Chapter Text
(SCENE 1)
The bedroom looked peaceful, a blue nightlight in the shape of a wolf, cluttered boxes he has never went through since he moved in, a sword resting on the edge of a photo frame, and in the bed, wrapped up in his own blankets surrounded by pillows and plush toys knocked off of his bed was a simple mouse monster, Dantz.
The alarm clock was lit up in white LEDs, saying the time 00:00. The clock wasn’t broken, but the mouse was in his own head. In his vision, he sees a black mist shrouding him, and a white eye with a black iris.
Dantz gets up, pulling off his straight sword from the photo frame. He unsheathes it, showing a black blade with a silver sharp end. Placing the sheath on his bed, holding the blade with one hand, albeit his lanky, toned body looks like it should struggle with handling the sword.
“You are a monster, having to hurt your old friend like that.” The mist creature says.
“Shut up, your existence doesn’t prove that I am one. It’s all self defense!” Dantz screams at the monster. He jumps off of his bed, lunging towards the eye, but it moves, causing Dantz to redirect his sword into the ground. Surprisingly, no dark fountain was made, just the mouse and his inner demons.
Dantz then opens the door, jabbing his sword trying to pierce the eye. It moves every time, until Dantz goes down the stairs to the living room. The eye floats on top of the coffee table, bringing its suffocating mist around Dantz.
“You had to use a weapon instead of using your bare fists, or even just running away.” The creature taunts.
Dantz doesn’t listen, he jumps onto the coffee table and finally pierces the eye. It dissipates into the mist, as the mist fades around him, Dantz looks down, he goes onto his knees, dropping his sword.
“I should have put on some clothes instead of being this.” Dantz stares at the waistband of his shorts. “At least I’ll have belt loops instead of whatever this is.”
Dantz picks up his sword, and saunters toward his room, locking his door. He picks up the sheath of the sword, sheaths the blade, stores it, and heads back to his bed. The alarm clock reads 04:00. Dantz shrugs , knowing full well that the sun would rise without him in day to day life. The mouse throws himself onto bed, not even tucking himself in.
As Dantz sleeps, the sun gleams through his curtains, he’s still sound asleep, shifting his body facing away from the windows. The sunlight reflects the grey of his fur into the atmosphere, sleeping in silence.
(SCENE 2)
BOOM
The door breaks down, sliding into a photo frame. Pieces of glass on the floor, as a gruff reptilian looking monster, now nearly able to drive on her own, walks through the doorway. She recoils, pinching the skin in between her two nostrils.
“Ugh, it smells like dumpsters just had a rave in here.” Susie retorts. She then looks at Dantz, finding him curled up.
“Hey, Dantz.” Susie nudges the mouse. Her purple scales catching the sunlight, irritating her burn marks slightly. “Wake up, dumbass. It’s 7:00 in the morning.” Susie walks to the door to his closet, she looks at the boxes, and shrugs.
“Few years since you moved, still a mess in general.” Susie cackles, gaining a slight grin. Her face changes into a new expression, her eyes wide and it’s like her mouth disappeared. Dantz rose up from his bed like he just woke up from a coma. Susie then walks over to Dantz.
“Hey, you’ve been in here for a week. You smell like roadkill, and I can see your ribs.” Susie grumbles in a low voice. “Use your damn shower first, then let’s get something into ya, capisce?”
Dantz then rolls out of bed, he walks downstairs to the bathroom. Susie walks down with him. The bathroom door slams in Susie’s face. Drip, drip, drop. The shower is on full blast. Susie now checks her phone. 7:30. Dantz walks back out, in his school uniform. The only outfit he wears and likes to wear, a white polo shirt, black sweatervest, khaki shorts and brown belt, white socks, and black loafers, a striking comparison to Susie’s outfit, deeming her existence to rather being in the 199Xs vs the 202X era.
The duo head to the kitchen, Dantz pulls out an English muffin, slices it in half, and places it in the oven. He fills up his water bottle, and takes his daily remidies, before sliding a paper plate onto the kitchen counter.
DING
Dantz walks over to his oven, knees locked. He puts on a mitt, pulls down door, and walks over and dumps the two halves onto the plate. He goes to the refrigerator, gets a stick of butter, slices and spreads the butter onto each side of the pieces of bread. He places the butter back, and the butter knife near the sink.
“Damn, you’re so lucky. Even living under a teacher you get some decent grub.” Susie bites her chalk. “Come on, gimme your lunch money!”
Dantz tilts his head, his mouth slightly agape. “Isn’t it the middle of July, Susie-?”
“FINALLY! You finally used your damn vocal cords for once in like, what, one year?” Susie cackles “I can’t believe it. You can use them to plan to actually see some sun instead of being a goddamn basement dweller like Berdly.” Susie laughs, sounding more hearty than a dad to his own joke. “My bad about the lunch money part, I’m just playing with you. You’re paying for the both of us at QC’s though when we get the chance.”
Dantz smiles, Susie then pulls out a paper, Dantz’s smile turns into a grin that just gets wider and wider, and his eyes sparkle like the milky way galaxy and its beautiful stars.
(SCENE 3)
Inside QC’s Diner sit Dantz and Susie. The dry, room temperature restaurant air in major contrast with the humid air outside, along with a calendar in the back saying something about a Thursday in Mid-July.
Dantz and Susie sit down, QC comes up to their table, wearing the restaurant standard uniform. QC sees Dantz’s water bottle, giving a nod with her usual smile before turning to Susie.
“Anything you want to drink?” Asks QC, her voice light but definitely easy to hear, perfect for the owner of a small restaurant.
“I’m fine with a milkshake.” Susie replies, her gruff voice contrasts with the environment. Susie places her tricep on the table, bending her arm slightly, letting her head rest on the closed fist. “Strawberry seems fine.”
Dantz then looks at QC. “I have my own, but I would like to order food now.”
Susie glances at Dantz “Already?! Damn you know what you want.” Susie flashes Dantz a grin. “Sounds like you’re coming back sooner than ever.” Susie shifts her posture to look at Dantz better. “Hey, if you’re getting more grub, promise you’re going to give me half of your fries.”
Dantz’s shoulders lock, eyes widen a bit, jaw clenched, and gripping his shorts. QC looks away, blushing and covering her nose.
“Susie, it would be best if you shown table manners.” Dantz speaks, a voice unlike him.
Susie’s grin falters. “Oh… Guess I shouldn’t have said that, my bad.” She then looks down, scratching her head.
“No, Susie, it’s okay. It scared me a bit, but I knew you were playing.” Dantz actively smiles. He can see Susie’s reaction right now. She has her jaw open, eyebrow raised. Dantz shifts his position, perching in his seat before he sits down normally again.
“I’ll get a cheeseburger, no mayo, no onions.” Dantz speaks. “I’ll also order a large fry.” Dantz orders as QC pulls out her notepad.
“What would be the cook on the burger?” QC asks.
“Medium well.”
QC writes on a blue and white notepad with a purple pen with a cute, rabbit eraser. “And you?”
“I’ll just get a cheeseburger, and a medium soda.” Susie murmurs, her volume contrasting with the low tone. “Medium well.”
QC now writes down the order. “One cheeseburger that is medium well without mayo and onions with a large fry and one cheeseburger with a medium soda.”
“Yes, that’s the order.” Dantz drones.
“Got it, if you need anything else, just know I’m there!” QC pivots and walks towards the back of the house. Susie’s posture now is slouched over, resting her head on her arms. “Damn, you’re a real downer today aren’t you.”
Dantz doesn’t speak. He stays perfectly still, looking at the table in front of him.
“Hey, idiot. This is the world here.” Susie pokes Dantz in the forehead, a slight reaction happens. Dantz looks towards Susie, in the eye.
“Is there something you’re not telling me? Be real with me here.”
Dantz sighs, he rests his elbow on the table, and rests his head on his hand. Dantz’s eyes are half closed.
“It’s not important right now. It’s better if I just forget it.”
Susie’s eyes widen, but now, the burgers have arrived, and the two dig in. The burgers, Dantz still has a few bites of his left, but Susie had it vanished. The fries? Most of them were Susie’s. The drinks? Well, Dantz only drank a quarter of his water bottle, and Susie just had the loudest belch that is biologically possible.
“Hey, Dantz.” Susie mumbles. “So, how was school last year? Sucks that we didn’t see each other."
Dantz looks at Susie, his posture composes itself, and looks at Susie in the eyes, but now shift towards the walls. “Oh, school? It was alright. At least I realized that sometimes people actually put something to use instead of wasting themselves away.”
Susie looks at Dantz. Her eyes half closed, and a slight frown. “Great. You’re seriously trying to prove how edgy you are.” Susie stretches, and yawns. “Look, you’ve shut yourself off for a year, and completely shut off for a week. Well, do you consider that wasting yourself away?”
“No, I don’t. I used my potential well.”
“And is that ‘potential’ you are using actually going to help you later on in life?”
“Well, I could get a good job and go into a good college-”
“Dantz, screw colleges, and screw jobs, you’re 15, I’m 15 about to get my driver’s license, we’re all 15. Some of us about to get a car.” Susie grumbles. “Stop caring so much about stability as an adult, and can you be one of us for once now that we’re all in high school?”
“Susie I’m trying to have a life here, it’s responsibility-”
“Responsibility is just mowing goddamn lawns or some crap or helping your mom out dealing with your own dirty underwear. It’s not becoming ‘this’” Susie opens her palm, and makes a circular motion with it. “This is throwing yourself into the slammer.”
Dantz looks at Susie, and sighs. QC comes with a card tray, Dantz gives his debit to QC, the silence that follows between the two can be cut with a chainsaw. Dantz sighs, and forcefully exhales breath. QC delivers Dantz’s card back. The two now walk out of their seats, exiting the diner doors.
(SCENE 4A)
The crisp but muggy summer air breaks in striking contrast with the properly air conditioned restaurant. Sweat trickles down the duo’s foreheads, and Susie’s long hair which is completely covering her face.
Three girls walk up wearing purple cardigans, the same one Susie is wearing. A dog monster, a bear monster, and a fox monster walk up, all of them with their eyes shadowed by their deepened eyebrows, and are all wearing frowns. One of the monsters put their hand on their hip.
“Yo, Susie. About damn time we found you.” The fox monster taunts, her voice contrasting with her style of dress. The orange fur burning brightly like the sun and the buildings around her.
“Ugh, what the hell do you guys want?” Susie rolls her eyes. “Look, he’s an old friend of mine-”
“I DON’T CARE IF HE IS AN OLD FRIEND OF YOURS!” The dog monster screams. “Look, you can just drop the loner right here and leave him alone.”
Dantz is taken aback, but he stays still, looking down, his fists clenched.
“Susie, who are they?”
Susie turns towards Dantz, but she looks back at the crew.
“Hey, gimme 5 to talk with Dantz.”
The crew nods. Dantz has a jolt go through his body, his fur standing on edge, waiting for the “inevitable” to happen.
“Look, I made a gang with them while you were gone at school. I’ve ended up here because we all fell apart during the year, and I’m getting what’s comin’ to me now that you’re back.”
Susie now turns toward the gang and pulls up her fists, getting into a fighting stance. The gang picks up stuff found on the street, a lead pipe, a stick, but the bear goes empty handed, as she rushes towards Susie.
“Dantz! Help me out here cheese wheezer!” Susie exclaims, while she keeps pushing the bear, her hands now her former friend’s abdomen. “Are you gonna help me or what?!”
Dantz stays still like he’s stuck in an iceberg. Susie pushes the bear down, and then throws herself off of her and now, the red furred dog swings the stick towards Susie’s abs, sending Susie sliding back before the fox gives Susie a blow to the back of her head with the pipe. Susie now falls to the ground, her snout hitting the asphalt first before she rolls over onto her back. The bear gets up and grabs Susie’s hair, dragging her around across the asphalt with a grin on her face, the other members laughing like hyenas until Susie grabs the bear’s wrist, plants her feet into the ground, grabs the furred maniac’s wrist with her right, and twists it, using the momentum. Susie stands up and now has her fists up.
“If you wanna fight dirty, ‘member that I’m the one who got you guys that in the first place.”
Susie sweeps the legs of the fox, before she punches the face of the bear, and uppercuts the jaw of the dog. They all run off with their eyes widened. Dantz now has his face with their expressions, but he stays still.
“You just left Susie alone. Honestly it’s better if she didn’t come to your room. Maybe it’s better if Toriel stops visiting too.” Dantz’s thoughts keep playing in this loop.
Susie collapses onto the ground, by the curb. She plants her hands and rests by it. Dantz walks over to the curb, no bends in his knees for this mouse’s gait.
(SCENE 4B)
Susie looks up at Dantz, her head weakly moving as the hair covers her eyes.
“Hey, Dantz.”
Dantz looks down Susie looks at Dantz slightly. His frame significantly taller, now near her height, but is thinner, he’s still stiff as a board. The thoughts keep playing in his head.
“Look, I get it, getting physical ain’t your thing.” Susie looks at Dantz in the eye.
“Dantz, I’m not sure if you’re on Earth, but here we go.”
Susie sighs, she looks down, then back up at Dantz.
“Hit me. Square in the gut. I’m not asking you.”
Dantz stays stiff as a board, the thoughts flaring up in intensity. Every thought pointing fingers at him, while he’s shedding tears inside. Susie uses her remaining strength to stand up off of the curb.
“JUST DO IT!” Susie screams. “This ain’t about me kid, this is about you using your ‘martial arts’ or whatever you got in a fight.”
Dantz sets himself up, focusing his left fist to Susie’s gut, and his right fist by his ribs. Dantz steps into a stance, using his front leg to distribute all the weight while twisting his wrist to Susie. Susie spits out some residual blood from her mouth. Sending her to the trash can. Susie lies by it, letting the back of her head rest upon the back.
“I knew you had it in you…” Susie mumbles. She sighs as she swishes her hair off of her face. “Listen, I think you’re afraid of hurting someone. It’s a good thing honestly, but one day it’s gonna get you killed if you’re not ready.”
Dantz rushes over to Susie, nearly tripping himself a couple of times.
“Susie, I’m sorry-”
“Don’t be, kid. You’re alright. This is real life, not some dojo practice. I’m sorry for hanging out with the wrong crowd. I’ll just say I was pissed when I met them.”
Susie lends out a hand, Dantz then daps her up, gaining a genuine smile. Susie looks at Dantz.
“So, are we getting off the curb or not?” Susie asks. She gains a slight grin.
“I don’t think so. I still want to go to the gym though.” Dantz looks down, his first usual reaction.
“Well, you just watched me get my ass handed to them. Your home, bud.”
“Yeah.”
Dantz pulls Susie up, then the two put their arms around each others shoulders, and walk in the direction of Toriel’s residence.
“You sure your mom is gonna kill you if she sees that door?”
“Yes.”
Susie and Dantz both laugh, taking a look at the sky as dusk approaches like a ghost.