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Jeremy, Frankie, and Felix all sat at a booth at a pizza restaurant they'd found. Since they'd left Stagtown, Jeremy's bank cards worked again. They'd spent the past year just traveling from town to town, trying to get as far from Stagtown as they could, but every place they settled in ended up having something weird going on causing them to all freak out and leave. Soon after the events of the finale, they had to turn Ashley over to the authorities. Things hadn't felt as hopeful or bright since that tearful goodbye. Every town they went to had something weird going on. Some places they'd stayed there for a few weeks, others a few days. They didn't know what to do, and they'd spent so much time traveling and worrying about the places they were staying that they'd barely had time to figure out how to get Frankie and Felix's memories back, or find their families. They'd been given a phone number to be able to call Ashley, and were told that once they'd gotten back on their feet they could apply to adopt her, but it'd been over a week since they'd last called. Now, after around a year of traveling, they sit in a pizza shop on the east coast, Frankie and Felix looking looking and feeling very defeated, while Jeremy looks anxious and his eyes keep darting around. They wait for their order in silence, Littles in her bag.
Jeremy: I'm telling you guys, I saw them! We've gotta leave this town, now!
Frankie: Jeremy, we've been traveling for over a year, we're on the other side of the country, I don't think there's anywhere else we could go.
Jeremy: We drove right through Washington, we didn't even give Seattle a chance!
Felix: Well, that's because someone insisted that we just kept driving and driving all night after that experience with that place in Oregon. We were there so short I can't even remember the name of the place!
Jeremy: I'm pretty sure it was something like Gravity Falls.
Frankie: Gods, this is just like last year! The entity is probably dead, but it still has us getting boxed into smaller and smaller places until there's nowhere left to hide! And now you'e just straight up hallucinating!
Jeremy: I'm telling you, there were two little metal people running around the library! One of them was purple, and the other was super dark grey and seemed kind of scared of the purple one! They were on the top shelf and they were talking about me!
*****
Frankie and Felix were in the bathroom of the library, washing up after they left the previous town so fast they didn't even have time to brush their teeth. While jeremy is waiting for them, he decides to browse the books, and see if he can find anything about the history of the new town they were in. He scanned the shelves, Buddy staring down at him with fear while Violet remained fixated on the people at the front desk. As Jeremy's eyes rose up the shelves, Buddy shook Violet by the shoulder.
Violet: What have I told you of shaking me?! Do it one more time and-
Buddy: Look!
Buddy points down at Jeremy, who heard Violet and is now looking directly up at them.
Violet: Why didn't you tell me that the humans could look up!?
Buddy: I did! Hundreds of times, Violet, but you never listen!
Violet: You dare snap at me!?
Buddy: I-I'm sorry-
Violet: I thought I'd taught you better than that. And to think you wouldn't notice how the others in his group seemed to treat him. He is what the humans call a 'kook'. Such a silly word. They won't take him seriously enough to investigate.
Jeremy: Why are you so mean? And what are you? Who are you?
Violet: I'm the villainess, dear. Now shoo, we have no business with the humans.
Buddy: We need to go hide, now!
Violet: But seeing how his friends react will be very entertaining.
Buddy: Sure, it'll be very entertaining to get caught, and then once they figure out what we're for, they probably won't let us go. Now we need to hide!
Violet: Oh, Noxy, always so anxious. If you really feel the need to hide, then go hide in your box. I'm staying put.
*****
Frankie rolls her eyes, and they end up landing on the other side of the room, where someone is staring at them. He looks almost exactly like that guy they stole that car from, just in a different art style. He notices them, and then turns back to the person sitting across from him.
Deacon: Chase, did you hear what they were talking about?
Chase: What? Who?
Deacon: Them, over there.
Chase: Oh, that throuple? You should really mind your own business-
Deacon: Chase, listen! One of them just said they saw two little metal people running around in the library!
Frankie: Do you think they're talking about us?
Felix: I'm surprised anyone else survived the town collapsing!
Jeremy: I told you, we should leave!
Frankie: Gods, what if it's not dead? What if it's everywhere!?
Bronze and Silver were sitting on Deacon and Chase's Shoulders, concealed by their hoods.
Deacon: They said two metal people, one was dark grey, and one was purple.
Silver: That would be Nox and Violet!
Deacon: and if Violet's there, that would lead us to Buddy!
Chase: So are we gonna go investigate or something?
Deacon: First I think we should go ask them a few more questions about what they saw.
Chase: Ughhhhhhhhhh, fine........
Felix, Jeremy, and Frankie all watch them get up and walk over to them, almost shaking with fear thinking about the possibility that the entity could be everywhere, and it's found them again. Deacon gets up to their table, and begins to speak.
Deacon: Hi-
Jeremy grabs one of the menus and starts whacking him with it.
Jeremy: WE. DON'T. WANT. YOUR. MOLDY. BREAD! JUST. LEAVE. US. ALONE!
Deacon: Ah! Stop it!
Frankie: Jeremy! Stop! Look!
She points at littles and she is as calm as can be.
Frankie: If the entity were near us, she'd be growling.
Deacon: Wait, what is the- actually, no, more important question:
He takes Bronze off of his shoulder and sets him down on the table.
Deacon: Did the little metal people you saw look anything like this?
Bronze: 'sup?
Felix and Frankie both jump and scream.
Jeremy: Yes! Yes they did!
Felix: Ok, so there really is something wrong with this town then-
Chase: No, no, it's not the town itself, I'm pretty sure it's just contained to us, the library, and a few other people outside of town.
Frankie: So what is this thing that's happening?
Deacon: We'll explain if you show us where those other two people were.
Felix: Could you give us a minute?
Frankie, Felix, and Jeremy huddle up around the table, and whisper.
Felix: I think J's right, we should just book it. We've seen the entire northern half of the US, let's try the southern half.
Frankie: I think we should stay in California. It's huge, we should just drive a few hours south and find another town.
Jeremy: Actually, I think we should stay.
Felix and Frankie both look at him with the expression of "What the fuck we left half of those places that were pretty nice and you said you wanted to leave but now you want to stay when we want ot leave?"
Jeremy: he said that the problem was contained to only a few people! And we don't even know what this problem is yet, so I think we should just do what Freckles said, and they seem pretty calm so maybe the problem isn't that bad!
Deacon: Hey, only Buddy's allowed to call me that!
Felix: Can it, Freckles!
Frankie: ok, yeah, let's just do what they say, for now, but if it starts getting sketchy we run, ok?
Felix and Jeremy: Ok.
They all rise from the huddle.
Jeremy: We will show you where we saw those other little metal people. After we eat lunch though, we're starving.
Deacon: Deal.
Once their food arrives they all eat lunch and then the Stagtown crew leads them to the library. A few minutes before they arrived, Buddy had come back to check on Violet.
Buddy: Oh thank the gods you're safe.
Violet: Thank no one, I was right. His friends did not believe him, not one bit. Humans are just so stupid, that they deem the smartest of them 'insane'.
Buddy: What if we're not so lucky next time? What if he comes back and doesn't wait for his friends, and just takes us himself?
Violet: He seemed far to meek to have that kind of courage. The smart ones are often as anxious as you, Noxy.
Jeremy: Ahem.
They both look down with shock at the group of five staring right back up at them.
Buddy: Chase?! D- Freckles!? H- w- Violet I knew we should've hid! Those are the humans from the books!
Chase: Buddy!? You're- You're a key!?
Buddy: So you know how i kept telling you I needed to talk to you about something?
Violet: You were going to tell him!?
Deacon: You've been a key, hiding in the library, right under our noses, THIS WHOLE TIME!? You have to be fucking kidding me!
Jeremy: Shush, we're in a library!
Deacon reaches his obscenely long arm up and grabs Buddy so he can yell at him quieter.
Deacon: So if you're a key, then what the fuck have you been doing!? You can't even collect narratonin, are you literally just bullying us out of books for the hell of it!?
Buddy: Right, about that-
Suddenly, they hear a very small and cvnty war-cry, as Violet descends onto Deacon.
Violet: Unhand him, you fiend!
Deacon Stumbles backwards and trips over, dropping Buddy as Violet continues hitting him. Bronze crawls out of Deacon's hood and grabs her, while Chase picks Buddy back up.
Chase: You have a lot of explaining to do, mister.
Buddy: I've been trying to tell you that for like half a season!
Deacon stands up, with Violet and Bronze still fighting in his hands.
Violet: How dare you! I am your older sister! How dare you assault me in such a way!
Bronze: You attacked first!
Deacon pulls them apart and holds them in separate hands.
Felix: Alright, so are you going to explain what's going on now?
Chase: Oh yeah, that!
Chase explains everything they already know to the Stagtown characters.
Chase: ...and yeah, that's pretty much it. But there's probably a lot more to it, isn't there?
He says, looking down at Buddy in his palm.
Buddy: yes, but I'd rather explain that to you in private. And I know that me of all people should not even consider having the privilege of asking questions, but who are those people?!
Chase: Oh, they're just some people we met at lunch who keep talking about some 'entity.'
Deacon: We overheard them talking about how they saw you two, and you were making fun of Jeremy.
Frankie: So, the stuff that's going on in this town is that you found these keys that let you enter into books as set archetypes, and then your enjoyment of those stories gets converted into this wish juice stuff, and you're gathering it to save your mum because she's really sick and you've had to give up your dream of becoming a star to do it? And the only thing standing in your way is basically just the book mafia, which you thought he was a part of, but now you know that he's one of the keys but all this time you thought he was being forced to work fro them against his will so you've also been trying to save him and in the process you fell in love with him!?
Chase: W-well, I wouldn't say love just yet-
Frankie: That is just so- It's just so wholesome! Guys, we have to stay here, it's like a kids show!
Felix: You're right, this is amazing! I think we could finally get an apartment and start the paperwork to adopt Ashley back!
Jeremy: There's paranormal stuff that isn't trying to kill us!
The three of them group hug while crying tears of joy over finally finding the perfect place for them to stay, after being homeless for a year.
Deacon: May we ask what the entity was? And who Ashley is?
Jeremy: Oh, yeah, so basically...
They explain the events of Stagtown to them, Chase, Deacon, Violet, Silver, and Bronze look back at them horrified.
Buddy: When I was about 17, I tried to go straight but I didn't have any skills so I became a sin eater for a month. It was awful, the bread was always stale or moldy, whatever drink they gave you was disgusting, you had to travel so far out just for that, and they only gave you like three coins! And you were always around sick and dead people! And every time I went into one of those houses I couldn't help myself from stealing something anyways, so I just quit and went back to being a thief. You lot made the right choice getting out of there. The type of people who hired sin eaters were just the worst!
Frankie: Tell me about it!
Deacon: Wait, Buddy, how old are you?
Violet: Oh, Nox is our littlest brother, he's only about 184.
They talked for a bit longer, and then went their separate ways. Chase and Deacon gathered all of Violet and Buddy's stuff, and then took them back to the house. Frankie, Jeremy, and Felix got a hotel room, and started searching for apartments and jobs, finally feeling like they were actually safe for the first time in a very long time.