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...
The last thing he remembered was entering a back alley, trying to find a shortcut to the stage that B-Mix claimed he was at.
He'd been on his phone - admittedly, very distracted - when there was a slight rumbling from behind him.
When he turned around, he was met with that thing standing there. The goop of its form festering.
And before he knew what happened, it'd rushed at him, he fought for his life to break free until he lost the strength and fell unconscious.
...
His eyes opened to more pitch-black, a screen starting to fade in in front of him.
Was this... his mind?
It hardly even felt like it, at least with the darkness around him...
Pushing himself off the ground, he tried to walk around, move forward-
Only for something to stop him.
He finally looked down at himself, and saw the black goop wrapped like strings around his body.
And sure enough, if he looked closer, he could see the pink strings mixed inside it.
He attempted to break out, to rip himself free from his bonds... to no avail.
Suddenly, he heard a voice, and looked up.
Immediately dreading what- or rather, who he saw.
"Ah, I see you've finally woken up."
And he convinced himself that he HAD to be dreaming.
That this wasn't real.
Was this what it'd been planning, or just an excuse to mess with him?
"I should probably mention that while you ARE in your mind, no, this is NOT a dream. Though, I'm sure that after some time you'll certainly wish it were."
A confused expression quickly grew on his face.
What was it talking about...?
"Still, I must say, it's very nice to finally meet you face to face instead of while you're asleep, XML..."
"...Heh... I wish I could say the same."
"Well, that's rather rude of you."
"Just tell me what the hell you want this time."
"Have you really not figured it out yet? I told you that I would be coming for the both of you, that you were the main part of the plan... that you wouldn't be able to save him this time."
Right after it finished saying that, a familiar pain struck him, shooting through his body and resonating in his chest.
...No. God, please, please no.
This HAD to be a dream. It wasn't really about to-
"What's the matter, Boyfriend? Do you recognize this? Do you remember this?"
He didn't answer - the panic swiftly took him over as well as the realization that this was TRULY happening.
"I must say, it never quite occurred to me to use this silly fear of yours against you. Yet, I always found myself wondering... For what reason were you even so scared of such an inevitability?"
At this point, he refused to listen to what it was saying, now thrashing about and trying to escape from the binds still restricting him.
But its grip on him tightened instead, as the entity continued to talk.
"...But now... Now I understand. Why you were so desperate."
It walked closer to him, roughly grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at it-
"WHY YOU WERE SO AFRAID."
"C-Come on, man... you don't have to d-do this, I'd rather you just keep messing with me-"
"Why? So you can continue being in denial? I honestly can't believe you've resorted to BEGGING and PLEADING for me to spare your little friend~"
"...Please..."
"Oh, don't you get it, XML? You two's greatest weakness is each other. I just decided to exploit that~"
It just smirked back at him, finally letting go and starting to walk away, now facing the screen in front of them.
"I hope you understand that this was all YOUR doing... but I won't get too much into that. Now, we just wait until-"
Then it suddenly stopped, before turning its head to look back at him and smiling.
"...It seems that your friends have finally come to find you..."
He felt his body starting to move, he gained some consciousness back...
...Meaning he could still resist.
And judging by the being's expression, it knew that.
"I can already tell you want to fight back... so let's see just how long you all last, shall͗͜ ̙̒ẅ̭́e͖̲͇̟͌̋͌͘-͓̬̼̗̀́̀͟͠͡
Boyfriend's eyes quickly snapped open and he shot up in his bed with a gasp, a hand going over his chest and his breathing starting to speed up.
He looked around in his panic, and realized that he was in his room.
Oh, right.
Finally, he managed to gain control of his breathing again, slowing it as he registered that he was safe.
And he wasn't back in there again.
His arms hugged his knees to his chest, and he remembered what had happened before this.
Earlier that night, shortly after his little burst of anger, GF, Pico, and BB had insisted on staying with the two for a little bit to make sure they would be safe - clearly the three were hit just as hard by what had happened.
And apparently it had also resulted in BB's phone blowing up with texts from his fallen angel acquaintance... something about having to learn about what happened via the ghosts or whatever.
So those three were currently in the main room, probably having already fallen asleep on the couch for the night.
...But he'd meant what he said.
It tried to kill Soul. It only made sense for them to finally try to kill it.
An eye for an eye, right?
He was ripped out of his thoughts by the small noises of the door creaking open, and when he saw Soul on the other side, relief swept through him like a tidal wave.
"Bee? Are you okay?"
"I... I think so..."
With a concerned look, Soul walked over and hopped up on the bed to sit next to him.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he'd sensed his brief panic and immediately rushed over.
"Nightmare?"
"Mhm... I-I thought I was-"
"Hey, hey, it's okay Bee. Everything's okay. You're fine."
Soul gently pulled BF close, his head now resting on his chest as he ran a hand through his hair while continuing to reassure him, the rapper clinging to him in response.
Though, with the realization that Soul had come into the room after he already woke up... a question quickly came to him.
"...魂?"
"Yeah?"
"What were you doing before you came here?"
"Just... checking on the others. I was only there for a bit before I felt you panic."
So then...
"...You didn't sleep at all, did you?"
After a moment of silence from him, Soul let out a sigh, the two pulling away from each other as he tried to avoid eye contact.
"No..."
"Were you just not tired?"
That would make sense - he had fallen unconscious a few times back during all the fighting.
He had a feeling he knew the actual answer, but he didn't want to bring it up right now.
Soul didn't say anything at first, but soon nodded.
It was an uncertain one, though.
"Well, lucky for you, I don't think I want to go back to sleep at this point either. But... that's still not a good thing, Soul."
"I know, I know... I just keep thinking about what happened. Even though I said that we shouldn't."
"And who could blame you? I can't either, dude. ...Right now, though, the most we can do is just stick with each other. Get ready for when it decides to come back."
"Yeah... mostly stick with each other though."
BF couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh at that, before nodding in agreement.
"True..."
The two were silent for a moment before Boyfriend spoke again.
"Besides that though... are you okay?"
"I'm... sure I'll be fine. As long as I'm still here with you and everyone else, then I know it'll be alright."
"Heh, can't argue with that. Plus, I'd... rather have you here too."
The two smiled at each other, before looking away, that heavy tension falling over them again.
"...Are we going to talk about... earlier?"
"What do you-"
"You know... that little outburst of yours? Kinda caught us by surprise even though we still agreed with you."
Oh.
That.
Boyfriend sighed, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before finally speaking.
"Sorry... I still meant that though. I'm tired of being forced to the sidelines, having to undo everything that thing does to you. Like you said... can't hurt us anymore if we get rid of it, right?"
The other nodded slightly, but kept silent for a bit.
"...Just... don't put your own life on the line for me, okay? I know we said we'd protect each other, but that doesn't mean you should almost get yourself killed."
"You care about me, I know. But I won't. Promise."
"Bee..."
"僕を信頼してくれている?" [Do you trust me?]
At that, Soul failed to fight back a smile, chuckling slightly as he responded.
"もちろん信頼しているよ." [Of course I trust you.]
"Then you have nothing to worry about."
He laid back on the bed, and Soul did the same.
"Still... I know you're frustrated- that WE'RE frustrated, but I'd rather we just recover for a bit right now."
"Yeah... I think that's for the best."
Another moment of silence took over.
"...So what now? The others are asleep, and we both clearly aren't going to sleep either..."
Boyfriend hummed in thought, and a moment later he slipped off the bed, walking over to his closet and pulling out a zip-up hoodie.
"Come on, I need to go clear my head. In all honesty, we probably both do."
Soul nodded, joining him as he walked out of the door to the room.
They were careful to avoid waking the other three up as they left through the main door.
A little while later, a white portal opened up on the wall next to the kitchen, not too far away from the couch.
Within a few seconds, Benjamin and Pico stepped through it.
The couple looked around for a moment, but didn't see anyone - the only lighting available to guide them being the TV that was accidentally left on by Girlfriend.
"...Do you think they're even here, Ben?"
"They usually are... well, let's at least hope they are."
Both of them continued to look around - even checking BF's room, which was empty, to their surprise - and they soon made their way toward the couch, walking around it to see Girlfriend, Classic Pico, and BB there, asleep.
"Hm. I guess they're staying over for the night...? They probably are still here somewhere."
"Should we ask them?"
"Pico... are you sure about that?"
"Well, I don't exactly want to go through this whole place trying to find them. We can just wake one of them up and find out where they are, and let them go back to sleep. Simple."
"...If you say so..."
Looking over the three, Pico gently tried to shake Girlfriend awake, seeing as she was leaning on the armrest and therefore the closest to them.
Also her demon powers. Those could be helpful.
"Babe, I don't think this is worth it... we should try to find them on their own, it can't be that hard..."
Right after Ben finished his sentence, GF began to stir, softly groaning as her eyes opened a bit.
"...Ben? Ben's Pico...? What are... you two doing here...?"
"Sorry to wake you like this, G. We're just looking for Beeps and Soul. We were hoping one of you would know where they are."
"Oh... why...?"
"Just to talk to them, we haven't seen them in a while so..."
She smiled at Ben's addition, before nodding as she lifted her head slightly.
Her eye flashed red, and she pointed up.
"Rooftop..."
"Thanks, G. You can go back to sleep now."
"Mm... make sure they're safe, okay...?"
Pico nodded, and the two stepped away from the couch as Girlfriend fell back into a deep slumber.
"Well, you heard her. Let's go."
After a few minutes, the couple arrived at the top of the building, gently opening the door to see BF and Soul sitting at the edge of the rooftop.
There was gentle music - something Ben recognized to be a more lo-fi version of Lagtrain - coming from the guitar in Soul's hands, with the rapper humming along to it, leaning his head on his friend's shoulder in a way that wouldn't disrupt his playing.
It was a calm, serene moment, and the two almost felt bad for interrupting it.
Still, Ben cleared his throat and spoke, getting the duo's attention.
"Hey, guys...!"
They turned around, surprised to see who was standing there.
"Ben? Pico? What are you guys doing here?"
"Had to take a detour here again, you know how it is... hopefully you don't mind the two of us crashing here for a few hours. Sorry it had to be in the middle of the night."
For a second, Pico had looked almost... nervous saying that?
Either way, Soul shrugged it off. Probably a trick of the mind, he supposed.
"Nah, you guys are fine. Like we always say, you can crash whenever. Don't worry about it being so late at night, Bee tends to stay up that late anyway."
BF shot a glare at Soul before motioning for the two to sit by them on the roof, and they did.
"So, what have you guys been up to?"
"Nothing much... just the same as always, trying to enjoy some time together."
"Aw, how sweet!"
"Yeah, things have actually been pretty peaceful for us. What about you? Anything interesting happen lately?"
The two froze at Pico's question.
Should they really...?
"...Is something wrong? Did I say something?"
"Nonono, it's fine, everything's fine! Just a rough night."
Beside him, Soul let out a small, quiet huff.
At least it was somewhat the truth.
But still, why was Boyfriend even trying to hide it...?
"Oh... so I guess more nightmares then?"
"Yeah..."
Ben sucked in a breath, wincing in remorse.
"Yikes... I'm sorry about that, BF."
"It's okay, nothing I'm not used to."
"Alright... in that case, how's everyone else been? We saw GF, your Pico, and your brother sleeping on the couch..."
Soul shrugged.
"Eh, mostly just here for the night since they wanted to be. They've been just as fine as us."
If BF was playing a game of denial again, there wasn't much he could do at the moment besides help it along.
Benjamin gave a nod, fiddling with the paintbrush in his hands.
"That's good, at least."
"By the way, why exactly are you two up here? I mean, I can guess it was the nightmare, but it's still really weird to catch you guys here instead of inside."
"Well, I come up here sometimes to get my mind off of things, especially with the bad dreams and all. It's relaxing, in a way."
"I can see why. You've got a pretty good view of some of the city from here."
"And that's why it's the best place to chill and hang out."
"...Better than inside?"
"Pfft- at this time of night, there's really nothing you can do inside, Ben."
His other self laughed at that, finding himself agreeing.
"Really? Nothing whatsoever?"
"Well, saying 'nothing' is a bit of an understatement. We just can't do anything because the others are sleeping."
Pico facepalmed, slightly annoyed that he didn't think of that.
"That makes better sense."
"Well... I did just hear you guys playing Lagtrain...?"
"Oh- yeah, that was all Bee's idea. I wanted to play something chill and that was the first thing he said when I asked for suggestions. Why, Grace still obsessed with that song?~"
"Yup. Starting to think Beeps shouldn't have spilled that playlist of his when he came to visit a while ago."
"Hey, I gave Ben the opportunity to hear the beauty that is Rolling Girl, I did you guys a favor."
"Just be glad he didn't show you the ENTIRE playlist, otherwise we'd be here discussing that thing all night~"
"うるさい." [Shut up.]
Soul just snickered in response.
"I still like that song though!"
"And I can't blame you!"
"So if we're done discussing BF's sister's 'epic music', you guys wouldn't mind us chilling here with you for a while, would you?"
"Oh, sure! We were getting kinda bored here anyway..."
"Good, we just wanna make sure you guys are doing alright and all."
BF paused at that statement, especially when Pico seemed for a split second like he'd wanted to backpedal.
"...Okay...?"
And there was that weird tension again.
They could dismiss it for now.
The four's conversation had gone from their worlds to silly little stories they had happen to each other, but nothing was able to dissolve the unease lurking in the distance.
Nor the questions running through both sides' minds.
"...And that was when Sven called out the guy for not minding his own business, and he got mad and stormed off. It was kinda scary, but sweet in hindsight."
"Heh, glad he was able to drive him away. Maybe you should take me to meet him someday, Ben, he seems pretty cool."
"Sure! As long as you guys aren't busy."
"As if we ever are."
"Oh, that reminds me, Neo and B3 wanted to ask about watching Princess Mononoke next Saturday if you want. Shaya keeps saying it's a really good movie, and since it's gonna be in Japanese, we thought to invite you."
"You better hope he doesn't spoil everything while you're watching, Ben."
Boyfriend crossed his arms and pouted at Pico's assumption, but he knew he was just joking around.
"Bold of you to assume I've seen it-"
"He has."
"Soul!"
"Pfft- I told you."
"Relax, I won't spoil anything. But Shaya IS right. Hopefully you're watching it with English subs though, because I am NOT translating everything for you guys."
He took the opportunity to joke right back, getting a small laugh out of Benjamin.
"Point taken."
"By the way... you two plan on heading back inside at some point?"
"Yeah, we won't stay up here forever. Just wanted a change of scenery."
"Fair enough. Still, it was kind of weird coming here to check on you and not seeing you insi-"
"Ben."
Pico cut him off and he froze, realizing what he just said.
"...Oops."
Something had finally started to give.
"Alright, I think there's probably something that you guys want to tell us, isn't there? It's clear you came here for something else, and now I have to know what."
"...What are you t-talking about? We don't-"
"Toughie... it's fine. We should've probably told them anyway."
"Told us... what?"
Pico took in a deep breath before finally speaking.
"Okay, Softie. If you think so."
Ben then turned to the duo, starting to explain.
"We, um... didn't come here just to say hi. Our 'Mix' self, he came to us a few hours before this, said something happened to you guys and he wanted us to stop by and make sure you were okay."
"...He didn't tell you what happened?"
Pico shook his head.
"Nah. He felt it was 'too upsetting', so he refused to say anything. We were hoping you would, though. Unless it's really that bad."
Boyfriend couldn't help but wince, and Soul looked away.
"...Was it actually that bad?"
"Well..."
Pico looked away, mumbling under his breath.
"I had a feeling you two were also tense about something anyway."
"Y-You don't have to answer that, we just-"
"No, no, it's okay. We can tell you."
"But it's not easy to say, and there's really no way we can sugarcoat it. Just letting you know."
The two thought for a moment before nodding, ready to hear whatever the news was.
Sucking in a breath, Boyfriend let himself speak.
"That thing from my dreams attacked us again. And Soul... might've almost been killed."
Both of them reacted in shock, Benjamin in particular covering his mouth with a gasp.
"What? Did it really-?"
"Yeah. We don't know why, but it did."
Suddenly, Ben had rushed forward to hug the two, who quickly returned the embrace as an attempt at comfort.
"I... I-I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. We're still glad you came to visit."
"Honestly? Now so are we. Damn... didn't think that was ever gonna happen to you guys."
"...You wouldn't be the first."
And slowly, the three pulled back from the hug, Ben still concerned.
"I guess that explains the nightmares, then..."
BF just nodded, not willing to explain any further.
"God... I can't believe all that time ago, you came to us to talk about that one dream you had, and now... here we are..."
There was a pause.
"Do you even know what that thing is? Or why it's even after you?"
With a sigh, and seeing that Boyfriend was still staying quiet, Soul was the one to answer the artist's question.
"No. And honestly, I think it's starting to get to him a little bit. He came close to screaming about how much he wanted it dead before everyone went to sleep."
At that, Pico winced.
"I wouldn't be surprised. It's put you two through a lot. ...Are you okay with talking about what exactly happened?"
"Maybe... maybe another time. Not right now."
Pico nodded in understanding, before Benjamin spoke up again.
"Is... there anything we can do to help?"
And finally, BF broke his silence, swiftly responding.
"Well, B-Mix went back to his universe looking for answers, but there isn't much any of us can do right now."
"No, it's okay. I'm just glad to know that you two are alright. ...Er, mostly."
"Yeah... we still have each other, and that's all that matters."
"Hm, you guys are still standing strong after everything it's done to you, so I wouldn't argue with that."
"But, really, are you okay? I don't think it was exactly easy for you to almost lose him..."
The rapper sighed, looking away.
"No... no, it wasn't. But I don't want to pretend it never happened either. One way or another, we're gonna do something about that thing."
Pico nodded.
"That's a good start. You sure you two are gonna be able to handle it together, though?"
"Mm, right now we're trying to bounce back, but we're sure. Otherwise, we wouldn't exactly be thinking about doing that."
"Yeah, I think we need some time around just each other for a bit."
Once again, they smiled at each other.
"Alright. But... if you need anything at all from us, then let us know, okay?"
"Heh, we will, Ben. Thank you."
The alternate him in question smiled back.
"I'm glad that Mix told us about it though. At least you're going to have more than your own universe by your side, right?"
"Mhm. Besides, who knows? I might need that help at some point."
"That was... kind of what I meant?"
"Ah- right, my bad."
The group snickered a bit at the rapper's slip-up.
But, it made it clear that by now, the worst of the conversation was over.
And then the moment was humorously broken by BF yawning.
"Oh, is someone tired?~"
"Shut up..."
Pico let out a slight chuckle at the scene.
"Yeah, I think maybe we should head back inside. You two probably need the rest anyway."
"I want to disagree, but I feel much better about being cozy in bed than being outside any longer, so sure."
A few minutes later, the two had arrived back to BF's room - and when they opened the door, they were surprised to see the classic Pico just barely waking up on the other side.
GF and BB were still sound asleep, however.
"Huh? Pico- my Pico?"
At hearing BF's surprised whispering, he looked up, seeing the boy and his soul.
"...Bee...? ...The fuck are you two doing awake?"
"Hi, BF's Pico!"
That was when the mercenary noticed the two alternate selves standing next to BF and Soul.
"Oh... hey."
"Sooooo what woke you up?"
"My own damn self apparently... I ain't tryna sleep after this for a while, I can already tell."
As if on cue, BF yawned again, getting Pico to snicker a little.
"Bee definitely needs sleep though."
The rapper in question rolled his eyes.
"No I don't."
"Yeah ya fuckin' do, your eyes are half-lidded and shit."
"Shut uuuuuppp..."
"We're just gonna get him to sleep. We'll be back...!"
Despite his other self's protesting, Benjamin began guiding him back to his room while both Picos nodded at each other as a small greeting.
But, as the other three continued toward BF's room, Soul called out to them.
"Hold on, I'm gonna stay behind for a second. Just go on, I'll catch up, okay?"
"Oh... you sure, 魂...?"
Soul nodded, and Boyfriend nodded back as the three entered his room.
Pico turned to face him now that he was the only other person awake with him.
"Did ya wanna talk to me or somethin'?"
"I just... I never got to thank you."
"Huh?"
"You know... for saving my life. If you hadn't been there, or c-came here when you did, I... I don't think I'd still be..."
Pico paused, realizing where he was going.
He stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, come on. You’re my friend. I was just doin’ what I could, and that was looking out for ya.”
Soul couldn’t keep himself from smiling at the reassurance as Pico pulled away and sat back down on the couch, grabbing the TV remote.
He started to walk away towards where the other three were, but stopped.
"But really, though. Thank you."
"Yeah, you're welcome."
He smiled again, starting to walk to BF's room for real-
"Hey, since when were ya the sentimental one?"
"Go the fuck back to sleep."
Pico laughed a bit. He was clearly deflecting, the smile on his face gave it away.
"I just woke up, dumbass. You go sleep."
The two laughed off their banter, and Soul entered BF's room - where he was immediately met by BF still trying to stay awake while the Soft duo was trying for the complete opposite.
"You know we're just going to stay in this room until you decide to finally sleep, right?"
"Well, looks like you're gonna be here for a while then dude."
Benjamin let out a little giggle at the bickering, while Soul rolled his eyes.
"Bee, come on. You should definitely get rest now."
"Mmm... fiiiiiiiine..."
As Boyfriend took off the zip-up hoodie he'd been wearing, Soul sat next to him on the bed, playfully pushing him down to lay on it (and BF immediately sat right back up after to just as playfully glare at him).
Ben's Pico shook his head fondly, rolling his eyes at the scene, before he and Ben began walking back out of the room, intending to let the two sleep.
However, the latter stopped at the door, looking back at the duo.
"Are you... sure you guys will be okay?"
They immediately knew what he meant by that.
"Yeah, we're sure. ...Thanks for worrying, though."
Ben smiled, nodding before starting to leave the room.
"Oh, and actually try to get some sleep!"
The door closed, and BF immediately looked at Soul with a pointed stare.
"You heard him."
"I think at this point, we BOTH need it."
"You need it more though. You REFUSED to sleep earlier, man."
His friend let out a sigh at that.
"I know."
"...That was for a reason, then, wasn't it?"
He gave a nod in response, and Boyfriend came to a small realization.
"...Are you afraid to?"
The other stayed silent, but looked away, and that was enough of an answer for him.
"魂, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm right here with you."
"It's not that simple, I'm just... worried I won't-"
"Soul."
Gently, he placed his hands on the other's shoulders to comfort him, and it got him to look up at BF.
"Nothing's going to happen to you in your sleep, okay? I'll be here, I promise."
A few seconds passed before finally, Soul let out a deep breath and nodded, and Boyfriend gently pushed him down to lay on the bed.
"You and I will still be here when you wake up, alright?"
Soul hummed in understanding, before scooting closer to BF to wrap his arms around him, and he did the same in return.
The silence now passed them by comfortably...
...Until thoughts from his earlier nightmare started to seep into the young rapper's mind.
What it had said to him, the ideas planted in his head because of it... among a few other things.
One last question came to him, and he couldn't stop himself from letting it spill out.
"...Soul...?"
"What's wrong? You okay?"
"...Do you think that we're a weakness to each other?"
"...Bee, what's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, it was just something that thing said after it ambushed me... it hasn't really left my head."
He paused for a moment, until his hold on BF tightened a little in reassurance.
"Boyfriend, come on. Don't let whatever it says get to you. Every time that thing's thrown something at us, we've managed to save each other from it, and that's all because of how much you care about me, and how much I care about you. So no, I wouldn't say that's a weakness."
To his relief, BF smiled, finally starting to let the sleep take over.
"Yeah... I guess you're right, heh..."
Boyfriend hugged him a little tighter, and Soul wrapped his tail around him in response, feeling the drowsiness himself.
Hm.
Maybe he could stand to rest his eyes for a little while.
When Benjamin came back to leave them a note before he and his Pico left for the night, he was happy to see the two peacefully asleep in that warm embrace.