour of TV. He wishes he could stay that extra hour.  

"If only he didn't have to play the violin..."  

Once again, a glistening book falls down to the ground. 

... 

Kel is speechless, thoughtless, absolutely staggered. The warning signs were right there... and nobody noticed. Sunny had told them all that the violin had become a chore over time, but he never- he didn’t... Kel hadn’t realised just how early those feelings started. 

‘Sunny...’ 

He just wanted to spend more time with them... 

Taking a deep breath, Kel steels his nerves and kicks the bittersweet memory aside. He strolls over to the hole in the wall, and peers into the darkness. He sees a faint light in distance, but nothing else besides it.  

It’s the point of no return, he can still go back, wait for Basil to rescue him... 

But he doesn’t want to. 

He wants to help Sunny, and this place holds the answers. The other memories were highlighted, glowing, practically screaming to be read. But this hole... it’s almost pitch black, with just faint guiding light at the end of the tunnel.  

Whatever lies within doesn’t want to be seen, and going in would be an invasion of privacy, there’s no denying that. But then again, he’s already in his friend's mind, and a moment ago he was in his body.  

Privacy concerns went out the window the second he opened that book. 

... 

‘Screw it.’ 

“H-Hey Sunny” Basil says, slowly approaching his friend. 

Just like the Stranger described, the train tracks he was following suddenly ended, leading out onto an old wooden dock hanging over a dark void. 

“I saw her here...” Sadness mumbles. “Or, where h-here came from.” 

“W-What? The pit? W-Who did you see?” Basil asks, not even trying to hide his confusion. 

“The d-dock... she was there, or at least I think that was her... b-but I- I wasn’t me... I saw her again and I- I still never got to say g-goodbye...” 

Basil doesn’t need to hear a name to know who Sunny’s talking about. 

“I- I don’t understand” he says. 

“This world it was e-everything to me. I was... l-lost in it. Then one day I saw M-Mari at the docks... she said she m-missed me... and I said n-nothing” Sadness replied. “I had the c-chance to say g-goodbye, to say s-sorry and I just! -I couldn’t...” 

“I think I saw her t-too" Basil mumbles, unsure if he should go ahead with his point. “Back when I f-fainted in the woods...” 

... 

“What did she s-say?” Sadness asks after a moment. 

“I’m a fan dear.”  

“She... she...” Basil stutters. 

He wants to lie.  

He doesn’t want Sadness to know about ‘Mari’ and her cryptic words, he only mentioned her out of impulse, and he’s already regretting it. But if he lies, then he’ll just be relapsing, repeating old habits.  

So, his choice is either tell ‘Sunny’ the truth, and hope that doesn’t freak him out even more. Or lie, and say that ‘Mari’ wished them the best of luck or something equally uplifting. 

Basil hates both options. 

“She... h-helped me... realise some... i-important things” the blonde says. 

Technically he’s telling the truth. In her own twisted way, the spectre had helped Basil come to terms with some of his deepest issues. 

“Like what?” Sadness asks. 

“Like... what I d-did...” Basil hesitantly starts. “I... I did it for me. I thought- I thought if they took y-you then... then I’d lose e-everything... I’m sorry.” 

“...You’ve said that a lot today. Haven’t you?” 

Basil is briefly shocked by how nonchalant ‘Sunny’ is about his confession. He briefly wonders if Sunny already knew, or if he just doesn’t care anymore. 

“Honestly... y-yeah. I’ve already spoken to Fear and Aubrey about it” Basil admits sheepishly. 

“I-I’m just sorry you had to be t-there... I- I never wanted this, any of this. I j-just... I wish you would’ve just called s-someone...” Sadness admits. 

‘There it is...’ 

“I wish I had too... I’m s-sorry” Basil replies, earnestly. 

“I’m sorry you got caught up in this in the first place... and I’m sorry you wound up h-here.” 

Basil knows it’s time to address the elephant in the room. 

“Where even is here?” he asks. “Some weird s-shadow guy said this was your d-dream?” 

“It is- w-was" Sadness replies, solemnly. “It’s what I was- w-what I was d-doing during those f-four years.” 

“You were s-sleeping? The whole time?” 

“E-Essentially... yeah.” 

Part of Basil had always wondered what Sunny was up to during his self-inflicted isolation. But his curiosity had been largely drowned out by his resentment for being abandoned. Still, he never would have guessed Sunny had spent all his time here . 

“It doesn’t look very c-comfortable" Basil mumbles, thinking aloud. 

“It u-used to be” Sadness responded. “It’s dying...” 

Almost as if on cue, a chunk of land hovering in the distance suddenly begins to plummet, slowly descending down into the void below. 

“Oh... that’s b-bad.” 

“Yeah...” 

“D-Do you know a way o-out?”  

“...Maybe. But what’s the p-point?” 

This man cannot be serious. 

“E-Excuse me?!” Basil shouts. “S-Sunny we need to go! Like n-now!” 

‘This place is dying, and he wants to stay?!’ 

“Leave me here... I only h-hurt people. I thought... I thought we could get b-better... but we c-can't... there’s no-” Sadness laments. 

Basil can practically feel his blood boil, a thousand frustrations rising to the surface, as old resentments and new gripes come flooding to the forefront of his mind. 

“DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW?” Basil interrupts. “Sunny I’m not leaving you h-here to die! HAVE YOU LOST IT?” 

“B-But I-” 

“YOU’RE MY FRIEND! S-Sure you have your flaws! But we all do! Y-You and I have a l-lot more than most... but we don’t deserve to d-die.”  

It shocks Basil how easily the words come to him. For so long he felt like he deserved whatever came his way. It was half the reason he put up with Aubrey’s bullying, why he never came clean about the photo album, because- 

“I thought- I thought we did... for the longest time but-” Basil confesses. 

He always put Sunny on a pedestal, but on especially rough days, Basil found himself cursing them both. Now though, he sees that- 

“-we don’t... We don’t deserve that, Sunny.” 

“Basil... I-” 

“You m-matter. You matter to m-me, and everyone else and- and- and I r-really don’t have time to tell how much you m-mean to me right now. Because the o-others are here too, and Kel and A-Aubrey are in trouble and- and you k-know none of us know the way o-out, r-right?!” 

It’s a desperate plea, but an honest one. He does care, and he does want them both to live, but they don’t have time to sit and sob. Their friends are in danger and Basil hopes Sadness can see that. 

... 

And for once, Basil’s wish comes true. 

“Oh God... I-I’m s-so sorry, I got so caught up in- I- we should g-go" Sadness concedes, snapping out of his brief depression. 

Not needing to be told twice, Basil grabs ‘Sunny’s hand and practically drags him away from the docks. 

‘Wow... that was strangely cathartic.’ 

Basil can barely believe it’s taken him this long to start being honest with his emotions, and well Sunny’s too technically. But never mind that! The point is, it felt... right, talking to Sunny like that. Helping his friend, not by going on some grand adventure, or devising some misguided gesture of disturbed loyalty, or... well doing literally anything he would normally do. But instead, just giving ‘Sunny’ a simple reality check. 

It felt right. 

“Well, I’ll be damned” the shadowy figure suddenly calls out, having seen the two teens approaching. 

The stranger jumps down from his perch and slowly approaches the pair, his beady white eyes boring into them. 

“Stranger...” Sadness says. 

“Dreamer” ‘Stranger’ replies. 

“W-Wait that’s your name?” Basil asks incredulously. “S-Seriously?” 

“Yes?” 

“Stranger?” 

“Yes.” 

... 

“If you don’t care for it, blame him” Stranger replies, gesturing to ‘Sunny’. “It’s his dream.” 

“Yeah, that’s f-fair" Sadness mumbles. “S-Sorry about-” 

“About the whole ‘throwing me and my brothers into Blackspace’ thing? Don’t worry, it’s water under the bridge.” 

“But I-” 

“Stop. Please. Every time you talk, I feel myself somehow growing more miserable, it makes me miss when you were mute.” 

“You had brothers?” Basil inquires. 

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Stranger asks with a bemused tone. 

“N-No?” 

“I’m you. Or at least I was anyway.” 

“W-What?” 

Looking at the living silhouette more closely, Basil can see some resemblance, mainly the shape of his hair. 

‘But why?’ 

“I don’t- I don’t understand” Basil murmurs. 

“The dreamer was lonely, and whilst part of him hated you, another part loved you. So, I was one of countless compromises born of said contradiction. A watered-down caricature of you, I was doomed to play the same basic role, over and over, until I inevitably stumbled across the truth” the shadow monologued. 

 “Guess I was lucky, instead of getting torn limb from limb, I was simply thrown into the abyss” he adds with a joyless laugh. 

... 

Basil turns to look at ‘Sunny’, but his friend turns away, refusing to meet his gaze, face clear with remorse. 

‘Huh... I thought that would sting more.’ 

Despite what some may believe, Basil isn’t completely delusional, he knew some part of Sunny must hate him for what he did. So, the Stranger’s words aren’t really a revelation, but more so a confirmation.  

Still... he thought it would hurt. 

It’s one thing to assume that your best friend holds some resentment for you, it’s a completely different story to hear that he frequently dreamt of you getting brutalised. 

But it doesn’t hurt. In fact, Basil is barely even phased by the story. 

‘Maybe this is acceptance?’ 

The past forty-eight hours have been emotionally cathartic. Maybe he’s finally come to terms with how toxic his friendship with Sunny had become. Maybe now they can move past this mutual resentment and trauma... Or maybe he’s too tired to actually process anything right now. 

“W-We can discuss this l-later" Basil says, before turning back to Stranger. “I still need-” 

“My help getting Kel out from Lost Library? Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten my promise” the shadow interjects. 

“K-Kel’s in Lost Library?” Sadness asks, clearly concerned. 

“Yes! Do you s-see why we need to hurry now?” Basil says, not even trying to hide his exasperation. “I heard A-Aubrey s-screaming too...” 

“Don’t worry young ones. I have a plan, but you might not like it” Stranger says cryptically. 

“Please” Sadness replies. “I k-know it’s a lot to ask b-but- they- they d-don't deserve-” 

“I already said I’d help” Stranger interrupts, pulling out a surprisingly long jump rope from his shadowy pocket. “But you might not like how.” 

Basil feels his breath hitch. 

“Y-You can’t be s-serious” he stutters. 

“It’s longer than it looks.”  

They’re going to use the tool from his greatest mistake to save his friend from certain death... oh the irony. Truly, the universe must hate him. 

“Alright then. Let’s go” Basil says, stepping forward and reaching his hand out. 

Stranger goes to hand him the jump rope but hesitates for a moment. 

“What’s the m-matter?” the blonde asks, cautiously.  

“Are you happy?” the shadow enquires, tone unreadable. 

“W-What?” 

“Are you happy?” 

‘Am I?’ 

“No... But I think- I think I will be” Basil replies, sincerely. 

“I hope you’re right” his doppelganger responds, handing the jump rope over. “At least some good should come from this place.” 

“Right...” the blonde mumbles, turning away. 

He’s had enough cryptic crap for a lifetime now and- why is Sadness staring at him? 

“S-Sunny?” he asks. 

His friend doesn’t reply, instead blinking a few times, clearly baffled. 

Confused, Basil turns around only to see... nothing. The Stranger is gone, leaving nothing but a pair of bloody footprints where he once stood. 

‘The same as Fear’s...’ 

“Sunny.” 

“Y-Yeah?” 

“I hate this place.” 

Kel doesn’t have to walk far before he hears a familiar melody. It’s slower than he remembers, and quite frankly, it’s sloppy. Whoever’s playing the piano clearly isn’t comfortable with the instrument. But they’re not bad either, they sound like someone who may have played a bit in the past but hasn’t in a while. 

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who fits that description. 

Walking a little further, he emerges out into a small room, illuminated by the same torches from the library, and littered with more of those familiar flowers. But what immediately grabs Kel’s attention is the piano in the center of the room, and the boy sat at it. 

Black hair, sickly pale skin, that same old outfit, and an eyepatch strap around the back of his head. 

“Sunny?” Kel calls out, hesitant yet optimistic. 

The boy in front of him suddenly perks up at the mention of his name. A yellow hue returns to his hair as he turns to face Kel. 

“Hey Kel” Happiness says with a small smile. 

Upon seeing the copy’s grin, Kel can’t help but impulsively flinch, as memories from yesterday’s fight come pouring back into his mind. 

“Oh, hey” he replies, trying to hide his conflicting emotions. 

‘Sunny’s smile falters a bit. 

“Not the copy you were hoping for?” Happiness asks, sounding almost hurt. 

“N-No I just-” Kel tries to counter. 

“Don’t worry. I get it... we should probably get going.  It’s not safe for you in here.” 

‘Well, that’s not ominous at all.’ 

“R-Right... do you know a way out of here?” Kel asks. 

“Uh... no. Sorry” Happiness apologises with an awkward smile. 

‘Fantastic.’ 

“Well, it’s fine, Basil’s gone to go find help.” 

“Basil’s here? Oh boy...” 

Kel really doesn’t like the sound of that. He doesn’t want to push Happiness, but he has a lot of questions right now, and he deserves some answers. 

“Is he going to be okay?” 

“I- I don’t know... What’s it like up there?” 

“You don’t know? Isn’t this your mind?” 

“Oh, you figured that out... well this place was my dream world, but I gave up on it a while ago. I honestly thought it would be gone by now... But then I woke up here... So, no, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on up there.” 

‘That explains a lot actually.’ 

“It’s... bad. It’s really bad Sunny” Kel replies awkwardly. 

“I see...” Happiness mumbles, guilt clear in his expression as his smile falters again. 

Despite his issues with this copy, he can’t help but feel bad for him. It’s like seeing a sad clown or a kicked puppy, seeing something that’s meant to embody joy looking so distraught, it’s... upsetting. 

“Yeah, uh... sorry about that” Kel stutters. 

“You have nothing to apologise for, this is my fault... all of this my fault... I’m sorry” Happiness replies, his hair returning to Sunny’s usual raven black. 

‘That’s happened a few times now...’ 

There’s an awkward silence for a moment before Kel decides to speak up again. 

“Look, what happened yesterday-” he goes to say. 

“I’m sorry” ‘Sunny’ interjects. 

Despite the earnestness of his tone, Kel can’t help but feel annoyed by the interruption. He knows ‘Sunny’ is sorry, but he would like to air his grievances. 

“Please just- just let me finish... okay?” he begs. 

Happiness is silent for a second, and for that brief moment, Kel feels like he’s with the real Sunny again. But then it fades as fast as it comes, as the clone finally replies. 

“I- okay...” he mumbles. 

“Thank you” Kel replies with a sigh. “I’m not mad at you- well I am but I- urgh- this is difficult.” 

“Take your time...” 

“Right! Well... Look you- you really scared me yesterday I thought- I thought you were going to kill me...” 

“I would ne-” 

“I know! I know... but then you saved me and I- I was willing to let it slide, but then you and Anger started fighting and... damn it Sunny! Why can’t you just let us help you?! I just want my friend back! And you keep... you keep screwing yourself over... why?” 

‘Sunny’ doesn’t reply. 

“Why?” he asks again. 

‘Sunny’ remains silent. 

“Why?!” 

Still nothing. 

“ WHY?! ” Kel demands, his pent up anger finally boiling over. 

“BECAUSE I HATE MYSELF!” Happiness screams. “Because I can’t stand being me! Being him! I thought I could, I really did! I wanted nothing more than to just hug it out! But I’m sorry I can’t! None of us can...” 

Kel is stunned, his anger replaced by concern as the memories he lived through earlier come pouring back into his mind. 

“I- why? We forgive you! You were getting better!” he tries to argue, his words sounding hollow, even to himself. 

“HA! That’s what makes it worse” ‘Sunny’ replies with a joyless chuckle. “We got away with it! We hurt you all, killed our sister, and suffered zero repercussions! You housed us, fed us, you even threw a massive party for us! I- We don’t deserve this...” 

“You locked yourself in this place for four years! You’ve suffered enough Sunny... We’ve had this conversation so many times, when will you believe me?!” 

“I don’t think I can. You said we were getting better, you were right. I was. Then I got worse. Then better, and then worse again! That’s been my life for the past year, a constant back and forth.” 

“...How can I help?” 

“Oh Kel... You can’t. No-one can. You can’t just talk this stuff out; we tried and look where that landed you. We hurt you, everything we do hurts you.” 

“Maybe... maybe you need to try again.” 

“Didn’t you hear a word I just said?” 

“I did. And what you’re missing is that every time you hurt us, you hurt yourself too. You want to stop hurting us? Help yourself first.” 

‘Sunny’ goes silent again for a moment. Before he suddenly starts to chuckle, as a slight yellow hue returns to his hair. 

“You sound like Hero” the clone jests. 

“Oh God, kill me now” Kel replies, doing an overly dramatic voice. 

Happiness laughs, and Kel can’t help but join in. The clone’s hair is back to its usual yellow, but ‘Sunny’s smile is still quite faint. 

“I’ve had this talk a lot... and every time I agree to try again, it fails. I don’t want to be like this... not forever. And I don’t mean this” Happiness says, gesturing to his hair. “I mean the constant relapsing. I don’t want to have this conversation again. I’m not sure how many times I can agree to move on then immediately fail again.” 

“Recovery isn’t a-”  

“Linear path? I know, I’ve talked to your brother a lot about this stuff haha. He should consider becoming a therapist.” 

“He should consider seeing one first” Kel grumbles, slightly annoyed by how much he’s sounding like Hero. 

“We all should.” 

“You don’t?” 

Happiness once again goes silent. 

‘Of course...’ Kel thinks. 

“Once we get out of here. You’re seeing one” he states. 

‘Sunny’ doesn’t argue. 

“Now! How about we get out of here?” 

“Okay yeah, that- that sounds good... One problem though, we are trapped down here” Happiness points out. 

“Oh, don’t worry Basil’s on it!” Kel replies. 

“That’s... not very reassuring...” ‘Sunny’ mumbles. 

“Come on! Have some faith! He’s- he’s resilient...” 

... 

“You said that like it’s a reference to something, but I have no idea what you’re talking about” Happiness deadpans. 

“Don’t worry about it” Kel says dismissively, as he makes his way over to the exit. 

Happiness shrugs his shoulders and follows after him. But just as he’s about to exit the room, he turns back and gazes at the piano, paying particular attention to the name inscribed on the instrument. 

‘OMORI’ it reads. 

‘Sunny’ sighs and makes his way out of the room. 

... 

The two teens exit out into the main library and Kel immediately feels uneasy. Maybe it’s just the adrenaline finally fading, as his mind starts to process just how creepy this place is. But he doubts it. 

‘Something’s wrong...’ 

He can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched, but glancing around the ruined library reveals nothing but the same dusty books, creepy torches and dead trees. 

‘I must be missing something.’ 

The feeling is too strong, it must mean something, surely. 

“Huh?” Happiness suddenly mumbles, breaking the silence. 

“You good bud?” Kel calls out, secretly hoping that ‘Sunny’ has found whatever’s putting him on edge. 

“Yeah, just an old memory” the clone replies, half fondly, half melancholic. Perfectly bittersweet. 

Making his way over to the copy, Kel sees what he’s referring to. The book he’d previously kicked aside lies open on the floor. He quickly averts his eyes, not wishing to relive that memory again. ‘Sunny’ notices and gives him a strange look. 

“Uhhh” Kel stutters, realising he’s been caught but not wanting to elaborate. “I mayyy have looked through a couple of your memories... sorry.” 

Honestly, invasion of privacy or not, it was probably a good thing that Kel had experienced those memories. It helped him understand his friend a bit more, and without that, he doubts his conversation with ‘Sunny’ would have gone as ‘smoothly’ as it did. 

Happiness groans for a second, but quickly laughs it off. 

“It’s fine. I just wish you picked a nicer one...” he says. 

“Yeah, it was weird, I like, lived through the memory. Seeing another me was really weird.” 

“Tell me about it” ‘Sunny’ replies with a laugh. “You said you saw a couple of memories?” 

If Kel was a cartoon character, you would see a lightbulb above his head right now. A smug smile on his face, he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a dusty book, holding it above his oblivious friend. It takes Happiness a second to process what memory it is, but the second he realises his face turns bright red. 

“G-Give me that!” the flustered clone demands, trying to grab the book from out of Kel’s hands. 

The tall teen simply holds it up high, just out of the reach of his smaller friend. 

Is this mean? Yes. 

Is it funny? Absolutely. 

Eventually, Happiness gives up, instead covering his face with his hands. 

“This is so embarrassing” he laments. 

“C’mon, it’s not that bad. It’s kind of cute” Kel half-teases. 

“Don’t you dare tell her” ‘Sunny’ warns. 

Kel feels his skin crawl at the clone’s words. Images of a smiling face and a burning store flashing through his mind. He knows ‘Sunny’ isn’t actually threatening him... but... 

“I won’t d-don't worry” he replies, trying to not let his panic show. 

“Thank you...” Happiness says with a sigh. “Wait, how did you fit that in your pocket?” 

“What do you- huh how did I do that?” 

Curiously, Kel attempts to pocket the book again, and much to his surprise, it fits effortlessly. Blinking a few times in shock, Kel puts his hand in his other pocket and realises he can’t feel the bottom. 

“Woah.” 

“Hmmm must be headspace rules” Happiness muses. 

“Why would this place give me infinite pocket space?” Kel enquires. 

“Because headspace you had it. Also yes, I dreamt of you, we all went on adventures, it was cool.”  

“Oh... Okay then.” “Yeah, it was!” the same voice says simultaneously. 

... 

“H-How did you do that?” Happiness asks, nervously. 

“I- I d-didn’t” Kel stutters. 

“But I did!” An eerily familiar voice calls out. 

The two boys turn to face the direction of voice, their eyes dart around the library, desperately seeking the source. Until eventually, they look onto a small silhouette hidden in the shadow of a rotten tree. The figure steps forth, in a moment that reminds Kel far too much of his first encounter with the ‘Sunnys’. 

Stepping out into the dim light of the library, the mysterious figure reveals himself, and Kel sees his younger self for the second time today. 

“Woah... You’re so tall!” his smaller copy says, practically radiating joy. 

Kel exhales and feels a heavy weight lift from his chest. He was right, something was watching them, and it was this little scamp. 

His copy looks like a younger him, but with a more colourful appearance. That is to say, unlike the rest of this black and white hell, his copy is a visual barrage. His skin is pale with a purple tint, whilst his hair is just straight up purple, additionally, his shirt (the same on Kel used to wear to sleepovers) is a blocky mosaic of pastel greens, pinks and blues. 

In a word, ‘Kel’ could be described as bright . 

“Is this how you felt?” Kel says, glancing over at ‘Sunny’. “Seeing double?” 

“Ha! Try seeing triple! I’ll never look in a mirror again” Happiness jokes. 

“Woah Omori you’re tall too?! Maaan I wanna be tall! This isn’t fair...” ‘Kel’ laments. 

‘Was I really that obsessed with height as a kid? Also, the hell is an Omori?’ 

“Guessing this is dream me?” Kel asks his friend, who replies with a nod. Sighing, and dropping down to his double’s eye level, he addresses the mini-him. “Hey bud, you’ll get tall eventually, it took me some time but look at me now! I’m taller than Hero!” 

“By like half a centimetre” Happiness jests. 

“Shush Suzuki” Kel retorts. 

“But I’ll have to wait forever! Look at you two you’re so old !” the copy whines. 

“I’m seventeen!” 

“Exactly! That’s ancient! I can’t wait that long!” 

“You might not have to...” Happiness murmurs ominously, looking over at the large hole in the library floor. 

It might just be his mind playing tricks on him again... but Kel could swear that hole has gotten larger. And what ‘Sunny’ said... he knows this world is dying, but surely, they can’t just leave his double here. Dream or not the kid seems sentient, they can’t- 

“Oh, wait I’ve got an ĩ̶̙͎̤d̷͎͍̝̿é̶̖̱̖a̵̝͗̀̍! Why don’t I just take your limbs?!” ‘Kel’ beams. 

“Haha... what?” 

“It’s simple, you’re tall, I wanna be tall, i̴f̷ ̸I̶ ̵h̶a̷c̸k̵ ̷o̴f̷f̷ ̷y̵o̷u̵r̷ ̸l̵i̵m̵b̸s̶ a̷̛͓̘n̷̰̘̓̈́̀ͅd̴͖̎͋ ̸̧̹̟͊s̸̹͎̑e̵̠̞͑ẇ̴̌ͅ ̸̡̖̀t̴̨̞͖̅ḥ̷́̃ĕ̸̲̹̯m̸̺̚ ̸̖̼̂̇̐ẗ̴̡̗̃o̸̗̅ ̷̯͉̺̓̋̍ṃ̸̜̰̑y̸̨͈̟͋͒̓ ̵̡̙͆̔̾ǒ̷̦͔͆̅w̵̢̚ͅn̷̰͂͛ ̴̨̲͉̃͗͘t̷̳̘̿h̸̫̲͊e̶̯̅n̴̥͑̽̈́ ̶͕̫͛́I̸͎̟̽ͅ ̵̻̗͋c̴̙͍͠a̴̛̩n̸͇̖͊͒ ̴͓̐b̸̡̾̒̕e̴͈̦̳̐̕c̸͈̳̥̈́͗̚o̶̻̜͊̓̋m̵̼̣̝̊̑e̵͔͌̑ ̴͈̫̆́t̷͉̜͐̋a̴̼̋̈́͗l̸̮̮̥̀l̶̜͋!̵͎͉̂̃” 

“S-Sunny?” Kel stutters, as he swiftly backs away from his younger self, who is suddenly looking a lot more distorted, his face almost... pixelated, like a corrupted copy of Sprout Mole Eater. 

“Blackspace...” ‘Sunny’ mumbles. “Kel we need to go!” 

“No kidding!” 

“Ha hahahaHAḨ̴͚̠͈͈̳̯̠̰͊̇̓͊̄̀̈́̀̊̇͑̎͘͘̚̕͝A̵̜̖̤͙̳͍̙̝̺̓͜H̸̛͉̪̯͍̝̪̲̼̾̍̾̀̏̓̐̓͆̒̌́͠ͅA̸̧̺̘̝̓̓̃̑̓͗́́͗͝͠ͅH̶̜̥͒͂͐̆͂͝A̴̢͍̳͎̮̘̥̮͕̥̬͍̣̍̈̀̆͊̆̊͋̎̊̾͒̏̀̕͜͝͝” 

Not needing any more warnings, Kel sprints up the stairs away from his deranged double, with ‘Sunny’ following in tow. 

“DUCK!” his friend suddenly yells. 

Kel heeds the advice and dives down to the hard wood floor, just in time to dodge an impossibly fast-moving basketball, which smashes into a nearby bookcase with a violent collision, raining splinters down upon the duo.  

Rising back to his feet and resuming his escape, Kel can’t help but take a second to reflect on how eerily familiar this situation is. 

“For the record, this is what it felt like back at the store!” he yells at ‘Sunny’. 

“I am so sorry!” Happiness replies with a hoarse voice, clearly struggling to catch his breath. 

‘How many crazed copies am I going to meet?!’ 

The two friends continue to rush up the stairs, slowly but surely making their way through the library, occasionally dodging basketball strikes, until eventually the reach the pile of books Kel first landed on... a dead end. 

“Huh... I don’t remember piling all those here” Happiness muses. 

“Think we have bigger concerns right now Sun” Kel replies, staring out into the black void behind them. 

The library’s lights have all gone out now, completely shrouding the room in darkness. The only remaining source of light is the faint beams shinning down from the hole above them. Kel knows this is the work of his double, he’s cornered them and hidden his approach. 

Footsteps ring out through the silent halls, once again causing Kel to recall his time in the store. He doesn’t have to dwell long though, as laughter echoes through the library, interrupting his thoughts. 

“HA̵̜̖̤͙̳͍̙̝̺̓͜H̸̛͉̪̯͍̝̪̲̼̾̍̾̀̏̓̐̓͆̒̌́͠ͅA̸̧̺̘̝̓̓̃̑̓͗́́͗͝͠ͅH̶̜̥͒͂͐̆͂͝A̴̢͍̳͎̮̘̥̮͕̥̬͍̣̍̈̀̆͊̆̊͋̎̊̾͒̏̀̕͜͝͝ HA-”  

“KEL?! KEL ARE YOU OKAY?!” Basil’s voice suddenly calls out from above. 

“Oh thank- BASIL MAN YOU GOTTA GET US OUT OF HERE!” Kel responds. 

“O-Okay! Stay put!” 

“Nuh uh no outside help! That’s cheating!” ‘Kel’ whines from the dark. 

“W-What?!” Basil yells. 

“That’s not Kel! Just get us out of here!” Happiness replies. 

“Sunny?! Okay! H-Hold on!” 

At that moment, ‘Kel’ suddenly lunges out from the darkness, simultaneously launching his basketball into ‘Sunny’ knocking the clone to the ground. The smaller Kel launches himself forward, pinning his counterpart down to the ground with a surprising amount of strength, forcing him to look his distorted copy in the eyes. 

It’s like a nightmarish funhouse mirror, the pale pastel skin and innocent smile the young boy once possessed are now twisted, his features constantly contorting. It reminds Kel of when his console wouldn’t load properly, his double almost glitching as it laughs. 

“C̵̛̉͂̎͜o̵̢̭̝̓m̷̗̣̰̊̒̈́ę̷̞̦̪́̽͊͠ ̷̬͋̑͐ỏ̵͇̐ǹ̸̜͉̥͎ ̶̻̦̩̪͌ḃ̷͙ȓ̷͎̗̟̠͐̃o̶̘̊̐͝!̷̲̊ ̴̦̺̞̓ͅH̸̡̳̥̓̍̈́e̶̬̮̞̞̅͋l̶͔̽̒p̸͓̹̦͐ ̸̨̜̤̮̂́̈́ḁ̴̮̈́͠ ̶̪̜̍͐̐K̴̨̧̙̉͆̆̾ẻ̵̖l̷̟̅ ̸͈͛͂o̴͚̞͒̐u̵̱̹͕̯̅͑̚t̴̲͝!̶͉̓” the copy says, his voice crackling like broken radio. 

“You sound like bootleg pet rock!” Kel protests lamely, refusing to be intimidated by his younger self. 

‘Kel’ doesn’t reply, but instead increases his grip on his counterpart’s arms, slowly beginning to pull on them, fully intending to rip him apart.  

“GET OFF!” Happiness suddenly yells, tackling the twisted boy off his friend. 

Clearly, the spell had more effects than Kel was aware off, because Happiness is much stronger than Sunny normally is. As proven by the sheer distance ‘Kel’ travels, being practically launched across the library by ‘Sunny’s tackle, before eventually colliding with another bookcase. 

“He’ll recover soon, we need to-” ‘Sunny’ starts. 

As if on cue, a very long rope is suddenly lowered down into the library from above. Crawling up from the floor, Kel takes a second to compose himself. Catching his breath, he looks closer at their saving grace only to see its a... jump rope. 

“Basil, are you kidding me right now?!” Happiness calls out, with a baffled, almost offended laugh. 

“Just grab on!” the blonde yells back. 

The sound of falling books draws Kel’s attention. Turning around, he sees his twisted counterpart rise from the remains of the bookcase. 

“You guys are so- so- M̸͍͖͍̲̞̫͕̲̬͒̑͆̋̑Ȩ̴͚̜̗̘̰̼̫͍̱̘̰̝̦̥̳͖͚̦͕̮̽͑̉̃͗͘̚̚A̸͈̯͖͙̙̠̭̘̾͋̀́̂̀̎̚Ǹ̵̹̞̭̭̭͍̪͙̩̯̮͓̥̹̬̜̈́̾̋̍̔ͅͅ !” the copy roars. 

... 

“On second thought this is fine” Happiness says, grabbing onto the rope. 

Kel follows suit, and also grabs onto the rope. 

“Beam me up Bas!” he yells up. 

He feels a slight tug on the rope, but nothing more. 

“Bas?” 

“It’s heavy okay!” the blonde replies frantically. 

“Come on put your back into-” 

Kel’s encouragement is cut short by more maniacal laughter from his double. 

‘Uh oh.’ 

Kel. God damn Kel. 

Omori has spent the past four years helping Sunny, protecting him from the truth, keeping him safe from the outside world as he slowly repressed his painful memories. But now, all that progress has gone out the window, and all a mere three days before they were due to leave this forsaken town.  

All thanks to Kel. 

... 

Okay maybe not just Kel. Aubrey reminded Sunny of Mari’s death, and Basil’s ominous mutterings are starting to make Sunny question things. But either way, Omori’s plans are falling apart around him and at this rate the truth will be out in a day or two, and he cannot allow that. 

Yet, he’s powerless to stop it.  

Despite how cruel reality is, he can tell that Sunny wants to go back outside again tomorrow, and whilst he cannot possibly understand why , he also can’t physically stop it.  

‘Fine!’ 

If he can’t stop Sunny from going outside again, then he’ll just make Headspace more appealing than reality.  

Basil’s being creepy? Then he’ll stay missing.  

Aubrey hates him? Then she’ll be clingier than usual.  

Kel and Hero are sad? Well, not here in Headspace!  

Mari’s dead?! 

... 

For a moment, Omori pauses, a strange feeling spreading through his chest, a deep sense of ‘wrongness’ that he can’t explain. It doesn’t last long though, as Omori shrugs it off, and begins to prepare the next adventure.  

He’s been doing this his entire life, he can’t be wrong... He can’t be. 

Sunny is a monster, a killer, if his ‘friends’ knew what Omori does, they’d abandon him in a heartbeat, and that would hurt Sunny. And Omori has to protect Sunny.  

No matter what... 

‘Pyrefly forest seems like a good place to start, from there we can do the one-sided Hero/Sweetheart plotline. Hmmm the spiders there are scary though...’ 

Oh well, he’ll just make sure Mari gives him a big hug first. 

‘Damn weak nerd arms!’ Basil thinks, mentally cursing himself. 

One may be inclined to believe that a lifetime of gardening would give said gardener at least some upper body strength. However, when you add on depression, PTSD, and a potential eating disorder, well... let's just say Basil is struggling. 

“Come on put your back into-” Kel yells up, before being cut off by a twisted laugh. 

“Ḩ̴͚̠͈͈̳̯̠̰͊̇̓͊̄̀̈́̀̊̇͑̎͘͘̚̕͝A̵̜̖̤͙̳͍̙̝̺̓͜H̸̛͉̪̯͍̝̪̲̼̾̍̾̀̏̓̐̓͆̒̌́͠ͅA̸̧̺̘̝̓̓̃̑̓͗́́͗͝͠ͅH̶̜̥͒͂͐̆͂͝A̴̢͍̳͎̮̘̥̮͕̍̈̀̆͊̆̊͋̎̊̾͒̏̀̕͜͝͝” 

“The hell is that thing?!” Basil thinks aloud, pulling on the jump rope with as much force as he can muster (spoiler alert, it isn’t much). 

“K-Kel... dream Kel” Sadness mumbles. 

“Why is he evil?!”  

“Blackspace... it’s l-leaked out into Headspace... it’s c-corrupted everything.” 

“Blackspace! Headspace! H-How many spaces a-are there?!” Basil yells, once again trying and failing to pull the rope upwards. 

“A-At least t-three... maybe f-four..."  

‘...This is actually hell.’ 

Why couldn’t Sunny just have normal dreams? Or find a different coping mechanism? Or help him pull this damn rope?! 

“Sunny, could use a h-hand here!” Basil shouts. 

‘Sunny’ flinches at the yell, and Basil feels his heart ache. He doesn’t like upsetting his friend; but he doesn’t have time to dwell. They need to get Kel and... whatever ‘Sunny’ he has with him, out of that pit or they’re going to get torn apart by that monster. 

“O-Okay, s-sorry" Sadness stammers, joining Basil’s side and grabbing onto the rope. 

They’d wisely tied the rope around a nearby tree, so that it didn’t immediately fall down into the pit the second had weight on it. Thankfully, the jump rope was so ridiculously long that they had enough rope to double knot the damn thing and throw it down into the library. 

As Sadness grabs onto the rope, Basil feels it stiffen in his hands. With just the slightest pull, ‘Sunny’ has already taken most of the weight. 

“Woah...” the blonde finds himself mumble, practically starstruck by the shocking display of strength. 

Snapping out of it, Basil begins to tug on the rope, in a vain attempt to appear like he’s actually doing something. ‘Sunny’ follows his lead, and pulls on the rope, slowly lifting it up out of the pit. 

He hears a loud *SMACK* from the pit below and feels a sudden tug on the jump rope. 

“Okay keep it going Bas!” Kel shouts up. 

‘Did Kel just slap his evil copy? Wow...’ 

“Yeah! Go Basil!” the second ‘Sunny’ adds. 

Basil smiles a bit but can’t help but feel a bit guilty. He’s not the one doing all the work here. He can’t help but feel... upset by the unwarranted compliments. 

‘...Wait...’ 

Looking back at Sadness, he notices, that the copy looks a bit more upset than he did before. But he also feels ‘Sunny’ pulling the rope with more force too. 

‘The sadder he is... the stronger he becomes... so if I- no! No...’ 

He won’t do that, he’s here to help his friends, not hurt them! 

“GET BACK H̯̀Ę̗̥̳̬̲̓́̀͗̏͑̄Ŗ̗̔Ę̫̎̋͋!̧̙̫̦͎͙̿̓” a hoarse and angry voice bellows from below. 

Basil feels another sudden tug on the rope, and he hears the panicked yells of Kel and ‘Sunny’. 

“No pressure or anything, BUT DUDE PLEASE HURRY!” Kel shouts. 

“Ÿ͓́͠ͅÖ̟̥́͘U͔̖͗͆ WON’T LEAVE ME! Ṅ̳̳̰̦͆͑̑̇͠O̧̫̓̍͛̀̎͘T̬̐̎̇͂͌̆̚ ͚͛̒́̈́̆͘A̠̟̖̱̅́̏̋G̥̥͐͛̈̾͠ͅA̝͉͆͆̀̉̕͘Ì̢͍̬̗͉̏Ń̤̞̮̰͍̘̏̈́!̜͖͊̈̓̏̕” a distorted voice roars. 

‘The monsters on the rope! But it sounds different from earlier...’ 

Before Basil can question the monster’s sudden change in voice, he feels another tug on the rope, then another, and another. 

‘He’s climbing it! And quickly too...’ 

Sadness clearly realises this too, as he continues to pull on the rope, dragging it up with a much force as he can muster, looking noticeably distressed. But it’s not enough, the tugging from below only continues, as do the panicked yells of Kel and ‘Sunny’. 

‘God damn it!’ 

Time to test a hypothesis. 

“COME ON SUNNY! I-IS THAT-” Basil yells, hesitating for a moment, before ultimately steeling his nerves. 

‘For Kel.’ 

“IS THAT REALLY THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!” 

“I-I’m s-sorry I’m trying!” Sadness practically sobs. 

Sure enough, the force on the rope increases. 

“Well- well TRYING ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH! DO YOU WANT KEL TO D-DIE?!” 

“NO! N-No...” 

“THEN P-PROVE IT!” 

Basil has to let go of the rope due how fast it’s moving now, lest he get rope burn. 

‘Still not fast enough...’ 

“COME ON!” 

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Sadness cries, tears clearly visible in his eyes. 

‘Just a little further... I’m so sorry Sunny.’ 

“WELL G-GO FASTER!” 

“I C-CAN'T! 

Basil has seen videos of shipping ropes coming free from the docks they were tied to. The sudden speed and strength of the whiplash, as the tension is released. That’s practically how fast the rope is going now, and with every insult. It only goes faster. 

‘For Kel...’ 

“HOW MANY OF OUR FRIENDS NEED TO D-DIE BEFORE YOU LEARN THAT-” 

“SHUT UP!” Sadness yells, interrupting Basil’s berating. 

“SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP shutup... shut up” the copy sobs, letting go of the rope and clenching his hair, before curling in on himself. 

Time freezes for a moment, Basil can see Kel’s head just peaking over the pit. He also sees the rope go slack as ‘Sunny’ folds. Not wasting a second, Basil dives onto the rope, and using all his strength holds onto it with an iron grip. 

“Woah sh- B-Basil d-don't let go!” Kel yells, as his head drops back down the pit. 

Basil has no intention of letting go, but he’s not strong enough to hold the weight of three people. He can feel the muscles in his arm ache as the rope slowly slips out of his hands, scraping at his flesh as it goes. 

“S-Sunny” he weakly calls out. “I-I’m s-sorry I just- please... h-help... I need you...” 

... 

For a brief moment Basil thinks it’s all over, as he finally loses his grip, letting go of the rope, his bloodied hands coating the dark grass with crimson red, as Kel and ‘Sunny’ plummet and scream. 

... 

Then it stops. 

The rope goes stiff, his friend’s plumet halts, and with a mighty guttural scream of misery, Sadness yanks the rope with all his might, practically flinging Kel and Happiness out of the pit. 

The two boys land on the ground with a thud. But before they can celebrate, Kel scrambles onto his feet and locks eyes with Sadness. 

“LET GO OF THE ROPE!” he screams. 

‘Oh, right the other ‘Kel’... shit!” 

Heeding the warning, ‘Sunny’ drops the jump rope, allowing it to slide back down the pit. ‘Kel’ screams and Basil lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Oh thank-” he goes to say. 

“THE TREE!” Happiness suddenly yells. 

‘Wha-’ 

Confused, Basil follows ‘Sunny’s eyes, spotting the jump rope wrapped around the tree. 

... 

‘THE JUMP ROPE WRAPPED AROUND THE TREE?!’ 

They all watch in horror as the rope periodically moves, like something’s tugging on it from below... or climbing it. Rushing over to the edge, Basil sees a demented looking blue ‘Kel’ climbing up the rope. The creature seems to notice the blonde, as he flashes him a wicked grin, and quickens his ascent. 

‘Oh, hell no!’ 

Turning back to his friends, he watches Kel and the ‘Sunnys’ trying and failing to undo the knot. 

“ARGH this is impossible!” Kel laments. 

“S-Sorry I’m good at tying knots!” Basil replies, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his handy shears. 

He doesn’t notice the ‘Sunnys’ flinch at his choice of words, as he sets about cutting the rope.  

First, he tries cutting it properly, then he tries sawing it, before ultimately resorting to just stabbing the thing repeatedly. Sadness and Happiness join his side and using their combined strength they start pulling at the rope where the threads were most vulnerable. 

Basil continues slashing, the ‘Sunnys’ keep pulling, and Kel just watches in horror as he copy rapidly ascends up out of the crevice. 

“G-Guys” the tall teen stutters. 

“Just a l-little more” Basil replies, slashing away until finally- 

*SNAP*  

The rope gives way and finally plumets down into the library, taking ‘Kel’ with it. 

“Finally! Abou-” Basil goes to celebrate. 

“ARGH!” Kel screams. 

“OH C-COME ON! W-What now?!” 

Kel backs away from the pit, whilst never taking his eyes off it, despite almost tripping over a rock as he does so. 

“Uhhh- creepy me is kind of.... climbing up the side of the pit...” 

“...I h-hate this place so much.” 

Suddenly the demented ‘Kel’ pops his head up over the side of the pit. 

“Ḩ̴͚̠͈͈̳̯̠̰͊̇̓͊̄̀̈́̀̊̇͑̎͘͘̚̕͝A̵̜̖̤͙̳͍̙̝̺̓͜H̸̛͉̪̯͍̝̪̲̼̾̍̾̀̏̓̐̓͆̒̌́͠ͅA̸̧̺̘̝̓̓̃̑̓͗́́͗͝͠ͅH̶̜̥͒͂͐̆͂͝A̴̢͍̳͎̮̘̥̮͕̥̬͍̣̍̈̀̆͊̆̊͋̎̊̾͒̏̀̕͜͝͝” the copy cackles. 

The group of teens scream, as the monster slowly rises from the pit, clawing his way out on all fours like some foul creature from the depths of hell itself. Basil blinks and suddenly half his body is out of the crevice. But just as ‘Kel’ goes to lift his legs up, a shadow suddenly covers the copy, almost like a cloud had just blown overhead. 

“Oi!” a voice calls out from above 

Everyone on the ground below look up, only to see an... asteroid? 

“Guess who!” Anger yells, standing proudly on top of the large space rock. 

“S-Sunny? Don’t do anything-” Hero warns, revealing that he too is on top of the asteroid. 

“BODY SLAM!” Anger screams, as he straightens his legs, jumps up and ground pounds the asteroid, with enough force to send the rock flying downwards. 

Basil is stunned. 

He watches as Hero screams, clinging to the rock for dear life, as Anger grins wildly, all whilst the rock rapidly plummets down. 

*THUD*  

The asteroid crashes into ‘Kel’, sending a shockwave through the landscape, as it crushes him, causing the copy to explode into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind... a piece of toast? 

‘Seriously, what the hell?!’ 

Basil coughs as the dust kicked up by the collision fills the air. Thankfully, it clears as fast as it came, and as it does, he sees that the asteroid has landed dead-centre in the canyon, forming a makeshift bridge. 

‘Huh... that’s convenient.’ 

“I was hoping for a bigger impact” Anger grumbles, climbing off the rock, and dusting himself off. 

“I’m going to be sick” Hero whines, also rising up from the rock, although looking significantly more ill. “Oh... hey guys.” 

“H-Hey” Basil replies suddenly feeling a lot more tired. 

“BRO!” Kel yells, practically shoving Basil to the side. 

“Kel?!” Hero replies. 

The two brothers rush towards each other, before embracing in a firm hug. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay” Hero mumbles into his brother’s shoulder. 

“M-Me too” Kel whimpers. 

Basil watches the sight with a small smile, although as he does, he can’t help but feel lonely.  

He hopes Aubrey’s okay... 

As he watches the brothers embrace, he misses Sadness silently approach him. He doesn’t say a word and when Basil finally notices him, he sees that the copy’s eyes are shadowed by his fringe. Recalling what he said earlier, Basil suddenly feels very afraid. 

“Woah what’s going on here?” Anger asks, having noticed their stare down. 

“Is everything okay Basil?” Hero chimes in. 

“Uhhh” the blonde stutters. 

He looks back at Sadness. His friend is silent, still as a statue, with an unreadable expression. 

“L-Look Sunny... I’m sorry... I didn’t m-mean what I s-said. Your powers... you’re stronger when you’re s-sad so I- I had to... I’m sorry, but I needed to s-save them and-” 

Basil’s apology is interrupted by Sadness putting his hand on his shoulder. The atmosphere is tense, nobody says a word, and then... 

Sadness hugs him. 

The copy cries into his shoulder and after a moment of hesitation, Basil hugs him back. 

“Damn... I thought things were about to get interesting” Anger grumbles, before being promptly hit in the shoulder by Kel. “Ow!... jerk.” 

“This is really nice! It’s so good to see everyone getting along! Also... hi... Anger” Happiness awkwardly greets. 

“Sup” Anger replies, avoiding eye contact with his smiling double. 

... 

“Uhhh not to ruin the moment, but wasn’t Aubrey screaming before?” Kel quizzes. 

“Aubrey!” the three ‘Sunnys’ simultaneously yell. 

At what point does a man stop being phased by things? Hero couldn’t rightfully answer that question. 

He has seen so much in the past couple of days.  

Magic, monsters, a corrupted dreamworld and now the manifestation of his friend’s anger ground pounding an asteroid into an evil version of his brother. 

And he is so tired. 

But he can’t stop. Not now. 

‘No rest for the wicked ey?’ 

Aubrey is in danger, and so, despite the fact that his body aches and his lungs burn. He keeps moving. 

“Woah this is... weird” his brother says coming to a halt in the middle of the playground. 

Hero can’t help but agree, as he stops for a minute to catch his breath and look around.  

‘This playground is an almost exact one to one replica of Faraway Park.’ 

Looking over familiar the familiar scenery Hero can’t help but feel kind of... sad. From his talks with Anger, it sounds like this world hasn’t changed that much. It’s just smaller and darker than usual. But that means this park has always been like this. 

Sunny hadn’t seen the park in four years, yet he remembered it’s layout like it was the back of his hand. Something about that doesn’t sit well with Hero, but he doesn’t have time to- 

“It’s so... e-empty" Sadness murmurs. 

“Hardly surprising” Anger snorts. “Have you seen this place. Honestly, we should be glad it’s abandoned.” 

“Hey, have some sympathy, this isn’t easy to see” Happiness scolds. 

“Oh, are you really on my ass alread-” Anger goes to argue before suddenly stopping. 

The three copies stand there for a moment, silently staring at each other. Hero thought he was going to have to step in and prevent yet another fight. But now... well honestly, he has absolutely no idea what’s happening. 

Anger glances back at Hero for a second, his expression inscrutable. Before turning back towards Happiness. 

“I’m sorry” three identical voices say simultaneously. 

... 

Hero isn’t sure who starts laughing first, but before he knows it, all three ‘Sunnys’ are cackling, and despite the severity of their situation, he can’t help but giggle a bit himself. 

It’s all so absurd. So stupid . 

And it feels good to take a moment to stop and laugh about it. 

He also notices a newfound contentment in all their laughs.  

Hero doesn’t know what his laughter sounds like. But he imagines it must sound like some kind of nervous breakdown. Still, it’s a nice moment, and he’s glad to see the ‘Sunnys’ finally getting along. 

“Ha ha... oh man... how did we let things get to this point?” Happiness mumbles. 

“I don’t know... and I don’t know if we can fix this, but I-” 

“We have to try” Sadness states. 

“I was gonna say that blue...” Anger grumbles. “But yeah, we do. So, let’s stop standing around and get moving already!” 

“Yeah, I didn’t want to interrupt, but Aubrey is still in trouble” Kel adds awkwardly. 

“We need to keep moving then” Hero states, setting off towards the exit of the playground. 

It’s abrupt, and probably a bit rude. But if they linger here any longer, they conversation will just drag on, and sadly they just don’t have the time for that. Aubrey’s in danger, Hero has a feeling Fear is too, and their clock is ticking.  

During his time hovering over the forest with Anger, he witnessed several large chunks of this world slowly collapse down into the abyss. Even the desert they came from seemed to be sinking more and more the further they strayed from it. 

You don’t have to be a genius to realise this world is on a timer, and he does not want them to be here for when this world finally dies. Normally, he would stop and explain this, but they’re all under enough pressure as it is, so they’re just going to have to push on and hope for the best. 

“A-Agreed” Basil stutters, chasing after Hero. 

‘Please be okay Aubrey...’ 

Omori silently stares down his creator. 

He saw this coming; Sunny had repeatedly ignored his warnings for the past two nights now. He ventured outside, reignited friendships and opened old wounds, and now he’s ready to face the truth.  

Or at least he thinks he is.  

Omori doesn’t react as Sunny walks past him, strolling over to the lightbulb and reaching out to grab it. This tantrum is pathetic, the ingrate thinks him evil, thinks he knows better, he doesn’t . 

But Omori will play along for now, he’ll let Sunny face his demons, and when he crumples and cowers, and inevitably comes running back to him, then he’ll welcome him back with open arms.  

Because that’s what friends do. 

And whether Sunny likes it or not, he’s his only real friend. The only one who knows the real him, the monster, the killer. His ‘friends’ will hate him if they learn the truth, Sunny will see that soon, and then he’ll come back to Omori.  

And if he doesn’t, then Omori will just do what he always does, he’ll protect him . 

The lightbulb smashes against the ground and as the room turns black Omori glares at his only friend. Sunny may not appreciate him, but he’ll still protect him. He’ll protect Sunny from anything.  

Even himself. 

‘Is this how Mari felt?’ Aubrey thinks grimly, as she tumbles down a long staircase. 

She had scrambled down the hole after ‘Sunny’ and almost immediately tripped over some tree root or rock or something. How that led to her falling down a staircase? Honestly, she couldn’t rightfully say. This world is just full of surprises, and few of them are ever positive. 

Thankfully, the tumble eventually ends, as she hits the ground with thud. 

‘Still alive...’ 

It’s not fair. She can survive that but Mari- 

‘OH GOD!’ 

Despite her disorientation, she can still make out the pink blur lunging towards her. Rolling out of the way, she narrowly avoids the slam of a nail bat as her counterpart lands a mere few inches from her face. 

“A̸̮̪͌̅r̵̨̜͈͋͝͝ĝ̸̰͐h̵̦̹̠͋̕!̸̳̼̎̏̑” 

Aubrey pushes herself up, trying her best to stay upright, as she surveys her environment. She’s landed in some kind of... lounge? It looks weirdly familiar, but she can’t put her finger on it. 

Not that she has enough time to ponder it anyway, as her double once again lunges at her, with yet another wild swing. 

“Stay S̸̼͠T̵̘̾I̴̲̾Ĺ̷̯L̶̳̊!̴̛̺” the doppelgänger roars. 

“No thanks” Aubrey grunts. 

Her body aches and her head is spinning, she may very well have a concussion, but one thing is for certain. She can’t dodge forever. 

*BANG* *BANG* 

Aubrey’s attention is briefly drawn away from her double by the sound of loud knocking. Looking over to her right, she sees Fear, terrified, and desperately banging on an eerie white door. 

“Omori... please c-come on. The Favourite is gone and-” he begs. “P-Please... h-help us.” 

Before Aubrey can even begin to question who the hell ‘Sunny’ is talking to, she is swiftly knocked to the ground with a bash to her face. 

“Argh” she cries, as she lands on her ass. 

By some miracle, her double had managed to hit her with the one part of the bat that wasn’t covered in razor sharp nails.  

It did still hurt like hell though. 

“Nice hit dumbass” she taunts, wiping her bloodied nose on her sleeve. 

‘Aubrey’ scowls, and slowly walks over to her fallen foe. But then, surprisingly, her face loses some of its distortion, as she kneels down to meet Aubrey at eye level. 

“You’re pitiful” the copy spits, venom dripping from her tone. 

“Big talk from a copy” Aubrey retorts. 

“Do you know why you lost?” the double asks, ignoring her jab. 

“Because you’re some messed up nightmare Sunny had back when I was a total prick” Aubrey deadpans. “And because I fell down a flight of stairs!” 

“True” the copy admits with a shrug. “But also because I am a prick.” 

“What?” 

“You’ve gotten soft. Forgotten your purpose, fallen for your ‘ friends’ . It’s laughable! They’ll leave you, they always do! And if by some miracle they don’t, then you’ll wish they did!  I mean just look at where friendship led you-” 

“Oh please!” Aubrey interrupts, rolling her eyes. “This ‘friends make you weak’ villain monologue bull crap is taking years off my life! So, if you’re sooo tough, then just finish the job already!” 

As predicted, her copy became visually frustrated. Distortion creeping back onto her face as her rage swelled. 

“Fine!” she spat. “First, I’ll cave your h̴e̴a̸d̷ ̸i̵n̸ ̸w̷i̷t̶h m̴̲̃ẏ̸̬̫ ̵̥͚̺̏̋̀b̵̲͚̗͌͘a̵̪͌̎́t̶͖̿̄!̵̨̀ Then- ARGH ! ”  

Aubrey smirks. 

“Surprised you actually fell for that” she taunts, rising to her feet. “Textbook distraction! Who’s pitiful now faker?” 

Her mouth still agape, face contorted in clear surprise, ‘Aubrey’ slowly turned around to face a shaking Fear. Reaching her hand around to her back, she feels the sharp knife lodged into her back. 

“H-He’s gone... but he left t-this... e-enjoy" Fear taunts, avoiding eye contact with the double, but putting on his best mocking tone. 

“Nicely done Sun” Aubrey compliments.  

Fear blushes and looks away. 

“Where’d you find that knife though?” she asks, genuinely curious 

“It was just... laying there” Fear murmurs, an undiscernible sadness in his tone. 

Aubrey shrugs, and goes to finish her double off when suddenly- 

“Ha... ha ha H̸̢̛̫̬̭͖͗͌́͠Ȧ̴͔͌͌H̵̗̾Ȧ̸̡̱̜̊̇̈͌H̷̃̄̎͒͜Ä̸̡͙̳͔̮́̍̈́̓H̷̻͂́̿͛̏͜A̸͈̭̫̋͒͗̕ Ś̰͓̰͝ẹ̘̘̉̕͝r̢͂̓i̳̗̫͊̈́̓o̝̼̱͉͇̅́͌̈́̓ư͍̘̯̬̈́̍͝ͅs̤̺̼̉̓͑̕ͅl͖̑͋̽͒ỹ͙̹̝͕̾̒͌?̩̞͖̹̒̎̓͊̇͜! ̛̦͔̪̮̅̐Ń̗̪̯̏o͍̘̾̎̂̎̋͜͜w͔̆͐͑̀ ̻̤̙̎̆̀ţ̲̲͌̒́͝h̺̟͓͍̏̇̃̐͝å̧̮͇͍̣̎t̞͚̤̮̙̂ ̤̪͍́́í̙̝͑̿̿̆s̨͓͉̮̤̏̿̓͑͆ ̡̯̙̱̟̐̌̂̂f̗̪̎̐̑ư̻̭͛͝n̲̭͒ņ̧̲̳̘̇̕ỷ̯̤͜͝!̯̈̽̇̅͐͜” ‘Aubrey’ laughs, ripping the knife out of her back and throwing it down to the ground. 

“W-What?” Aubrey stutters. 

“Level fifty-one b̵͕͓̹͛ḁ̴͉̥̈́̌̉͜͝b̵̰̰̅͆y̴̱̺̘͚̐̔̂!” ‘Aubrey’ yells in response. 

“That’s not a thing!” Fear protests, eyes wide with well... fear. 

“Newsflash ̴ ̸p̸u̵n̸k̴,̷, you aren't making the rules around here anymore!” 

Before Aubrey can even begin to question what the hell they were talking about, her doppelgänger suddenly contorts, her limbs cracking as they launch outwards at unnatural angles. A backwards leg kicking Aubrey straight in the stomach, whilst Fear is hit straight in the jaw with a firm uppercut. 

Aubrey is flung across the room, hitting the ground with a thud, kicking up a collection of dusty cards, before finally colliding with a rotten watermelon, which bursts on impact. Standing back up almost immediately, and shaking off rancid melon juice, Aubrey glares at her opponent. 

‘Aubrey’ glares back, a wicked grin plastered on her glitching face. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots ‘Sunny’ laying down on the floor, looking worse for wear. Her concern is quickly drowned out by confusion however, as his wild eyes keep darting towards her feet, almost as if he was trying to tell her something... 

‘Oh...’  

Ignoring the concerning implications being that slow right after a potential concussion, Aubrey quickly glances at the floor. Her eyes don’t linger long, lest she give away her plan to her copy. Although, she quickly wonders why she bothered with subtly, as even with a brief look, she immediately recognises the ‘ace’ up Fear’s sleeve. 

It’s her old plushie, Mr Plantegg, although it’s somehow in an even worse state than the one back at her house. It’s a sad sight honestly, she’d been trying and failing to repair her version ever since she grabbed it from their old treehouse, so seeing it in this state stings. 

But above all else, it’s just plain confusing.  

Seriously the hell is she supposed to do with this? 

Thankfully, ‘Aubrey’ seems to think they’re having some kind of Mexican standoff, so she doesn’t notice her counterpart's inaction. 

Glancing back at ‘Sunny’ again, Aubrey sees the boy muttering something under his breath. Reading his lips, she can just about make out the word ‘swing’ 

... 

‘No way.’ 

She thinks she understands ‘Sunny’s plan, it’s just insanely stupid. 

‘If this fails, I’m haunting you Sunny Suzuki’ she mentally curses. 

Taking a deep breath, she cracks her knuckles and opens her mouth. 

“COME ON THEN! YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE COWARD?!” she yells. 

The only response she receives is a feral snarl, as her double readies her bat and lunges forward. There’s a blur of colour, as two violent pink waves crash into each other, with a brief flash of purple between them.  

In the blink of an eye, the fight is over, ‘Aubrey’ stands some distance behind her namesake, panting heavily. Aubrey herself stands in the same spot, still as a statue. 

‘Like clockwork’ she thinks. 

‘Aubrey’ goes to laugh, but it comes out as a violent cough, as purple blood begins to bubble in her throat and pour out from her mouth. 

“W-What?...” she garbles. 

“Sunny... you’re such a weeb” Aubrey laughs, before turning to face her doppelgänger. “Dream logic faker, rule of cool wins. And samurai showdown beats Mexican standoff!” 

“Y-You- ARGH!” her double goes to argue, before a comically large burst of blood explodes outwards from her chest. “Y-You...” 

The clone continues to mumble to itself as it bleeds out, but Aubrey simply rolls her eyes and walks away, her attention fully on her injured friend. Rushing over, she offers Fear a hand, which he hesitantly takes, as she then pulls him up onto his feet with surprising ease. 

‘Still too thin...’ 

“Sunny you know plushies aren’t as sharp as katanas right?” she asks, ignoring the sudden pit in her stomach. “Not that I’m complaining” she adds with a wicked grin. 

“D-Dream logic” he lamely suggests. 

“Y-You...” 

Aubrey freezes. She looks ‘Sunny’ in the eyes and see nothing but utter dread. 

‘He’s shaking.’ 

Slowly turning around, she sees her double standing upright once more. Her face shrouded by messy pink bangs, her clothes soaked in purple blood, with a long scar clearly visible across her torso, stretching from her left hip to her right shoulder. She holds her bat so hard that Aubrey could swear she hears it start to crack. One eye stares out through the dark, glaring at Aubrey with pure contempt. 

“You... I̶͐̒D̵͑͋̐Ỉ̶͚Ŏ̴̟͈̖̰͋T̸͒͠!” the copy cackles, flashing a bloody smile. 

Aubrey had been mostly unphased by the whole ‘evil copy’ thing. Maybe all the magic crap with Sunny had numbed her to it, or maybe seeing twenty evil mini-hers made this one big clone seems tame by comparison.  

Either way, Aubrey can’t deny that right now she is freaked the hell out. Seeing such a manic expression on her own face, her own teeth stained with dark purple blood, and an unhinged gleam in her eyes. It’s unnerving, upsetting and above all else.... ANNOYING! 

“ARGH!” Aubrey screams, frustration boiling over, as the stress and absurdity of her situation finally caught up with her. 

Raising her battered plushie, she prepares for a rematch, when suddenly... it hits her.  

Dropping the bloodied toy, she stares at her twisted reflection for a moment, truly taking in the sight. She’s terrifying, only a fool would argue elsewise, bloodied and bruised, a monster who seemingly survives anything thrown at her. But beneath that, there’s a familiar grief in those hateful eyes, not to mention the trusty nail bat, and familiar outfit. 

She’s quite literally staring down her past self. 

It sounds obvious, but the realisation only now hits her.  

In the year following the hospital confession, she had grown to regret her past choices more and more with each passing day. Aubrey even found herself daydreaming about what she would say if she somehow met the person she used to be.  

More often than not it entailed slapping some sense into herself... literally. But now she’s done that and it didn’t change anything. 

“I know you” she says after a moment. 

‘Aubrey’ seemed stunned for a second, her intimidating aura falling apart instantly, replaced by clear confusion and shock. 

“The hell are you-” 

“I know you’re hurt” Aubrey continued, ignoring her double. “I know you feel abandoned, and I know you’re taking it out on anyone and everyone.”  

 “What is- what are you even-” 

 “And I know it feels good, to finally have control over something in your life.” 

“Damn right it-” 

“But I know it doesn’t last.” 

“Wha-” 

“I know when you’re not hurting, you’re hurting .” 

“Shut up...” 

“I know for all your big talk of not needing anyone, really you’re just lonely!” 

“Shut up!” 

“And above all else I know things are more complicated then they first look” Aubrey says, glancing at Fear. “And I know that can be hard to understand. But you can’t keep doing this. I won’t let you!” 

“Who- Who the hell are you to stop me?!” 

“Unfortunately, I’m you. Now last chance. Walk away .” 

“Or what?” 

“Or you’ll see why Sunny had nightmares of me.” 

“Ooooh very menacing” ‘Aubrey’ smirks. “Those are big words for someone who’s lost what? Twice now! You really think third times gonna be the charm?” 

Whatever ground she’d gained with her double was lost the second fighting was mentioned. This copy is a nightmare, her worst attributes given form, she won’t back down, won’t accept pity, and will never give up without a fight.  

Unfortunately for her, neither will Aubrey. 

She doesn’t know if she and ‘Sunny’ can actually beat this prick. But she’ll damned if she doesn't try. 

“Sure, why not?” Aubrey asks rhetorically asks after a moment. “Sunny you with me?” 

“Always” Fear replies, his voice hoarse and hesitant, but with an underlying determination. 

“Fine the two of you versus- ARGH!” the double yells, her taunting interrupted by a basketball to the face. “OW! Who- what t̷̘̓h̸̥́e̴̙͊ ̴͍̾h̴͍̓e̵̥͌l̴̘̀l̷̙̽?!” 

“Take that!” Kel yells, standing tall at the top of the staircase, surrounded by friends. 

“I feel like there was a missed opportunity for a one liner there” Happiness muses. 

“Yeah, missed for a reason ” Anger grumbles. 

“Aubrey! Su- uh F-Fear! We’re here to h-help!” Basil calls out. 

“Yeah, the only one who messes with Aubrey is me!” Kel adds, with a stupid grin, but an underlying anger. 

“S-Sorry we took so long” Sadness apologises. 

“Glad you’re okay Aubrey. Now let’s all be civil here” Hero says, locking eyes with her double in what could be interpreted as a threat. 

Aubrey can’t help but smirk. 

‘These dorks...’ 

Despite the fact they are all very much still in danger, she feels... warm .  

They care.  

They care about her. 

It’s a nice feeling, to know that you matter to someone, and it’s one she doesn’t get to feel very often. And one she doubts her counterpart has ever felt. 

“Took you long enough” Aubrey replies with a smirk. 

Her smile falls fast though as she looks at her double. The distortion is back, this time worse than ever. Her copy’s face is little more than a glitchy blur, and yet it still radiates a deep all-consuming rage. 

“Last chance. I mean it, give up” Aubrey warns, her voice quiet and somber. 

No one else hears her, but her copy does, and for a moment the glitching stops, the technicolour blur fades and her own face stares back at her. Its expression is one of rage and hatred. But there is a deep sadness in those eyes. 

“I can’t” is what the girl’s expression says. 

“You̶̜̿ ̵̜̾ẗ̸̨h̴̢̓ȉ̸͜ṅ̶͉ḵ̸̊ ̸̖̏y̸̤͆o̸̗͘u̸̝͝ ̴̩͛ can beat me? With the t̸̳̂h̴̼͆e̴̔ͅ ̶̽͜p̵̡̈́ò̷͓w̵͔̏e̶̳͝r̶̠̔ ̶̡̚õ̸̱f̴̥̄ ̴̗͐f̷̻͐r̶̟̒i̴̤̒e̴̗̽n̶̠̚d̴͚͝ṡ̸͖h̴̤̄ĭ̴̯p̶̂ͅ?!H̴̛̫͎͈Ả̶̹͕!” is what the girl actually says instead, as the static reclaims her form. 

Aubrey sighs, she’s not going to enjoy this, but she doesn’t have much choice. 

“Sorry Hero, think diplomacy just went out the window” she calls out. 

“Do no harm” he mumbles to himself with a sigh. 

“Fine by me” Anger states. “JUMP HER!” 

‘How?’ 

How could he lose? He was so close.  

Sure, all his plans had crumbled around him, sure Sunny knew the truth, sure Omori was down to his last resort, and sure winning would have meant the end for both of them. But he should have won... he- he... 

The wonderful melody comes to an end, and Omori feels tears threaten to fall from his eyes. It all seemed so simple a few minutes ago. Sunny was a monster, a dangerous ingrate, no-one could love him, not after what he’d done.  

Death was the kindest option for someone like Sunny...  

Or at least that’s what Omori had thought. But now, hearing his only friend’s resolve, and knowing deep down, that despite everything, Mari would want him to live...  

Omori can’t keep doing this. 

He drops his knife to the ground and stares blankly at his creator. He thought he’d been protecting Sunny from himself. But in reality, he was just holding him back.  

He sees that now. 

They’ll hate him, they’ll all hate him, Sunny will be alone again, and this time not even his own mind will have his back. But that’s the path Sunny has chosen, and Omori is done taking his agency away.  

He falls into his counterpart’s arms, a million thoughts rushing through his mind, as his eyes start to sting.  

‘I’m sorry’ is the only coherent one. 

As Omori fades away into the back of Sunny’s mind, he wishes more than anything else, that he is wrong, and that Sunny will be loved, not loathed.  

And that he’ll find someone else to protect him. 

“So... this place is like a video game?” Kel had asked.  

The group had stopped for a second having just arrived at their destination. A crater stood where the stump the ‘Sunnys’ spoke of should be.   

Where this ever elusive White Space should be.   

The crater was adorned with dirty pieces of toast, crudely adorned with dusty bows. This naturally raised questions, and the answers raised even more questions.  

Basil had agreed with Kel’s assessment. The world certainly seemed to operate like a game, and Sunny had always loved a good RPG.  

“I- Well... basically yeah” Happiness had replied lamely.  

By deductive reasoning then, Basil assumes that this must be the final boss. 

Sadness struggles in her grasp, thrashing and lashing out, as her hands cramp around his neck. He’s distressed, and that should give him power. Yet ‘Aubrey’ is unaffected by his blows.  

Basil lunges forward, sheers in hand. ‘Aubrey’ blocks the attack with her left hand, but his blade pierces straight through it, dark purple blood spraying out as the metal carves through her flesh.  

It makes Basil ill. 

But his opponent is unphased. She raises Sadness up with her right hand, displaying an ungodly strength before almost immediately flinging him down to the ground.  

Simultaneously, she rips her left hand (and by extension his weapon) away from Basil and sends him flying backwards with a right hook. He bounces across the ground, before ultimately landing on his face. 

‘Everything hurts...’ 

They’d been fighting for what feels like hours now. It should have been easy. They’ve already killed one corrupted copy, and they outnumber this monster eight to one. Yet despite seemingly making some progress at the start.  

Their odds quickly changed however, and not in their favour. Every blow, cut, and bash only seemed to make her stronger, her corruption getting worse as the fight dragged on. 

Strangely, sometimes the copy’s taunts sounded different . 

‘Almost like ‘Kel’ did...’ 

Not having time to ponder any further, Basil raises his face from the dirt, looking up with blurry eyes at the never-ending fight before him.  

He sees an orange blur duck and weave between flashes of flickering pink, they clash, and the orange shape goes flying, as a blue blur approaches from behind. Basil blinks and his vision clears a bit more.  

He sees Hero try to restrain ‘Aubrey’ in a headlock as Anger and the real Aubrey rush forward to attack. They unleash a flurry of blows upon her, but as always, it proves ineffective. 

The monster wearing his friends face moves impossibly fast, twisting at unnatural angles, almost like it has no bones.  

It quickly breaks free of Hero’s grasp and lifts the young adult up into the air, before flinging him down onto Aubrey, knocking them both down. Anger glows a violent red and throws punch after punch at the monster.  

It’s practically a blur, a storm of colliding fists, as every rapid punch unleashed by Anger, is immediately caught by ‘Aubrey’. After a few seconds she must grow bored, as she abruptly catches both of his fists at once, lifts him of his feet, spins him around and flings him across the room, landing right at Basil’s feet. 

‘Aubrey’ then locks eyes with Basil, the static parting for a moment to reveal a sinister smirk.  

Basil prepares to flee, but then Happiness suddenly jumps up onto her back, seemingly trying the same strategy as Hero. This hunch is all but confirmed as Fear rushes over and begins to wildly slash at her with a steak knife. 

Basil immediately notices that Fear’s eyes are firmly closed shut. 

Not having time to dwell on that detail, he jumps in surprise as Anger rises up onto his feet and looks down at him. Much to his surprise, the copy offers him a hand.  

He takes it. 

By the time Basil and Anger are ready to attack, Fear and Happiness have already been thrown aside.  

Undeterred, he throws a few weak punches, whilst Anger unleashes his full fury, actually managing to knock ‘Aubrey’ down to the ground. Basil retrieves his weapon from her hand with a sickening squelch and proceeds wildly stab and slash at the distorted figure below him. 

Any brief hopes of victory he has in this moment are almost immediately dashed however, as ‘Aubrey’ suddenly shoots up from the floor with impossible speed, contorting her limbs to kick both him and Anger away. 

“ARGH!” Anger roars. “JUST DIE ALREADY!” 

Basil watches him rush forward to inevitable defeat once again. 

“It’s n-no use” Sadness mumbles. 

The rest of the gang is with him, nursing their wounds and preparing to charge once more. Hero looks especially roughed up. 

“We’re- there’s- surely- surely we’re missing something?” Hero practically begs between heavy breaths. 

“She’s not invincible, we took out little-me, she’ll go down too... eventually” Kel replies ‘reassuringly’, rubbing his brother’s back. 

“She’s level fifty-one” Fear mumbles with a thousand-yard stare. “She won’t succumb.” 

“That’s not a t-thing!" “What does that even mean?” Sadness and Hero say simultaneously. 

Hero might be lost, but Basil gets it. She’s broken the level cap, Kel was right, this world really does run off RPG logic.  

‘That means there must be a strategy.’ 

Looking around for inspiration, he sees Anger and Aubrey engaging her double, Hero, Kel and the ‘Sunnys’ recuperating, and- wait.  

Looking again at the copies, Basil immediately notices that Happiness doesn’t look very happy. In fact, he looks a lot more neutral, almost like the real Sun- 

‘Those blood red eyes induce nightmarish hallucinations in people.’  

‘The sadder he is... the stronger he becomes.’  

‘He looks a lot more neutral.’  

“I get it!” Basil impulsively yells. 

“Get what?” Kel asks with a raised eyebrow. 

Basil blushes with embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. 

“I uh the s-system" he stutters. 

“System?” Kel asks, looking even more confused. “Dude just take a deep breath.” 

Following his advice, Basil breathes in... and out... 

“O-Okay... thank you” he mumbles. “As I was s-say- uh t-trying to say. You’re right Kel, this place is like a g-game, it’s an R-RPG, the e-emotions, they’re the mechanics.” 

“Basil what-” Hero goes to ask. 

“He’s right” Fear quietly interrupts. “It’s like rock, paper, scissors” he adds before taking a deep breath and running off to help Aubrey and Anger. 

“So, we just need to beat uh-” Kel says, glancing over at ‘Aubrey’ who’s currently foaming at the mouth whilst trying to strangle her copy. “-Anger.” 

“What?!” Anger yells, briefly turning away from his fight. 

“Not you! Don’t worry!” Kel replies. 

“E-Exactly” Basil agrees. 

“Happiness beats Anger, we saw it in the living room” Hero muses. 

“Yeah...” Happiness mumbles, clearly uncomfortable. 

“He’s neutral” Basil says, once again thinking aloud. 

Hero and Kel look at Happiness, the latter clearly recognising the issue. 

“Oh, this again” Kel deadpans. “Hey bud, we need you to cheer up a bit.” 

“S-Sorry this is just a bit stressful” Happiness replies awkwardly. 

Basil doubts Happiness alone would be enough anyway. They need to maximise their damage output if they if want to even stand a chance against ‘Aubrey’. 

At that moment, Anger once again lands next to them. Sadness takes this as his cue and rushes over to aid Aubrey and although Anger goes to follow suit, Basil stops him, grabbing his shoulder and holding him in place. 

“What are you-” ‘Sunny’ says, instinctively going to punch Basil. 

“W-Wait!” he cries, immediately cowering away. 

“Shit... sorry” Anger apologises awkwardly. “But we are in the middle of something, if you haven’t noticed.” 

He’ll need to choose his words very carefully. Basil knows this is the part of Sunny that resents him, so it may prove difficult to get him to play ball. 

‘Can you blame him? Remember the last plan you involved him in?’  

Ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his head, Basil takes a deep breath and prepares to argue his case. 

“You wanna beat her?” he asks. 

“Obviously!” Anger replies, clearly annoyed. “So let’s get back to-” 

“Brute force w-won't work” Basil interrupts. “We need to maximise d-damage. I think Happiness is key but I d-don't-” 

Basil can practically see Anger’s eureka moment, his eyes widen as a mischievous grin stretches across his face. 

“Oh, I know just the thing!” he says, inexplicably pulling out a whole cup of coffee from his back pocket. “Drink this and start flexing!” he adds, practically shoving the cup into Kel’s face. 

“Dude what-” 

“Just do it! Basil make him happy! Hero you’re with me! We’ll buy you time.” 

“Wait wha- ahh” Hero whines as Anger drags him back into the fray. 

‘Coffee must be some kind of item, a boost maybe? Flexing might be a support move? And happy beats angry so... my God.’ 

This is exactly what they need! If they pull this move off, Kel will practically nuke this copy from the face of this world, and hopefully won't take them with it.  

Basil is really glad he paid attention to Sunny’s gaming sessions right now. 

“It’s a super move!” he explains to the clearly apprehensive Kel. “You’re our trump card!” 

“Well... y-yeah! Okay then! Let’s do this!” Kel agrees, downing the cold coffee in one swig, whilst Basil winces at the site.  

After shaking for a moment, Kel suddenly begins flexing. It’s awkward and clumsy and- and- and Basil should really stop staring.  

Tearing his eyes away, he switches focus back to Happiness. But before he can approach him, Aubrey stumbles backwards in between them. 

“That bi- argh! Fu- she can headbutt..” the dazed delinquent mumbles, struggling to stay upright. 

“Aubrey!” Happiness yells, running over to support her. 

Basil goes to join but is stopped by Kel who shoves a surprisingly shiny book into his hands. 

“Kel?! W-What?” 

“Trust me dude” he says with a smug grin. “Just give Aubrey this, it’ll help.” 

“I- Okay?” 

Kel flashes him another weirdly smug smile, before resuming his flexing. Basil hears Hero scream, and suddenly remembers they are very much pressed for time. Suddenly feeling reinvigorated, he rushes over to Aubrey and thrusts the book into her hands.  

She looks confused, whilst Happiness looks mortified. 

“This will h-help" he states, not fully believing his own words, but trying his best to. 

He trusts Kel, but doesn’t understand how a dusty book of all things could possibly help. 

“Okay?” the still very dazed Aubrey replies. 

“W-Wait-” Happiness stutters. 

But it’s too late. Aubrey opens the book and her eyes widen, a vacant expression falling across her face as she appears almost entranced by the glittering pages. Before Basil can even begin to feel concerned, his thoughts are interrupted by a loud groan from Happiness. 

“ARGH! Just kill me now!” he sobs, burying his face in his palms. 

‘Okay seriously what the fu-’ 

“Woah!” Aubrey suddenly yells, snapping out of her trance and dropping the book to the ground. 

There’s a clear blush on her cheeks, and she looks down at her hands with an almost shell-shocked expression. After a moment, she looks over at Happiness and smiles softly. 

“You should have told me sooner... dork” she says, tone both happy and melancholic. 

Basil has a hunch as to what exactly is happening right now, but before he can truly piece things together, he’s hit by a wave of intense joy.  

Happiness is glowing a bright luminescent yellow, and in the warmth of his light, Basil feels a euphoria he’s never experienced before. It’s a fake joy, even in his altered state, Basil can tell that much, but it does feel nice. Very nice .  

Looking around he can see the rest of his friends are in a similar state, except the other emotions of course. 

EVERYONE BECAME ECSTATIC. 

A̭̥̺͋̍̏̍̿̽͆U̞͎̿̏̍̓̎̈́B͈͙͚͓͇̹̬̆̑̎̽̅͝R̫͇̖̟̉́̇͑E̬̩̝̪̰̖̯͋͛̒͗̎͋̓Y̜͖͈͓̞͇͗ BECAME FURIOUS. 

“Grab her!” Anger yells. 

Wasting no time, the whole gang rushes ‘Aubrey’, grabbing her limbs and holding her in place, laughing manically the whole time. 

“G̵̳͉̹̠̔̃͝ͅÉ̶̪͕̹̼͉̂͐T̶̛͕͈̜̀͊̉̚ ̷̪̣͚̤͋̎̾͘O̵͎͍̞̞̎F̸̢̡̼̽͗̅F̴̛͔̤̣͊̈́͜ͅ!” the copy roars, trying desperately to shake off her attackers. 

But it’s no use, their grip remains strong, even as she begins to contort her body, moving her limbs she shouldn’t be able to, as she does everything in her power to break free. 

“Warned you!” Aubrey taunts. “Wanna lecture me about friends now?” 

“F̟͘i͙̓l͚͋t̘͗h̫̽!̮̀ ̳̋F̬͂r̮͋e̪͂â̧k͙͗s͉̓!̳́ ̝̈D̡͂e̠͠ğ̨e̯͌n̺̈́ë̮́r̟̿ǎ̞t̝͒ė͓ ̨͊f̡̿ȕ̡-” the copy rants. 

“Now Kel!” Anger orders. 

Kel smiles, he’s standing some distance away, lined up at the perfect angle to hit the restrained Aubrey. He tosses his ball up in the air a couple of times, before catching it in his right hand, seemingly checking the weight.  

After the third catch, he suddenly launches the ball forward with an alarming swiftness. 

The basketball soars through the air, catching fire as it speeds towards its target. The whole attack is over in a second, but to Basil it feels like eternity. The spectacle of the flaming blur shooting towards them is a surprisingly beautiful si- 

*SPLAT* 

Basil blinks a few times. Not quite processing what just happened. His euphoria has faded, and his face feels... wet? Touching his cheek with his hand, he feels a warm substance and- 

“Oh God” he mumbles. 

Next to him stands the headless body of ‘Aubrey’, her dark purple blood spraying out from the stump that is her neck, coating him and all his friends in viscera.  

He quickly drops the arm he was holding, as do the rest of his friends, allowing her body to fall to the ground with thud, leaking dark ooze onto the floor as it does.  

“N-No toast?” Hero mutters. 

“I guess not” Aubrey replies, a certain distance in her voice. “It didn’t have to be like this...” 

She wanders over to the corpse and picks up the discarded nailbat, her expression is unreadable.  

It must be hard seeing yourself in that state, Basil supposes. He was freaked out by the Stranger, and that guy didn’t want to kill them all. 

“Pretty sure it did... sorry Aubs” Anger replies, awkwardly. 

“My ball...” Kel laments. 

Following the tan teen’s eyes, Basil spots a scorch mark on the wall on other side of the room. Speaking of the room, it feels weirdly familiar. 

“Wait is t-this our old t-treehou-” Basil goes to ask. 

He’s interrupted by a scream from Fear. Looking over he sees ‘Sunny’ stumbling away from the bloody pool left by ‘Aubrey’. Except now it’s bubbling and steaming and... glitching? 

‘That can’t be good.’ 

“Oh for- what now?!” Aubrey yells, voicing what they were all thinking. 

The blood isn’t just dark purple now, it’s as black as the void surrounding this world. It’s foaming and steaming, and Basil can feel a sickly warmth emanating from it. He watches in horror as the liquid suddenly moves, surging forward like sentient tide, and encompassing the headless remains of ‘Aubrey’. 

“What the-” Hero mutters in disbelief. 

The body stands upright, and the group all take a step back. The ‘living’ corpse glitches and contorts, it’s black skin rapidly morphing, as it flashes between a variety of strange and colourful forms.  

Basil thinks he recognises a few, but eventually it settles on a seemingly male form, complete with a snappy business suit and tie. 

“The hell?!” Anger yells, stepping back. 

Suddenly a black mass emerges from the neck stump, more black blood spurting out as it does. It shifts and wobbles for a moment, before suddenly taking on a familiar silhouette. 

“No way...” Kel mumbles in disbelief. 

The creature shakes its new head rapidly, flinging off the dark goop like a wet dog. The rest of the morbid chrysalis simply slides off, revealing a recognisable and charming face.  

Specifically, Hero’s face. 

“Oh, come on!” Hero exclaims. 

‘Hero’ grins, focusing his eyes on the now unnerved ‘Sunnys’. 

“Ah this is better” he says with Hero’s voice, although with tone that Basil can only describe as ‘snake oil salesman’. “Been tryna reach you kiddo, got an investment I think you’d be really interested in. Welcome home Dreamer!” 

“W-What- w-who are you?” Sadness stutters, trying to distance himself from ‘Hero’. 

Basil steps between the impostor and the ‘Sunnys’, as do the rest of his friends. 

“B-Back off” Hero warns, clearly unnerved by his double. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” the businessman asks, ignoring the young adult’s ‘threat’, and looking right through the rest of the crowd, fixating entirely on the ‘Sunnys’.  

“I’m everyone you love” the creature adds, suddenly glitching and shifting form to resemble Aubrey. 

“What the- not again!” the real Aubrey whines. 

“Everyone you lost” the creatures continues, once again shifting forms, this time to... Mari. 

Basil feels his blood run cold, and a collective shudder goes through their group, but the monster continues. 

“Everyone you’ve ever met” it adds, now wearing Kel’s face and speaking in his voice, although lacking his mannerisms. “And everyone you never got the chance to.”  

It’s back to its ‘business Hero’ form now, and Basil hopes that it stays like that. Naturally, his hopes are immediately dashed (as per usual) as the creature resumes its monologue. 

“In other words” it starts, it’s voice changing as the technicolour blur consumes it’s form once again. Only to fade away again revealing a grinning face. “ I’m your best friend! ” the thing that looks like Basil concludes. 

... 

‘I hate this place SO MUCH .’ 

“So how about you ditch these losers, and we get back to business as usual! What do ya say bud?” the shapeshifter offers, a sinister smile plastered on his stolen face. 

“N-No.”  

“Piss off.”  

“No.”  

“Absolutely not.” 

Despite the severity of the situation Basil can’t help but chuckle at the response of the ‘Sunnys’. It’s good to see his friend stand up for himself. For as long as Basil has known the raven-haired boy, Sunny has always gone with the flow, buckled under pressure, and struggled to say no. Something Basil wishes he’d considered more in the past...  

But now his friend is finally standing up for himself against, whatever the hell this thing is. It’s nice to see, even if it’s under such dire circumstances. 

“Guess that sorts it then” Hero says, his tone suddenly dropping to a low cold one. “You should leave. Now.” 

“Y-Yeah get lost!” Basil adds. 

Aubrey and Kel are silent, but they don’t need to add anything. Their fighting stances say everything. 

“Huh...” the monster mumbles, shifting back into Mari’s form. “Guess that’s on me for asking. Let me rephrase then. You are nothing without me Sunny, just a bunch of squabbling brats. So come over here now.” 

“Don’t l-listen to that- t-thing" Basil interjects, voice cracking. 

‘It’s not Mari. It’s not even ‘Mari’. It’s just a thing. It’s just a thing. It’s just a-’ 

“Don’t make me ask twice mister” the Thing says, using Mari’s old sing-song tone. 

Basil feels sick and he’s sure everyone else feel the same. 

“Get here no-” the creature goes to say, halfway through shifting back into Aubrey, before being interrupted by a loud bang. 

All eyes focus on the source of noise. A strange white door Basil hadn’t noticed earlier has suddenly sprung open.  

Standing there is yet another ‘Sunny’, although this one is noticeably younger, and paler. Like blindingly white pale, contrasted by impossibly dark hair, similar to Fear’s, with a black vest and stripped shorts.  

‘The same outfit Sunny used to wear to sleepovers.’ 

Now Basil has seen enough copies for a lifetime, and thus is thoroughly unimpressed, but the rest of his friends are absolutely awestruck, especially the ‘Sunnys’. 

“No way” Anger mumbles. 

“You’re alive” Happiness adds, with wide eyes and a sincere smile. 

“ You ” the thing that looks like Aubrey growls.  

The newcomer doesn’t reply for a moment. Instead scanning the room with a neutral expression. 

“Too loud” he says after a long stretch of silence. 

Then in a flash, the pale ‘Sunny’ makes a motion with his hand, summoning a glowing red arm which shoots outwards, grabbing the knife Fear was wielding from his hand, before passing it over to ‘Sunny’, who immediately throws it at the shapeshifter.  

The knife flies through the air, before hitting the creature straight in the head. It’s face wears an expression of shock and anger, before it’s eyes close and it falls down onto it’s back. The red hand then flies over, retrieves the knife, pulling it out of the creatures head with a sickening squelch, before cleaning it and passing it back to ‘Sunny’. 

This all happens in the span of about fifteen seconds. 

There is a stunned silence amongst the group of teens. But ‘Sunny’ doesn’t pay it any mind, turning around and going back into his strange room, leaving without a word.  

However, he doesn’t close the door behind him. 

Basil suspects this is the closest thing they’ll be getting to an invitation, and if it isn’t then they’re going to have to intrude, because the creature is twitching way too much for a dead thing. 

‘Stay here and die. Or follow ‘Sunny’ and hopefully live.’ 

“Arghhh” the creature groans in pain. 

It’s a simple choice really. 

“Guess we follow him?” Kel says, speaking up after another long stretch of silence. 

No one argues. 

“Omori... please c-come on” a familiar but distant voice begs. “The Favourite is gone and-” 

A shadow stirs at the call. 

“P-Please... h-help us.” 

... 

Omori opens his eyes. 

Chapter Text

White Space. Calm, pristine and quiet, or at least it used to be. Omori has been living here for as long as he can remember, it was his crib and his tomb, and now it’s his second chance. He just wishes it wasn’t so crowded . 

“So that’s Omori?” Aubrey asks, pointing at the monochrome child, not even trying to be subtle. 

“Yeah, that’s him” Happiness says with a small smile. “Why do you ask?” 

“Was wondering who the mini-me's were crushing on” she replies with a smirk. 

Happiness blushes and begins stuttering out a bunch of excuses and apologies. The sight makes Omori roll his eyes, as he switches focus to another of the many conversations going on around him. 

“S-So this place used to be a- a w-white void?” Basil nervously asks. 

“Uhh yeah?” Anger replies, clearly confused. “Why-” 

“N-No reason! Ha ha” Basil replies, clearly hiding something. 

“Riiiight.” 

“I- I’ll explain l-later.” 

Now that catches Omori by surprise, Basil being honest? Maybe some things do change. This place certainly has, White Space isn’t even white anymore, it’s a dark abyss, yet another victim of Black Space’s corruption. Speaking of which... 

“So, how do we kill that thing?” Hero asks, having clearly abandoned any hopes of diplomacy. 

“I don’t know” Fear replies, with wide eyes. 

“I d-don't even k-know what it is” Sadness adds. 

“Relax~ I’ll just take it’s head off again” Kel responds nonchalantly. 

Omori can tell it’s false reassurance, an attempt to stay on top of things. It’s not fooling anyone, least of all Kel himself. 

“Bro... you don’t even have a basketball anymore” Hero explains, sounding absolutely exhausted. “Besides it didn’t really work the first time...” 

“It was cool though” Kel mumbles. 

“It was” Hero agrees with a sigh. ”Although, I have to ask. Why was evil me a business tycoon?!” 

“You got really into Monopoly whenever we played” Fear explains “It was... unnerving.” 

Ah yes, Bossman Hero, a little bonus fight Omori had prepared, but never got to use. Now it’s reduced to being another part of that Thing trapped outside.  

... 

For all of Omori’s influence over this world, it’s not truly his.  

He could shape and mould Headspace, but some things remained untouchable to him. Case and point, Blackspace, the embodiment of Sunny’s trauma, where every negative feeling, bad memory and intrusive thought he’d ever had was shoved away. Constantly festering, the nightmarish realm was a constant threat to Sunny’s sanity, despite Omori’s best efforts.  

And in his absence, it’s influence has only grown, corrupting the scattered remnants of Headspace, and twisting the critters and characters that once populated this world into nightmarish monstrosities. And behind the corrupted creatures... there is an intelligence. A corrupted amalgamation of Headspace characters and concepts, desperately trying to crawl it’s way out through the remaining residents.  

And now it’s trying to kill them all... or at least Sunny’s friends. It wants the Dreamer alive, to restore this world. It won’t work, but Omori doubts the creature will be talked down. 

He also suspects that this Thing wouldn’t have been able to manifest itself if it wasn’t for the proximity of the ‘Sunnys’.  

The Dreamer’s return to this world breathed some life back into it’s decaying remains, the scattered emotions serving as anchor points for the different regions, holding them together. But as they travelled towards him, the world resumed its decay.  

Now peering through the eyes of corrupted critters, all Omori sees is crumbling islands, and endless darkness. He suspects the proximity of all the ‘Sunnys’ is what revived him, but it’s also likely what birthed that Thing . 

Without them, it would have been stuck, desperately trying to possess other characters, instead of trying to bash his door down- 

*BANG* *BANG* 

‘Speaking of which...’ 

Fear jumps, and the atmosphere becomes even more tense. It’s quiet for a moment, before the chatter resumes. Omori sighs, his tomb is too crowded, full of fools discussing desperate measures and nonsensical solutions. 

“Anger” Hero calls out. 

“Yeah?” ‘Sunny’ replies. 

“This is where you were taking us right? Where do we go now?” 

“I- uh, honestly I didn’t think we’d get this far” he admits guiltily. “I thought there might be an exit or something... URGH! Omori! How the hell do we get out of here?!” 

Omori rolls his eyes again, but Anger isn’t having it. 

“Listen dude, it’s been a long day, and if you haven’t noticed, we have guests, so just- just help- please " Anger begs with barely constrained fury. 

A pang of guilt suddenly strikes the monochrome child, he looks away from Anger, not being able to face his friend, as he gives him the only solution he knows. Reaching into his pocket, he passes Anger his knife, continuing to avoid eye contact. 

“No...” ‘Sunny’ mumbles. 

Omori doesn’t reply. They both know there’s only one way out of White Space. 

“No! Not again!” Anger yells, flinging the knife to the ground. “I can’t- I won’t!” 

“Sunny?” Hero calls out. 

“We’ll find another way!” Anger yells, ignoring his friends concern and turning his back to Omori. 

Sadness spots the knife on ground and curls in on himself, whimpering quietly as Basil rushes to reassure him. Likewise Fear stares at the weapon with abject horror, as Aubrey tries in vain to calm him down. 

Maybe it’s the presence of the emotions, or maybe something has changed in his year long absence, but Omori can’t help but feel... bad. Surprising himself, he finds that he’s crossing the room and pocketing the knife before he even processes it. 

It’s a small gesture, but it does noticeably calm the other emotions.  

The group quickly resumes debating plans among themselves, and so Omori simply strolls over to his old laptop and tries to distract himself. He’s two games into blackjack, when Happiness suddenly takes a seat next to him. 

“Hey” he says, with a reserved but warm smile. 

Omori simply nods his head in reply. 

“It’s uh good to- well- look I’m just glad you’re okay” Happiness awkwardly rambles. “I know we didn’t really end things on a good note. But it’s nice to see you again.” 

It’s earnest, Omori can tell that much, ‘Sunny’ isn’t just saying sweet nothings. But still Omori doesn’t reply, instead looking away. He can’t explain it, but there’s this lingering guilt he feels every time he looks at the Dreamer. He once felt so sure of his actions, but now all he feels is... regret. 

“Well, we’re uh- we think we might have a solution, so I guess- I guess this is goodbye” Happiness awkwardly adds. 

‘Goodbye...’ 

Once again, the monochrome child is silent, but this time he’s lost in his own thoughts, caught up in the flurry of emotions that word brings with it. 

“By-” he goes to reply. 

But it’s too late. Happiness has already wandered off, joining his friends on the other side of the room. Omori watches silently as the ‘Sunnys’ gather in a circle. Their friends watch on with nervous anticipation, but Omori is just confused. 

‘What are they doing?’ 

“S-So...” Sadness mumbles. 

“Let’s do this” Happiness says with a determined voice. 

“Alright... this better work” Anger grumbles in agreement. 

Fear is silent, but nods his head, avoiding eye contact. 

Omori is still confused. 

‘This is their plan?’ 

“Remember guys if this doesn’t work-” Hero goes to cautiously explain. 

“Don’t kill each other” Aubrey interjects, with a deadpan expression. 

“I- yeah, basically” Hero agrees, with yet another sigh. 

“Right!” 

“R-Right.” 

“Sure.” 

“...” 

And with that, the ‘Sunnys’ awkwardly embrace, as their friends wait with bated breath. Omori, meanwhile, looks on with absolute bafflement. 

‘What is this?’ 

Unsurprisingly, whatever they were trying to do, doesn’t work. 

“ARGH! DAMNIT I-” Anger shouts, before stopping and taking a few deep breaths. “Okay- Okay. Okay! OKAY! WHATEVER! It’s fine. It’s fine .” 

“Maybe we need to-” Happiness goes to say. 

*BANG* *BANG* 

‘Great the monster’s back at it again.’ 

Fear practically jumps out of his skin, as Basil places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Whilst the rest of the group take up a fighting stance, ready to battle whatever comes through that door.  

However, Omori is once again unphased. He knows nothing can get through that door, this place is the ultimate safe sp- 

*BANG* *BANG* 

“Oh Sunny~” the creature calls in Aubrey’s voice. “Won’t you come out and play~?” 

A small crack spreads across the white door. Omori’s eyes widen in fear. 

“O-Oh God” Fear whimpers. 

“That bi- argh!” Aubrey curses. 

“Stay calm! We just need to-” Hero goes to say, before he’s interrupted once again. 

*BANG* *BANG* 

“Sunny! It’s me your old friend Kel” the creature mimics. “d̴o̸n̷'̷t̶ ̴y̵o̸u̴ ̸w̸a̶n̶n̶a̶ ̸h̴a̴n̴g̶ ̷o̶u̸t̶?̶” 

“Dude...” Kel mumbles, in absolute awe. 

‘The crack grew...’ 

Omori can scarcely believe it, this Thing is actually breaking into White Space, that shouldn’t even be possible! Happiness gives him a desperate look, but Omori doesn’t have any solutions, well other than- 

‘No. They don’t want that.’ 

The knife in his pocket beckons him, but he chooses to ignore it. Instead refocusing on the door. Reaching his hand out, Omori summons a bunch of red hands to cover the door, hopefully reinforcing it enough to buy them some more time. 

“Thank you” Happiness says. 

Omori nods, and almost smiles at the confused looks on his fri- Sunny's friend’s faces. 

“I got it!” Kel suddenly yells, interrupting Omori’s conflicting thoughts. “We need him!” he adds, gesturing to Omori. 

‘What?’ 

“What?” 

“W-What?” 

“What?!” 

“Huh?” 

Raising an eyebrow, Omori gives Kel a curious look, willing to hear him out, but sceptical of whatever ‘conclusions’ he’s reached. 

“Look whenever any of you guys-” he says, gesturing to the ‘Sunnys’. “-get all sad you look like him” he continues pointing to Omori. “So maybe he’s the missing piece. He’s Neutral, your fifth emotion!” 

“Fear you looked like that earlier” Aubrey says, seemingly convinced. 

“That’s stu-” Anger goes to protest. 

“N-No... that makes sense” Sadness interjects, looking over at Omori. “I-It’s like the c-chart." 

Seeing the confusion on Basil, Aubrey and Hero’s faces, Omori reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the emotion chart. In what proved to be an awfully accurate assumption, the graph shows Kel as happy, Aubrey as angry, Hero as sad, and Omori as... neutral. 

‘Kel might be right...’ 

“Wait” Hero starts with a confused expression. “Sunny how did you know I was-” 

*BANG* *BANG* *CRACK* 

Hero is once again interrupted, this time by the shattering of the white door. Wasting no time, Omori snaps his head over to it, returning his focus to the red hands, reaching out and commanding them to hold the creature back. 

“KNOCK, KNOCK!” the creature roars. 

Omori feels the monster struggling against the red hands, but simply summons more to hold it back. 

“Shit!” Aubrey curses, raising her stolen bat. 

The gang all take up fighting stances, a useless gesture, as only Aubrey and Basil actually have weapons. Omori has his knife, but he’s hoping the red hands will prove effect- 

As if on cue, the creature suddenly slashes through the crowd of red hands, causing them to fall limply down to the ground. Omori winces, feeling their pain, as if it were his own arm getting shredded. 

But he shakes it off and retrieves his weapon, glancing up at the door frame, where the form of Bossman Hero stands. The creature’s fingernails are sharpened to a point, likely how it was able to claw the hands away so easily. Although as his hands glitch, the nails quickly return to normal. 

“Ah there you are” it says with an unnervingly wide smile. “You’ve been slacking off mister, the world’s gone to the dogs, and your lunchbreaks over .” 

“Piss off!” Anger yells. 

“Now, now mister” it replies, now wearing Mari’s face. A sight that makes Omori’s blood boil. “Watch it with those profanities. Headspace is dying little bro, and we need-” 

“Stop” Omori says. 

All eyes are on him now, shocked expressions and anticipating stares surround him as he glares at the thing masquerading as his sister. 

“I thought you of all people would understand” the creatures replies bitterly. “This was your world; you were like a God . Don’t you miss that?” it asks, shifting to Basil’s form. “We miss you.” 

Omori doesn’t respond, instead he looks around, and he sees Sunny’s friends, fists cocked, weapons ready, fully prepared to fight this monster.  

For Sunny. 

It’s all he ever wished for. To be wrong. 

Locking eyes with his folly, he shakes his head. The creature growls in response, glaring back at him. 

“You’re pathetic” the Thing spits. “I can’t believe you’ve fallen for it too. Them-” it continues pointing at the ‘Sunnys’ “-I can understand. They’re desperate, needy, but you? I thought you understood how things are.” 

“They only care because of her” the monster continues, taking on Mari's form again. “It’s to clear their conscious. They don’t love you, they love her, you’re just the next best thing. But we love you, so why don’t you come ba-” 

“Bullshit” Aubrey interrupts, looking over at Omori and the ‘Sunnys’. “You better not believe that crap.” 

“S-She’s right” Basil agrees. “L-Like I said Sunny, you matter to us.” 

“Yeah! You’re our bro!  And we’re not leaving you with this thing !” Kel adds. 

“Mari mattered to us all” Hero laments. “But you do to... And you ” he continues glaring at the monster. “You are not her”. 

“Shallow words” it grumbles in response, shifting into Kel’s form.  

“Screw you!” Aubrey yells. 

The Thing’s arms suddenly stretch out, twisting into long whips, which it then flings out sweeping everyone’s legs and knocking them off their feet. Omori jumps over the arms, and watches in disgust as they retreat back to the Thing. Reeled in like some kind of fleshly fishing rod. 

Looking across White Space, he sees everyone struggling to clamber back onto their feet. 

“They’ll leave you eventually Sunny, and you’ll deserve it. But me? This world? We’ll always have room for-” 

Omori has heard quite enough now. 

This Thing is powerful. But White Space is his realm, its time he reminds everyone that. Mustering all his strength and willpower, Omori claps his hands together, and the world around him freezes. 

Their friends are stuck in place, as is the monster, but the ‘Sunnys’ remain mobile, just very confused. 

“W-What?” Sadness whimpers, glancing around. 

“I- what?” Fear asks, backing away from the frozen visages of his still friends. 

“Omori?” Anger growls. 

“Sorry to interrupt” he replies. 

“Could you always do this?” Happiness asks. 

“Could have used this earlier” Anger adds, grumpy as ever. 

“It takes a lot of focus. It won't last long” Omori replies. 

“Then why did-” Fear goes to ask. 

“Because-” Omori interrupts, ignoring the guilt he feels as Fear jumps. “-I wanted to talk.” 

“This gonna be like our last talk?” Anger asks, bitterly. 

“No. I was wrong” Omori admits. 

“W-What?” Sadness asks. “What are you s-saying?” 

“Your friends are willing to fight for you. They know what you did. Yet they still care for you. You make them happy. I want them to be happy, I want you to be happy. You earned your second chance, that Thing should not take it from you.” Omori explains stiffly. 

Emotions were never his strong suit, but if the expressions on the Dreamer’s face- faces are any indication, then they understand he’s being genuine. 

“I- thank you” Happiness replies earnestly. 

“Yeah, that’s nice and all, but we’re still stuck here” Anger grumbles. 

“I think... I think Kel was right” Fear mumbles. 

“I do t-too" Sadness agrees. 

“So what? We hug it out again? Third times the charm?” Anger scoffs. 

“We didn’t have Omori before” Fear notes. 

“Like that’s gonna change anything! I’m willing to try, but... I don’t think we can just hug this out...” 

It’s quiet for a moment, before Sadness speaks up. 

“M-Maybe we don’t need t-to" he suggests. 

“What do you mean?” Fear timidly asks. 

“W-We haven’t a-actually t-talked properly.” 

“I think I get you” Anger says. “Hugging isn’t solving anything, because it’s just a gesture, what we really need to do is-" 

“Set ground rules” Happiness finishes. 

... 

“I don’t want to dream anymore, n-not like this a-anyway” Sadness states after a minute. “W-We’ve wasted enough of our l-life doing that.” 

“Agreed” the other emotions reply. 

“Any objections?” Anger asks. 

Omori shakes his head. 

“Okay, well I want to exist! You guys always push me down and- and people get hurt...” 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone” Happiness mumbles. 

“No more repressing emotions then” Omori suggests. 

“Or h-hurting people” Sadness adds. 

“Agreed.” 

“I want us to enjoy life without feeling guilty about it” Happiness says sheepishly. “I know that’s easier said than done but-” 

“We can try” Anger interjects. “Agreed?” 

“Agreed.” 

“I don’t want to relapse” Fear mumbles. “I want us to get better... or at least try to.” 

“Agreed.” 

... 

Omori is surprised when everyone turns to look at him. 

“Got any changes you want to make?” Happiness asks. “For Sunny to be happy, every part of him has to be happy and-” 

“And you’re part of us” Angers interrupts. “So... you got anything?” 

“I” Omori goes to start, struggling to find the right words. “I was made to protect you. But I didn’t know how. I thought reality was the problem, so I kept you from it. And when you became determined to chase the truth... I thought death would be a mercy. You proved me wrong.” 

“I want you to keep doing that” he concludes. 

“I think we can do that” Happiness says after a moment of silence. 

“Agreed” everyone chimes in. 

“Let’s shake on it then” Fear suggests. 

“Okay.”  

“O-Okay.” 

“Okay!” 

“Sure.” 

Feeling his control on this world slowly fade, Omori wastes no time, and hurries over to his counterparts. If this works, they’ll be whole, but he as an individual... he’ll be gone. For good this time. Happiness seems to understand that, as he gives Omori a sympathetic smile, before looking longingly back at his friends. 

“See you on the other side guys” he says with a smile. 

Omori thinks about his life, from cradle to the grave, all he ever wanted was to help his only friend. But all his actions did was hurt him...  

This is a second chance, for all of them. 

All and all, it’s a pretty good way to go out. 

Silently, the group line up, and begin to shake hands, one by one. First is Anger and Sadness, they join hands with a firm clap, and Omori watches as the two ‘Sunny’s glow their respective colours.  

“This is it then” Anger mumbles. “Been one hell of a ride.” 

“It h-has” Sadness agrees. “It was nice k-knowing me.” 

Anger groans at the pun, but still smiles. “Cya soon blue” he adds, shaking his counterpart’s hand. 

“S-See you" Sadness replies. 

Slowly Anger begins to fade away, his light joining Sadness’ silhouette, which begins to glow a bright purple. Happiness is up next, he shakes hands with silhouette, greeting it with a wide smile, as he slowly fades away.  

“It’s been a pleasure” he says, his light joining the purple figure, causing it to darken. 

‘Sunny’ is barely discernible from the rest of White Space now, being almost as black as the void surrounding him. 

Fear hesitantly approaches the now pitch-black silhouette. Omori gives him his best imitation of a reassuring smile, and it seems to suffice as Fear takes a deep breath and shakes hands with the shadow. 

“Finally” he murmurs, fading into the dark. 

Now all that remains is ‘Sunny’ and Omori.  

Once again, creator and creation stand opposite to each other. The silhouette before Omori has changed, now resembling a monochrome Sunny.  

Omori feels like he’s staring at a fun house mirror, or a hypothetical older brother. Remembering that time is of the essence, he cuts his pondering short and goes to shake ‘Sunny’s hand. Only for the figure to pull it’s hand away.  

For a brief moment, Omori feels confused and almost angry. 

‘He’s going to cast me out again?! Even after everything we’ve been through to-’ 

But then ‘Sunny’ stretches his arms out. 

... 

He wants a hug... 

Omori feels his heart pang, and despite himself, he finds himself embracing his creator. They touch foreheads and Omori is filled with a warmth he’s never felt before. He feels scared, happy, angry and sad all at once.  

But most of all, he feels grateful, and as he slowly starts to fade away once more, this time joining his friend instead of being cast aside, he can only form one coherent thought. 

“Thank you.” 

“-you” a wicked Thing finishes, blinking a few times in confusion. “What the...” 

The world around it is white, instead of the pitch black it was a mere second ago. The Thing glances around, there is no sign of the group of intruders or the Dreamer’s emotions. The Thing curses under it’s breath. 

‘How did they escape?! I had them right here!’ 

It had wasted too much of it’s energy puppeteering those Headspace brats, it was exhausting like trying to keep a rabid dog on a leash. Not to mention how much effort it took to break into White Space. Still, it had just enough energy left to kill these pests, but now they’ve somehow escaped! 

Whatever! This world still lives, even if barely, so the Dreamer must be here somewhere, and it will find him. This world might die, but the Thing refuses to go with it. It will not be cast aside like some kind of- 

‘What is that?’ 

In the distance, the Thing spots a distant silhouette. It approaches slowly and the closer it gets, the clearer it becomes. 

“Dreamer” the Thing grumbles. “Woke your friends up I see. Good! Now let’s talk business.” 

Sunny remains silent. 

“Don’t you see? You don’t need them. You never did. This world has everything you need- we have everything you need. So how about-”  

Without a word, Sunny reaches into his pocket and retrieves his knife. 

“H-Hey now” the creature stutters. “Look” it continues, hiding it’s hands behind it’s back, as it slowly sharpens it’s nails. “Why don’t we talk about thi-” 

Suddenly, the boy slashes his knife outwards, and despite being some distance away, somehow manages to sever the Thing’s right arm from its socket. 

“ARGH! You little!” the monster resembling Sunny’s neighbour yells in pain. “You have no idea what you’re doing!” 

In a desperate retaliation, the Thing twists it’s left arm into a whip and lashes it out towards Sunny, hoping it’s claws will render the brat immobile. The boy, however, is unphased and simply slices through it, severing the Thing’s other arm. 

“ARGH! Y-You’re pitiful! Pathetic! Hurting the one person who gives a damn about you!” the Thing yells, switching forms to the boy’s crush. 

But still, Sunny remains silent, slowly approaching the Thing with clear intent. The Thing transforms again, and flashes it’s friendliest smile. 

“Come on kiddo! You’re really gonna throw away a chance like this?! I can give you anything! You like Aubrey? I can get you on a date with her! Want friends? I can give you friends! Infinite friends! Miss your sister? She’s alive in here!” The Thing in a suit begs.  

Sunny stands barely an arm's length away from it now. 

“W-Wait, j-just think about this! Please! NO!” The Thing begs, desperately trying to regenerate it’s lost limbs to no avail. “Why isn’t this working?!" 

It’s wasted too much energy; The Thing’s own body has turned against it. In a desperate attempt to gain sympathy the Thing switches form once again, but still, Sunny remains undeterred. 

“No- no... this can’t be the end!” the monster disguised as Basil laments. 

Sunny raises his blade once more and- 

“NO! I won’t go! Not like this!” the monster curses, lashing out and headbutting it’s attacker, causing him to drop the knife. 

The boy recovers quickly, but halts. He doesn’t pick up the knife, but instead stares at the Thing with... recognition. 

It wears his face now. 

And only now, staring at the twisted reflection, does the boy finally recognise the monster as a part of himself. All of his negative thoughts, his self-loathing, his insecurities and his doubts.

He sees this, but he does not accept it. 

The Thing can tell. 

“You can’t do this to me! You’re N̶̢̟̓͘O̵̤͕͌̿T̵͕̄͠H̶̤̩͒Ì̵͖̼N̵̬̯͝Ĝ̶̪̪͑ without me” the creature curses, desperately charging at his reflection.  

In response, the boy raises his fist- 

“Ŝ̵̛̠̒́͌̿Ư̶̫͔͍͈͓̟̮̭̭̂͂͒̏͋̀̊̓̆͒̊̅̋̊̕N̸̡̖̺̱̥̒̂̈́́̆̍̎̈̿͛̍̎̏̊̚͠͠͝N̷̨̢̨̼͕̝͔͈̹͇̫͙͊̋̀̀̌̿́̚̚͠Ŷ̶̪̥̲͉͇̾͐͒͑͂̊̀̊͘͝!” 

-and punches the Thing right in the face. 

“A̷͚̦̻̟̩̝̟͈͊̀̏Ŕ̴̛̦̰̎͒̃̌̔͜G̷̤̰̍̑͐̅̌̓͛͝H̵̢̦̼̻͈͚̾ͅ!” it screams as it crumbles into dust. 

Sunny Suzuki stands alone in a White Space. He looks down at his fist and sees that some of the Thing is stuck to it. Fitting, it will always be a part of him, but he’s done letting it control him. 

Suddenly, the white void around him begins to crack and crumble, as the darkness outside begins to break through. Headspace has fallen, and this place is the last stop on the chopping block. If he doesn’t go now, he’ll die with this dream. 

Looking back at where the white door once stood, Sunny sees a regular wooden one in it’s place. It’s familiar and welcoming in a way he can’t describe. 

Sunny rushes over to it, grasps the doorknob, then stops. 

He pauses for a second, the world is crumbling around him, and yet he can’t help but glance back one last time at the dying dream. For all the pain it’s caused him, this world was here for him when no-one else was, it wasn’t healthy, far from, but for the longest time it was all he had... 

He looks over White Space one last time, before taking a final bow and exiting out into the unknown. 

‘Bright...’ Kel thinks, blinking a few times, as he moves his hand to cover his eyes from the blinding light from above. 

It takes the teen a few seconds to gather his bearings, but he quickly finds that he’s in a familiar living room. More specifically, his own. This of course, is rather surprising, considering just a few minutes ago he was ready to fight for his life in his friend’s mind. 

For a brief moment, Kel wonders if it was all just some horrible nightmare. The magic, the monsters, the fighting, the falling... It certainly sounds like a bad dream, but deep down, even in his dazed state, Kel knows it was real. Horribly, horribly, real. 

‘And if it was real...’ 

“Sunny!” Kel yells, suddenly lurching upright. 

The disorientation is immediate and severe, yet despite his head spinning, Kel can clearly make out the situation before him, all of his friends are scattered throughout the living room. All in similarly confused states, like they all just passed out on the spot... 

‘Actually, that’s probably what happened.’ 

You’ve got to be asleep to dream, so the emotion’s power must have knocked them all out and dragged them into Headspace. A mere day ago, Kel would have been absolutely awestruck by the idea, magic dream sharing? Right up his alley! But now? Well, let’s just say he’s having serious buyer’s remorse. 

Blinking a few more times, his eyes focus on his brother, and more importantly, who’s by his sides. Their parents are practically coddling, the dazed young adult. Although all three are looking at Kel with an expression he can’t quite make out. He forces himself to look away, as a familiar bitterness creeps back in. 

Of course, they would run straight to Her- 

“Kel! Mijo!” his parents yell, suddenly rushing over to him. 

They cross the room in the blink of an eye, embracing Kel with enough strength to squeeze the breath from his lungs. It kind of stings, but not as much as the surprise he feels. He shouldn’t be surprised, but he is, and he- he doesn’t know how to feel, but he- okay he can’t breathe like this. 

“M-Mom I c-can't-” Kel chokes out. 

“Oh” his Mom cries, releasing him from her grasp, his father following suit. “Sorry Mijo, but we were so worried! We heard yelling, and we came down, and none of you were waking up, casi nos das un infarto-” 

“Look” his Dad interjects, cutting off his mother’s rambling. “We’re just glad you’re okay.” 

Kel can’t help but smile at that comment. 

“Thanks, Da- oof!" 

“Thank God you’re okay” Hero cries, having practically tackled his brother into a hug. 

“Good to see you to bro” Kel laughs. “You are c-choking me though.” 

“Oh right! S-Sorry." 

“Urgh!” Basil groans, finally stirring from his slumber, and catching Kel’s attention. 

“Hey Bas” he calls out. 

“Urgh... hey K-Kel" the blonde tiredly stutters. “Where are- Sunny!” he suddenly cries. 

‘Oh shi- Sunny!’ 

At that moment, everyone in the room switches focus to the teen in question, even Aubrey who’s only just woken up.  

All eyes are on the center of the room, where laying down on the carpet with his good one eye closed... is Sunny Suzuki.  

Kel can feel tears sting his eyes, he can’t believe it... they actually did it. 

“Sunny?” Aubrey calls out, hesitantly approaching the sleeping Suzuki. 

The quiet boy groans, and slowly opens his eye. Kel watches as Sunny’s pupil darts around the room, eventually locking with his own. He offers a reassuring smile in response. Sunny doesn’t reply, but he does suddenly lunge upwards, rising up onto his knees, he takes a moment to stare at his hands. 

Kel watches as a flurry of emotions cross his friend’s face, from fear and confusion to anger, then sadness, and then finally, with tears still rolling down his cheeks, Sunny looks up at his friends. 

And he smiles. 

Everyone smiles back, and despite the slight unease Kel feels at seeing Sunny’s grin again, he can’t help but join in and grin right back at him. 

“Good to have you back Sunny” Hero says warmly. 

“G-” Sunny goes to speak, barely getting a syllable out before lurching forward with a loud gag. 

“Sunny?!” Aubrey cries, clearly concerned. 

“Dude?” Kel cautiously asks, equally worried. 

Sunny’s face is practically green, as he starts desperately gesturing, miming something Kel can’t recognise. 

‘Damnit I always hated charades!’ 

Thankfully, his mother seems to understand, as she practically leaps up and rushes over to the kitchen. Kel meanwhile, can only watch on in horror as Sunny continues to make sudden strange lurches. Basil and Aubrey join him at his sides, desperately trying to reassure him, but Kel is too stunned to join them. 

‘Oh God, it’s happening again! He’s gonna split again! We were so close but now-’ 

“Hurk...” Sunny suddenly hiccups. “Blaarrrgghhh!” 

‘Oh... he was just sick.’ 

Kel feels relieved, but also slightly embarrassed about how quickly he had assumed the worst-case scenario. 

At that moment, his mother rushes back in with a bucket, she looks at the massive patch of vomit and begins to curse under her breath. 

“...I guess Sunny did just eat four dinners” Hero muses aloud. 

“I’ll go get the mop” their Dad says with a sigh. 

“I’ll help” Kel offers. 

“...Thanks kiddo.” 

“Urgh” Sunny groans. 

He’s been sat here on his friend’s porch for a few minutes now, trying his best not to throw up again. He needed the fresh air, the constant fussing and worrying from his friends and Rodriguez family was seriously suffocating. Not to mention the nauseating feeling of having four stomachs suddenly combine back into one. 

Seriously, you know you’ve had a rough couple of days when vomiting in front of all your friends isn’t the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you in recent memory. Between the all the fighting, running, screaming, everything with Aubrey , the store burning down, everything with Kel , sassing Hero, traumatising like half the town- 

‘Okay clearly I have a lot to unpack.’ 

Understandably, his head’s a blur, his mind struggling to process so many new memories, all from different perspectives but from the same time.  

All him, all not him. 

It’s a confusing feeling, being whole again, part of him wonders what the point of it all was. Sure, he feels slightly better, maybe a tad more emotionally stable, but there’s still that nagging voice at the back of his head, the one that calls him a monster, and the gut feeling that it’s right. It’s all just... quieter now. 

He wonders if it was worth it. His friends have been dragged through hell, so many old wounds were opened and for what? So he can feel slightly better about himself? It just doesn’t sit right with him. But he knows it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t choose to go through this, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He knows it wasn’t Kel’s fault either, it was just a freak accident. 

... 

‘Just an accident...’ 

... 

‘It was just an accident.’ 

It surprises Sunny how easily the thought comes to him. He had cried his eyes out in front of all his friends, apologised from the bottom of his heart as he explained what happened to Mari, and yet even as he said the words, he could never truly believe them. He knew deep down he never meant it, but he could never bring himself to fully believe that, it felt as if accepting that would absolve him of any guilt. Now he sees that’s not the case.  

He killed Mari. It was an accident. These two facts are not mutually exclusive. 

“You loved her and you killed her.”  

‘Omori...’ 

It was there all along, staring him right in the face, and only now can he see it. Sunny did love Mari, and he did kill her. He’s responsible, but he’s not a monster. 

‘Just an idiot.’ 

Maybe some part of Omori still live on within him, hell, maybe that’s what was missing all this time. Honestly, he doesn’t know, and he probably never will, but Sunny does remember the promise he made to himself. 

“ I want us to get better... or at least try to. ” 

And he will, he’ll try his best, it will take time and effort, but he’ll push onwards... once his stomach stops threatening spill it’s contents again anyway. 

Interrupting his rambling train of thought, the front door suddenly creaks open behind him. Sunny turns to face it, briefly cursing his lack of depth perception, only to be greeted by Aubrey... 

‘AUBREY!’ 

“Sup” the delinquent greets. 

Sunny replies with a peace sign, and quickly resumes avoiding eye contact. Aubrey smirks, strolls over, and takes a seat on the step next to him. 

“You feeling alright?” she asks. 

‘Am I?’ 

After a brief pause, Sunny responds with a ‘so-so’ gesture. 

“Makes sense, been a crazy couple of days huh?” 

‘That’s an understatement’ Sunny thinks, nodding in response. 

“I-” Aubrey starts, looking in the opposite direction. “I’m glad you’re okay... I missed you.” 

“Can I tell you something?” she asks, before Sunny even has time to process the previous comment. “The book Kel gave me-” 

‘OH GOD I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!’ 

Sunny can feel his cheeks burn, he wants to disappear from the face of the earth right now, and he swears if he lives through this conversation, he’s going to strangle Kel for this. 

“I saw a memory- or I lived it- whatever, it was the car ride back from the beach when you- look I- I just wanted you to know-” 

‘It’s over, she’s never going to speak to me again after this, it’s-’ 

Sunny’s thoughts are interrupted by a sudden weight on his shoulder. Looking down he sees Aubrey’s head resting against him. 

“I was awake too.” 

“You should have told me sooner... dork.”  

After a moment of flustered stupor, Sunny leans his head onto Aubrey’s. The girl chuckles, and Sunny feels his heart flutter. 

“Took you long enough.” 

Chapter Text

In the middle of Somewhere, USA there lies a small suburban town named Faraway. Largely unremarkable, to the majority of people this town is nothing more than another name on a map, or maybe a pitstop for those travelling to larger urban areas. 

But for one month, this small town was the focus of the nation.  

It all started on one unassuming summer night, when the local police station became swamped with reports of strange noises and smoke coming from a rundown store on the outskirts of Faraway. The store already had a reputation, and not a good one. Many townsfolk considered the owner to be a strange character, with even stranger wares. The police were no exception to this, so when the first calls came in, the officers simply rolled their eyes, expecting it to be yet another one of the shopkeep's stunts. 

But then the calls kept coming in. 

By the time the first officers arrived on the scene, the store was already gone, leaving only a crater in its place. They were quick to write it up as the result of a gas leak, a simple but destructive tragedy. But then one officer noticed something...  

The crater was smooth. 

The local papers quickly caught on, and in a matter of days it was making national headlines. A ‘modern day Roanoke’ the news called it, a ‘scientific marvel’ others cried.  Local police and Government alike were stumped, and so experts were soon called in, only to be left equally baffled.  

“ It was as if the space were the store stood simply... vanished,” one awestruck scientist had said. 

From there, it didn’t take long for tourists to arrive. Bored citizens from Nearby, visitors from out of state, and even a couple of foreigners, all of them poured into Faraway, morbid curiosity on their mind, and cameras in their hands. 

For weeks the crater was surrounded by police, journalists and gawking tourists. It got so bad that in the end, the mayor called for the pit to be fenced off entirely. The mainstream media lost interest after that, and as the crowds slowly simmered out, it seemed like Faraway’s minute of fame was finished. 

That is, until the rumours started. 

“There’s a monster in the woods!”  

“I saw a ghost lady!”  

“The woods are haunted!”  

“You’ve got to believe me!”  

Locals and tourists alike started reporting sightings of something in the woods. And so, the eyes of the world were back on the small town... for about two more weeks.

But alas, short as it was, it did make Gino filthy rich! 

Foolish tourists never questioned the clearly relabelled pizza prices, they just flocked to Faraway’s finest eatery in swarms. And sure, the number of visitors has died down over the following year, but there’s still the occasional tourist here and there, looking to explore the ‘Cryptid County’.  

Gino will never understand millennials... but hey! Their money meant he could finally afford to hire a new delivery bo- uh, girl.  

She’s no Suzuki, but Curtsey is reliable. 

“Hey boss!” 

‘Speak of the devil,’ he muses, snapping out of his thoughts. 

“Yes?” 

“Got an order in, but uh... I don't think you’re gonna like it,” Curtsey murmurs. 

‘That’s strange.’ 

Curtsey is a hard worker, not the most energetic, but never usually so reserved . Well except for whenever her old boss visits... or his old delivery boy, for whatever reason. 

“What do you mean?” he asks. 

“Well,” Curtsey sighs. “We’ve got an order for four pizzas-” 

‘So far so good.’ 

“And one hero sandwich.” 

“Motherfu—” 

“Figured I’d find you here,” the Preacher greets. 

“Yeah, I’ll be back tomorrow with company, just wanted to talk at my own pace first,” Aubrey replies, not turning to face him. 

“Young Suzuki should be visiting soon I take it?” 

“Yeah, it’s his eighteenth tomorrow,” the delinquent responds fondly. 

The Preacher can practically hear her smile. He’ll never ask, but Church gossip says the two teenagers are an item these days. He can’t say he approves of all the hearsay, but he’s glad the Churchgoers have something positive to say about her for once. 

He’s also glad to see her in better spirits. The poor girl has been visiting the same grave every week without fail for the past six years. It’s about time something goes her way, especially after... 

“You know, with how often you visit, I’m surprised you never—” he goes to comment. 

“Don’t. I’m not visiting, never will,” she interrupts, finally turning away from the grave to face him. 

“It might do you some good,” the Preacher insists. “Add a couple more steps to your day if nothing else.” 

He watches as her face sours, forming an expression he’s all too familiar with. 

“She barely cared enough to look my way when she was alive. I’m just making it even,” she spits. “Why do you even care anyway?” 

“Very few people are born evil. I knew your mother—” 

“Everyone knew my ‘mother’ genius,” Aubrey interjects, scoffing. “That’s half the reason ‘Dad’ left.” 

“I knew her before she was Mrs Williams,” the Preacher continues, undeterred. “She used to visit here a lot you know. For years she never missed a sermon... She spoke very fondly of you.” 

“Where are you going with this?” Aubrey asks, clearly annoyed. 

“She disappeared the day your father left,” he replies bluntly. “Didn’t see her again until they were lowering her body into the ground,” he adds gesturing at her grave. 

The whole affair was quite the mess. The funeral was paid for by some distant relative, as was the grave. He suspects it was a shallow attempt to alleviate guilt without actually facing the consequences of their inaction, as said relative wasn’t at the funeral.  

But then again, neither was Aubrey. 

“Life rarely ever goes the way we want it. Some are lucky enough to have people to rely on in difficult times, those blessed friends and family who love them. But others don’t. Your mother thought it would be her, your father and you against the world... We both know that didn’t work out,” he concludes with a sigh. 

“So what? I should pity her?” Aubrey asks, baffled. “ Forgive her? Do you even know what she—” 

“I would never be so presumptuous,” he interrupts. “...I don’t pretend to know the woman they buried here in the end, nor how she treated you, and I would never ask you to forgive her. I just wanted you to know the girl I did. I hoped it might sway you.” 

“Why do you even want me to visit her?!” the delinquent yells, finally sick of his monologuing. 

“For closure,” he replies. “You’ve never visited her, you didn’t see her burial, and from what I’ve heard you were out of town the day she died.” 

Aubrey is quiet now, she looks very uncomfortable, and for a second the Preacher wonders if he’s gone too far. 

‘Too late to turn back now,’ he thinks, resigning himself to finish this. 

“I don’t know how she treated you. But I know she did care for you once. I’m not asking you to forgive her, but I think you’ll find some peace if you at least glance at her grave.” 

It’s silent for a moment, before Aubrey eventually responds. 

“You’re very heavy handed when you want to help someone.” 

“Guilty as charged. I just worry for you, that’s all,” he replies. 

“Why?” she asks, not in a self-loathing sort of way, but just genuine curiosity. 

“Because I didn’t sooner,” he replies. 

He watched as the sad girl in the back of the church grew into an angry bitter delinquent, and although he tried to approach her a couple of times, he never pushed hard enough. It took a brawl breaking out in his Church for him to realise just how out of hand things had gotten. 

“Yeah well, it doesn’t matter now,” Aubrey mumbles. “Appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. I’ll visit my ‘mother’ if it’ll shut you up, but not today.” 

“Of course, it’s ultimately your choice,” he replies. “I do hope I’m not pressing you but... I don’t suppose I could convince you to join my next sermon?” 

“I’ll pass, I know when I’m not welcome.” 

“You’re more than welcome, but again, it’s your choice,” the Preacher replies solemnly. 

He’d spent months trying to shift people’s perspective on the young delinquent, her mother’s death helped in that regard, as did her general mellowing out over the past couple of years. Although he does understand her hesitance. No amount of apologising can erase what was said over the years.  

Besides he doubts he’d find anyone willing to apologise anyway. 

“Right, well see you around. If you’re here tomorrow, please don’t try and lecture me in front of my friends,” Aubrey jabs as she starts to walk away. 

It’s not overly hostile, but he can tell he definitely overstepped some boundaries. 

“Of course, and I’m sorry if I offended you,” he apologises. 

“Nah, you just—” she goes to reply casually, before suddenly stopping and turning around to face him again, her expression unreadable. “...I don’t get you.” 

He doesn’t get himself some days. 

“I’m just a humble servant of the Lord,” he says, glancing over at a distant grave. “With my fair share of regrets, just like anyone else. I guess growing older just means you reflect on them a lot more.” 

“Yeah well, I’m eighteen and I already regret half my life choices. So welcome to the club!” Aubrey says with a surprisingly genuine smile. “Life’s a bitch sometimes, but that’s just how it is.” 

“I’m not sure that’s—” 

“Welp, see you later, got stuff to prep for tomorrow,” she says, abruptly ending the conversation with a wave goodbye. 

‘So free spirited, a lot like her mother that way...’ 

“Goodbye Aubrey, take care,” he says, internally praying she isn’t too much like her. 

... 

“The spirits like her,” Old Beardy states, interrupting the quiet and startling the Preacher. 

“Oh my—you really need to stop doing that,” he replies, slightly annoyed. 

“And miss your reaction? GWAHAHAHAHA!” the man chortles. 

The Preacher groans, Old Beardy has and always will be a strange fellow. He’s a dedicated caretaker, no-one can deny that, but the man takes ‘being spiritual’ to a whole new level. 

“I hope you weren’t eavesdropping,” he scolds. “Also, you really should tone down the spirit talk, we don’t need any more tourists out wandering the woods.” 

“Nope, just tending to the graves, same as usual,” Beardy replies dismissively. “And you speak like I riled them all up.” 

“I would never accuse you. I’m just saying they don’t need much encouragement.” 

“Suppose that’s true enough, but I can’t stop the spirits from wailing.” 

The Preacher stops, looks over at that distant grave again, and sighs. 

“No,” he concedes. “I suppose you can’t.” 

“I’m not jealous,” Mrs Rodriguez scoffs. 

“You’re slightly jealous,” her husband insists. 

They’re watching their youngest child, Sally stumble around the living room. She can just about walk, but she still lacks proper co-ordination. Not like that’s stopping her from trying though. Mrs Rodrizguez has never seen such a spirited toddler, even Kel was calmer as a child. 

“Look, I’m just saying, you would have preferred it was you,” her husband adds. 

“Well, I could very well say the same for you,” she counters. 

“...You got me there,” he laughs. 

The two laugh together for a bit. They’ve had this conversation a few times in the years following Sally’s first words.  

Hero said “mama” first, Kel said “dada”, and Sally... Well, Sally said “ Kel ”. 

Although it did sound more like ‘Bel’ or maybe even ‘Mel’. Pronunciation aside, the toddler’s intention was clear, and in all eighteen years of his existence, she’d never seen Kel so excited. 

“ She said Kel... she said my name... She said my name! You all heard that right?!!! ” 

“Haha, ah... It’s nice though. Isn’t it?” her husband asks, interrupting her thoughts. 

“It is. I think they’ll get along,” she agrees. “Say, do you ever wonder which one she’ll turn out like?” 

“Hmmm... some days, yeah. But it doesn’t really matter, does it?” 

“No. No it doesn’t.” 

She’ll love Sally either way. 

“Do we have a room ready for Sunny yet?” she asks after a moment of silence. 

“Damn, I almost forgot!” her husband curses. “Think he’ll mind crashing on the couch?” 

“If he does, he won’t complain, and you know it. But it doesn’t seem very fair on the birthday boy,” she replies. 

“Yeah, that’s true... I’m surprised he didn’t want to stay at his girlfriend’s place honestly.” 

Mrs Rodriguez pauses, blinks a few times, and simply stares, absolutely dumbstruck, at her husband. 

“What?” he asks, completely oblivious. 

“Dear...” she replies, face in her palms. “She’s practically homeless.” 

“...Oh right... but I thought—” 

“She’s crashing at Basil’s house.” 

“I see... Well! I’m going to go sort something for Sunny now... you think the boys will mind sharing their room?” he asks sheepishly. 

“Probably not, but we should run it past them first,” she replies with a sigh. “I’ll go get the spare bedding.” 

Honestly, birthdays are so exhausting. She’s more than happy to have her old neighbour over but well... she just hopes it doesn't turn out like last year did. 

“How did you even manage this?” Polly asks, genuinely baffled. “They haven’t moved an inch!” 

She’s been trying to pry nails out from Aubrey’s bat for about twenty minutes now, after having caught the girl trying and failing to file them off. 

“I—uh.... bought good nails?” the delinquent replies, clearly lying, but for reasons Polly could never guess. 

“Riiight....” Polly replies, before returning to her work. 

This definitely wasn’t in her job description, but this job has been full of surprises. She was originally hired to look after Mrs Flower, but it quickly became apparent her grandson was far more at risk than she was.  

Basil Flower, lovely boy, clearly traumatised.  

Polly realised the boy had issues from the second she met him, but she hadn’t realised just how deep they ran until he carved his best friend’s eye out with a pair of sheers in a fit of manic delirium. 

With Mrs Flower dead and her grandson at risk of institutionalisation, Polly felt truly lost for a while. But then by some miracle (and likely the seemingly endless pockets of the Flower family) everything just kind of... worked out. 

She got a phone call late one night from her employers, were she was informed of her new role. To act as Basil’s caretaker whilst they were away.  

It was the same pay for a harder task, but it stopped being about the money a long time ago. She couldn’t leave Basil alone, not after everything the poor boy went through. It was definitely awkward at first, Basil was never particularly open with her to begin with, as she never wanted to push things, out of fear of driving him away. But after what happened to Sunny, she was done dismissing her concerns as paranoia. So, whilst it did take time and a lot of difficult conversations, the two of them eventually they fell into a schedule of sorts. 

Then Aubrey came along. 

To say Polly had reservations about letting the kid who bullied her kid stay with them would be an understatement, but well, Basil vouched for her.

“ Please I—her Mom just d-died and she just—it'll be a week at most I s-swear, " he had said. 

Flashforward a year, and here they all are. Turns out Aubrey is actually an alright kid, kind of reminds Polly of herself some days. Kind of. 

“Bloody—argh!” she curses after another failed attempt to remove the nails. “You never hit anyone with this thing, right?” 

“What?! No!” Aubrey objects, sounding almost offended. 

“Then why bother wedging these nails in so damn hard?” 

“I... intimidation,” the girl confesses. 

“Intimidation?” Polly repeats, trying and failing to hold back her laughter. “Hahahahaha, seriously?” 

“What?!” Aubrey cries, face completely red with embarrassment. 

“You could have achieved the same with a normal bat! Then you could have actually hit someone without worry... well for the most part anyway,” Polly explains nonchalantly. 

“I...” the delinquent stutters, clearly embarrassed. “Wait, are you speaking from experience?” 

‘...Shit.’ 

Her expression must betray her feelings as Aubrey’s eyes widen. 

“Holy shi—you were—” she goes to say. 

“I was a dumb teenager once too,” Polly interrupts. “It’s half the reason I let you stay here. I’m a firm believer in second chances.” 

“...Did you ever hurt anyone?” the girl hesitantly asks. 

“ You’re the worst Polly. ” 

“Let’s just say there’s a reason I’m a caretaker,” she responds after a moment. 

“I see... remind me to never piss you off,” the delinquent jests. 

Polly cracks a smile before resuming her task. 

“...Does it ever go away?” Aubrey suddenly asks. 

“What?” Polly asks in return. 

“The guilt.” 

“...No. But it gets better with time.” 

“I see...” 

A sudden screech interrupts the quiet, as the pliers slip off another one of the nails. Polly pauses, looks at the bat, and notes that there has been absolutely no movement in any of the nails. 

“I don’t think these are coming out,” she confesses. 

“Stupid dream magic...” the delinquent mumbles. 

“What?” 

“Nothing!” 

“Okay then,” Polly replies, dragging out the ‘O’.  

“Well, I’d honestly advise you get a new bat, because these are not coming out” she adds, deciding not to press her. 

“Urgh,” Aubrey groans. “Right... well, thanks for trying Mo—Polly!” 

“Anytime dear,” she smiles, mentally adding another tick to her ‘the kids almost called me Mom’ tally. 

“You ever feel like we miss out on everything?” Angel asks. 

Charlie halts her pruning for a moment, sheers halted just before she trimmed a bonsai branch. Surprised but intrigued by the question, she puts the sheers down on a nearby table and turns to face her younger friend, raising her eyebrow. 

The two friends are currently hanging out in Fix-It's garden, the older of the two is employed there, the younger is simply there because he’s bored. 

“I mean think about it,” the boy in question continues. “The past two summers some crazy shi—” 

“Language,” Charlie interjects. 

Angel maybe on the verge of the dreaded ‘angsty teen’ phase, but she will not allow this kid to develop a potty mouth. Mostly because his sister will literally kill him... that artist is one scary lady. 

“Sorry. But the past two summers have been crazy! First one, knife ki- err Sunny shows up, stabs the boss, then two days later gets stabbed himself! Then next summer he shows up, beat up Boss, started dating  our boss, then some building disappeared, and people started talking about forest ghosts!” Angel rants. “And we had nothing to do with any of it!” 

Charlie simply raises her eyebrow again. 

‘Did you really want to be involved?’ goes unsaid, but Angel picks up on it nonetheless. 

“It’s not like I wanted to get stabbed or haunted or whatever , but you see what I mean right?!” the boy replies. 

She does. From the hazy details their friends have provided, Basil’s introduction as an unofficial sixth delinquent, Mikhael's sudden change in mannerisms (or ‘becoming lame’ as Angel so eloquently put it), and Vance’s insistence on avoiding the woods, it’s clear that something has been going on. 

But honestly, Charlie doesn’t want to know what. In her eyes, she and Angel have been very fortunate in managing to avoid whatever strange shit has been happening over the past two years. Sunny lost an eye, Basil ended up hospitalised, a whole building vanished into thin air, and all her friends seem more on edge these days. 

You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that whatever happened wasn’t good. 

“I do,” Charlie replies quietly after a moment. “Think we lucked out though.” 

Angel simply grumbles in response, so Charlene sighs and returns to her bonsai tree. She doesn’t know why he tagged along, but she appreciates the company. It’s a lot quieter around town these days, but she doesn’t think that’s such a bad thing. 

“So, I told Mikhael, I thought you wanted to be called The Maverick and then he—” Kim rants, suddenly stopping as she notices her friend isn’t listening. “Oi! Earth to Bas! You there?” she says, lightly jabbing Basil in the shoulder. 

“AH! I—Oh... sorry, I uhhh,” the boy stutters. 

“Zone out?” 

“Y-Yeah.” 

“...You good?” 

Basil pauses, and Kim raises an eyebrow. She’s known the blonde long enough by now to recognise when something’s wrong.  

A couple of years ago she would have never dreamed of spending as much time with him as she does now. But with Mikhael working at his family bakery, Charlie working at Fix-It, and Angel being an angsty little gremlin, her choice of company proved quite limited. Besides, it turns out Basil is actually pretty chill when you get to know him. 

“I... had a bad dream,” the boy in question eventually replies. 

“Was it about... you know?” she hesitantly asks. 

Last summer was bizarre , and honestly kind of terrifying. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t have the occasional nightmare about that chase through the woods. She doesn’t hold any of it against Sunny, but his weird clone was scary as fu- 

“No! I mean... not really?” Basil replies. “I—It’s complicated,” he adds with a sigh. 

“Okay well, you know what will cheer you up?” she asks rhetorically. “Stolen candy and smashing shit!” 

They’re currently sat by the fountain waiting on her brother to ‘retrieve’ their haul. 

“T-Thanks, but I’ve got to grab something for Sunny, I’m meant to meet with Kel in a bit,” he replies. 

“Urgh, you’re just like Aubrey,” Kim groans. 

“It’s his eighteenth! It’s i-important," Basil counters. 

“Yeah, I know, I know!” she grumbles. “But everyone’s clearing their schedule for it! I’ve met the guy, he’s shy as shit! He’d probably like it if you all just went... I don’t know, bowling or something!” 

“Do we even have a bowling alley here?” Basil ponders. 

“That’s not the point!” Kim replies. 

“...You know, you could j-join in. I’m sure everyone would be happy to h-have you there.” 

“Thanks, but nah, not really my crowd. You’re all chill, and I’ll grab something for the nerd, but if I have to sit there and watch him make out with my bestie for an hour, I might just jump off a building.” 

She definitely won’t be grabbing Sunny anything too expensive or flashy either. Those fancy stolen fireworks nearly got her jumped by Boss last year, and she does not need that kind of smoke again. Although, apparently Boss has gone quiet anyway. Good riddance! That guy was a total- why is Basil looking at her like that? 

“What?!” she barks, slightly annoyed. 

“I... A-Are you jealous?” Basil asks sceptically. 

... 

“Oh my God,” the blonde mumbles, taking her silence as confirmation. “Oh my Go—hahaha," he laughs. 

“I DON’T LIKE THE NERD!” she roars, face bright red. 

“You know damn well I don’t mean him!” Basil laughs, wearing the most shit-eating grin she’s ever seen on a person. “Oh, that is great!” 

‘Come on Kim! Think of a comeback! Something! Anything!... EUREKA!’ 

“Oh yeah like you aren’t jealous too!” she counters. 

“What?! Kim no! Aubrey’s like my si—” he goes to argue. 

“ You know damn well I don’t mean her,” she mimics, sticking her tongue out at the end. 

She watches as the blonde’s face slowly reddens, an expression of defeat falling across his face. 

“...Shit,” he grumbles. 

‘Yeah, got your ass!’ 

“Well... guess we’re both hopeless,” he laments, with a small smile. 

Kim pauses for a moment. 

“Yeah... guess we are,” she eventually replies with a sigh. 

“At least they’re happy though,” he suggests unconvincingly. 

“That make you feel better?” Kim asks with a deadpan expression. 

“Not at all!” 

The two friends laugh together for a while, ignoring the strange looks passer-by's give them. Kim can hardly believe she’s relating to Basil of all people; life really is strange. 

“Haha ah~ God, it sounds stupid,” she wheezes. 

“I mean y-yeah but—” Basil goes to reply. 

“GUYS!” Vance yells, racing towards them. “WE NEED TO GO!” 

“Oh for fu—WE'RE HAVING A MOMENT LARD-ASS!” Kim yells. 

“HAVE IT LATER!” her brother yells back, genuine fear plastered on his face. 

For a moment Kim stops and wonders what the hell her brother could possibly be running from. She doesn’t have to wait long for an answer, however. 

“YOU LITTLE BRAT! FIVE YEARS! FIVE YEARS AND YOU’RE STILL A PUNK! I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU! YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME! ” Miss Candice roars, hot in pursuit of Vance. 

“Oh shit!” Kim curses, turning to Basil. “We need to go!” 

“Wha—b-but I didn’—” he goes to protest. 

“Guilt by association blondie!” she interjects, grabbing his arm and racing after her brother. “Now shut up and RUN!” 

“You’re enjoying this,” Mikhael states. 

“I am” Kel replies smugly, placing a wad of cash down onto the counter. “So do you have my order Mav—” 

“Cease.”  

To think he spent literal years trying to get people to call him the Maverick, and now, the second he decides he wants the opposite, they finally start calling him it. 

‘This town sucks.’ 

“So does this mean I win our little rivalry?” Kel asks. 

“Sure, whatever,” Mikhael grumbles, as he goes into the back to collect Kel’s order. 

He took up working with his family about a year ago now. It allowed him to spend more time with his siblings, plus his parents offered to actually pay him, so that’s nice. It can be tough work, especially on days like this, but it’s good experience. 

Besides he physically cringes every time his friends mention his ‘Maverick’ persona, so he’ll happily do anything he can do to further himself from that . 

Looking through the orders, he eventually spots Kel’s aaand it’s the biggest one. Because of course it is . Grumbling and cursing under his breath, Mikhael grabs the massive box and makes his way back over to the front counter. 

“Need help?” his brother offers. 

“No, it’s fine... thanks,” he replies. 

Heaving the massive box onto the counter, he glares at Kel. 

“What could you possibly need a cake this big for?” he asks, briefly casting aside ‘the customer is always right’ rhetoric. 

“It’s Sunny’s eighteenth,” the tan teen replies casually. “Figured everyone would appreciate I buy something not magical.” 

He must notice Mikhael's face pale, as he then adds. 

“Unless~” 

“Don’t you dare!” Mikhael curses, his tone deadly serious. “You nearly tore this damn town apart last year!” 

“Woah hey I-I was just joking,” Kel back tracks, his smile quickly fading.  

“Well it’s not funny! I still have nightmares about that thing,” Mikhael grumbles, recalling his chase through the woods. 

“Yeah... same here.”  

Mikhael raises an eyebrow and feels a brief burst of anger. Kel wasn’t there . He wasn’t in the woods when shit hit the fan, he was off doing God knows what, whilst the rest of them were living through that collective nightmare.  

So how the hell could he possibly understand? 

He goes to call Kel out but pauses when he sees his face. He can’t quite explain it, but Kel seems... genuine. Mikhael has no idea what happened to him, but in that brief moment, he can clearly see that he’s had his recompense and more. 

“I- you- ...look, just tell Sunny I said happy birthday,” he replies after a second. 

“Oh, yeah will do, thanks Mikhael. I’ll see you around,” the tan teen says, grabbing the box and lifting it up with one hand effortlessly. 

Mikhael feels his eye twitch as he watches Kel stroll out the store. Groaning, he goes back to checking through orders. 

‘Sunny...’ 

He’ll never admit it. But the boy’s anger gave Mikhael a serious reality check, he’s never going to thank him for it. But in a strange way, he’s glad it happened.  

Still, he seriously hopes this year isn’t a repeat of the last one. 

“Here for your nerd,” Kim says between pants, tossing a bag of candy at his face, ignoring Vance’s protests. 

Basil catches it and mumbles a tired ‘thank you’ between breathes. He’s not as out of shape as he used to be, but that doesn’t mean he’s athletic enough to run away from a crazed candy saleswoman. Seriously, he always knew Miss Candice was unhinged, but he never expected her to chase them across THREE ENTIRE BLOCKS. Okay, that might be hyperbole, but the fact is they are on the other side of town.  

Matter of fact Basil doesn’t actually know where they ar- 

‘Oh.’ 

“For fu—urgh!” he groans. 

“What?” Kim asks. 

“Look,” Vance says.  

Following the two boy’s eyes, Kim finally sees where they are. Just off in the distance there’s a tall chain-link fence, and behind that "modern Roanoke’.  

“...You never told us what happened there,” Kim states.  

It’s an unspoken question, and one Basil won’t be answering.  

“F-Figured you’d guess,” he replies cryptically.  

“Half the country did,” Vance interjects. “But I reckon some things don’t need an answer.”  

“You’re a fountain of wisdom as always bro,” Kim deadpans. “Whatever, keep your secrets Bas, I’ll just get your drunk confession in August. You’re going to Nearby Uni right?” 

“I-I am but we can’t—” he tries to argue. 

“House parties blondie! I’ll drag you to at least one don’t you worry!” the delinquent replies. 

“I think I’m actively more worried now...” 

“How do you think I feel?” Vance mumbles. “I am not looking forward to all those drunk calls.” 

“Shut it Vance!” Kim curses. 

... 

Silence falls again as everyone’s focus slowly shifts back to the distant crater. 

“So, uh... what are you meeting Kel for again?” Kim asks, trying to fill the quiet. “Thought it was the nerd’s birthday tomorrow.” 

“It i-is, but like I said, w-we're getting a gift for him,” Basil replies. 

“What exactly is Kel getting?” Vance asks hesitantly, clearly afraid of the answer. 

“Well, he said it was surprise—” 

Kim and Vance’s faces visibly pale. 

“—But then Aubrey threatened to break his legs, so he revealed it was just a massive birthday cake,” Basil finishes. 

“Atta girl!” Kim smirks. 

“Oh thank God,” Vance mumbles, clearly relieved. 

“Y-Yeah. But I still need to get him s-something, so I’m meeting with Kel s-soon," Basil states. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to your ‘preparations’ then,” Kim replies. “See you around Bas.” 

“Bye Kim, bye Vance,” he responds. 

“Bye Basil, tell Sunny I said happy birthday,” Vance says. 

“And tell Kel he smells!” Kim adds. 

“Will do! Won’t do!” Basil yells to the siblings, watching as they wander off into the distance. 

‘They’re not so bad.’ 

Forgiving the people who made his life hell was definitely a questionable choice. But after his own share of terrible decisions, Basil has become a firm believer in second chances. Besides he’s still kind of mad about it all, which he thinks is fair enough. 

Basil might forgive, but he won’t forget. 

Although, he does also wish that Kim hadn’t caught onto his... feelings so fast. But at least he has a counter-tease to use against her. Good old mutually assured destruction. 

... 

‘Sunny...’ 

Some things just don’t work out. He knows that, but it doesn’t make it sting any less. 

‘God damn it’ he mentally curses, trying and failing to ignore the fence in the corner of his eye. 

Sighing, he makes a beeline for the pit, quickly jogging over to it.  

It only takes a minute to reach it, and as he peers between the gaps in the fence, he’s greeted by a familiar sight. A perfectly smooth crater... well mostly. Nature has already taken its course, and between the weathering and the plant growth it now looks fairly normal. Well, as normal as a giant crater on the outskirts of a suburban town can be anyway. 

‘Time flies’ he thinks, recalling old memories, both good and bad, as his mind slowly drifts back to the events of last night’s dream. 

“Oh, come on!” Basil curses. “Okay, where the hell are you?!”  

He’s back in his bedroom, the lights are off, but light still pours in through the window, except it’s not moonlight. It’s the blinding luminescence of the white void outside. Basil knows where he is, and he knows what it’s trying to emulate.  

It’s the night he and Sunny fought.  

Opening his door, he exits out into a recreation of their old hangout spot. The sky above them is a bright white, but otherwise it’s a one-to-one copy of the spot as it was six years ago. And there sat down on a familiar picknick blanket, is ‘Mari’.  

“Hello Bas—” she goes to greet.  

“What do you want?” Basil interrupts, absolutely sick of seeing copies.  

“Rude, that’s not how you’re supposed to talk to a lady you know,” ‘Mari’ pouts.  

Basil can feel his eye twitch.  

“Are you even a woman? Are you even human???” he asks.  

“Like I’d ever kiss and tell,” she scoffs, dismissing his question with a hand wave.  

“Okay, that’s definitely not how you use that expression,” he deadpans. “And I’m not listening to your cryptic crap, who—what are you?!”  

“Oh Basil, does it really mat—”  

“Yes!”  

‘Mari’ smiles impossibly wide, her soulless eyes glaring into his own. It gives him goosebumps and for a brief moment, Basil can feel the familiar presence of Something behind him, as his throat tightens and vision blurs. But he quickly shakes it off, taking a deep breath, before glaring right back at her.  

“The s-sightings a-around..." Basil stutters, taking a second to steel his nerves. “Around town—in the woods... those were you, weren’t they?”  

“People see all sorts of things in the dark,” ‘Mari’ replies vaguely.  

“Are you e-ever going to give me a straight answer?”  

“Are you going to keep standing there? There’s plenty of room on the blank—”  

“Yes,” Basil replies defiantly. “Why am I here?”  

‘Mari’ groans in frustration, throwing her head back, only for her neck to break with a sickening crunch. Basil feels sick and quickly averts his eye as the strange double struggles to get her head back in place.  

“Well,” she starts, fixing her neck with an unnerving click. “I wanted to check up on you.”  

“What?” Basil asks, absolutely baffled. “Out of the kindness of your heart?”  

“Hardly,” she replies with a wide smile. “You’ve grown a lot Basil. You’re more confident, open, and emotionally stable. Not as much as the average person mind you, but progress is progress.”  

“You done?” he asks, thoroughly unimpressed.  

“But above all else, you’ve been a fascinating experience,” she replies, looking right at him, but not truly seeing him.  

“W-What?”  

“Sadly, I’m afraid we won’t meet again Basil, this is goodbye. I just wanted to say, thank you for the show.”  

“W-Wait—”  

Ignoring him, she raises her hand then clicks her finger, and then the world around them goes dark.  

Basil believes her, he doesn’t know what she is, and probably never will, but he believed her when she said they’re done.  

And honestly, he’s glad.  

He’s sick of sinister shadows, of monsters and nightmares, of doubles and demons, and above all else, he’s tired of all the cryptic crap. Life is weird, far weirder than he would have ever imagined, and if universe isn’t eager to give him any answers, then he won’t bother worrying about them. His life is messed up as it is, he doesn’t need all this eldritch nonsense. 

So, screw Headspace, screw the Warlock, screw that Thing in Sunny’s mind, screw that stupid spell book, and screw ‘Mari’. Because whatever that demon is, it isn’t his friend. He knows he’ll have to face the real Mari again one day, but until then he’s done with ghosts. 

Strolling away from the fence, he looks back at the crater one last time, flips it off, immediately feels stupid, and storms off to go find Kel. 

Some nights Kel dreams of falling, of plummeting down a deep crevice into a vast dark abyss.  

Other nights he dreams of a burning store and a sinister smile, or of a monster wearing his friend’s faces.  

But they don’t bother him too much these days, he stopped waking up with a pounding heart after the first few at least.  

It’s safe to say the events of last year definitely bothered him, he would be blatantly lying if he said otherwise. He’d spoken to Hero about it a bit, but it’s hard to open up after a lifetime of keeping his feelings under wraps.  

Still, he’s trying his best to be honest with himself and his friends. But there are just some things he can’t explain. Like whenever Sunny smiles, Kel feels deeply uncomfortable, and then he feels terrible in turn. Because his best friend is finally enjoying his life and Kel can’t even feel happy for him.  

Sunny has clearly noticed this and has even spoken to him about it a couple of times. Although their conversations mainly revolve around the scar on Kel’s chest.  

He clearly feels terrible about everything that happened last summer, and Kel doesn’t hold it against him. After all, it’s not like Sunny asked to be split into his emotions, that was his fault. But some days things still feel awkward between them, and Kel hates that.  

They’ve been through hell together, so why do they have to get hung up on this of all things... 

Whatever! It’s Sunny’s birthday tomorrow, he’s coming back to Faraway for the week, Kel’s gotten him a nice, normal gift, and they’re all going to have a good time! 

“You okay?” Basil asks, snapping Kel out of his thoughts. 

“Oh yeah! Sorry, uhhh... got lost in my thoughts,” he replies. 

“I know the feeling,” the blonde mumbles. 

This time around it was Basil who forgot to get Sunny a birthday present. So, Kel invited him to tag along and go grab something. Not that Kel is a gift expert (if anything he’s the opposite) but well... he likes hanging out with the blonde. He’s cool. 

“Y-You could’ve dropped the cake off f-first, you know?” Basil asks. 

Kel almost forgot he was still carrying that thing around. 

“Ah... yeah, that might have been a good idea,” Kel replies, laughing awkwardly. 

“Never change Kel,” Basil says, smiling softly. 

“So!” he replies abruptly, slightly flustered. “What are you thinking of getting for Sunny? And don’t say flowers.” 

“Flow- God damn it!” Basil curses, causing Kel to laugh. “W-Well, have you got any a-advice?” 

“I... I don’t think I’m the best person to ask...” 

... 

“It’s not your fault you know,” Basil replies reassuringly. 

“I... thanks,” Kel mumbles.  

There’s an awkward silence as the two teens walk aimlessly for a while. 

“An eyepatch might be nice,” Kel suggests. “Like a flower one... Oh wait no! Because you—” 

“I think I’ll just g-get him a nice mug, a cat one m-maybe," Basil interjects. 

“Yeah! Yeah, he’ll like that, good idea.” 

...

“...An Ouija board might be cool too,” Kel jokingly suggests. 

“No way in hell!” Basil laughs. 

The two friends laugh amongst themselves for a minute, before Basil speaks up again. 

“Y-You know, w-we should hang out more,” he suggests awkwardly. 

“We’re going to the same college?” Kel replies, oblivious as ever. 

“W-Well yeah b-but...” Basil stutters, clearly embarrassed. “I meant l-like outside of c-classes." 

“O-Oh yeah, yeah! Yeah dude totally! I- I'd like that,” Kel responds. 

Both of them keep walking in silence, equally embarrassed but for reasons they can’t quite verbalise. 

“This is awkward,” Basil states. 

“Totally,” Kel replies. 

... 

“W-Wanna go for c-coffee next weekend?” 

“...You’re on!” 

“Looking forward to finally being an adult?” Aubrey asks, twirling a strand of her hair. 

An affirmative hum comes from the receiver of her crappy flip phone.  

The cracked screen reads “Sunny <3”. 

“Spoilers, you feel exactly the same,” she adds. “It’s pretty underwhelming.” 

Another hum comes from the phone, this one significantly less enthusiastic. Now, Sunny has never been a big talker, if anything the events of last summer were so weird because of how much he spoke (well amongst other things), but still, she can tell when something is off with him, and something is definitely off. 

“Okay, what’s wrong?” she asks, cutting straight to the point. 

“Huh?” Sunny ‘replies’. 

“Come on mister, no more secrets, remember?” 

“...S’weird,” he mumbles after a moment. 

“Yeah, the build-up feels strange, but honestly, you’ll be fine tomorrow,” she replies nonchalantly. 

“No I...” Sunny goes to reply, before stopping himself. 

A lightbulb goes off in Aubrey’s head, and she immediately feels stupid. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s bothering him. It’s Mari, it’s always Mari. 

“She’d be happy for you. You know that,” she states confidently. Because it’s true. 

“I know,” he replies. “Just... hard.” 

“I understand.” 

She does. Birthdays are difficult, she hated them as a kid, but then she had people to enjoy them with but then she lost them...  

Loss stings, especially on those days where absences are more obvious. Even in the company of her gang, she found herself missing Mari, so she can only imagine how Sunny must feel right now. 

“Look tomorrow’s your day, enjoy yourself!” Aubrey says, attempting to cheer him up. “Let’s make up for lost time.” 

Long distance relationships suck, they’re making it work, but she’s broke and he lives over an hour away, and well, bus fares are a surprisingly big barrier. So, needless to say, she’s looking forward to having him visit. 

“I- I’ll try,” he replies. 

“That’s all I ask... well that and that you wear your birthday sui-” 

“A-AUBREY!” 

“HAHAHA,” she cackles.  

Aubrey had been holding back, but she would be damned if she didn’t tease this nerd at least once tonight. 

“Sorry, sorry I had to,” she apologises between laughs. “...Didn’t hear a no tho-” 

“Goodnight Aubrey see you tomorrow!” he practically yells. 

“Night Sun,” she replies, barely keeping her composure. 

The call ends and Aubrey bursts out laughing. That’s the thing about dating a former shut-in, they’re twice awkward as the average introvert. Meaning he’s incredibly easy to fluster. 

‘Starting to see why Mari teased Hero so much.’ 

Glancing around her room, she can’t help but smile. It all worked out... eventually. Sure it’s not perfect, some days are still difficult, a lot of Faraway still despises her on principle, and she won’t be going to college for at least another year (she’s broke and refuses to leech of Basil any more than she already is) but she has friends, family, a roof that doesn’t leek above her head, and well, that’s enough for her. 

Honestly, some days she can’t believe she’s here, being housed by the person she pushed to the edge. She’s beyond grateful for his kindness, but she wishes Polly would let her pay rent, or at least help with cooking, anything to not feel like a total parasite. Being a waste of space has always been a fear of Aubrey’s. But she supposes that’s bound to happen when you grow up with a deadbeat mom. 

‘Mom...’ 

No-one was shocked when she died, it was inevitable, that kind of lifestyle only has one outcome. Still, part of her was caught off guard when the news hit.  

Aubrey had been out of town on a date with Sunny when it happened, so, Kim was the first person to tell her. She still remembers how her attitude shifted as Kim spoke, from anger at being interrupted mid-dinner by her constant phone calls, to confusion, to... something . ‘Hollow’ would probably be the best description, because she wasn’t sad, God , she wasn’t sad, she just felt... lost.  

All the anger and hatred she’d felt towards that deadbeat suddenly didn’t matter, because there was no-one left to direct it at. 

Some distant relative Aubrey had never met ended up paying for her ‘mother’s funeral and gravestone. They didn’t offer any help to her of course, easier to bury and forget, then look her in the eyes and spout some lame excuses. So, unsurprisingly, Aubrey didn’t bother going to the funeral, she just had an extended stay at Nearby (thanks to Mrs Suzuki’s hospitality), and by the time she was back in Faraway she was practically drowning in invites to crash on sofas. She ended up taking Basil’s offer because she would actually have her own room. 

Also, because Kim’s mom would definitely kick her out. 

In hindsight, with how hectic that month was, she probably never fully processed what happened, but the mere idea of visiting her... 

“ It might do you some good. ” 

“Urgh,” Aubrey groans, falling back onto her bed. 

She knows the Preacher meant well, even if there were still some ‘holier than thou’ undertones to his words. But she doesn’t feel ready to face that grave. 

Aubrey isn’t some scared kid crying in her attic anymore, nor the prick bullying her first friend, and honestly, right now she doesn’t know who she is, or who she wants to be.  

But she feels like she needs to know before she faces that grave. 

“...This blows,” she says aloud. 

Glancing over at Mr Plantegg (refurbished as an eighteenth birthday present, courtesy of Sunny) she grabs the plushie and holds it above her. 

“What do you think Mr Plantegg?” she asks, staring up at it. 

Unsurprisingly, the plushie doesn’t reply. 

“Yes, yes, very wise,” she mumbles, laughing to herself. 

She looks over at the small cat plushie she bought Sunny. 

“You think he’ll like it?” she asks, making Mr Plantegg nod in response. “You always know exactly what to say.” 

Suddenly she hears a series of loud frantic knocks on her door, startling her and causing her to fling the plushie across the room. 

“Uhhh, I’m getting changed!” she lies, face bright red. 

“Ah o-okay... please hurry!” Basil stutters. 

Aubrey sighs, stomps around her room for a second, pretending to get changed, before strolling over and opening the door. 

There in the doorway stands Basil. He’s clearly nervous, but she doesn’t notice that straight away as her focus is instead immediately drawn to a cute little cat mug he’s holding. 

‘That must be Sunny’s gift’ she deduces, slightly annoyed that someone else is getting him a cat-themed present. 

“Nice cup, Sunny will defin-” she goes to say. 

“I think I just asked Kel out!” Basil yells. 

“YOU FUCKING WHA-” 

“...Didn’t hear a no tho-”  

“Goodnight Aubrey see you tomorrow!” Sunny yells into his phone. 

Practically flinging the accursed thing across the room, he collapses down onto his bed, his face bright red. He loves Aubrey, but he has no idea how to deal with her teasing. He’s been single most of his, life, literally , he was alone for four years!  

So, needless to say, his attempts at flirting back have been... poor. It’s gotten to the point that now he doesn’t even try anymore. 

‘Why couldn’t I get the smug gene’ he silently laments. 

Mari and their mother got it, but he’s hopeless! Hero’s better at teasing these days! Hero!  

Sunny groans, rising back up from his bed, he walks across his room and grabs his phone off the ground. He had hung up rather abruptly, so he should probably apologise.  

Flipping it open he sends a quick apology text. 

Sun: Sorry for hanging up. 

Auby <3: It’s fine  

Auby <3: but Sunny  

Auby <3: HOLY SHIT 

Sun: What? 

Sun: Everything okay? 

Auby <3: Basil’s trying to kill me

Auby <3: But I have a great story for you tomorrow

Auby <3: Okay gotta run! Love u Subun! 

Sunny feels simultaneously flustered and confused, but staring at ‘Love u’ makes his ears burn. They’ve been together for nearly a year now, but he’ll never get used to this.  

To think a few years ago the idea of them dating was just another one of his pipe dreams. 

Sun: Love u too Auby 

‘ God I hope Basil doesn’t read these.’ 

He has no idea what’s going on between those two, but he’s sure it’s fine. Those two are practically siblings these days. It’s honestly quite heartwarming to see how far they’ve all come, he just wishes they didn’t have to go through all the crap they did to get here. But no matter, they’re alive, he’s alive.  

But... it is a strange feeling, turning eighteen.  

His last birthday was chaotic, but the one before that was heart wrenching, because he came to a simple realisation that haunts him to this day. 

He’s older than Mari ever was ... 

Sunny never planned on turning eighteen, even in the few moments of clarity he had during his isolation he never expected to live this long. But here he is. 

Some days are difficult, but for the first time in years, it feels like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. He has friends, he’s slowly getting healthier, he’s somehow made it to college, he’s dating Aubrey, and most importantly, he’s happy. His life has been an absolute roller coaster, and honestly, most of it sucked, but tomorrow he’ll finally be an adult. He doubts he’ll feel any different, but it is an achievement, and if nothing else he’ll get to hang out with his friends again.  

Still, he does hope this one is a bit more relaxed than the last. 

Sunny doesn’t blame Kel for what happened, but he does wish things had gone differently. Sure, he definitely felt more at peace with himself after the events of that week. But it was strange and kind of uncomfortable trying to piece his memories back together.

Afterall, he had four different perspectives of those two chaotic days. All him, all not him, and trying to make sense of it all was an incredibly disorienting experience. Hell, he hadn’t fully realised just how hurt Kel was until almost a week later. The tan teen forgave him for it all, but Sunny still feels bad. He remembers how it felt to stand in that burning store, grinning wildly as it collapsed around him. It had all made sense at the time, that is, until Kel got hurt.  

Sunny is grateful that some part of him was smart enough to realise that things were getting out of hand, if Kel had... 

Well, thankfully, they all pulled through in the end, all thanks to Omori. 

‘Omori...’  

For all his faults, Omori was the only friend he had during years his years as a shut-in... it’s still hard to believe he’s gone.

Although, Sunny could swear he still hears the monochrome child’s sarcastic voice in the back of his head some days. But as weird as that is, it’s honestly a bloody miracle that his life is as normal as it is, especially considering how utterly bizarre his seventeenth was.  

Suddenly, a small hum interrupts his thoughts, as his attention is drawn to a small cage in the corner of his room. 

‘Ah he must be hungry.’ 

Strolling over, he looks into the cage and is greeted by the begging eyes of his jackalope... Okay, maybe his life isn’t that normal.  

Turns out getting blasted by a magic spell makes you a magnet for the supernatural, who would’ve guessed?  

If it weren’t for all the strange stuff he saw in the Warlock’s store, he’d probably be a lot more bothered by this sudden upheaval of the status quo. Instead, he’s just mildly annoyed. Unlike his poor mother, who almost had a heart attack the first time they found the elusive Mothman rooting through their trash. 

‘Who’s an adorable afront to God? You are, yes you are!’ he thinks, stroking the strange antlered rabbit before pouring some rabbit feed into it’s cage. 

So far, he hasn’t encountered anything too horrific. If anything, his hallucinations have proven to be far scarier than most cryptids are, so that’s... good(?). 

‘At least if college falls through, I can become an amateur monster hunter’ he muses. 

Not that he plans on hurting this cute little abomination of course, it’s his Christmas gift for Aubrey! He found it last month, shivering under an old cardboard box and decided to adopt it. Issue is, he has absolutely no idea how to take care of a rabbit. His mom helped with the basics, but he’s really hoping Aubrey likes it, because he can barely take care of himself, let alone another living creature. 

Yawning, he looks over at his clock, it’s only seven o’clock, and he’s already tired. He’s trying to maintain a healthy sleeping schedule these days, but surely if he goes to sleep a little earlier today no one will min- 

“Sunny! It’s happening again!” his mother suddenly yells from downstairs. 

‘Damn it Mothman!’ 

Sighing and grabbing his oversized flyswatter he quickly makes his way downstairs, briefly contemplating just how exactly his life got to this point. 

‘It’s six minutes until midnight, six minutes until Sunny’s birthday’ Hero thinks glancing at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 

In just over ten hours, he’ll be driving over to Sunny’s house, then the two of them will be visiting Faraway for the week to celebrate his birthday.  

But right now, Hero is currently lying in bed in his college accommodation. Thankfully, his roommate is visiting family, so he has the place to himself for now. Not that it matters, because he wouldn’t be getting any sleep either way. 

Last year he fought a dream demon to save his friend. He stared certain death in the face and swore to himself that if he made it, then he’d do something different with his life.  

He made it, but he’s still studying to be a doctor. 

Kel once told him that if he wasn’t happy, then he should just change career paths. Hero thought that was a simplistic, but ultimately wise piece of advice. But he didn’t follow it. He fully intended to, for months he told himself that he’d talk to his parents then go about switching courses. But then he thought about it some more, and he realised was already a couple of years into his degree. Meaning he’s already acquired the student debt, and that to change courses now would just mean he’d have to spend even longer at college. Maybe he was just looking for excuses, or maybe he was just too scared to make that leap, honestly, he couldn’t say.  

But to this day that resignation email still sits in his drafts. 

Hero glances at the clock again. 

‘Five minutes until midnight.’ 

He’s gotten back into cooking and baking again. It helps to relieve some of the stress from college, and even if he’ll never pursue it professionally, it feels nice to return to that old hobby. 

He glances at the clock again. 

‘Four minutes until midnight.’ 

It would have been nice to bake something for Sunny’s birthday, he’s been practising Mari’s old cookie recipe for a while now, and he’s almost gotten it down.  

But Kel has already bought his birthday cake, so Hero doesn’t want to overdo it and drown his friend in baked good. He’s hoping the cat-themed eyepatch he’s bought will suffice instead. Mari always used to say Sunny was like a cat, so it’s a nice callback. 

‘Three minutes until midnight.’