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remember-to-be-gentle · 4 months

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Inspired by this tumblr post by @hawnks

Subject: JJK, Satoru Gojo

Title: Hate Me Tomorrow (Omega!Gojo x GN Alpha!Reader)

Trigger Warning: Dub con, omega verse, scenting, size difference, biting/marking, obsessive/toxic behavior, self-hatred, knotting, knot riding, begging, heat/mating cycles, grinding

The sweet, musky scent of Gojo's cologne and sweat enveloped you. Even the giant stuffed beta fish you were snuggling had no scent but his. His pillow fort was surprisingly spacious, granted, Gojo was nearly twice your size so there was a lot of him to fit. But being in here with him was nearly suffocating, and not just because of the light whiffs of omega scent rolling off of him or because he'd practically ripped off your jacket to snuggle into.

He'd called you suddenly, saying that he needed to spend time with someone. It made sense. Geto just died and there were only so many people who were willing to pick up the phone for Gojo, and even fewer he'd actually call. Especially when it was a secret he was an omega, pretending to be an alpha and you were an alpha pretending to be a beta.

The two of you were decent friends, hanging out after teaching at Jujutsu Tech for a drink or a quick round of gossip. He was one of the few people who knew you were an alpha and he an omega, an unusual kinship formed but it was never anything more. More importantly, you knew about his relationship with Geto. You couldn't say no.

Which was why your thigh was snug against his, smartphone balanced on your knee, his favorite plushie shoved into your arms. His head on your shoulder breathes fast but not uneven. It seemed like he was trying not to cry. Poor guy. The winter fashion review didn't seem to be helping him calm down at all. Nor any work gossip. You wanted to stay and help, but it was getting late. If he really wanted to, he could just pin you down, sometimes that thought scared you.

Gojo curled onto his side, struggling closer to you, your jacket wrapped in his hands like a security blanket.

It felt wrong to leave, but you needed to take care of yourself, too. "Hey, bud, I need to get going. Are you going to be alright by yourself?"

Gojo buried his face in your neck, silent. He leaned his weight into you, just enough to make it clear he didn't want to be alone.

Fuck. "I'm sorry. I'll come first thing tomorrow. We'll call out from work and go to the city or--"

His teeth scraped your neck. Possessive, dominant. Alpha behavior. Before you knew what was happening, he was ripping off your scent suppressor, inhaling like he hadn't been breathing for hours. Alpha pheromones leaked from your skin, invading your nose. "Gojo?"

Your stomach turned as your instincts awakened, the need to comfort an omega struggling with your own needs for autonomy. Your fingers dug into the beta fish plushie, filled with his scent.

He reached for his own scent blocker and you suddenly realized what was going on. With his neck practically right under your nose, his omega scent was free. And not just that, he was going into heat. The pillow fort was a nest and this was a trap. Gojo was primed to breed and he was going to use you to fuck away his pain. "This isn't healthy, Gojo, listen to me!"

But his patch was already off and the omega scent of him in your lungs, filling you, lighting every nerve on fire. Your cock swelled under your clothes, reacting to his breedable scent with vigor.

Gently, Gojo took the plush and pushed you onto your back, yanking off his pants as his pale face filled with color. His bandages were already slipping, the iridescent shine of his six eyes laser-focused on the swelling at your crotch. He crawled on top of you, already tugging off his shirt. "Just for today, please." He panted, his thin but muscular chest heaving as if just sitting here breathing was a near-impossible task.

His weight lowered onto your cock and you gasped, feeling his wetness through your clothes. His heat was so pleasant, feverish but warm, empty, and yearning. Blood pulsed lower and you gulped.

Slowly, Gojo rocked back and forth, moaning loudly each time your shaft met his clit. His back arched, nipples swollen and pink, and standing at attention. "Please," he begged. "Just me just for tonight. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please, ah, Y/N. Please, I wanna cum. Let me have it inside me."

It was getting harder and harder to think straight. He felt so good, the need to fill him up, let him fuck himself stupid on your cock growing. It would be better if you let him, a voice whispered. Another said, it's what you were made for. Just let him.

"Gojo," you gasped. You reached for him, tried to make him stop so you could think, but his fingers intertwined with yours and he was moving faster now, his breathy moans coming faster. His skin was so soft and warm, filling you with his heat until you thought you might burst. Blood pulsed in your cock, his pussy was sucking at you through your clothing. He wanted you so badly. You wanted... What did you want to do again? You had to leave but why?

"Y/N, I'm cumming." His hips rocked faster, tummy rolling with downy white hair covered in sparkling slick. "I'm cumming on your alpha cock." He let go of your hands to lay across your stomach, his head buried in your neck to take in your scent, his own making your head spin as pleasure threatened to burst out of your cock. His teeth met your skin, nibbling and biting gently then hard enough to bruise until he let out a long, throaty groan as he came.

Instantly, your clothes were soaked, his hot slick smothered on your member. If you weren't fully erect before, you were now.

Still panting, Gojo lifted himself up just enough to tug your cock free from your clothing. He didn't wait, spreading his pussy with his fingers as he sank down on your tip. Slick gushed down your shaft as he cried out, swallowing your swollen head into his heat. You bit back a groan, fingers digging into the blankets making up the fort.

"You feel so big," Gojo moaned. "So good. I've only done this with Geto, so I'm going to have to start slow." He sank a little further, impossibly tight and hot and wet. "Feels so good," he huffed, rolling his hips and finally, sinking all the way down your shaft.

Your knot throbbed, seeming to sense that an omega was speared on your length.

Gojo humped himself on your cock, needy moans slipping from his mouth each time his hips met yours. "Feels so good, Y/N. I've only felt Geto like this before."

Before you could respond he pulled back to his full height, six eyes glowing in the warm darkness of the pillow fort. He spread his lower lips as he lifted himself up, clear slick drooling from his hole. His pretty, pink, clit a shining pearl at the apex of his thighs. "You did this to me. Look how wet you made me." Slowly, Gojo slid back down, pushing the head of your cock against his cervix. Again, he kept himself exposed and rose up, only to slurp your length right back down to the knot, aiming this time higher, into something spongy and mouth-wateringly soft.

"G-Gojo, I know you miss him but you can't--"

He raised himself up and dropped down, knocking a groan from you both. "I think about him a lot," Gojo panted. "About how empty he left me. In my soul. In my body. So please, let me fix one of those. Just for now. It's okay if you hate me, but I need you now more than I've needed anyone."

Gojo whined, flushed and excited. "Right there." He slammed back down on you with a stomach-churning squelch right into that soft sweet spot. "So good." He was riding you now, using you like a dildo to get himself off, his delicate fingers rolling his clit in circles. You couldn't take your eyes off him. "I want you to cum inside me, okay? Fill me up with your seed. Help me feel less empty."

Pleasure gathered deep inside you, begging to come out as your knot swelled. Shit. You shouldn't. He was your coworker, your friend. But omegas needed alpha seed, he needed reprieve from his heat and you were the only one he could call--because the person he really wanted was dead.

That thought shattered your high, grounding you back in the moment. "Gojo, I know you're still mourning Geto, but this isn't healthy for you."

Gojo settled on your stomach, chest heaving. His hands snuck under your shirt, impossibly soft and warm in your skin. Your cock twitched inside him, wanting him to squeeze and milk you dry but that wasn't what a good friend would let him do.

"I killed him, you know." His hands curled into fists by your hips. "He left me after taking my virginity and when he came back, I killed him on Christmas Eve because he didn't give me another choice. I'm awful, aren't I? Shoko hates me. She won't say it but I know she does. I hate me, too." The blue of his eyes shone as tears gathered, threatening to fall down his red flushed cheeks.

"Shoko doesn't hate you." You said soothingly. You sat up, so much smaller than him, and ran your hands through his hair. "It was an impossible situation, we all think you did the right thing. We--"

He didn't let you finish your thought. Gojo grabbed you by your shirt and slammed his mouth onto yours, his tongue filling you as if he could make you swallow every hateful thing he'd ever thought about himself. "If you don't hate me," he breathed against your lips, his spit wet and warm as it dribbled down your chin, "then cum inside me." He rolled his hips, reigniting the electric pleasure in your core. "Please. You can hate me tomorrow, but right now, I can't let you go."

The pulsing softness of his pussy contracted, squeezing you so tightly you thought you might burst. You gasped for breath when Gojo released you and then did it again. You wanted to move. You wanted to stop. You wanted...

Gojo pulled down the front of your shirt, rolling his hips roughly, chasing his end against your cock. He bit your chest, hard enough to bruise, marking you like an alpha. And that was enough to come undone.

You exploded inside of him, eyes rolling back as your core emptied against his sweet spot. Your hips rolled up into his and you shivered as you felt your knot pop into his pussy, slick sliding down your thighs and onto the blankets.

You struggled to breathe as Gojo laid himself on top of you, breathing fast. He rocked his hips against your knot, already trying to drag another orgasm out of himself. His arms slid under your back, pulling your chest to his. "You're all I have now, Y/N," he whispered, "so please, don't leave.”

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cheetahf · 1 year

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The fact that ctommy has a sort of addiction to invis potions because not being there made him feel truely happy for the first time since L’manberg is so sad. He resorted to drugs as a coping mechanism just is so telling of how he thinks he can’t be fixed. Him being happy because of drugs it’s heartbreaking. He wanted to be out of the spotlight, away from people because he believes he’s the problem. He hates himself so much and goes to the last resort so he could finally feel something.

#c!tommy #dream smp #tommyinnit #dsmp #liveblogging #tw drugs #tw drug addiction #dsmp tommyinnit #tw self hatred #<— not me but ctommy

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aphroditestummyrolls · 10 months

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The world is a beautiful place. I want to skin myself, but oh my god, at least there’s quiet bookshop cafes and rainbow flags still hanging in the street and I get to make cupcakes for my job. At least there’s that.

#chewing glass #tw body image #tw self hatred #tw ed recovery

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piko-power · 1 month

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Without One Another

This is a follow up drabble to What Big Brothers Fear The Most, which you can read here if you need context. It's optional but it is required pfffft.

TW: Mentions of death, grief, self hatred, implied/mentions self harm thoughts, swearing

Tails knocked on the door three times.

Just three, small thuds with his knuckles against his brother's door.

He hate to bother him, but after what happened a couple of minutes ago, he couldn't help but check up on Sonic.

He needed to make sure he's okay.

"Sonic?" Tails called. "Can I come in?"

After a moment of silence, Tails reconsidered knocking again. But kept moving his glove free hand away from the door, really hating to bother him.

He never bothered Sonic. He knew damn well. But it's two in the morning.

He should be asleep, not knocking at his door and especially not tinkering at his workbench. At least he didn't get scolded for that.

Again.

But it was all just so sudden for Sonic the Hedgehog to say all those things, which, to be fair, was something he needed to hear since forever, out of no where.

He did mention that he had a bad dream, and that he was okay now, but that's about it.

Tails felt like there is more to it than "just a bad dream" and "I'm fine now."

He did had a feeling on what that bad dream was about now.

He knocked again. Just like last time.

"Sonic?" He called, a little bit louder this time. Loud enough for him to hear from the other side, in case the real reason why Sonic didn't respond was because he couldn't hear him the first time.

"Do you mind if I come in and talk to you?" He asked, his ears pinning slowly.

He really didn't wanna bother him.

He's not bothering him. He is not bothering him.

No response again.

...He is, isn't he?

The fox sighed a heavy sigh. A tired one, even. He shouldn't be doing this at this hour. His sleep is much better than-

...Hell no. His sleep is not at all better than his brother's well being.

"I'm coming in." Tails says, before turning the knob and opening the door.

He wasn't ready to go in when he said that, but went in anyways, because he cares.

When the door is fully open, he could see the blue hedgehog himself, sitting on the edge of his bed with an exhausted look on his face, bags under his eyes and some sleep fluttering off his eyelashes.

He flinched slightly, not expecting a bright light coming through the doorway, since he was adjusted to the dark already. "Too bright." He grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Oops. Sorry." Tails says, before turning off the hallway lights he forgot to turn off before Sonic went to his room earlier.

"You, uh... You good, buddy?" He asked, a small weak grin rising on his muzzle, relived to see his brother looking somewhat calm, even though he's not asleep.

Though considering what happened, he doesn't blame him for not being asleep right now.

"Just wanted to check up on ya." He continued. "Got kinda worried back there." He scratched the back of his head, not sure on how to keep the conversation going.

He just wanted to talk to Sonic. To let him know that he's here.

"I'm fine." He says, turning his head to face his little brother, a clearly fake smile on his face, that did not match the tiredness in his emerald eyes.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"...Alright then."

The hedgehog let out a loud, long yawn. It went on long enough for even Tails to yawn along with him. After that, Sonic laughed for a bit.

"It's spreading!" He chuckled, despite the tired sounding tone.

Tails giggled quietly. "Oh, noooooo." He "panicked," raising his hands in "fear." He snorted another laughter.

At least they're both laughing together.

"Ah..." Sonic sighed. It felt good to laugh again. "But, yeah, I am fine, little buddy," He reassured. "Just a little tired, is all," He rubbed his right eye.

"And nothing else is wrong?"

"...Nope."

... ...

He exhaled through his stuffed up nose.

"...Just can't sleep, I guess."

Aha. There it is.

Tails knew that Sonic was hiding something from him. He is terrible at hiding things. Very terrible.

Tails walked in his room finally and approached his bed. He stood by him, not sure if he should sit next to him.

"Something on your mind?" Tails casually asked.

"Yeah."

"Mind... telling me what's wrong, then?" Tails asked softly.

"..."

He could read the discomfort from the way his eyes lowered. He knew he didn't wanna talk about it, but sometimes it's better to talk about it than bottle it up.

Sonic kept forgetting about that.

But what ever happened in Sonic's dream messed him up really bad. He's aware that is was a dream, but it was still bothering him.

Must've been terrifying if he's not asleep at the moment.

"You don't have to talk about it," Tails says. "I just want you to know that I'm here in case you do want to talk about it."

The corner of Sonic's lips quivered.

He does.

He looked up at the little kit, his smile gave up and his eyes look sad and restless. Tails frowned slightly, not enjoying seeing his buddy like this.

"It's about my nightmare," he began. "and what happened in it..."

"Okay..." Tails says, sitting down next to him, listening.

"I was fighting Metal and you were in the air fighting some Badniks," He continued. "when suddenly I was caught in an explosion. Infinite was there and... he cut my..."

He placed his hand where his throat is, not wanting to complete his sentence as for a second he remembered how painful that attack was.

Which is absurd, because he's pretty sure he weren't supposed to feel pain in dreams. But sometimes, he does, and it's pretty screwed up.

"I go down and you arrived at a pretty bad time." Sonic says. "I was bleeding out, and you... look so scared." His hands lightly grabbed on hold of the sheets, refusing to look back at the moment. Yet, he did.

Tails was listening to every word he has to say, and he looked more uncomfortable and concerned the more Sonic continued with the story.

"You were crying. You were screaming for me. And... I died right there in your arms. Leaving you all alone..."

He looked away to his right, not wanting to look at his little brother after saying that. He knew that Tails was a little frightened by those words.

And he was.

"I remember you saying something like, 'Don't leave me,' or 'I don't want to be alone.'" His ears pinned down to his head. "But I think the worst thing you said was... 'I can't live without you.'"

Tails' eyes rose.

Sonic sits up and let out a heavy, shaky sigh. He never wanted to tell him what his own brother said to him in his dream. It just doesn't make any sense. It was just a nightmare, so why would it be so stressful?

It didn't happen. It never will.

But...

When he looked back at Tails, there was worry.

Nothing but worry.

Sonic wanted to punch himself in the face so bad for doing this to his little baby brother.

"I was the only family you had, and... you lost it." He muttered out, almost sounding emotionless, yet there was a hint of grief. "You literally cannot live without me. Yet, I know you can take care of yourself, but... I've done so much for you... I never really thought about these kinds of things, but I-..."

He stopped himself, huffing out again and placing his hands on his face, his elbows supporting on his knees. "It's just pissing me off that this nightmare is scaring me this badly." His voice muffled through his hands.

"None of that happened!" He turned back at him, his voice raised. "I didn't die and you weren't saying all those... awful things. I know you would never say that, even if I did-"

"Don't say it."

A small crack in the young one's voice is all it takes to just... break his heart into two.

"You're right about me being independent, but... You have done so much for me, and you are the first person in my life who liked me, and didn't ditch me or hurt me because of my two tails." He says. "And I know I also have Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, everybody... but you... are so important to me, and you always will be, no matter how old I get."

"I know." He often forget that he'll always be important to Tails. Not just for when he's a kid. Not just for right now.

"I know almost every day, we face crazy challenges and go on wild adventures, but we also had some close calls. Like, very close calls. Times where we nearly lost you." Tails continued. "And that one time..." He paused. "...We did lose you."

Sonic exhaled again.

"I thought I could handle it. For the first couple of months. I really did. But..." He sniffled. "Going so long without the one person who will always be there for me, without the one person who changed, saved, my life, without the one person who made me happy to be me... to be alive..."

Sonic shuts his eyes tight.

"Everyone at the Resistance was there, but... you weren't. I thought, we thought, you were dead, Sonic..." He choked quietly. "We believed that for months. I believed that for months. About the third month in, I just... couldn't stand being in a picture that you weren't in."

Sonic hates himself so much right now.

"It's just not the same without my hero." He spoke up. "One night, I just ran away from the Resistance. I was all by myself. Just like my first few years. I wailed, I screamed, I wished that everything that happened around that time was all a horrible, horrible nightmare that I was having, and I would wake up, to you, comforting me, letting me know that everything is okay and that you wouldn't leave me."

You ruined everything, Sonic. The hedgehog scolded himself.

"But..." He continued. "Reflecting on myself after that night, I stood back up and fought on my own, not wanting to have another episode like that... Well, at least I tried to fight back. I can fight back, but... How could I if a part of myself was ripped out of me?"

Dark Gaia...

"I can't say that I can't live without you, but... the world would be a much cruel place without you." Tails says, tears stinging his ocean blue eyes. "If I never have met you, my life would be a living hell. Really. I would never be happy to be me if I never met someone like you. Or just, you at all. I am grateful to have met you, Sonic."

Tails exhaled, not wanting to cry. He couldn't help but shed a few tears anyways. He needed to at this point.

"I'd say that... I would react the same way if you did d- ...you know." He hated saying that word. It felt like if he did say that word, it would happen for real. Which, he knew it's not true, but still...

Sonic placed a hand on his cheek, sighing again. He felt so disappointed in himself, as a brother. If he couldn't beaten Infinite, knowing what he was capable of, then Tails wouldn't have gone through all that mess.

Good Lord, he was only a child. What is up with the universe trying to give this kid hell? He has done nothing wrong!

Why is he failing so hard?

A gross sniffle was heard from Sonic as he covered his face entirely, ready to cry again. It startled Tails.

"Sonic?" He says, reaching his hand out. "A-Are you okay-?"

"No, Tails." He barked. "I'm not okay. I suck! I suck at being there for you when you needed me the most! I knew damn well that I mean a lot to you, and if I could've just kick Infinite's- ...Grrrr!" He nearly failed to hold in his tears, but especially his resent towards himself.

He was important to everybody. But especially Tails.

And he failed to do the most important thing. Look after his baby brother.

"I knew the Eggman War was bad for you, but I didn't know it was this bad... You just didn't tell me these things and- ... ..."

A thought popped in his head. A thought that should never come up to him.

No. He wouldn't. He's too young. He fucking wouldn't.

"Sonic?"

The young voice made him snap back to reality for a brief moment. He turned his head to face him. Sonic was horrified of what he is about to ask him.

"I need you to be honest with me, Miles." He warned, never sounding so serious in his life.

"O-Okay...?"

"Tails... At any point during the Eggman War, have you ever attempted to hurt yourself...?"

" ... ...WHAT?!!"

The question gave Tails a major shock, and even a small jolt down his spine. "ARE YOU INSANE?! Why the heck would y- WHY THE- HOW COULD YOU ASK ME THAT?!" He shrieked, now off the bed and back on his feet, yelling at him.

"Those months were stressful for me, but I didn't try to- What the FUCK, Sonic!!" He sobbed.

Okay, out of ALL the swear words, he should NEVER, EVER use that word, but Sonic was so speechless and scared that he couldn't even give him that warning tone in his voice whenever he swears.

"I-I'm sorry! I was just- I was worried, and-"

"OF COURSE I didn't attempt that! God, just because I can't live without you, doesn't mean I LITERALLY can't! Wh-Why... Oh, my Gaia..." Tails covered his mouth. "I... This is my fault. I should've told you about what I was going through in the first place, but I made you assume... Oh, my Gaia, I'm so sorry, Sonic." He softly cried, crushed from the fact that Sonic was this worried about him right now.

The hedgehog loves him too much.

He hated the idea that Sonic was worried about his own brother doing... that to himself. Granted, that one night was the most stressful of them all, that he nearly thought of it, but he didn't. He refuse to think that way. That's why he kept fighting.

Cause he knew fully well that's not what Sonic wanted, alive or not.

And he was right. Sonic wouldn't want that.

If he wouldn't want that, then neither would Tails.

"No. Don't apologize. Please." Sonic stood up as well, his voice breaking. "It's not your fault-"

"Well, it's not your fault either, Sonic!" Tails croaked. "Neither of us saw it coming! Especially me!"

"I just wished you would've told me about how you were feeling- I mean, you never really told me until we were on the Starfall Islands, but-"

"I thought it wouldn't matter because everything is okay-"

"YOU THINK I'M OKAY WITH YOU HIDING ALL THIS FROM ME?" He roared, tears beginning to stream. "YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO ME, GOD DAMMIT! YOU MEAN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE TO ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

Tails never felt terrified of his big brother's voice.

"I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU!"

... ...

Tails hiccuped. Sonic panted. No words can be exchanged. Only looks.

Sad, hurt, protective looks.

The hedgehog huffed. Feeling worse than he already was. But he didn't care. All he ever cared about was his little two-tailed brother.

"You've done a lot for me, Tails." He spoke. His voice was dying out but he couldn't care less. "All my life I thought being a hero is just doing everything yourself and taking care of yourself, but I was wrong. I never realized how wrong I was until I met you."

The fox sniffled, listening to every, little word from his hero.

"Without you, I probably would never have found the Chaos Emeralds, or stop the Death Egg, or save Angel Island, or stop Perfect Chaos, any of that stuff! My life would never be the same if I never met you. In fact, I'm not even sure if I would make it out alive without you."

His voice was trembling, but for the first time in a long time, he didn't care that he was crying in front of someone.

"You made a huge impact on my life, Tails. I owe you everything. Really..." He barely showed off such a sweet smile, but he's so tired and drained from yelling and just, staying up so late, he couldn't find the energy to smile at all right now.

"I am grateful to have you as my brother. And I know I don't say this a lot, but I think about it every time I see my friends, including you... I love you. I love you til the stars twinkle their last shine" A small sob escaped when he spoke the last couple of words.

He meant every word.

"And you wanna know something? Even if, I did die, I'm not really gone, okay? I will remain with you and everyone else forever, whether I'm in person or in spirit. I will always be in your heart and I will always love you, Miles "Tails" Prower."

He held both of Tails' hands as he began to cry. The young fox cried along with him, hearing the last sentence on loop in his head.

He really meant every, single word.

The two brothers embraced in a big hug. The biggest hug they could ever give for each other. Sonic held onto Tails for dear life as he finally sobbed loud enough for even the critters from outside to hear.

Tails hiccuped and cried continuously, not wanting to let go of the one person who changed his life for the better.

For once, they both wish this hug would last forever.

They don't care if they stayed up all night, they refuse to let each other go.

They cannot live without one another.

Two things woke Tails up; the sounds of birds chirping outside the window, and Sonic's monstrous snoring.

He tried to open one eye, but it was all blurry and covered in sleep. "Aw, geez... Why did I cry so much...?" He jokingly asked to himself, rubbing his eyes.

He sits up and was about to get off of the bed, but Sonic's snoring startled him a bit and he turned to see him snuggling against one of his pillows.

He looks so goofy, he thought to himself.

He's happy that Sonic's finally getting some good sleep.

Tails looked around to find himself in Sonic's room. When was the last time he slept in Sonic's room?

Old habits die hard, apparently.

"Zzzzzz... n-no chili..." Tails turned his head back the moment he heard him muttered something. "ZZZzzz, no mm chili dogs, 'm full. Thk you fr askin' though, Vanilla, zzzzzz..." He slurred.

Dreaming about chili dogs. Of course he is. Tails snickered.

He looked at the time and it read 11:38. Tails was surprised on how much or the morning is left. Him and Sonic stayed up for so long, just doing nothing but crying and hugging.

Didn't sound like a lot, but it was a long night regardless.

They needed to be there for each other, and it took them this long enough to finally have a moment with each other.

And even after all this time, Tails is still Tails, and Sonic is still Sonic.

And they're still brothers.

What a time to be alive.

"Yo. Big bro." Tails poked Sonic's cheek to wake him up.

"Mmmaybe one more bite wouldn't hurt..." Sonic mumbled before nibbling on his hand.

Tails covered his mouth, quieting down his laughter. Oh, this is his morning coffee. This is entertainment.

He needed this laugh.

"Sonic, wake up. You're dreaming." He hate to ruin the moment, but he needed to wake his brother up. He didn't want him to sleep through the day.

When Sonic's eyes open, the first thing he could see was most of his hand in his mouth. His eyes rose in confusion before he sits up, getting the hand out of his mouth and spitting out in disgust.

"What the heck was I doing??" He cried. Tails was laughing so hard he almost fell off the bed.

"Tails, please don't tell me you saw the whole thing!" Sonic felt so silly. He always known he spoke in his sleep, but this is ridiculous.

"Relax, Sonic. Everyone chews on their own hand in their sleep at some point in their lives." Tails says, getting up and already heading out of the door.

"Doubt that..."

"Yet here it are."

"Shut it." Sonic kept himself from laughing.

He gets up too, putting on his chili dog themed slippers, reading to start the day. "Geez, what a night... I felt like a crybaby."

"Hey. Don't say that." Tails spoke, turning to the hedgehog. "It's okay to cry. I can tell you've been needing to let it out for some time now."

"Yeah..." Sonic said in agreement. He scratched the back of his ear, feeling bad. "Hey, I'm sorry for telling you about all that stuff. I didn't mean to bring you down like that. My nightmare was pretty messed up and-"

"Sonic. It's okay." Tails reassures with a genuine smile. "It's okay to feel and talk about certain things. I'm glad that you get to talk to me about it. Even if it was messy, we still talked it out."

"Yeah." Sonic says, smiling as well. "Thanks. For being there for me."

"I should be thanking you, dude. But, you're welcome. Anything for my big bro!"

He opened the door and walked out. "I'm getting breakfast ready! You hungry?" He called out from outside the room.

"Some waffles sound pretty good!" Sonic replied out loud.

"Okay, cool!" The kit says.

Sonic chuckled softly. He still felt silly after his and Tails' talk, but at the same time, he felt a lot better now.

He may not be used to talking about his feelings, but at least his little buddy was there to listen to him all the way through.

He truly is grateful to have a brother like Tails.

#sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #brothers #sonic fanfiction #my fanfiction #wholesome sonic and tails wednesday #tw mention of death #tw grief #tw self hatred #tw self h4rm #tw swearing #Don't worry it'll get very fluffy soon!#I'm surprised this was shorter than I thought. Probably because I'm so tired and I need sleep lmao apologies if this felt rushed...#Some AO3 fics and drabbles I came across inspired me to write the absolute brothers.#been a hot minute since I posted my writing but HEY! I'm finally kicking writer's block's ass!

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whumpetywhump · 5 months

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Flowers For Algernon - Ep. 1

#flowers for algernon #jdrama #crying #emotional breakdown #autistic character #concern #comfort #stimming #falling #cradled #hugging #protective friend #hagiwara masato #yamashita tomohisa #whump #jwhump #asian whump #tw self hatred

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cult-of-the-eye · 2 months

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Flesh avatar!Martin fic

TW: severe body image issues, self hatred, negative self talk, body dysmorphia, body horror (ish), unhealthy one sided relationships

Jon wasn’t eating.

The level of Martin’s romantic obsession had never crossed the line of tracking someone’s eating habits, but it didn’t take a genius to see that whatever he was eating, it wasn’t enough. His own apple and snack bar combination had lasted him throughout secondary school, a certainty that he sincerely hoped wouldn’t change any time soon. But Jon needed it more than him.

Behind his desk, he felt small. He didn’t have to be aware of the flesh that hung off his limbs in jiggling masses, so he opted for something better. Something smaller. Jon was substantially smaller than him - a fact that he found overwhelming at first. He switched between the constant burning of awe of a lithe and sharp frame and the need to put his excess to use.

The line of sight from his desk to Jon’s office was cruelly clear. A hulking great wooden door between them, one that was the stumbling subject of many of his own poems. A foggy allegory of distance. It was a momentous occasion of sunshine when that door peeled open. Each time, Martin drank his fill of Jonathan Sims, but recently, it had left his mouth uncomfortably dry.

Today was one of those occasions. A forest green sweater vest hung off what only just passed off as a body. Lines cut beneath his deep brown eyes, distracting rather than highlighting. Cheekbones that once lifted a haughty expression only shadowed a much heavier one. Maybe this was just the rose tint that surrounded Jon, romanticising a time of crisis where Martin could justify stepping in. Or maybe Jon was actually not doing well. His body followed this line of thinking, footsteps treading heavily after Jon’s rabbit-footed paces, into the kitchen.

“Hi, Jon.”

Fat kids could only ever want to be one of three things when they grew up. Either utilise their size as a sign of comedy, strength or as softness. Anything else was unforgivable. Martin chose softness. He let that seep into his words, melting his body into the patches in the floor, so he would not trip.

“Martin.”

He lapped up the slight incline of his neck, a nod that contained a dizzying array of possibilities. Jon was clutching at a chipped mug as if it were his only anchor to the mortal world. Martin was inclined to believe that.

“I was wondering…”

The cupboard doors bristled against the hinges in the silence that followed. Jon did not expect further conversation. Neither did Martin.

“Yes?”

“I brought too much food.”

“Right.”

Now, Martin. Prove your value as a pile of meat.

“Would you like some?”

An apple. A peace offering. An organic bridge of sorts, nutrients shared from a body that doesn’t need it to a body that does. Almost parasitic. And Jon looked at it as such. With the disgust of someone offering to attach to him, to leach off of his energy and time.

“It’s just a fruit. It won’t kill you.”

Jon’s eyes sunk further into the past. Into whatever warren he had been dragged into, taking from him his edges and sanding down into the bare necessities. Martin only had one card left to play.

“I…please just take it, Jon?”

Sincerity.

Emotions are rarely seen in the fat kid. Emotions are frowned upon. They increase your size, your ability to be noticed, so reassuring or stoic or half-laughing are your only choices. This is a wildcard. Not even Jonathan Sims could predict his response. Unpredictable was something Martin could get used to being.

“...Sure, Martin.”

Jon gave Martin a wide berth while crossing the kitchen. As if he had grown suddenly and was unsure of his new dimensions. Martin felt no contortion of his size, standing, watching Jon walk away, biting the apple in his hand. There was no door to the kitchen, of any material, let alone wood. Nothing especially poetic about eating an apple in an office. Just a faint sense of hunger and a new willingness to do something about it.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin k blackwood #jmart #tma fic #tw body dysmorphia #tw body image issues #tw self hatred #jmart angst #angst #I WARNED YOU #i was in a...headspace...when i wrote this #im not trying to glorify obesity or self hatred or anything #before people start coming at me #im just trying to portray what flesh avatar martin would be like #in like s1/2 jmart #anyway #hope you enjoy!!

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peanut-tyrug · 1 month

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Pink City AU: Hunt for the Boxman

Chapter 3 - Fixing what’s been Broken

Hoonis and Dento team up amongst the discord and havoc of the Pink City to fix what they themselves and others have torn apart.

—

NOTICE: This AU is partially based on my ideas/interpretation. If anything appears to be inaccurate, I apologize. I tried to work with what little I had to make smth. I also took a few artistic liberties.

Another thing: THE PINK CITY AND IT’S CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME!! IT BELONGS TO GOOSEWORX!! Some canon lore for The Pink City has also been implemented in this story. This is just an AU/story I made based on it. If you’d like to check out The Pink City series itself, check it out here!

—

TRIGGER WARNING: This fic contains nightmares, threats, arguing, caps, swearing, an apocalypse, screaming, crying, death, stabbing, self hatred, and daddy issues. If you aren’t comfortable with these things, please don’t read this.

It hasn’t been long since the disaster that occurred live on television. Right on Bep’s show…

All she wanted to do was get her head back in the game. Get back into making her show. Forget all that had happened, forget that emotional breakdown with that… nosy little shit show host.

The stress hammers at Bep’s head like a mallet. She can’t help but stress over her show. How people will perceive her… all the disgust, confusion, rage…

It’s an absolute nightmare…

…A literal one.

Bep wakes up with a sudden gasp. She rises up and glances around, and hears her phone going off. She scrambles to her phone and picks it up. She holds the phone in her hand.

Her eyes squint angrily.

Someone’s calling her.

Hoonis is calling her.

…That blasted, dense man… the man the couldn’t help but press on about her deadbeat father. The man that couldn’t shut his trap about the person she hated with every fiber of her being.

The phone eventually stops ringing, going to the lock screen. Bep then goes into her messages and types out a message to Hoonis.

'Leave me alone'

Bep chucks her phone to the edge of her bed and lays back down…

…The nightmares continue to rage on in her head.

—

It’s the next day.

Everyone’s preparing for Bep’s next show. Setting up lights, doing sound checks. Everything must be perfect.

Perfect for her.

Bep storms around the small studio room, checking in on her employees. Although, she’s more uptight than usual.

“Hey!” Bep exclaims, pointing at a camera man. “Do NOT keep that lens cap on! I swear to God, you aren’t going to see the end of my wrath if you do!”

“Yes, ma'am!” The camera man says worriedly, fearing for his life.

Bep then turns to a sound guy, fiddling with the sound board. She storms to him, to which the employee responds by shivering in terror.

Bro slams her hands onto the sound board. “You better not fucking miss your cues, you hear me?” She says in a harsh whisper.

“Yes, Ms. Nemeni, ma'am.” Says the sound guy, his fear overtaking his voice.

Bep then turns to her small tech crew. Only few have actually stayed, including the team’s lead, since they need the money.

Bep struts over to the tech lead, Bendle. He quickly notices her approach.

“Bendle!” Bep begins. “Keep an eye on the tech team, please. We don’t need a light flickering or falling!”

“…Ms. Nemeni?” A tech guy questions. “Why are you always so hard on us?”

Bep averts her gaze to the questioning man. She forgot he was new here.

“…Well, that’s because I NEED TO BE!” Bep exclaims. “If I don’t keep you all in check, WE ALL PLUMMET TO THE GROUND!! We lose our AUDIENCE!! We lose our SOURCE OF PROFIT!! We mess up, we have NOTHING!”

“But why do you yell so much?” The tech guy asks. “I don’t think that’s a good work environment—!”

Bep proceeds to the yank the tech guy to her face. She stares him down, and he stares back, complete horror in his eyes.

“Sometimes I NEED TO BE LOUD!!” Bep exclaims. “I have to be the army general because people like YOU can’t get your work done! I need ALL OF YOU to get to work, RIGHT NOW, or so help me, I WILL TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB!!”

Most of the tech team scatters to their positions.

All but one.

One of Bep’s most loyal employees. Practically her right hand man.

Bendle.

He stays in place, not even daring to move. Bep looks to the young man with fury. Bendle firmly glares to his boss.

“…Bendle?” Bep asks. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“I did hear you, ma'am.” Says Bendle.

“…Then why aren’t you moving?” Bep asks, voice seething with fury.

“Because I’m tired of the stress you put us through.” Bendle responds.

Bep quickly becomes infuriated and lost for words. As she stammers, trying to make a coherent sentence, Bendle speaks up again.

“You’ve done nothing but stress us out for ages.” Says Bendle. “You never seem to care about our emotional well being.”

Bep tries to retort, stammering, trying to make a good enough argument.

…But as she tries, a thought pops in her head.

“You’re a terrible boss, that’s what you are.” Says Bendle. “And I am so, so, so, tired of putting up with your shit. We all are. We could all leave, but we don’t. We need the money. If you want us to stay as bad as you do, why don’t you try to improve as a person?”

Everyone in the crew stares back at the brave man and his powerless boss. All Bep does is stand there, completely motionless, as a memory of old reappears in her head…

…A terrible memory. One that would make her seethe every time it popped up in her mind…

~~~

'Why not?'

'I don’t want to work on your stupid show!'

'But why? It’s done so well! You could get a lot of money!'

'It’s not what I want to do with my life!'

'But what about what I want for you?'

'What about what I want!? What I want to do with my own life!?'

'I am your father! You do as I ask!'

'But this is my life!'

'What about what I want for you?'

'…You don’t love me.'

'…What?'

'You don’t love me. You don’t care about me… you just wanted me for your stupid show!'

'No! I do love you!'

'Then why are you pressuring me to do something I don’t want to do!?'

'It would be good for you!'

'But what if I don’t want to do it!?'

'Then suck it up!'

'That’s what I mean! YOU DO NOT LOVE ME!!'

~~~

…That same argument… that same talk…

That same talk Bep had with her father…

…Darles…

The memory rings in her head. Reflects back to her...

Suddenly, a loud and thundering rumbling is heard from outside.

The ground begins to shake, causing equipment to topple and fall. The crew catches their equipment just before it hits the ground.

“The hell is that!?” A sound guy exclaims.

As the rumbling continues, loud bangs are heard…

Then, a sound that resembles the aftermath of a bomb slamming into the ground.

The ground vibrates even more, causing the crew to fall forward on their faces.

“EVERYONE!! GO!!!” Bendle exclaims.

As everyone scurries to the exit, banging is heard against the studio’s roof…

Suddenly, dark and inky tendrils protrude through the roof of the studio, quickly cornering the crew.

Bep watches as her crew is swiftly lifted into the air. Thrown against the wall. Chucked around the room.

…And slowly becoming disgustingly distorted.

Losing their logic and reason. Losing their ability to think. Losing their ability to keep a proper form.

Corrupted.

“Come on!” Bendle exclaims, running to Bep. “We gotta go!”

As Bep turns to face Bendle, she watches as Bendle is lifted into the air through the hole in the roof. Bep watched as the young man is carried into the sky.

And Bendle watches as Bep becomes further and further away from his view.

The tendril carrying the young man comes to a halt. Bendle quickly turns his head around.

And comes face to face with something that would forever lurk in his nightmares.

A thin, magenta-suited man with a box for a head, said box being covered in a black ooze with spider-like legs protruding from the sides of the head. Front and center, looking directly into Bendle’s soul, colorful yet petrifying eyes. The types of eyes that haunt you while you sleep.

…Bendle feels as if he could pass out.

Suddenly, the tendril holding the young man up slams him back down into the building.

Bep watches as the man falls back to the floor of her studio, complete horror in her eyes. A crater is created in the floor of the room she stands in. Bendle lays practically unconscious, his body glitched and distorted.

The young man slowly brings an arm up. He then begins to rise to his feet, much to Bep’s horror.

Bendle isn’t who he was anymore. None of her crew were.

They were all like mindless, bugged out zombies. Completely void of whatever proper mental state they had left.

Bendle stares at Bep, his eyes a bright blue aura. His body glitching and distorting beyond what Bep can comprehend.

Bep swiftly turns to the exit and scurries out of the studio. She runs almost aimlessly through the halls and eventually skids to a stop by a closet. She shoves herself into the closet and shuts the door. She sits back against the door and curls up into a ball.

…She begins to sob.

…All of what she had caused her employees… the anger, the fear, the stress…

…She had become the very person she hated…

…Her father… the one who caused her all the stress, the pressure she endured…

She had done the same…

…What had she wrought…?

—

It hasn’t been long since the carnage had started to rain down upon the Pink City.

Hoonis huddles away in his home, within a closet, protecting himself from the danger outside…

He can hear all of it.

All of the screaming, crying, bugged out terror. People getting slammed against buildings. He can feel the quaking hits against the walls outside.

…It’s terrible.

At least he knows Dento’s safe in his home, with his family… very likely mourning Elain.

…Poor Elain…

She had been taken by Darly. Lord knows if she’s still okay, wherever she in sky she was. Wherever in that void she was… maybe she was okay…

…Although, it may not be likely.

Darles— or Darly, is not the man he once was. He’s been bent to Darly’s will. Insane, sick in the head… Hoonis can only imagine what he’s done with her…

…He needs to get her back. Get Darles back… that was what he settled out to do anyway, find Darles and just speak to him. Just that time… but Elain, she and Dento had helped him. He was grateful for them. They were his friends.

…He can’t sit in his closet like this. He had to do something to help his idol and friend, along with the dying city outside.

…He needs to find Dento…

Wherever he lived…

Hoonis goes through his pocket and grabs his phone. He texts Dento.

'Hey. What’s your address?'

…For a bit, nothing.

Then—

'What do you need it for?'

'I want to talk to you. I’ll explain when I get there'

—

Hoonis scrambles through the streets of the Pink City, trying to evade whatever could suddenly decide to chase after him and get to Dento’s home.

Nothing really seems to be on his tail… at least, for a time.

The glitched citizens roaming amongst the carnage quickly take notice of the one unlike them. The small group eventually forming into a mob of people.

Hoonis doesn’t dare look back. He continues to run, not even paying attention to where he’s going.

He needs to hide.

As he turns into another street, he swiftly slides to his right and enters a random building. He shuts the door behind him and rushes deeper into the building.

As he runs, the place quickly becomes familiar…

…Bep’s studio…

…Surely if she doesn’t notice he’s here, he’ll be fine… right?

He rushes down a hall and enters the closest room to his left. He slams the door shut and slams his back to it.

“…The fuck are you doing here?” A voice asks from Hoonis’ left.

Hoonis glances to the voice’s origin. His eyes go wide.

Bep is looking directly up to Hoonis, her eyes watery with tears… what happened to her?

“…H-hey, Bep.” Hoonis says worriedly. “…Sorry. I didn’t know I had—“

“No, no.” Says Bep, softly. “You’re fine… they likely won’t find us here anyway. They don’t have any of their sanity left, it seems.”

“…Are you alright?” Hoonis asks as he sits himself next to Bep, since he knows he’s now allowed in the room.

“…I’m sorry.” Says Bep. “For… breaking out at you the yesterday.”

Hoonis suddenly appears surprised. He never expected to hear her apologize. Before he can speak, Bep continues.

“…It was wrong.” Says Bep. “I only inflected hell upon you… just as I did to everyone else… just like my father…”

“…What do you mean?” Hoonis asks. “I-if you don’t mind my asking, heh.”

Bep quickly appears hesitant…

She can’t keep it away forever. She’s done that long enough.

“…My father, you know him, along with what he did, if you rememeber. He— he didn’t want me to do what I wanted.” Says Bep. “What I wanted to do with my life. He wanted me to continue his show, and I didn’t… I’ve felt for years that he never truly loved me because of that. Despite my efforts to separate myself from him, I think I only became him.”

“…How?” Hoonis asks.

“I-I stress my employees out constantly. I never give them time to relax, take a mental break.” Says Bep. “I’m pushing them beyond their limits, and I was completely blind to it… my father did the same to me, stressed me out to my breaking point… I did the same to my own employees… I’m just as bad as my father…”

Hoonis almost couldn’t fathom what he heard.

…He knew Darles loved his daughter, he said so himself… he never intended this.

“…He never intended you to be upset.” Says Hoonis.

“What?” Bep asks, almost fiercely.

“I-I-I’ve seen him.” Says Hoonis. “He said he loved you with his life— he feels genuine guilt for what he caused you.”

“How do you know that?” Says Bep. “You’re making that up, aren’t you?”

“…He’s up there.” Says Hoonis, pointing upwards.

“I-I don’t understand.” Says Bep.

“In the sky.” Says Hoonis. “He’s stuck up there.”

“What?” Bep asks.

Suddenly, banging is heard. The corrupted have found them.

“SHIT!” Hoonis harshly whispers. “Take my hand!” He whispers as he turns to Bep.

Before Bep can even retort, Hoonis rushes out of the room. He barely escapes the corrupted hoard, just before he can even get hit. He and Bep eventually scurry out of the studio and into the outside world.

“Look up!” Hoonis exclaims, looking back to Bep. “Do you see what I mean now?”

Bep’s eyes go wide as she looks upon the carnage. Buildings are cracked or partially crumbled. Citizens limp around the streets, completely void of an actual mental state. As she gazes upon the city, she spots something in the sky.

…Someone…

The figure is faint, yet close enough to be visible. A man with an eye-covered box on his head, coated in a thick black ooze with spider-like legs sticking from it’s sides. The physique of the man is thin. Familiar…

Darles.

Bep can only pray that he won’t see her.

Suddenly, Hoonis and Bep find themselves in darkness again. Hoonis found an unlocked door to a nearby building. They’re safe now.

The duo quickly sits themselves down, breathing heavily.

“…I-I saw him.” Says Bep. “…What the fuck happened to him…? You know, don’t you?” She asks, turned to Hoonis.

Hoonis hesitates before finally finding what he wants to say. “…He’s a god now.” Says Hoonis.

“…WHAT!?” Bep shouts.

“Shh!” Hoonis hushes. Bep silences, letting Hoonis speak again.

“…He made a deal with these gods to make his show succeed.” Says Hoonis. “They took him, as part of their deal… and now he’s a god.”

Bep quickly appears suddenly confused. How did he even come across them in the first place? What are these gods?

“…He only gets worse…” Says Bep. “…He can’t improve… and if he can’t, then I can’t either…”

Hoonis processes her words… if she feels she’s like him, and he can’t change…

…She won’t change either…

“…Don’t think that way.” Says Hoonis.

“Why?” Bep asks, voice strained. “I’m just like him. I-I’m part of him— his genes are in me… I can’t change, just as he can’t…”

“Both of you can change, I know that.” Says Hoonis. “…Even if I have a terrible father who never loved me, who is a lost cause… whose to say your father can’t change? Why not give him a chance? Give yourself a chance?”

Bep processes Hoonis’ words…

“Why not try to actually change instead of wallowing in your guilt?” Hoonis asks.

…Why not change when you still have the time to do so in your life? Why not work to be better? Why not learn to grow as a person?

Suddenly, Hoonis places a hand on Bep’s shoulder. Bep swiftly turns her head to face the show host, her eyes wide with shock.

“You can do it.” Says Hoonis. “Just try.”

Bep hesitates before placing her hand onto Hoonis’. She doesn’t say anything, she only nods… she will try. She wants to try. She can only become a better person if she’s willing to try.

…Not only can she change… Darles can change…

The only way to know was to see him again… if she got to truly see his guilt… she wouldn’t believe it unless she actually saw it before her. To start her change, she can actually be less judgmental. Unlike Hoonis’ father… maybe her’s can change.

…Although, she appears hesitant to believe it. All that had happened in the past stays with her. All that she had done stays with her. Hoonis notices her hesitancy as she looks down to the ground.

“…I know that your hesitant...” Says Hoonis. “But I know you’ll see change in him, you’ll see change in yourself too. I promise.”

Bep doesn’t respond, appearing uncertain. Hoonis quietly accepts it and pats her shoulder… he knows she’ll see it. He knows so… he then gets to his feet and rushes out of the building and back into the city.

…Bep is conflicted… Can she change? Can Darles change…?

…All she can do is wait… All she can do is try. Instead of wallowing in your sorrows… she can’t sit here in guilt forever, right? …Just be less stubborn for a second. You can start your change there.

…Yes, she can change. She wants to change.

She just has to wait and see if he wants that change too.

As Bep sits, she hears a sudden banging on the door leading inside the building… along with the sound of bugging static…

—

Dento sits in his home, on the couch, moping quietly. Danina sits next to him, giving him comfort. Despite the assistance from his sister, Dento can’t help but feel like garbage.

If only he had known Elain would do that to herself, act ignorant toward her pain… he should’ve known… if she had known… this wouldn’t have happened.

If both of them knew…

“Oh, dear!” Says Dento’s mother, who is pacing around the living room. “Oh, where is your father!? I called him, he hasn’t come home—!”

“Mom!” Danina exclaims, cutting her mother off. “He’ll be home, I’m sure of it.”

“Who knows what danger’s out there, Danina?” Says the mother. “He could’ve gotten shot, or beat up, or—!”

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door.

“See?” Says Danina. “He’s home. You can shut up now.”

The mother seems to ignore Danina’s remark as she hurries to the front door and unlocks it. Suddenly, someone no one, except Dento, expected to see.

Hoonis slams the door open, causing the mother to get smacked onto the wall. “Where’s Dento!?” Hoonis exclaims.

“Where’d you come from!?” Danina questions as Dento swiftly moves his head to face the show host.

Hoonis closes the door behind him and notices Dento’s mother behind it. He gasps a bit as the mother recovers, completely fine yet dazed. “Sorry, ma'am!” He says.

“…Y-you’re alright, sir.” Says the mother with a slight chuckle.

Hoonis’ eyes quickly notice Dento sitting on the couch next to his sister. He rushes over to the Bounty Hunter, who jumps back in fright.

“Dento!” Hoonis says in a hurry. “We gotta talk, come on!”

“Hold it!” Says Danina, putting a hand in front of Dento as if to protect him. “What do you need him for?”

“You suddenly barged into our home without a purpose to be here.” Says the mother.

Hoonis turns to the mother. “I need to speak with Dento, miss.” He says. “It’s an emergency!”

“A-about what?” The mother asks.

“…I-it’s a lot, I’m sorry—!” Hoonis begins, before being swiftly cut off.

“You’re sending him back out there, aren’t you!?” Danina exclaims. “You’re crazy if you think he’s going out there, it’s a war zone outside!”

“I know, but I need him for this!” Says Hoonis. “It’s for a friend of his!”

“Wha— oh, her?” Danina asks, knowing who Hoonis’ referring to. Dento quickly notices who he’s talking about as well.

Elain.

“Yes!” Says Hoonis. “I need his help to get Elain back!”

“He’s mourning right now.” Says Danina. “I don’t think he’d—!”

Suddenly, Dento hops off the couch and walks up to Hoonis. He looks up to the show host with a stern expression. He wants to help, even if he’s in mourning.

Elain is his friend. Even if she hurt him, he knows she didn’t mean it… they can speak about it later. Learn to improve…

“Are you sure?” Danina asks.

Dento locks eyes with Danina and nods.

“It’s dangerous out there, hun.” Says the mother to Dento. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Dento looks to his mother and shakes his head. He lowers his hands from the top of his body to the bottom, displaying what he was wearing: Bounty Hunting gear. He’s a Bounty Hunter. He’s seen a lot of terrible things in his life. If he can handle taking down a bounty, then he can handle this.

“…You have faced a lot in your life.” Says the mother. “M-maybe I should let you go.”

If Dento had a mouth, he’d have the biggest smile on his face. He slowly nods to his mother. He rushes to his mother and hugs her.

“…Oh, my little boy.” Says the mother. “Your father would be applauding you right now.” She picks Dento up into her arms and hugs him back.

Danina then gets up from the couch and head to her family. She faces Dento. “You better come back alive, you hear?” She asks.

Dento looks to Danina and nods. He wraps an arm around her, giving her a side hug.

Hoonis looks at the scene tenderly… he can only wish he and Bep’s families had that bond… even if his father can’t change, Darles can. He can see it in him.

They just need to find a way to get him back.

Dento separates from his family and the mother sets him down. He rushes over to Hoonis with a confident look.

“Are you ready, friend?” Hoonis asks Dento.

Dento nods confidently. He’s ready.

Hoonis nods back, then looks to Dento’s family. “I’ll be sure to bring him back. He’ll make sure of that too.” He says. Dento nods in response to Hoonis.

“Just be careful.” Says the mother. “Please.”

“We will.” Says Hoonis. He then turns to the door and points at it triumphantly. “To the city!”

Hoonis and Dento rush to the door and swiftly exit the house and rush into the city. Danina and Dento’s mother wave them goodbye as the rush out of the door.

“We love you, hun!” Say the mother.

“Don’t get yourself killed!” Says Danina.

—

Hoonis and Dento scurry behind buildings and through alleys, trying as best as they to avoid any of the mindless civilians roaming the streets. None of them seem to notice they’re there, walking in straight lines like NPCs, completely lifeless and without their free will.

As Hoonis and Dento run though, they slow down and come to a stop, right behind a vacant building, as if realizing something.

Hoonis turns to Dento. He leans down to the Bounty Hunter’s level and whispers. “…What are we gonna do?”

…Dento eventually shrugs, unfortunately uncertain… neither of them thought far ahead. Just how were they going to take down Darly and end this carnage?

Suddenly, two floating hands appear behind the show host and Bounty Hunter. The hands swiftly grab their backs and lift to the air. The duo then gets pulled away from their spot at a tremendous speed, they can barely process what’s happening to them as they suddenly enter a forest.

The hands quickly come to a halt, causing the duo to jerk forward slightly. The hands slowly lower the two to the ground, back on their legs, only for them to immediately fall to their bottoms. As they recover, the hands retract, and a slight rustle is heard from the bushes in front of them.

From the bushes, an old companion appears.

Hoonis and Dento see Vondu exiting the small pile of shrubs, another familiar person in a third hand’s grip.

The librarian.

“You! It’s you!” Hoonis exclaims, pointing to the Bounty Hunter and cult leader. Dento only stares, not looking shocked, although he is.

Vondu plops the librarian down to ground, although not as gently as Hoonis and Dento were placed. The librarian thuds to ground with a grunt. His gaze shifts to the show host and Bounty Hunter.

Suddenly, breaking the slightly uneasy air, Dento’s phone vibrates. He takes out his phone and spots a text from Vondu.

'He can tell you everything you need' One text reads.

Another text suddenly comes in. 'I heard you from here. I know you want this carnage gone'

Vondu then gazes to the librarian, his look demanding. He needs the cult leader to speak.

The librarian appears hesitant, not wanting to speak of the secrets of the Elders. He turns to Vondu, wanting to retort against him, before Vondu swiftly pulls back his coat, revealing his mighty gun artillery underneath.

The librarian shrieks. “Fine, pest!” He says. “…I shall speak of true word.”

The librarian turns to Hoonis and Dento, who await an answer. He steps to the duo, pulling out a ritual knife from inside his robe.

The librarian holds the knife before Hoonis and Dento. “Pierce the leech that sits on the showman’s head, and the world will be cleansed of this carnage.” He says.

Dento gradually takes the blade in his hands. He stuffs it deep into the pockets of his Bounty Hunting gear.

Hoonis turns to the librarian, appearing grateful. “Thank you.”

The librarian doesn’t seem to respond. He’s not happy that he had to share any of that. He’d rather live to preach of his gods than be dead.

Vondu then swiftly swipes the librarian in a jar… he’s a bounty. He averts his ominous gaze from the jar to Dento and Hoonis, who stare back.

“…T-thank you, sir.” Says Hoonis. Dento nods, also saying thank you.

Vondu continues to stare before ominously creeping back into the shrubs. Hoonis and Dento slowly back away before Hoonis suddenly dips the scene, sprinting away. Dento quickly follows.

As they run, they spot the faint figure of Darly hovering over the Pink City’s center, the world appearing slightly distorted and apocalyptic, the large gaping hole in the sky aiding the terrified feeling within them.

—

Dento and Hoonis stay hidden behind a building, away from the pedestrians. They peer over to the street, not seeing anyone, but the carnage being most apparent.

“…We still don’t have a plan.” Says Hoonis.

How were they going to get to Darly? It wouldn’t be easy to get to him, since he’s so high up… what would they do?

Suddenly, Dento looks to Hoonis with a stern gaze. He places the knife in front of the show host and swiftly bolts away.

Directly into the street.

Hoonis peers over the building with a gasp. “No! wait!” He exclaims to Dento. His plea falls on deaf nonexistent ears as he watches Dento bolt into the street.

As Hoonis desperately watches Dento bolt away, he feels something tap his shoulder. He turns and yelps at the sight of Vondu suddenly appearing behind him.

“You!” Says Hoonis. “What are you doing here, friend?”

Vondu points forward, and then glances to Hoonis, asking what he was looking out to the street for.

“…Dento left.” Says Hoonis. “He’s entrusted me with the dagger… I don’t know if I can—!”

Vondu places a hand on Hoonis’ shoulder, as if to console him.

Hoonis sighs. “…You’re right.” He says. “I need to do this. That isn’t Darles… I will do it! I have to!” He says as he turns to Vondu with confidence in his eyes.

Vondu nods. He then averts his gaze to the street ahead. He steps to the alley’s edge and peers over the building to the street. Hoonis huddles just behind him as watched Vondu and waits for him to act.

Vondu then points upward toward the city’s center, having spotted Darly a decent distance ahead.

“…What about Darles?” Hoonis asks.

Vondu looks back to Hoonis and points at the dagger, then points back to Darly.

“How am I going to get there?” Hoonis asks.

Suddenly and swiftly, Vondu picks Hoonis up and holds him in the air, as if preparing to chuck him to Darly.

—

Dento’s been running for awhile. His legs hurt, but he’s willing to do this… if Darly has Elain, then wouldn’t that make Darly want Dento too? If he wanted her so bad, and since he seemed to know a lot about her, he’d know Dento is Elain’s crime fighting buddy.

Dento runs through the street a bit, before stopping and coming to a halt. He turns a heel and stares upward, directly up to Darly.

…He’s offering himself up as a sacrifice.

Darly is so high up, Dento can barely see him… yet he can feel those petrifying eyes staring down at him…

Then, something pushes Dento down to the floor. He can barely process what’s happening as he slams onto the road… Dento’s eyes then come upon a horrifying sight.

Elain.

Elain remains on top of her former partner in justice, keeping him pinned to the ground. She then picks Dento up by the arms, letting him hang in the air. Dento only stares in shock and disbelief, looking deep into Elain’s dead blue eyes.

…What had happened to her?

“Well, well, well!” Says a voice from above. An awfully familiar one.

Darly.

Dento looks over Elain’s shoulder to see Darly looking down to the ground, looking upon his partner and her former friend. “Look at who we have here!” He says. “The puppet’s little partner? Coming to be almighty and safe his friend? Delightful!”

There is then a suspenseful, long pause…

“DESTROY THE PEST!!” Darly suddenly shouts. “BEAT HIM UP!!”

Suddenly and swiftly, Elain begins punching her former partner across the face. Dento can barely avoid Elain’s attacks as she swiftly chucks him into the air and kicks away with a leap.

Dento skids to the ground, his back grinding against the road. He slowly picks himself up to see Elain quickly approaching him. He swiftly pulls a gun out from his side… but hesitates.

He’s never had to shoot someone such as Elain. He didn’t like the thought of it.

She may have hurt him, and was still hurting him now, but he knows she doesn’t want any of this… she never did…

Before Dento can even move again, Elain throws him into the air once more. While Dento falls through the air at the absurd high altitude he had been thrown to, Elain mercilessly begins to smack and slap him around like some kind of toy. As the two approach the ground, Elain holds onto to the barely conscious Dento, allowing him to fall back to the ground first.

Elain holds Dento down to the ground. They lock eyes again as Dento hears an evil maniacal laugh approaching them. Dento turns his head slightly to spot Darles slowly descending to them.

“Pathetic!” Says Darly. “You couldn’t even lay a scratch on her! And I thought you were good at beating people up! Ha!”

Darly then goes into another round of awful laughter. As Darly laughs, it descends into an odd shriek.

As Dento stares upon Darly, he waits for Hoonis to strike…

Nothing.

…Until he suddenly sees the show host slam onto Darly’s back, the dagger in his hand.

“What in the FUCK!?” Darly shouts. “GET OFF OF ME!!” He exclaims as he struggles to get Hoonis off of his back.

“I’m doing this for you, Darles!” Hoonis says in an overly dramatic tone. He holds the dagger just above Darly’s head, but he appears to be shrouded in anxiety…

He just can’t do it. Not to Darles.

A tendril then yanks Hoonis of Darly’s back, causing the dagger to almost fall out of his hand. Just as he clings onto it’s handle, another tendril yanks the dagger from Hoonis’ hand and brings it to Darly to inspect.

Darly inspects the dagger in a cartoonish manner, rubbing his chin with his hand. He then turns to Hoonis. “Ah!” He says. “Publicly executing me, I see? How futile!”

“Why can’t you just stop this?” Hoonis asks, a terrible tinge of desperation in his voice.

“Unlike you, I’m not letting my feelings get in the way of what I need to do!” Says Darly. “That ungrateful man must see what his gift can bring onto himself! You are only a hindrance in what he needs to understand what a TRUE celebrity is!”

Darly then turns to the tendril wielding the dagger— he notices it has suddenly disappeared. His eyes glance around, wondering who could’ve taken it.

Suddenly, a large entourage of bullets soar through the area, causing Darly and Elain to retreat, Elain taking Dento with her as she hovers into the air and stops beside Darly. As Hoonis is brought into the air, the tendril he’s in gets shot at and eventually disappears, causing Hoonis to fall to the ground. Hoonis lifts his head, spotting a quickly approaching figure.

Hoonis sees Vondu rushing toward him, his artillery of fire arms revealed. The guns continue to shoot, as if they have unlimited ammunition. In one of his floating hands is the dagger. He had taken it when no one was looking. He stuffs the hand holding the dagger in his coat.

Vondu stops in front of Hoonis and glares at him, angry that Hoonis didn’t do his job. His eyes are like daggers staring directly into Hoonis’ soul, piercing his very spirit like a red hot spear.

Hoonis flinches. “I just couldn’t!” Hoonis says desperately. “I’m sorry!”

Suddenly, pedestrians begin flooding the streets, racing for the sane people standing in the road. Vondu begins to fire his artillery aimlessly at the hoard. All of them trip and fall as the bullets pierce their skin, only making holes with no blood seeping from them.

Hoonis stays huddled behind Vondu, not certain of where to go. Out of nowhere, a tendril grabs Hoonis by the waist and pulls him up to Darly.

“Three little lackeys in one day?” Darly asks himself. “What a show!”

On the ground, Vondu continues to shoot at the pedestrians. Most of them have been taken down and lay on the ground unconscious. With a few more shots, the city goes dead quiet. The zombies remain on the ground while everyone else stays entirely silent…

…Until the sound of another hoard is heard.

Vondu swiftly turns his head around. He spots a few bugged out office workers chasing after an unarmed woman. As he watches, and before he can swiftly react, he suddenly gets pulled into the air by a tendril. As he gets pulled away, the dagger falls out of his coat.

“You’re too slow there, pal!” Says Darly. “There’s nothing you can do! This world is MINE!! And MINE to own! …Now, where is that dagger?”

Tendrils then begin to shake Vondu, causing various random items to fall out of his coat.

…All but the dagger.

Down at the ground, Bep continues to run from the workers. She had been running from them for who knows how long, but she still tried to run away from them.

As she runs, she spots a dagger sitting in the road. She bolts to it and swiftly grabs it, holding the weapon triumphantly in her hand. She rushes to the zombies and begins to ruthlessly stab them until they fall unconscious.

“Where is that dagger!?” Darly shouts into the air.

Bep turns. Her eyes quickly face the demented man hovering above her.

Darly’s eyes swiftly glance down to the woman on the ground. He spots the dagger sitting in the woman’s hand.

Darly wants to attack… and yet, he doesn’t… he only stares at the woman. Not with any anger, no… he stares on with regret.

…He could never hurt her… not again. He had yet to attack her all this time, and he wasn’t doing so now.

His feelings are getting the better of him.

“No!” Darly suddenly shouts. “Let all your MORTAL compassion die down! You do not need it! WE NEED THAT DAGGER!!”

Suddenly, tendrils shoot from the sky hole and launch forward to Bep. She barely avoids them and begins to run… until the tendrils halt.

Bep continues to run, not trusting the tendrils sudden stop she sees as she turns back. She faces forward, running forward.

As the sane trio in Darly’s grasp watch Bep scurry, floating hands from within Vondu’s coat hurry toward the woman and pick her up. The hands carry Bep away for moment, out of sight from Darly as he struggles with his head.

Bro is swiftly hovered over the Pink City and swooped over to a safe distance behind Darly, before halting. A hand taps the dazed Bep’s shoulder. Bep turns to Vondu, the source of the hand. Vondu points to the dagger, then to Darly’s head.

Go for the head.

Bep, appearing slightly confused but determined, nods. Bep is slowly lowered to Darly. Once she’s there, the hands let go of the woman, allowing her to plop onto the demented man’s back.

Darly suddenly shrieks and hovers away from his captors, trying to get Bep off of him. Bep can barely hold onto Darly, but she tries to keep herself clung to him.

“GET OFF OF ME!!” Darly shouts. “HE DOES NOT NEED YOU!!”

As Darly says that, Bep becomes uncertain again.

She could totally jump off and end this fight now…

“…Tell me you love me, damn you.” Bep says desperately. “Show me that you can change… please.”

…Darly then goes quiet… before suddenly speaking again.

“…I loved you with my life, Bep.” Says Darly. “I didn’t want this, I did it to myself… and I fucking hate myself for it… please, understand me, when I say that I love you with all my heart… you are my daughter, and I love you.”

…Bep only stares upon the back of Darly’s head. She notices that Darly is beginning to slow and hover back down to the ground.

“I wouldn’t be letting you shank me in the head right now if I wasn’t willing to change for the better.” Says Darly. “We can end this hell, and start over. Right here, right now.”

Bep continues to stare…

If she wants to change, she has to prove it. Take his word… she knows he wouldn’t be saying any of this if he didn’t truly care.

her expression goes stern. She slowly lifts the dagger…

…Then she strikes.

A hard blow directly to the back of the parasite’s head. Darly shrieks with gut wrenching agony… the city then begins to distort and bug out. Colors and unknown sounds fill the Pink City grounds as the world practically falls apart…

…Then…

…Nothing but darkness.

Horrendously quiet, deafening silence…

…And then… light.

Everything in the Pink City is quiet, practically dead, but it isn’t. Everyone that was once a dead brained zombie lay in the city’s center, so do the saviors of the city and the mad man. Everything is quiet…

Until everyone slowly begins waking up…

Everyone glances around. It’s like the entire universe suddenly reset… whatever god or legion may have allowed this change, they are eternally grateful for it.

As everyone wakes up, Darles slowly rises to his feet, the parasite no longer clinging to his head… his deal was broken, and the damage it caused was undone… he could actually change, even when he never thought he could… he can now.

Everyone in the city, including the idol hunters and Vondu, look upon the scene.

As Dento stares, he has a swift realization… he turns his head…

Elain stands directly next to him… Elain slowly processes the eyes looking to her, but she slowly sets her eyes back down, appearing ashamed.

…This shame stays, until Elain feels something cling to her side. She looks down to see Dento tightly hugging her leg, being too short to reach any higher. Elain only stares at the sight, appearing to be caught off guard by the sudden act… she wasn’t expecting this at all.

She expected he’d be upset with her, not even daring to look her in the eye, but he isn’t.

All Dento could focus on in that moment was his closest friend being alright. He could care less about what had happened, what they both caused.

That was in the past now. And they were going to use the future to improve. Change for the better.

Darles, in the crowd of citizens just coming to, stands in almost complete disbelief… it was done… he could actually try and live his life. A second chance…

“Darles!?” A voice shouts from the crowd. “Oh, golly, where’d you go!?”

Darles quickly recognizes the high pitched sound. His eyes dart around, trying to spot the voice’s source.

“…T-Thlouretta?” Darles exclaims softly into the crowd.

Suddenly, Thlouretta pops out from the crowd, appearing panicked. Her eyes glance around, until they halt onto the tall suited man in the middle of the crowd… a smile creeps up on Thlouretta’s face.

“…Darles?” Thlouretta asks in disbelief. “Is that you?”

“…I-I’m all that’s here now.” Says Darles.

Thlouretta, still smiling, slowly walks over to her old friend. As she stops, Darles gets down on one knee to be close to her height.

“…I missed you so much.” Thlouretta says softly.

“I did too.” Says Darles. “…I’m so sorry I left… but now that’s behind us. I can actually live again—!”

“Dad!?” Another voice shouts. Darles and Thlouretta look back to the crowd as Bep races through the citizens, marching directly towards her father. Bep gives Darles a stern look as she approaches him. Thlouretta steps to the side to give them so room.

Bep’s expression the softens. She’s almost in disbelief at what she’s seeing… her own father, actually willing to change. Bep and Darles exchange the same soft but awkward look.

“…I’m sorry, my daughter.” Says Darles. “I did you wrong, and I didn’t know… what I did was stupid… I can’t change what I did, but… I can at least change now, right?”

“…Yeah.” Says Bep, voice cracking slightly. “You can… so can I.”

The crowd softly gazes upon the the three in the center as Bep and Darles tenderly look to one another before Bep slowly brings out her arms, appearing hesitant. Darles never liked physical contact, and she knew that.

To Bep’s surprise, Darles tightly clings to his daughter in a hug. Bep gradually wraps her arms around Darles. Everyone begins to gush at the sight, including the idol hunters. Vondu though still appears stern, as usual.

Hoonis would love to ask to speak with Darles, but he believes he should give him time… he may not even want to be in showbiz anymore.

That doesn’t mean he still can’t speak with the showman… maybe, with time, he could befriend him.

—

It’s been a few days since the apocalypse had happened.

The Pink City has gone back to its regular cycle, for the most part. Some still appear traumatized by the attack, but with time, they will improve. A bunch of news reports had come out on the situation and it’s causes. Some didn’t pay attention to them, not wanting to think about the treacherous day.

Elain and Dento sit in their apartment’s kitchen, quietly eating the breakfast Dento prepared. Dento turns to Elain, who appears to look ashamed.

Suddenly, Elain’s phone goes off. A message from Dento.

'You ok?'

'No'

'Whats wrong? You can tell me'

'I feel horrible'

'Why?'

'All that crap I did to you. I hurt you'

'Yea?'

‘Why do you still keep me around after all I’ve done to to you?'

'Bc you are my friend Elain. I care abt you'

‘Why? I hurt you?'

'Bc you’re my friend'

'Friends care for each other. I know you care abt me. You didn’t mean to hurt me'

'You were just being stupid. I was too, but ppl do stupid shit all the time'

'We just have to learn how to improve'

'You get me?'

Elain appears hesitant to respond. Dento gives Elain and stern look and rises from his seat. He walks to Elain and jumps into her lap. He rightly hugs her. Elain is swiftly taken aback.

Dento picks up his phone again.

'You weren’t telling me things you should’ve'

'And I wasn’t paying enough attention to you'

'We both did smth dumb, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change'

'We just gotta learn from what we did. I know we can do that. Work together to change, just as we always have'

Elain looks to the messages from Dento on her screen as Dento remains in her lap. Dento turns to face Elain, giving her a look that says 'You get me?'.

Elain turns to Dento, still appearing hesitant, before Dento gently hugs her… a realization then comes to her. It all finally hits her.

She can change. She will change.

Change for the better.

…Elain gently returns the hug, promising to Dento that she will change for the better. And she imagines Dento promised the exact same thing.

They make a great team.

—

After preparing for the day, Hoonis exits his apartment, heading to Bep’s studio. She was quickly beginning to get her show back together after the tender meeting with her father, and she was having her first new airing that morning.

As Hoonis steps away from his small apartment complex, he pulls out his phone and goes into his contacts. As he finds Bep’s contact, he gazes upon the contact for his father.

…Unfortunately, not everyone can change. Not everyone wants to.

Hoonis swiftly deletes the contact from his phone. He doesn’t need that sour, unchangeable man in his phone anymore.

Hoonis presses on Bep’s contact, and his phone begins to ring. It takes a moment, but Bep eventually picks up.

“Hello, Bep!” Says Hoonis. “Are you ready?”

“Almost.” Says Bep from the other line. “Give me a moment.”

“Alright, see you in a bit!” Says Hoonis.

“You too.” Says Bep.

Hoonis hangs up and proudly struts down the street to Bep’s studio.

—

Bep sits in a small dressing room, prettying herself up for her first airing in days. All while she prepares herself, Bendle stands outside, directing the crew.

Suddenly, there is a knock on the dressing room door.

“Who’s there?” Bep asks her from seat.

The door slowly opens, allowing Bendle to peek through the door. “Someone wants to see you, Ms. Nemeni.” He says. Bendle steps aside and lets the guest in.

Darles steps from beside Bendle and slowly enters the dressing room. As he approaches Bep, Bep turns to Bendle.

“Thank you, Bendle.” Says Bep.

“No problem, Ms. Nemeni.” Says Bendle. He shuts the door, giving Bep and Darles privacy.

Darles turns to face Bep. If he had a mouth, he’d have a wide smile on his face. “You look wonderful, Bep.” Says Darles.

“Thank you.” Says Bep. “I appreciate it. You look great too with that new look.”

Darles looks down at himself. He had bought a new suit and tie, the suit being an emerald green and the tie being an vibrant yellow, colors contrasting and pairing with his body tones of teal and magenta.

“Thank you!” Says Darles with a slight chuckle. “I thought it would be a nice change. I’m not wearing that old shit suit anymore.”

“Hey.” Says Bendle, peeking through the door again. Darles and Bep turn as he begins to speak again. “You’re almost on. And Mr. Boogie’s here.”

“Thank you, Bendle.” Says Bep. “We’ll be out shortly.”

“No problem.” Says Bendle as he exits.

Bep notices Bendle didn’t call her 'Ms. Nemeni' like he should’ve…

She doesn’t mind though. She knows it was an accident.

She had changed. She no longer snapped at people.

She changed for the better. Something she never thought she could do.

Another knock on the door is heard. “Come in.” Says Bep.

Hoonis peels in through the door. “It’s about to be showtime!” He says. “Come on!”

Bep and Darles look up to each other with confidence. They both them head to the dressing room’s exit, now being backstage. They stand next to Hoonis, who stands next to Bendle.

“I’ll let you know when you’ll be on.” Says Bendle.

The trio nods. Bep then looks to the crowd, gazing upon them with wide eyes.

“You ready?” Hoonis asks Bep and Darles.

Bep and Darles nod confidently.

Suddenly, intro music is heard.

“You’re on!” Bendle whispers.

The trio then slowly walks out onto the stage and take a seat as the intro music ends. They all look out to the audience.

“Hello, again!” Bep announces to the audience. “It’s been awhile! Welcome back! Today’s very special, as I have not one, but two guests here today! Do you two want to introduce yourselves?” She asks as she turns to face Hoonis and Darles.

“Hello, everybody!” Hoonis dramatically exclaims to audience. “I am full-time show host Hoonis Boogie! A pleasure to see you all again.”

Darles appears slightly hesitant to speak. “…Hello.” He says. “I am Darles Nemeni, former showman and Ms. Nemeni’s father. It’s nice to be here.”

“Today, we’ll be interviewing these two beacons of entertainment, discussing their lives since the recent apocalypse and where they’re going from there. Do either of you have anywhere you’d like to start?”

“Oh, well…” Hoonis begins. “I’ve been fine, mostly… nightmares are a pain, but that’s life! Am I right?” The audience chuckles.

Darles chuckles softly. “I’ve been okay.” He says. His eyes trail off a bit. “I’ve been at home, getting used to… living again… it’s refreshing.”

“Since recent news broadcastings after the initial attack, most people know about the involvement you two had in it.” Says Bep. “How do you feel about that?”

“…Weird.” Says Hoonis, chuckling slightly. “I never thought I’d be a city-wide hero. Now my dad can shut up about me being a failure!” The audience laughs, with some cheers sprinkled throughout.

Darles’ gaze averts again. He appears ashamed. “…I was almost surprised no one looked at me funny.” He says. “I caused that mess and yet… I’m not being attacked.”

“I think that’s because they saw that you wanted to change, dad.” Says Bep.

Darles chuckles. “…Maybe.” He says.

Bep then turns her head to face the audience. “To my audience, I want you all to know this.” She begins. “Anyone can change, if they’re willing to. To truly change means to show that you want to change, you want to be better. And that’s what my father and I have set out to do.”

“Not everyone can change, and that’s okay!” Hoonis butts in. “Focus on the ones who actually want that change. Like Darles and Bep here!”

“Exactly, Hoonis!” Says Bep. “You took the words right out my mouth.”

“…I may have another chance, but not everyone gets that.” Darles butts in. “Use whatever chances you have to improve. It’s good for you, for others.”

Bep nods. “You have the opportunity to change for the better.” She says. “Use it.”

The sound of the outro music then cuts through the motivational air. The interviewer and showmen look to the audience.

“Oh, it’s time for a commercial break!” Says Bep. “We’ll see you all real soon!”

As the outro music comes to a close, everyone who had been watching is left in a quiet awe.

Anyone can change. Everyone has the ability to be better, but not everyone can be better.

Such is the way of life.

Imperfection is very prevalent in our world, but that shouldn’t stop you or others from seeking great things.

- END -

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