Chapter Text
It’s done.
The truth.
It’s finally out.
Sunny clenched his teeth hard, squeezing his eyes—eye—Basil had stabbed out his right eye shut. He braced himself for anger; for shouting, for accusations, for someone asking what the hell was wrong with him to make such a sick joke. His fists curled tightly at his sides.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” he mumbled—some of the first words he’d spoken in a long while. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he kept his head bowed, unable to look at them. “It’s true. I—I’m so sorry…”
“Sunny,” Aubrey murmured. Sunny tensed, waiting for their outburst.
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
Sunny looked up. His friends were staring at him in complete bewilderment. Aubrey’s eyebrow was raised so high it nearly vanished into her bangs, and Kel was frozen mid-sip of his Orange Joe, the can hovering inches from his mouth. Basil lay motionless on his hospital bed, the only signs of life the soft snores slipping from his lips and the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
They must’ve been in shock. Sunny took another deep breath. “I… I killed Mari, Aubrey. It was my fault!” Tears kept flowing down his eye, as he pounded his chest with his fist. “I pushed her! She’s dead because of me! I did this—”
So consumed by his self-hatred, Sunny hadn’t even noticed Aubrey until she was inches from him—her hands clamped tightly around his shoulders, shaking him as hard as she could.
“Sunny!” she yelled, jostling him violently. “What. The. Hell. Are. You. Talking. About?!”
“I killed her! I killed her!” Sunny repeated, tears violently escaping his eye.
“What? Sunny—are you high!?” Aubrey yelled, continuing to shake Sunny.
“It’s my fault!” Sunny cried.
“Sunny, how hard did Basil hit you!?” Aubrey screamed.
“I… Deserve this!” Sunny let out again. “I killed her!”
“Stop! He’s going to throw up!” Kel yelled, running up to stop Aubrey from giving Sunny a concussion. His can was now balanced delicately on Basil’s forehead. “You’re going to give him a second concussion! Stop! He's losing brain cells at a rapid rate now!”
Aubrey kept shaking Sunny drastically, basically throwing the smaller boy around like a gerbil in a blender. “Hey! Are you high!?”
“No! I’m not high!” Sunny shouted, momentarily thrown out of his guilt by Aubrey’s violent assault. “Okay—stop shaking me!” From the corner of his eye, Sunny saw Basil finally stir, his body tensing as his eyelids fluttered—
Then the can of Joe slipped. Orange Joe spilled across Basil’s hospital gown and soaked into the blanket beneath him. The icy fizz jolted him awake instantly. “I—what the—” he sputtered, staring down at the mess spreading across his chest. “It’s c–cold as hell!” His head snapped up, eyes locking immediately onto Kel.
“Shit!” Kel exclaimed, grabbing the can as fast as he could. “I’m sorry! The desk was full!”
“Why the f–fuck would you put your drink… On my head!?” Basil shouted, despite his stuttering, scrambling out of the hospital bed in his gown, fury cutting straight through the lingering grogginess. “H–hold it in your hand, then, you f–fucking Mandarin!”
“Stop! Please!” Sunny yelped before Aubrey finally let go. The boy stumbled a bit, trying his best to stabilise himself from collapsing again and actually giving himself a concussion. Too late. Sunny lurched, retching violently into the trash can by the door. Spit and bile dripped as he dragged his sleeve across his mouth.
“Ah, jeez,” Kel covered his mouth, glancing at the congealed mixture of spit, oil, and whatever bits of half-digested food he had in his stomach. Aubrey crossed her arms, concern and confusion on her face. Basil just shot him a weird look.
The room spun. His breaths came in ragged hitches. "I... I killed her."
Aubrey, Basil, and Kel looked at each other, both unsure what to say. Then, the door behind them opened.
“Sorry,” a familiar-sounding voice said—a very familiar, female voice. “Forgot my wallet on the desk.”
Sunny turned around, and his eye widened.
“Hey,” she asked, gesturing towards Sunny. “Aren’t you supposed to still be in bed?”
Mari?
Alive? But—
He twisted out of Aubrey’s grip, his gaze darting wildly around the room. The walls felt like they were closing in. His breaths came in ragged, panicked gasps. Sunny stepped toward. Mari, one hand reaching out to her. “I—I, no, that’s not—” He tried to force the words out, but they tangled and fell apart before he could speak them.
The guilt. The pain. The suffering. Had it all been a dream? Something his mind had conjured up on its own? Had all that build-up—all that fear—been for nothing? He couldn’t tell whether he felt relieved… or like he was about to throw up. Either way, he went in for a hug, pulling his big sister into him tightly.
Mari stiffened in surprise, then awkwardly patted his back with a tight, nervous smile. Her eyes flicked to the others, silently asking what the hell did you do?
“…Is he still on meds?” she asked quietly. “How hard did Basil hit him?”
Aubrey shrugged. “I dunno. He was… saying some nonsense about him killin’ you.”
Mari looked down at Sunny, one eyebrow lifting. “Is… is this about the incident four years ago?” she asked gently. “Sunny, it’s okay.” Her voice softened. “It’s over. I forgave you.”
Kel rubbed his chin, deep in thought, completely oblivious to the conversation around him. “Maybe… Mari fell down the stairs and cloned herself,” he said slowly, eyes lighting up as if he’d cracked the case. “So one copy died, and the other lived! Like how lizards lose their tails!”
Aubrey stared at him.
“…Kel, What?”
“I mean,” Kel muttered, undeterred, “stranger things have happened.”
“No, they haven’t,” Aubrey snapped, glancing around the room for support. Then again, louder, “No, they haven’t!”
Basil let out a slow breath, tuning the other two out. His voice was soft, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. “I—” He hesitated, then corrected himself. “W–we did the r–right thing in the end.”
Slowly, it all came back to Sunny. Mari had survived. Basil had called emergency services. But before he did, Sunny remembered the two of them kneeling beside Mari’s unconscious body, panic striking the two of them, when Basil had suddenly whispered it:
“We… We can still fix this, Sunny… I’ll protect you, however I can. We can keep this a secret.”
Of course, Sunny hadn’t gone along with it. Even though Mari made a full recovery, the damage was already done. Whatever Basil and Sunny had before that night—whatever trust or innocence they shared—never quite returned.
“Anyway,” Mari said, gently easing Sunny back and letting go of him. “Shouldn’t you still be in bed?”
“No, no,” Sunny muttered, stumbling back a step, still dizzy from earlier. “I—I’m fine.” He looked at her again, swallowing hard. He shook his head, trying to ground himself.
That explained all the “headspace” stuff. The dream where he fought his alter ego. All those twisted creatures—shaped by the comics he’d devoured as a kid, and the demon-spirit of his supposedly “dead” sister. He let out a weary sigh and looked back up at Mari.
Aubrey sighed, finally tearing her attention away from Kel. “You guys had, like, one fight when you were kids.” She paused. “You shoved her down the stairs, she got a few bruises, then Basil called emergency services. That’s it. She’s not dead.”
She shot Basil a sharp glance, giving him a once-over. “Speaking of fighting, why were you two brawling anyway?” She turned her glare back on Sunny, searching for answers.
Kel chimed in, dropping a hand onto Basil’s shoulder. “Yeah, dude, why were you two just banging it out in the room?”
Mari looked back at Sunny, her expression softening again. “Do you remember what happened, Sunny?” she asked gently.
Sunny’s eye flicked toward Basil, trying to piece it together. In his mind, they’d fought over him moving out of Faraway—their shared guilt over her supposed death chaining them together—Basil rambling about protecting him. Something, something about… something. The details were hazy. He knew his memory of it was warped.
"...We were just dumb kids! You need to let go of that!" Basil screamed, wildly swinging his garden shears. Sunny blocked with his forearm, the metal scraping skin before retaliating with a crunching uppercut to Basil's jaw.
"You! You suggested it!" Sunny tackled him, their bodies thudding against hardwood. The shears clattered away as Sunny pinned Basil, fist already swinging. "How could you!? How could you even think to do that to my sister!?" His knuckles smashed into cartilage; a wet crack filling the air.
"Ow! Y–you… g–gangly bitch!" Basil clutched his nose, now gushing blood rapidly. "Fuck, you broke my nose!" He rammed his knee upward, buckling Sunny's stance. He scrambled for the shears, blade gleaming as he aimed it shakily at Sunny. "C–c–come on then, you—"
Sunny lunged. Basil parried his attack, and with a metallic shunk, his shears plunged deep into Sunny’s right eye socket. A guttural scream tore through the room as viscous blood sheeted down Sunny’s face.
"Y–yeah!" Basil panted, staring at his blood-slick hands. "How d–does your… s–sweet-and-sour chicken ass like that?!" His victory dissolved as Sunny tackled him again, both boys crashing into a bookshelf.
Basil glanced back at Sunny, scratching the back of his neck. He glanced over at his friends, before lowering his head. “I… Don’t r–really remember either,” he mumbled in response.
Mari massaged her temples, exhaling loudly. "You two really don't remember anything about why you were beating each other up?”
Sunny shook his head. Aubrey shrugged, throwing her arm around Basil. “Ah, whatever,” she turned to Mari. “Can they be discharged, now?”
Mari was a bit taken aback, hesitating as she glanced back-and-forth between the two boys. “I—shouldn’t they stay in the hospital for a bit longer—I don’t think Sunny should be even out of—”
Kel leaned in towards Mari, a smirk on his face. “C’mon, Mari. They look fine.”
“Kel,” Mari said flatly.
“I mean, yeah, okay, I know they’re both still kind of concussed, but it’s okay!”
Mari pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh. “Sunny literally got his eye stabbed out; we should at least—”
Basil slowly raised a shaky hand, his fingers trembling. “I–I’m actually okay…”
Aubrey nodded, throwing her arm around his shoulder. “See? Fine. Plus, doctors are assholes. They all work for Blackrock and DARPA anyways.”
“He has a broken nose!” Mari snapped, gesturing sharply at the surgical tape across Basil’s face and the scratches trailing down his cheeks. “And he looks like hot shit! I think we should at least stay—”
“The longer we stay, the higher the medical bill—” Sunny bumped in, raising a finger.
“Yep, okay. Let’s go,” Mari said, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the door.
They barely made it ten steps down the hallway before a nurse snapped out from behind them. He was dressed in blue scrubs—a ginger twenty-something, probably a fresh graduate, with a messy fringe that kept falling into his eyes and a scatter of freckles dusting his nose and cheeks. He had a concerned expression on his face, pointing it back and forth between Basil and Sunny, his mouth parting as if he was trying to decide which one to address first.
“What are you—what are you two doing out?”
A doctor followed close behind—an older woman, her frayed hair grey. She had a clipboard in her hand, eyes already narrowing, jabbing a finger towards the two boys. “They’re still in their hospital gowns!”
Basil shrunk back a little like a cornered animal, his expression betraying his nervousness. Aubrey scoffed, crossing her arms. “Oh, who are you—Stalin? Relax, dude, we’re just walking.”
“You,” she jabbed a finger towards both Sunny and Basil. “Are not clear for discharge.”
Mari turned around, plastering on a polite, exhausted smile. “I understand, but they said they’re fine.”
The doctor’s eye twitched, her confusion growing further. “You… Are aware that—”
“Yes, yes—possible death, destruction, doom,” Mari waved her off, her facade dropping and a disinterested expression on her face. “Where do we sign?”
“Why are you in such a hurry to leave anyways!?” The doctor asked, her confusion slowly converting to concern.
“Because it’s boring here,” Kel added, a smirk on his face as he leaned against the hospital wall, crossing his arms. “That’s why.” He gave a wink and a nod to the nurse. “But if you wanna go somewhere less boring—”
Sunny whacked Kel on the shoulder. “She’s, like, twice your age,” he retorted. “Calm down, illiterate casanova.”
The doctor ignored him, letting out a sigh. “Jesus—okay, you can sign an ADA by the reception.”
The reception desk was a flurry of papers as Sunny and Basil were each handed clipboards thick with forms. They scrawled out their information as fast as they could—the longer they lingered here, the higher the bill would climb. Nearby doctors cast disapproving glances in their direction, clearly unimpressed by the chaos.
Aubrey leaned over Basil’s shoulder, reading through the forms, while Mari was on her phone, most likely texting Hero to come pick them up from the hospital. Meanwhile, Kel was being reprimanded by a pair of very burly security guards—probably for flirting with the forty-something-year-old doctor. That, or for stealing the cotton balls and 'tongue depressors' from the office.
“T–this one says… I a–acknowledge that l–leaving may result in h–h–health complications,” Basil read aloud, glancing over at Aubrey.
“Sign it,” Aubrey said.
“T–this one j–just says I can die.”
“Sign it.”
Sunny scribbled his name shakily, barely reading past the bold warnings. Basil hesitated, then signed as well, wincing as he bent over the desk.
“There,” the receptionist said curtly, grabbing the forms from the two boys. “You’re officially discharged…. Against medical advice.” He slid the two envelopes across the counter—a pair of plain, white-paper envelopes. “Your itemised medical bills.”
Basil grabbed his envelope, snatching it out of their hand. He noticed the thickness of the bill and immediately turned pale. “Oh, h–hell no!” He said, bolting out of the hospital.
“Wait!—” Mari shouted. Basil was already halfway down the hallway, his gown flapping behind him like a surrender flag. Sunny stared after him, then slowly looked down at his own envelope.
With a shaky hand, he ripped open the seal flap and slid out the paper that contained his bill. He scanned the page. First once, then twice.
“...Five digits,” he whispered. He looked up at the receptionist, and turned and ran.
“HEY—!” Kel yelped, pushing past a security guard and nearly toppling an old pensioner as he barrelled down after him. “WAIT FOR US! I’M NOT GOING INTO DEBT OVER YOU TWO FUCKS!”
Aubrey sprinted after them. “DEBT IS A LIBERAL MYTH!” she yelled, their voice carrying over the hallway.
Mari turned around to the reception, then back to the hallway, and sprinted after them as well, blowing past a nurse.
“Hey! We've got you on camera!” yelled the receptionist out to them. “You still have to—” He trailed off. “...pay…”
The five of them burst through the doors, sprinting past the automatically opening entrance and straight toward a waiting Hero. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Sunny and Basil still dressed in hospital gowns, but opened the van door anyway. He was still in his military uniform, fresh off duty from the local base. “You guys sure are in a rush,” he muttered as the minivan’s doors slid open automatically. “What’s the occasion?”
The others piled in with varying degrees of success—Sunny and Basil climbed in first, followed by Aubrey and Kel practically throwing themselves into the back seat, with Mari slamming the door shut behind them.
“Shut up and drive!” Kel yelled, slamming his hand against the back of the seat. “We’re going to get billed five figures!”
“Oh—shit,” Hero yelped, throwing the van into drive and peeling out of the lot, narrowly missing a Nissan pulling to park. The van lurched forward, tires screeching as Hero floored it out of the hospital lot.
"Drive, motherfucker! Drive like it's Fallujah!" Aubrey yelled. "Do it for George Bush! For America!"
"Can this piece-of-shit van move any slower?" Sunny asked sarcastically, glancing back out the window towards the hospital.
"I'm literally slamming the gas pedal!"
"Move your ass, Hero! You drive like a pensioner!"
"G–Guys, they probably still have us on camera..."