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“..Deal.”
Glisten said, his voice firm and certain.
“Very well. Glisten, you have now been bumped up to main toon. I expect you’ll keep up your side of the deal, hm?”
Hurley replied, an ominous and oddly disturbing atmosphere forming.
“Of course I will. I wouldn’t just go back on my word. Not after this.”
Glisten was determined, this was the best thing that had happened to him, EVER.
“Right. Well, it doesn’t seem like you’re going to be very effective as you are now.”
“H-Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?! I’m plenty capable, you know..”
Glisten was slightly offended, though deep down he knew what Hurley had said was true. It’s not like he was going to admit that, however.
“Sorry, I should have specified. Here, just think of what I’m going to do as.. giving you more power, per se.”
She stared at him, but it sent shivers down his spine. She almost looked like a predator hunting down its prey.
“Now.. take a look at this.”
She took out something from her pocket, showing it to him. It looked like some sort of capsule. Though, what peaked his interest was what was inside the capsule-like object. It was some sort of.. black liquid.
“…What.. what is that?”
He questioned, staring intently at the object.
“This.. is a research capsule. But I don’t think that’s what you want to know about, is it? It’s what’s inside you’re curious about, huh?”
Bullseye.
“Inside the research capsule is ichor. We’re.. not very sure what it is yet. But we tried experimenting with it, and it can strengthen the physical strength of toons. In rare cases, it might even grant special abilities to go along with those.”
Ichor? Strength? Special abilities?
Glisten barely knew anything about this mysterious substance and yet it was so appealing.
“A-And.. you want me to test it out, is that right?”
At this point, he was desperately waiting for her to say yes.
“…Precisely.”
“…What do you need me to do?”
Glisten asked, strangely eager to be what is basically, a lab rat.
“All you need to do is just.. stand there.”
“…A-Alright.”
He said, a bit nervous, but still complying. He stood perfectly still, like a statue.
So, Hurley got to work. She carefully opened the research capsule, and got closer to Glisten.
She then tilted it, pouring the ichor onto him.
But it wasn’t just a drop.
Once she finished that capsule, she got another one. And she kept going, draining them one by one.
Glisten, on the other hand.. was suffering. The ichor hurt. He couldn’t place his finger on what exactly it was, though. Even though this was torture, he couldn’t do anything. He had made a contract, and signed himself away with a pen.
Hurley noticed the signs of distress in Glisten, and she stopped momentarily.
“I.. think that’s enough.”
In fact, it was more than enough. The pitch black liquid was covering Glisten, practically swallowing him up.
Glisten couldn’t speak, it almost felt like he was paralyzed. All he was able to muster up was a cough. He ended up coughing up ichor.
Wasn’t this the opposite of what the ichor was supposed to do?
He was supposed to be strong. Have a cool power, maybe.
Not.. this. He wasn’t supposed to be left weak and vulnerable, unable to even move. It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts.
IT HURTS.
Suddenly, Glisten woke up in his room.
He looked around, disoriented and confused on what had happened.
“Was it.. just a nightmare?”
“I should go talk to Astro. But.. that felt so real. Real enough to fool me, of all people.”
“Whatever, I shouldn’t think about it. Frowns don’t look good on me anyway..”
Glisten got up from his bed, walking over to a certain toon’s room.
“Astro! Are you there??”
He called out, knowing that Astro probably wouldn’t respond.
“…”
Glisten took this as an invitation to enter Astro’s room, looking inside. And sure enough, Astro was there, sleeping soundly.
“ASTRO!! WAKE UP!”
Glisten yelled, knowing that if he did it any other way, Astro wouldn’t wake up.
“Mm..? What do you want, Glisten..?”
Astro replied, still half-asleep.
“Did you give me a nightmare?”
Glisten asks, wasting no time.
“No.. or at least I don’t think so.. what was it about..?”
“I had this dream that I became a main toon, and—“
“You are a main toon, Glisten.”
Astro interrupted.
Glisten’s eyes widened. So.. it wasn’t a dream after all. But then, where was Hurley? There weren’t any traces of the ichor either.
It didn’t seem like he was going to find out any time soon.
Unless…
Hurley is a toon handler. So.. if he finds her assigned toon, he’ll find her as well.
Two birds with one stone, hm?
And Hurley’s assigned toon is…
Vee.
Not the best toon, but he’d have to deal with her if he wanted to find Hurley.
“Hah… right. Silly me. I am a main toon. Say Astro, do you know where Vee is?”
“I think she’s doing her game show thing now, why..?”
“Oh, no reason! I.. have to go!”
And with that, Glisten dashed out of Astro’s room, not daring to look back. He wanted answers, and now.
After a while of running, he finally reached a big, rather flashy room. It was used for, you guessed it, Vee’s game show.
He looked around until he saw her. It wasn’t too hard, since she stood out amongst the other toons.
“Vee!”
He called out to her, waiting for her to respond.
“Oh, Glisten. Are you here to participate in my game show? Maybe even accept that I’m superior and that you’d never get a good game show like I have?”
“Wha— No! Of course not! And for the record, I wouldn’t have a good game show, I’d have an amazing one!”
“..In your dreams. So, what are you here for, then?”
“Where’s Hurley?”
“How would I know?”
“You always know everything.”
“…”
“In that room over there.”
Vee points to a little room not so far away from the set.
“Hah.. Thanks.”
Glisten immediately heads over to the room, but hesitates at turning the knob. Did he really want to interact with her again? What if something happened to him?
But alas, curiosity kills the cat.
Glisten opened the door, and Hurley was standing there, seemingly having been waiting for him to arrive.
“W-What did you do?!”
“Exactly what you wanted me to. And hey, how about we try this a second time?”
“Are you insane?! Didn’t you see that hurt me?”
Glisten glares at Hurley, not accepting this at all.
“Well, you didn’t die, did you? Maybe you’ve just got to get used to it.”
“I..”
Glisten paused. Did he really want to do this?
What if something bad happened again?
But..
What if he really did get what he wanted?
What if he truly got power?
“…”
“…Fine.”