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It was quite a normal day, Slingshot was just cleaning tabletops, while Skateboard was helping him organize the groceries. Coil got sentenced to dish duty for terrorizing the customers, and Boombox was working the register. Customers were walking in and out, some with smiles, and some with not. Surely nothing would go wrong.
Walking down the street back to the old apartment building that Shuriken and Slingshot lived in, they talked about how Parrot became king of the very stable smp. And then, it suddenly happened; one second ago Slingshot was talking about how he missed the Visible Mafia arc.He didn’t realize that the traffic light turned green. He was walking calmly,then …“CRASH,” then a truck came approaching him.
It was swift and brief, Slingshot wasn’t looking at the road. As his dead body lay on the hard asphalt, the truck ran away. Skid marks appeared on the road. The truck was gone. A hit & run they said. Shuriken grabbed his phone and called emergency services. Trying his best not to cry. The Silver Shadow was holding back tears, how many? Well too many.
“Skate. Slingshot got hit by a car.”
“Wait are you frfr”
“ He did, please come”
“On my way rn,”
“Quickly please Skate,”
“I’ll bring Coil and Boombox”
Shuriken sat on the bench with his roommate, maybe spending his last moments with Sling. He wept while waiting for the ambulance.
“Please don’t leave me, please don’t leave.”
Every whisper, every word was met with a lifeless answer from the blue horned imphernal. He was bloodied, the golden necklace Vine staff gave him was crushed into bits of broken chain. The head band on his head was a mix of red and light blue. The white on his fur became gray due to the impact.
“Oh why swords, I don’t want my best friend to leave me, OH WHY?” Shuriken wept as his tears fell into the abyss.
The minutes of waiting felt like hell and eternity mixed together. Quickly paramedics rushed Slingshot into the back of the ambulance. Shuriken begged profusely to be with his best friend.
In the back of the ambulance sat Slingshot, lifeless & cold. Monitors and needles were stabbed into him. Screens projected his life. 2 nurses were working on him intently, trying to preserve what little of Slingshot was left. Shuriken sat in the back looking at the same demon who was just talking about how the pirates arc was boring. Now he was as dead as the Princezam empire.
He didn’t want to cry, not right now. All his throat felt clogged and his eyes were dry. He couldn’t control what would happen to his lovely rent-paying roommate.
The drive to the hospital felt impossibly long. Shuriken was now in a waiting room. The harsh yellow fluorescent light shone upon his head. The cafe uniform was still on him, now with a darker tone.
Fate was controlling him and his friend like a puppet. One wrong string could ruin the show, one wrong factor would ruin his life.
“Please come back Slingshot,”
“I promise to pay the rent, & wash the dishes,”
“I would share my gummy worms, and won’t bully your shoes,”
“Please come back, don’t leave me & the friendgroup to be alone without you,”
“Without our blue horned gremlin,”
“PLEASE” he choked out one more sob sitting in the hospital chair.
He knew his words and murmurs were meaningless, no demon would be there to receive them. Slingshot was probably in an operation room, with doctors and surgeons trying to hold on to his life.
Coil, Skateboard, & Boombox burst through the door, finding Shuriken completely mentally destroyed. Boombox held Shuri, gently.
“Shuriken, breathe, in & out, slowly, please”
“Ok,”
Shuriken slowly calmed down. In the background, nurses talked to Skateboard & Coil about Slingshot’s condition.
Muffled whispers fell into the room, as the two imphernals faces fell. Something about blood transfusions or weird medical things. But they didn’t bother to listen, they didn’t want to accept what was happening.
Shuriken gave a call to Vine Staff updating him about Slingshot’s condition.
“Sis, I think Slingshot going to leave,”
“ACTUALLY.”
”Yea,”
Vine Staff was shocked on the other side of the landline, trying to hold herself to not break apart for Shuriken. Slingshot life was at stake. Her roommate, the guy who has 43 pairs of shoes, Slingshot, her brother’s best friend since kindergarten. She was scared, not for herself, but for Shuriken. For the sibling who gave up all respect and glory to just be normal siblings. She didn’t want to see him collapse, she knew that grief was something that couldn’t be controlled.
“Shuriken, I know that everything will be alright, please trust me.”
Even Vine Staff could hear the lies in her voice, on how her voice cracked on the last word. She doesn’t know if everything would be alright.
“Sis the doctors here I’m going to go to them, see you later,”
Phone call ends…
Shuriken sat back down on his seat, peering to the left seeing Boombox grabbing him so water from the hospital fridge.
“Hello Mr.Shuriken? Did I get your name right?”
“Yes, doctor can I go see Slingshot please,”
“Not right now he’s going through a surgery due to the accident.
“When can I see him?” Shuriken’s voice came with something that he had never heard from himself at all.
“That shall remain Undisclosed, we don’t know how the outcome of the procedure will be.”
“Alright,”
The doctor walked back to whatever they were doing, each step landed on the porcelain tailed with a clack. Shuriken sank back into the chair, using his cloak to cover his face, and quietly sobbed; careful to not awaken his friends.
Shuriken told his friends that he wanted to go home, telling them that he wasn’t feeling good. They understood and would make plans to check on him regularly.
The green imphernal walked back to the crappy old apartment building, the same path that he got hit at. The place behind the slaughter.
The sky was starless, like the universe telling that there wasn’t hope. Plants on the sidewalk looked more drooped, while grass seemed more grey. Shuriken didn’t know what to do. What to do without Slingshot. Was it his fault for not dragging Sling? Could he change anything? Was there another universe where this never happened.
He was scared, very scared.
He shoved the keys into the keyhole roughly. He didn’t bother what the neighbors thought, most of them sucked anyways. He slouched onto his bed. Avoiding Slingshot’s room, not even trying to look at the door. He laid down to roll up into a ball,
Trucking his knees and legs in; trying to keep warmth.
His tears fell into the pillow, Shuriken at this point is just letting himself cry. He doesn’t deserve this, HE KILLED HIS BEST FRIEND. Or that was what he thought.
He was a cold blooded murderer.
His green bedsheets soaked with tears, his nose got clogged, his eyes got puffy. Shuriken was broken into pieces he himself couldn’t fix. Vine Staff on the other side heard Shuriken’s sobs on the other side.
Worried for her brother. Vine Staff stepped into the kitchen. Grabbing some soup broth, noodles and pork from the run-down fridge. She turned on the stove, added the broth and noodles, chopped up some ingredients: Green Onion, pork, seaweed, and eggs.
She held the bowl, quietly opening the door, waiting for Shuriken’s response. There was nothing, Vine Staff softly walked into the room. Gently set down the bowl, and put a bag of gummy bears.
Shuriken didn’t move, he couldn’t. He couldn’t feel the need to want to eat anymore. Even though his stomach rumbled, his legs did not follow. Walking meant that the warmth from his body would go away.
Shuriken drifted to sleep in a flow of tears & denial. The steam from the noodles rising up into the air.
{Skateboards P.0.V}
Skateboard was at the sk8te park with Boombox, hitting some tricks. Boombox was hyping him up with music. After his shift at the cafe, he needed to let off his energy in some way. Skateboard was hitting nose flips while in the stupid blue uniform.
Ring ring…
“Sk8board here, whatcha need?”
“Skate. Slingshot got hit by a car.”
“Wait are you frfr”
“ He did, please come”
“On my way rn,”
“Quickly please Skate,”
“I’ll bring Coil and Boombox”
“Don’t worry Shuri, hopefully everything will be okay,”
Slingshot got hit by a truck, hearing this news, he went to the convenience store telling Boombox that he wants to get some water.
The store was bright as ever, imphernals walking in and out with food in their hands. Skateboard walked to the snack aisle buying some food and drinks. He bought everyone’s favorite snacks, including Sling’s favorite flavor of cream pancakes.
He met with Boombox telling him the news, he looked shocked. Boombox’s first reaction was to hug Sk8, and calling Coil to go to the hospital. Luckily Shuriken gave Sk8 the address.
On the way, Skateboard was speeding on the highway, paying all the expensive toll fees. He didn’t care, it’s his partner’s life at stake. Coil & Boombox were balanced on the back trying not to fall. After 15 minutes of driving with stress and fear. Skateboard saw Shuriken on his phone, teary eyed and everything.
Skateboard took a deep breath, holding Coil’s shoulders while entering. Shuriken peered up to them. Boombox quickly leaned toward Shuriken trying to comfort him.
The doctors came to Coil and Sk8, telling them about Slingshot’s condition.
“You’re Slingshot’s friends?”
“Yes,”
“Slingshot is in bad condition right now. His leg is severely injured, there is a lot of tissue damage in the back area.”
“Recovery may take about 2-5 weeks.,”
“Can we go see him?”
“No, not right now, Slingshot is going through a blood transfusion right now.”
These things were happening to Slingshot. Slingshot. The Slingshot he loves, the Slingshot who held him. Skateboard didn’t know what to do, he was in shock. Honestly, he thought that Slingshot just had a broken leg and NOT TISSUE DAMAGE. He sat now to the seat left of Shuriken trying to process his thoughts.
This wasn’t true, the doctors just misdiagnosed Slingshot or something. He was just tired, with a broken leg. Vehicular crashes happened all the time in playground, even Skateboard once got him by a motorcycle while doing some sick flips. He only got a broken leg and neck sores for a few weeks. Just some rest and sleep could fix Slingshot probably. This was just a big scare, from Shuriken.
Skateboard saw Shuriken holding back tears, causing him to notice how much his throat closed up. So he dragged his red helmeted self to grab water. The water felt cold liquid helped clear up his neck. It felt refreshing, Skateboard treaded back to his seat trying to not trip on air. He still saw Boombox doing breathing exercises with Shuriken. Coil was leaning on the wall watching reels.
After the water, Sk8 felt physically and mentally drained. His memory was foggy after that, he just collapsed into the blue hospital chairs, under the white blinding lights. Listening to Boombox talk to Shuriken, and hospital chattering.
Next time he woke , Coil was tugging his shoulder to wake up.
“Bro either you wake up or you can stay here in the hospital,”
“Coil, don’t say that, SK8’s prolly tired.
Skateboard was groggy as hell, and Boombox saw that and picked him like a plush. Dragging Skateboard’s sorry ass back to the condo.
Luckily Boombox, was also a high key planning master. Parking the motorcycle back into the shared parking garage of the apartment building. So now the only mode of transportation they have was the train.
Coil and Boombox took turns carrying Skateboard around. The train was cold, and rain was pouring down onto the window. Causing mist and fog to rise onto the windows. Skateboard finally properly woke up on the 3rd stop back to southern Playground.
It was just quite funny, when Boombox was walking onto the train Skateboard jumped up and got scared. Wondering why he wasn’t in the hospital. Boombox caught him up, while Coil was trying to ignore all the stares.
Skateboard stood in the tightly packed train, opening his phone to call Slingshot. The call rang to voicemail. Forgetting what happened to him. The memories came back. Causing his eyes to sink. The train stopped at their station. The rain is still pouring drop by drop.
The elevator ringed, the door creaked, revealing the apartment the trio shared for years, the familiarity of this all. He missed Slingshot, he was dearly missing him.
After everyone showered and went to bed, Skateboard sneaked out to go to the couch. Boombox got this thing out of Facebook marketplace for free. The sofa was battered and fixed using tape.
He grabbed the TV remote and put on some crappy show Slingshot watched and held a pillow to his chest trying to fall asleep, to the voice of the television; Ignoring all things that happened. It wasn’t real for him.
The last words he mumbled to himself before falling asleep were
“I honestly miss you dude,” the he blacked out on the couch
{Boombox’s. P.0.V}
Boombox was tired of customer service, Skateboard had an idea of how to cool off, and dragged Boombox to the Sk8 park. While Skateboard was warming up, Boombox was making the most fire playlist to hype up his best friend. After like an hour of pure excitement, Sk8board got a phone call and answered, while Boombox grabbed some water to share with Sk8board. He could hear some gasps, and whispers. After that Skateboard looked shocked. Boombox could easily see through this and knew something bad happened.
Not wanting to damper the mood, Boombox kept his smile waiting for Skateboard to come back from the 7-11. Boombox was worried but he knew that maybe, if showed some sort of happiness, everything would hopefully be okay. And everything will stay the same.
Back in the floating islands, he just acted cheerful and helped other demons, and everything was okay. The same logic should apply here.
After Skateboard came back, he told Boombox to get the motorcycle and pick up Coil. He seemed out of breath, running holding a large plastic bag. Boombox just thought it was some snacks for the next cafe shift; since the customers sometimes sucked.
They quickly drove to the apartment, and Coil was waiting outside on his phone. Boombox shouted in at Coil.
“COIL GET IN HERE, SKATEBOARDS TAKING US SOMEWHERE,”
“Alr gng,”
The motorcycle then ran Boombox held onto Skateboard with fear, he was probably breaking the speed limits. He went on highways, high and low. It was like a rollercoaster but more dangerous. After about 15 minutes they were at a hospital. Skateboard dragged the two imphernals to the ER.
Boombox saw Shuriken sitting, his cheeks were red and swollen, and he looked wrong. Boombox came home ready to help.
He went on his knees, telling Shuriken to breathe in and out; trying to help Shuriken out.
The doctors came to go speak to Coil & Skateboard. Picking up some clues he heard that something bad happened to Slingshot.
But he stayed calm, holding his smile, trying to show any sadness. He just wants everyone happy no matter his cost. If everyone is okay Boombox is okay, right..?
Well, Shuriken seemed to cheer up when Boombox was near, so that logic worked. Anyways, Boombox noticed that it was getting late, seeing Coil & Skateboard not caring about anything he quietly snuck out to park the motorcycle to avoid a parking ticket. After that he walked to the hospital to pick up Coil and Skate board ending the night. He did his night routine and went to sleep.
{Shuriken P.0.V}
Days and days passed along with Shuriken in his bed, only moving to fulfill basic needs. He saw the look on Vine Staff’s face each time she came in to check on Shuriken. But why does she care about a murderer? Anyways, that day stuck in his room. He just sat in his bed doing nothing & it felt like everything. Thoughts disappear without a waver, as the clock ticks little by little of Shuriken’s
Every time he looked in the mirror, he reminds himself of what he had done, to Slingshot, His best friend. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of Slingshot body on the hard asphalt. Shuriken was not Shuriken but an awful person, someone who took the life of his best friend.
After many days Shuriken couldn’t accept who he was, he grabbed his gears and leaned for the sharp edge, blood splattered onto his desk, as Shuriken tried to not cry. He deserved it, all of it. No matter what he couldn’t see himself as the same guy who was Slingshot’s best friend.
Shuriken stood up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, he didn’t bother to clean up the blood on his desk. That took way too much energy.
The cuts burnt as the scalding water hit Shuriken, his arms turning red, as each slice grew deeper and deeper. Everything felt painful, he did this to himself it was his fault.
Nothing eventful really happened after that to be honest, the same cycle kept happening, soon he felt nothing. Not sadness, just apathy, he didn’t feel like life had meaning anymore. There wasn’t a demon who loved shoes who would nerd about Minecraft to him anymore. No chef who cooked up amazing desserts every Saturday.
Grief surrounded him like mist that never went away, a never-ending loop of guilt and hate followed. He couldn’t deal with himself, never again. The voices in his head told him truths he couldn’t swallow. “YOU KILLED SLINGSHOT,” “WHY DID YOU HURT HIM,” were some sayings in his head. They wouldn’t stop, maybe they were true.
Shuriken just slept his days away, there wasn’t a reason to stay alive, he doesn’t deserve life anymore. No good deed could save him from this sin.
Soon his room smelt like rotten iron and mold, Vine Staff tried to tell him to clean up but she didn’t want to hurt her brother anymore. Shuriken just laid on his bed, looking at nothing, trying to feel nothing. It was too much, too much to handle.
One night there was too much guilt to handle, he didn’t know what to do.
{Sk8board P.0.V}
Falling asleep felt nice, letting go of your body into the night felt great. Skateboard fell asleep trying to forget what happened that day, it couldn’t be real. If he just closed his eyes, and he’ll be out of his nightmare, Slingshot has to be fine.
As the TV show faded into the scenery, Skateboard’s dreams rose to life. Places of mystery, horror and fear crept into his mind, yet it was still a dream. Like everything else. One right door can lead to the right world.
Next morning Skateboard woke up groggily on the couch, he turned off the TV and went to the fridge to make his ‘heart-killer 9000’. A mix of 12 different drinks and ice cream. While grabbing all the supplies, Coil walked in. Coil seemed to be crying last night, tear streaks were on his face.
Skateboard cheerfully asked Coil.
“Bro are you okay, you look like you are crying.”
“Did you forget what happened to Slingshot?”
“Wait that was real, I thought it was dream,”
“It was real,”
Coil then went quiet to make his coffee. This was real, it was real. Oh it was real.. Slingshot was in the hospital. This has to be fake, Coil can lie, he has lied. Like that one time they were robbing Subspace, and they just pretended to be janitors. Coil can lie and this was just another one of his jokes. His lover is okay.
Then Skateboard did his morning routine, trying to not stare at Coil too much, then a realization hit. HE HAD NOT SEEN BOOMBOX TODAY. So quietly he went up to Boombox’s door, and knocked. Waiting for his best friend's voice. Hearing nothing he gently opened the door and saw Boombox making music, as normal. SEE everything was normal Coil was….crazy. Skateboard sat into Boombox’s chair, wanting to talk.
“Have you seen Coil, is he okay Boombox?”
“He’s missed Slingshot, like the rest of us,”
“Wait, it was real. Coil said that, now you are telling me that.”
"Are you lying, if so that is not rad.”
”Skateboard it was real, you were there at the hospital remember?”
“Yeah, but, I thought it was fake,”
“Dude are you okay, Skateboard are you okay. I am confused.”
“Bro can stay here to talk to you?”
“Ofc,”
Skateboard and Boombox just talked about everything from the memories on the island, to now. Boombox tried to tell Skateboard how everything was real. Honestly he didn’t want to lost two of his best friends. For like the rest of the afternoon the two hanged out.
It was nice to Skateboard, at least his best friend wanted to talk to him unlike his roommate. Today it was his turn to cook dinner. Luckily today, he had just learned how to make spaghetti!. While Boombox & Coil sat on the counter, he was whipping up the most heavenly plate.
Coil seemed to smile, which cheered up the Skater. The night ended with everyone being cheerful, Skateboard the loudest one of the three. Everything is fine.
Everyday was quite the same afterwards, going to school, the skate park, or the mall, life was quite nice for Skateboard and the rest of the group. Even though Skateboard hasn’t seen Shuriken in a long time, he just assumed that he was just busy.
His memories slowly began to swirl, his brain giving up and letting him run free, from the pacing to the confusing chatter coming out at random periods of time. Life felt faster than normal, Skateboard sped along until he couldn’t. Life flew away at any moment’s glance.
He couldn’t see the changes himself, but the changes were as clear as day. From the cold sweats in the night, to the strange looks on the streets. Skateboard could not control himself, it was like too much energy had been brought upon him. Energy that he couldn’t handle.
Maybe this was a distraction from the car crash fake? yeah it was fake, hopefully.
He could not see past the grief, it was just masked in confusion.
{Coil’s pov}
Coil went back to the apartment, carrying Skateboard nonchalantly on his shoulder. He did not want to show any emotion, because he didn’t know how to feel about Slingshot’s accident. I mean his friend died.
Sure they annoyed each other sometimes, but they were good friends. He did not know how to handle grief, since Coil was a new-spawn and was taught to not care, nothing, because if he showed anything, that was a vulnerability, emotions were a vulnerability. Grief was a vulnerability, only anger was acceptable. From the mosh pits, to the fights behind convenience stores. Weakness has no home in Playground.
Back into the condo Coil rushed into his room with the dismay of Boombox.
The first thing he did was to drop down into his bed and sobbed. Punching the pillow and shouting into the wall. Even though the screams hurt, his knuckles becoming bloodied, he kept on going. Not knowing what would come next, how life would take him.
Coil was mad, he just felt hatred and anger, and nothing else. Slowly he got tired and collapsed onto his bed. Looking at a broken mirror with shards on the floor, and broken drywall.
As the sun rose into the dark sky holding itself together. Torn posters littered the floor with cracked picture frames. The carpet was just ripped yarn and bloody concrete. Boombox heard everything, knowing that Coil liked cupcakes he somehow got some cupcakes. Knocking the door, a tray with blue lined vanilla cupcakes were gently placed on a side table with a drawing of Coil and the rest of the friend group in their last hangout. Slingshot’s last spawnday.
Coil did not know what came with him, he ripped the drawing. The memory of Slingshot hurt too much to see, from the games to the claw machine, to the snacks. There was a gap in his chest, the unexplainable pain, the feeling of a bruised heart. Why does pain need to hurt?
The blue crumpled pieces of paper fell toward the ground quietly as Coil went to kick the door. He missed Slingshot, he missed the gap ragebaiting filled, he missed the free desserts, he missed everything.
Everyday felt like hell, it was just a cycle of destruction and guilt. All he saw was rage, his roommates were just objects in his eyes. His room was an obstacle. There wasn’t a break to this roundabout of anger. Spinning around and around were his emotions.
He couldn’t take it, he had to escape from this, there must be a way.
Shuriken legs were numb as a bug, bottles of piss and heaps of trash towered his room. Milk cartons and food wrappers coated the wooden laminate with gross oil. The room smelt like sweat mixed with the plague, Shuriken was covered with grime and dead skin. The calendar sat untouched as flies scattered around the air. Shuriken sat in bed for the rest of his days, reminiscing about the days before the horrors. Imaging himself in a world that doesn’t exist, one where Slingshot is alive, safe, and stable.
How unlucky was he to end up in this timeline, one where Slingshot is gone. One where his sister was cursed and sent away. Did Lady Luck just hate him? Hey at least he’s still alive, barely.
He knew the looks on his sister, how much she cared. But why care about pity he doesn’t deserve. He is an unredeemable sinner, part of the vermin of the world. Once in a long while, Vine Staff appears to try to clean up his room. Undust the Lego Ninjago figures, and mop the floor. Maybe hug Shuriken.
It is meaningless though, he should let everything go. For he deserves nothing. He picked up his dusty phone. Opened DoorDash and ordered some pills.
Crossroads Sky Pharmacy
22:30pm
Melatonin x7
———————————————
180 bux
The night felt heavy as most nights do. This was the chance for Shuriken to reunite with his best friends. This is peace. 7 bottles, swallowed.
As the last pill fell, Shuriken remembered the day where Vine Staff would play lol house with him, the first time he got on honour roll, and it was all futile. The silver shadow felt dizzy as everything came together. Nausea flooded his senses. The final sight was a screenshot of the two week Minecraft-phase sitting on a side table. Titled “the first house” . The group is building an oak mansion. Then it went blank. There wasn’t any noise, not even a yelp, as quiet as a mouse.
As the moon dropped, the shadow dropped along too.
Everyday is sunshine and rainbows according to Skateboard’s eyes. Colours surround his every walk. And look! Slingshot is over there! See everything is okay, and everyone is alive. There is a happy ending. Even though his throat is numb and his arms fizzes up, everything is perfect. This is a happy world.
Everybody impherno is smiling, see! Boombox is happy, The neighbors are happy, though where is Coil? Ehh.. it doesn’t matter, Coil is probably in his room working out.
“Hey Skateboard!”
“Slingshot! My homie how have you been,”
“As alright as I have been,”
“Yknow the friend group thought u were dead,”
”Yeah I know, but don’t tell the others that I'm here tho okay?”
“Ofc,”
Slingshot is alive, he’s breathing, and real, everything that happened is fake. They were just lies. It was just it was just fake, Slingshot is REAL, REAL. Yes this is true. This felt amazing, you know Skateboard do? Go to the skatepark. Yes of course, so our dear protagonist headed to the skate park.
Today, there was no-one. Which was weird, usually other inphernals would be hanging around, drinking soda, and having plain fun. Maybe the effects of the candy were wearing off, maybe….
Anyway he hit some fire tricks, doing some rad kickflips and sped around the ring about 5 times. He wished that his friends were here to enjoy this happiness too. He hadn’t seen Shuriken a lot these past days. Maybe the insurance was bombing him with calls.
Coil is probably training before the time of dawn, hey at least Boombox and Slingshot was still with him.
After that trip, he went and bought some food. The cashier seemed happy today too. Today is so good.
Everyday is so happy, bright colours surround the craterdust capital. Everyone was smiling, maybe Windforce was finally gone. Everything tasted better too. These days sometimes Skateboard would just dance with Boombox, but Coil would just sit on the couch and watch reels.
Sometimes headaches would come but don’t worry Skateboard would just take more candy and all would be fine. Everything is happy.
__________
Vine Staff opened the door, checking up on Shuriken. She didn’t hear the usual snoring. She walked up to the bed, noticing that Shuriken’s body was becoming a daunty white. Noticing the pills on the desk, she knew what happened. She grabbed her phone, calling while sobbing her eyes out. And using her staff to try to recover Shuriken. Vine Staff fell to her knees sobbing as the realization of knowing both her brothers are dead came to mind.
She tried to shake Shuriken back to life. Telling him that he is still alive, she didn’t want to lose another friend. As the ambulance siren came toward the apartment, the Shuriken was taken into the hospital, while Vine Staff sat on the floor.
Vine Staff looked at the room, where her annoying little brother sat. Missing him already. Only feeling fear and confusion. She felt the world, yet the world felt numb.
To try to forget herself, she went to a picture book in the living room. Looking at all the childhood photos she didn’t want to go away. She did not want anything to go away, her heart felt weird, like there was something but there was nothing.
It felt like days but. At the brink of dawn Vine Staff got a call.
“Hello, do you know Shuriken?”
“Yes, where are you calling from,”
“We have your brother, he is alive,”
‘………”
“Thank you for saving him,”
“Would you want to see him?”
“Of course,”
Beep beep beep
Vine Staff ran to the hospital, going up the elevator biting her nails, picking her face. She ran towards the hospital room.
And there was Shuriken, alive but barely. He was unconscious, pale, but alive. Vine Staff sat at the bedside and cried. Sobbing into the hospital blanket. Trying to not be too loud in case she can lose Shuriken again.
Still she was wondering how Slingshot was. Slingshot was still alive, technically but how he was doing was another question. But at least one of her brothers is still alive. It had been 2 weeks since the accident
Then a nurse came in, giving Shuriken some more saline. The nurse told Vine Staff that Slingshot has been doing better, and can see him.
Vine Staff jumped and asked the nurse where, and how. Not forgetting to leave a flower on shuriken’s side.
There was mechanical beeping, surrounding Slingshot, with tubes and wires. Screens surround him with statistics summing his mortality. His horns were chipped and burns surrounded his body. Slingshot’s tail was ripped and hairless. He looked like a skeleton with his face.
His eyes were bruised and while his arm was in a cast. Slingshot was battered and broken. Yet he was alive. Vine Staff sat in those crappy hospital chairs, watching the Slingshot peacefully; With dried tears in her eyes.
This was overwhelming, both her brothers were a step from death, yet they are still alive. The silage of grief slowly evaporated knowing that everything is safe, her family is safe, and so is she.
A nurse came in telling Vine Staff about some information about Slingshot, trying to clarify some liability
“The reason why we didn’t inform you about the recovery of Slingshot is because, is currently still in a vulnerable state, which can delay growth and healing time.”
“Thank you, for telling me this,”
The day then felt better. Vine Staff felt clear, like something had been lifted off her chest, it felt nice. As she stared at Slingshot’s hospital bed, she felt at peace. The same peace she felt after moving to crossroads. As she sat in the hospital chair, noticing the birds in the sky, the clouds in the air, and flowers near the balcony, she realized that there may be an end to this horrifying event in her life.
She finally found the light at the end of the tunnel, even though the way was covered in blinding darkness.
————————————————————-
Skateboard nowadays, saw nothing but rainbows. The beautiful ‘sight’ was all he saw. He couldn’t see the real world now. But hey at least he has all his friends in his brain. All of them exploring cool places, like the cool trailer, and the blue-grassed fields. The bright sun burning on them, and sometimes the occasional monster chase, now everyone was with him. Though it may seem that Skateboard is living the dream (literally) all of these are real, all of these experiences were real.
Skateboarding may be living in a delusion here viewer, but remember this all real for him.
Anyways, Boombox has been deteriorating under the crumbling pressure of trying to keep everyone in the friendgroup in check. Sometimes he would look at Skateboard’s room, trying to see how he could have stopped Skateboard from ending up in the present version of himself. He would look at old pictures, remember the days where Coil would play games with Boombox for hours on end. Looking at the mistakes ‘he’ made to turn his best friend into the rage-filled monster is now.
He could have supported them more, cared and listened to them, helped them, noticed problems earlier and stopped them. He heard about Shuriken’s hospitalization too. Maybe, there were so many maybes.
This took a toll on his music too. Each note fell in quality, workload paused. It felt exhausting to try to keep everything together.
One day his phone rung while reminiscing,
“Boombox! How have you been? Is Skate and Coil doing okay? I have some news about Shuriken and Slingshot.”
“Actually! Are they doing okay?”
“Both of them are luckily alive, but they are both in comas, but how are the others?”
” Skateboard, has been getting worse. He has been stuck in some dream where everything is good, he told me in our last conversation. The only time I see him is when he comes out for food. And he also takes these pills he got from online,”
“Is he okay?” Vine Staff voice filled with fear
“No, I don’t know how to help him though, Coil has been angry about the whole Slingshot thing, but I feel like he’ll get better after I tell him about the news,”
“ You should take Skateboard to a therapist or a psychiatrist, it can help him, Boombox please promise me tommorow take Skateboard somewhere he can get help.”
“I have to go now, see you Vine Staff,”
“See you,”
Boombox quickly ran towards Coil’s room. Coil was playing games, ignoring Boombox. Boombox came and tapped on his shoulder, Coil annoyed asked him why he was here,
“Dude, Boom why are you here?
“Slingshot and Shuriken are alive,”
”ACTUALLY, ARE YOU LYING? THEY’RE ALIVE?”
“YES THEY ARE!”
Coil jumped up into the air, grabbing Boombox and hugging him. Coil felt immense joy flood his senses. Something unexpected during these days of anger. He started to see other emotions, seeing other colours. Boombox held Coil while they started to laugh with the absurdity of this situation. Hey, at least they had each other. The night ended with the pair celebrating the news together, and planning how to help skateboard.
The next few months, everything recovered slowly, Slingshot eventually woke up, and Shuriken recovered. Skateboard can now see the truth, and the group came back slowly. Slingshot didn’t fully recover though, his left arm is weaker than before, giving his arm less mobility. His horns are chipped, and blotches of fur grew out, instead of the silky white coat he used to have. Slingshot’s eye sight also worsened along with his body, luckily he can still see. Now he spends his days hanging out like a normal teen, just a bit weary of cars. And of course Slingshot still has his iconic witty laugh.
Shuriken, sometimes can’t think, his brain becoming the foggy he was when he was dying. He can’t really eat a wide variety due to the effects of the overdose. Still he protects Crossroads with the same determination, but with a different perspective on his life. Taking time to reflect everything and hugging his sister more often
Skateboard, has gotten better, his brain sometimes gets dizzy and confusing, due to the drugs he took to cope, sometimes he’ll zone out for days, sometimes forgetting to eat. On the bad days, he can’t keep food down. His friends support him, on every step to recovery, and he repays everything back. Nothing was his fault, neither Boombox, nor Slingshot. Nobody chose for this to happen. After school, Skateboard and the rest of the friend group go to the local snack store just to hang out and be menaces in society.
Boombox, started to stop worrying about everything, started focusing on his music and even got commissioned by the Flipside to write music for them! Now he’s been doing great.
Coil has been trying to control his anger, and his emotions in general. It hasn’t been easy, but Slingshot isn’t getting ragebaited as much as usual at least. He saw how his feelings can literally hurt, so yeah. Still sometimes the occasional crash-out comes. He cherishes the moments he has with his friends more now.
Vine Staff sometimes sees the world with fear, fear of losing something. From flowers to her life. The feeling of loss covered her would with a veil that can’t really be taken off. The nights on the floor sobbing, the fear Vine Staff felt whenever her phone rang. She has seen the happiness, aftermath of a storm, and has lived. Nowadays she treasures life even more, because the nature of the world prevails.
Slingshot is alive, and there is a happy ending.