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“Mistah Phone..” a weak voice had croaked out.
Turning his head, Mephone had locked eyes with none other than Toilet.
The white-haired man was hunched over, arm grasping his left shoulder with faint traces of blood that made Mephone’s face flicker with emotion. He had a limp, favoring his right leg over his left despite the strong bruises and gashes on both legs that could be seen through the torn pants.
“I wanted to help more, I- I just couldn’t..”
Mephone, fully facing Toilet, could barely bite down the guilt laced within his words, “You gave over too much of yourself, Toilet.. I never deserved you as an assistant.”
Toilet’s eyes, shining with unhushed tears, crinkled with emotion. His lip wobbled a bit as he and Mephone silently talked with their eyes.
A few feet from behind, a short blonde stared on impassively. Her eyes danced around the open field for a moment, before she resolved to fully turn her head around. A sensation of dread seeped in through her bones, settling in at the bottom of her stomach as her heart started to beat quicker.
Her face dawning with realization that he wasn’t there, she jolted up in barely concealed panic, “Wait-!..”
Toilet had turned around, along with Mephone looking over the other man’s shoulder at Taco. The young woman’s eyes were slightly wide with alarm, as she barely flinched back when the others had glanced at her as well.
“W-Where’s Mepad?” she had hesitantly asked with some sense of urgency in her tone, her trembling hands now clasped tightly together by her chest.
Mephone’s heart sank.
He stood as still as a rock, his eyes locked onto the gut-wrenching sight in front of him. He took a breath quietly, his chest rising slowly. Mephone parted his lips to say something- anything, something to answer her question.
Mephone had never felt more uncomfortable in his blood-soaked suit.
Awkwardly averting his gaze to the side, he bit his wobbling lip to keep himself from saying something he’d regret. He was never good with words to begin with. His mind raced, scraping every single nook and cranny, to muster up the courage to tell Taco that-
That.. he-
Mephone curled his hands into fists, a very dark and gloomy expression had settled on his face, one of mourning.
From his peripheral vision, he could see the realization kicking in for the others. Many with their mouths agape, a few looking shocked, some looking mildly uncomfortable, a person or two simply bowering their head with respect.
The humandroid slowly turned back to what was in front of him.
The red-haired twins, holding hands, looked sympathetically sad. Microphone’s shoulders had been hunched up, her mouth hanging open in shock as her wide eyes stared back at Mephone’s. Soap wasn’t faring much different, the girl’s hands hanging limply at her sides, staring in silent horror.
It seemed that they, including Mephone, had the same mindset as he finally glanced down towards Taco, who had been standing between them.
Whether it was bravery or fear that compelled Mephone to finally take in Taco’s expression, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter, not one bit. It was almost as if time itself had slowed down, his breath being sucked out of his lungs.
Taco had a blank expression on her face, her lips slightly parted as she seemed to be processing what Mephone’s look had meant. A harsh gasp from the blonde woman broke the deafening silence of the crowd, both alerting those next to her and squeezing Mephone’s mechanical heart.
Tears had gathered in her eyes, her knees buckling beneath her. She slumped down to the floor, her hands desperately wiping away at her face, before she just buried her head in her hands completely. Heartbroken cries made their way up her throat, as her body had viciously trembled, her shoulders jerking upwards from her hiccuping.
Microphone had gotten down on one knee next to her, gently placing a hand on her head. Her other hand had curled into a fist as her expression shifted to one of pure hatred, as she had ushered out a quiet, ‘that monster..’
Distantly, another voice had started to speak to Mephone, the soft tone of hesitance being drowned out by Taco’s heart in her ears. She felt Microphone slowly pull her to her feet, hugging the blonde closely to her chest, muttering quiet words of condolences that carefully drowned out the white noise ringing in her ears.
At Mephone suddenly speaking up, Microphone glanced over at him as the two separated, a gentle hand resting on Taco’s shoulder.
“..n’t do it for me, he loved you all so much-” the humandroid had paused his eyes scanning across the crowd, landing on Taco for a brief moment, “all of you. No matter what, ..and I know he was proud.”
Toilet had said something in reply, and a few others had started talking in the distance, walking away towards something.
Taco didn’t care to look. Her mind, full of static, could only repeat one phrase over and over.
He was dead.
He’s gone.
A sudden pang of fear and dread hit Taco full force, as she shakily took in a harsh breath. Her legs were weak, her eyes were blurry, her face burning an irritated red from the harsh fabric of her sleeve rubbing back and forth against it.
She felt herself being lowered to the floor, not at all processing who or what it was. Someone had kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands into their own. The familiar action had harshly clashed with the unfamiliar feeling.
He used to do this all the time to help her calm down. She had found comfort in feeling along the indents of the mechanical joints, the cool silicone skin over metal that would help ground her to reality.
His voice, quiet yet powerfully calming, would utter words of affection and concern in her panicked state. His thumb would methodically rub back and forth over her knuckles as her mind would steadily clear with each passing second.
And finally, she would look up at him with a shaky breath, bright green eyes meeting glowing purple and blue, and he would smile softly with a gentle, ‘There you are.’
But when Taco looked up, and locked eyes with Microphone’s worried dark gray ones, she could only stare with a devastating lack of emotion as tears silently cascaded down her face, dripping at her chin.
Even when Microphone gently tugged her closer, tucking Taco’s head under her own, the blonde could only stare in silent despair.
Mepad was dead, and he was never coming back.