shimii26

[shimii26]

Walking in Spamton's Shoes: Chapter 7 (END)

Sniff sniff sniff sniff…

“Mmmmrggghhh…” Click groaned, trying to open his eyes. “...Uuurghhh…”

His head throbbed from the double impact he had happened to him last night in the darkness. He could barely even remember what occurred after his bout of steam blowing; it was such a blur. And now having a bit of a head injury didn’t make the remembering any easier to do. All he could recall was trying to get back to the dumpster he was staying in during the thunderstorm, and then it all went to black. So if that was the case, where was he now? Was he still in the alleyway? It certainly didn’t sound like the streets, in fact, it was pretty quiet, only the sound of the occasional fly buzzing around the room. As well as-

Sniff sniff sniff…

“...Huh?” Click mumbled, his eyes finally fluttering open. “What the-”

“-Aaaghhh!” Click yelped, his body jolting up upon seeing an unusual creature staring at him in the darkness.

“Wrrorrf!” The creature woofed, jumping back and raising its behind in a playful bow.

He crawled backwards until he hit a wall, shaking from the sudden rush of adrenaline. His breath quickened as his mind flooded into a fight or flight mode, unsure of what this creature was or how to handle getting away from it. Was it going to attack him? Eat him!? He could only see its silhouette from a ceiling light in the darkness, it had long pointed ears and a lot of shaggy fur… Was it a Werewire? If it was, it was definitely on the shorter side. He didn’t have anything in his inventory besides his lighter to use as a weapon, and without hair spray, the flame wouldn’t exactly reach far enough to do any damage to them if need be. Maybe this creature wasn’t going to attack since it hasn’t so far, it could just be a pushover and be scared of the fire in his hand. He quickly grabbed the lighter from the floor and flicked it on, holding it out towards the creature. It immediately took notice of the new light and tilted its head in curiosity, slowly lumbering towards him.

“S-Stay back!” Click shouted. “D-Don’t touch me!”

It grew closer, sniffing the smoke in the air that was coming from the lighter. Click squinted his eyes and tried his best to see what this creature was before he would try to slip away from it if it got too close. He could now see the creature had quite the long nose like an Addison, and it appeared to be…

Wearing a red flannel?

. . .

“Wait… W-Who are you?” Click confusingly asked, completely taken aback by the unusual detail.

The creature approached, finally lit up by the light from Click’s lighter.

“Wrrorrf!” The creature barked, happily panting in Click’s face.

. . .

LOUIE!?

. . .

“L-Louie!?” Click gasped. “Wh-What? H-How? How are you here!?”

“Rrruuufff!” Louie bellowed, jumping around in excitement upon hearing his name.

Click was baffled, Louie had somehow found him outside in the rain and brought him to safety! He looked down to see most of his inventory had been brought along with him, which included his mover blanket, and the dented can of food. At first, he was quite happy to see some sort of a familiar face again, but then the information from what he remembered about Louie came rushing back. He shouldn’t have been able to get out of that hostel, he had a firewall installed into his code. Did he manage to break through the code? But where would they have placed it? It was then that Click noticed a small trail of blood on the floor where the ceiling light beamed down, and it led towards where the two of them were sitting. Click got up and stepped over to the beam of light, and Louie followed behind him. Once Louie was visible in the light, the problem showed itself. His left paw had a deep hole on his backhand, and it was leaking quite severely. They must’ve put his firewall code in a physical chip so they didn’t have to interfere with his corrupted data, and he managed to figure out where it was located.

“Oh shit Louie, y-you’re really bleeding…” Click inhaled sharply. “L-Let’s get that wrapped up, okay?”

Louie didn’t answer, he just carried on following behind him, pausing every now and then to lick the open wound.

“H-Hey, don’t lick that.” Click ordered, picking up his mover blanket and removing some of the inner lining. “You’re going to make it worse. Here, let me handle it.”

Click bent down and held out his hand for Louie to take. At first, Louie didn’t seem to understand what Click wanted, but eventually got the message, and presented his wounded paw. Click proceeded to use the inner lining of his mover blanket as gauze and wrapping, making sure to keep it tight enough that it wouldn’t unfurl, but not too tight to where it would be uncomfortable for him. Immediately Louie expressed his dislike for the itchy material wrapped around his paw, and he tried to shake it off.

“Leave it on, that’s what’s stopping the bleeding.” Click warned him, then bent down to his level. “...I don’t understand why you’re here, why did you leave your home to find me? Did something bad happen at your home?”

“Grrooowrrff…” Louie grunted, scratching the back of his ear with his leg.

“Well, that’s not an answer…” Click sighed, forgetting that he was trying to ask questions to a literal Werewire Addison hybrid. “...Whatever, I’m sure we’ll figure out the reason once we walk out of…”

It occurred to Click that he still had absolutely no idea where the two of them were, only that the room they were in was dark with one beam of light from the ceiling, and what appeared to be a knocked over bedside table hidden in the shadows. He was curious about why that beam of light was the only light working, and how it didn’t light up the rest of the room at all, so he picked up everything he owned and stepped closer. Louie seemed to be eyeing something next to the table, bearing his teeth at whatever the object was.

“What is it?” Click wondered, stepping in front of him to see what he was staring at.

He bent down and picked up a black cord that was connected to a broken off rotary phone, the base shattered into pieces, presumably by Louie. It was difficult to hear, but there was a very faint hum of a busy phone signal coming through the receiver piece. Click assumed it was probably just a noise Louie wasn’t too fond of, he did have much larger ears than he did, and left the questioning at that. He dropped the cord and continued to step forward into the darkness, eventually discovering another room with more light in it. Louie hopped alongside Click, now content with his company. Click frowned when he looked back at Louie; it was a little weird to see something that was once an Addison reduced to such an animal-like state, sad, yet a bit endearing. At least his old self wasn’t completely gone, he maintained enough of an Addison look to probably not scare anyone away, especially if he was affectionate towards them. It was a puzzling situation for sure, but Louie seemed to be happy where he currently was. Part of him wanted to help Louie return to his former self when his homeless ordeal was over, but something else was troubled with that thought. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a good idea for his coding to be reworked on by an Ambyu-lance; he might lose more than what he still had left.

Click dropped that deep thought and entered the next room with Louie. A brick wall with an opening on the right side lined the connections between the two rooms, they were painted a nice light blue. A desk was parallel to the brick wall, and inside the drawers seemed to be a few glitching artifacts with no real use to Click. He let the inventory inside the desk remain, continuing to observe the details of the room. There appeared to be some kind of yellow flower and piles of flying circles painted on the sky blue brick wall, much to Click’s confusion. He wasn’t sure who would draw flying flowers and circles, perhaps it was metaphorical? Louie didn’t seem amused by it either, he was busy sniffing Click’s back end.

“Would you stop that?” Click scolded him, swatting him away. “I forgot how little you remember about what personal space is…”

Click noticed the desk had a knocked over stool underneath it, and he fixed it back up so he could sit down. He took out his inventory and placed them in a line on the desk; the mover blanket, the lighter, the dented can, and…

Oh, his socks were left back in the dumpster, Louie must’ve assumed that they weren’t worth going back for, and only brought him what they thought would be needed most; warmth and food. But the ‘food’ wouldn’t be of use to him if he couldn’t get it open, which he had already attempted multiple times and failed at. Click sighed, putting away his inventory except for the can. But the moment he took his hands away from the can, Louie leaned over and snatched it off the table.

“H-Hey, that’s mine!” Click yelled. “Gimme that-”

Crick! Crack! POP!

With one swift clamped bite, Louie managed to finally break the can open, and he laid down, beginning to lick the juices that were pouring out of it.

“-The fuck, you got it open!?” Click was gobsmacked. “Holy shit! O-Okay, gimme the can-” “Rrrrrrrrr…” Louie growled, the hairs on his neck stiffened as he cradled the can between his paws.

“Wh-hey! Don’t growl at me!” Click confronted him. “Drop it, now!”

He was about to reach for the can, but-

SNAP!

Louie quickly stopped him in his tracks with a snap of his teeth in his direction. Click retracted his hand, not expecting such a violent reaction from Louie over a can. Despite how starving he felt, it wasn’t worth losing his hand to a Werewire hybrid’s bite, so he scooted back and let Louie have the mystery contents of the can. Click’s stomach disapproved with his decision and let out a long, empty, and hollow rumble that echoed throughout the room. He miserably sighed and rubbed his belly, trying not to watch Louie eating the rest of his food. It was then that Louie’s ears flickered, he looked over at Click for a couple moments, and then began to gnaw at the can, slowly prying it into roughly two equal parts, the mystery contents settling inside both of them slightly equally. He nudged one half away from the desk and laid down facing away from him, continuing to lick the juices that spilled out onto his paws. Click didn’t know what to make of this random unusual behavior, did Louie just like to gnaw on objects, or was he… offering to share? He didn’t want to just a minute ago, what’s to say this wasn’t a trap?…

Guurrruurgglll…

But Click couldn’t take the hunger any longer; at this point, if it was a trap and his arm was going to be bitten, then he was going to risk it for at least one sip. He hesitantly reached for the can half closer to him, keeping watch to make sure Louie didn’t turn around. Once his hand made contact with the metal, he swiped the can half up to the desk, and he flinched, expecting Louie to turn and bite. But to his surprise, he was left to his own devices, and allowed to eat along with him! He wasted no time slurping down the mystery canned food that Louie had left for him, making sure to lick the inside rim of the can to get all the little bits out. God, It tasted like heavenly sweetness, starch, and butter, so silky and luscious. He was a bit heartbroken when he had finished it all, but was so grateful that Louie was there to lend him a hand and keep him somewhat safe from the dangers of wherever the two were.

That was a good question to answer next, where were they anyway?

With his hunger taken care of and Louie content with entertaining himself with his can half, Click stood up and scanned the room for some kind of exit. As far as he could tell, wherever they were inside only consisted of those two rooms, almost like this was someone’s temporary dwelling, long enough to give at least one of the walls a paint job. Were they in some kind of abandoned small apartment? It certainly didn’t smell like it, or perhaps the stench was just emanating from Click’s trash stained clothes or Louie’s body odor…

…Nope, definitely all three stunk.

The smell was beginning to overwhelm him, so once he located the exit of the painted desk room, he opened the door and peeked outside, cautious about barging right through it in case there was someone unwanted nearby. But to his surprise, they weren’t in an abandoned apartment complex. In fact, something felt slightly familiar out here, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Once he determined the coast was clear, he pushed the door all the way open and stepped outside, Louie nudging his way past Click and strolling into the open to play with his can half.

Upon first glance, he noticed the door he had just exited from had a path that led to another area, and the path was lined with several broken down vehicles. They weren’t the typical cars with legs that roamed the city’s highways and most Addisons rode, they seemed to be a completely manual stick shift, the one inside would control by themselves where the vehicle would go. It wasn’t a common way to drive, let alone learn how to actually drive it, only very rich Addisons really got to drive around their own vehicles and compete on the streets with the cars with legs. It was almost a little disappointing that such an expensive and complicated line of cars would end up trashed in a place like this. Click would’ve loved to learn how to drive one and take it for a joy ride. He walked right up to one of them and ran his hand across the hood, the trash dust that had settled on top long ago now clung to the fuzz on his hand. They had been there for so long, they were beginning to become buried and forgotten, just like Spamton was before they found him…

Another detail about the area Click noticed was that the boxes of deleted files were lined up like a makeshift fence, separating the small building from the walls of the maze of latticed wooden beams that held up some kind of road or structure about them. The discarded litter in the area was compacted to surround the small building in a way it looked like it created a protective layer from the elements. Dozens of caution signs and circle-backslash symbols detailed the outside, giving the appearance of artificial decorations one would see on a fancy bird’s nest near an unkempt park. Whoever lived here sure knew how to keep themselves entertained with the upkeep, or at minimum maintained it to prevent further insanity, the area was insane enough on its own. He concluded with the amount of spam emails, deleted files, and miscellaneous junk scattered everywhere, they were in some part of the Trash Zone, not too far from the edge of Cyber City. His apartment complex that he shared with his Addison coworkers when they needed to travel together was decently close by, so he figured the walk back to retrieve his wallet and keys from Banner wouldn’t be too strenuous.

That is, if he could remember the path to take back home, there were quite a few highways the two of them would have to pass to get away from the Trash Zone, and hopefully not take the wrong turn, the area was a bit of a maze if you didn’t know where you were heading, and stray dogs in cars were reported to be driving haphazardly down dead ends last week. He didn’t exactly have a map anymore to confirm they would be heading in the correct direction, it had disintegrated from the acid pond he swam through two days ago. Louie seemed to have finished playing with his can half and trotted back to Click, eyeing him with curiosity like he was waiting for Click to make the next call on what the two would do next.

“...Why are you looking at me like that?” Click questioned him. “I have no idea where to go with you from here… Well, besides home I suppose… But, I have no idea where YOUR home even is, or MY home for that matter… Welp, any start is better than standing here, let’s go.”

Making his way down the path lined by the broken cars, the pair came across an opening in the latticed wooden beams, which lead to the main area of the Trash Zone. It seemed the little building Louie had dragged him to was secluded in a secret area of the Trash Zone where most wouldn’t be able to find whoever used to live there. Click stepped through the beams and covered his face from the incoming sunrise, it must’ve been early in the morning right after the storm ended, the streets were covered in several puddles, trash bags and a dense fog that hung low to the ground. The path turned to their left, with no other option of direction, they decided to follow it, observing the glitched pop up windows that lined the air around them. Click could just about see his reflection in one they passed by, he barely recognized himself. Louie didn’t seem bothered by his appearance, not even noticing his own reflection and instead sniffed the path they walked along.

. . .

GRRRRR… The two of them froze in place when a sudden spark of electricity in the fog tickled their faces.

“Tell me that was your stomach…” Click nervously asked Louie for reassurance, but got no answer from him.

GRRRRRRRRR…

The deleted file boxes on either side of them began to shuffle and spread apart.

‘I-It couldn’t be… N-No!’ Click’s mind raced as he tried to find any way to deny what was approaching them.

But then, he slowly realized the surrounding air began to reek of ozone, which meant only one thing...

. . .

WEREWIRES!? HERE!?!?

Through the spaces between the deleted file boxes emerged an aggravated pack of Werewires, half on Click’s side, and half on Louie’s side. There were several of them- no, worse; a dozen of them lined up! There was even an alpha Werewerewire among them, it not only towered Click and Louie, but the other Werewires as well. The plugs on their faces pulsed with various neon colors with each snarl that came out of their hidden mouths. All of them were sharpening their claws, stepping ever so slowly towards the pair, the ones on the ends of the lineup moving quicker to the sides to enclose them inside their pack circle. Click and Louie got closer to each other to be back to back, not wanting to take their eyes off of any of them in case one decided to hide and ambush them during a brawl. They were outnumbered twelve to two, even if Louie could FIGHT more than one at a time, there was no way either of them were going to survive one encounter after another after another without healing items or an energy drink deterrent to get away from them all. Werewires had incredible range thanks to their freakishly long arms and could easily shoot down enemies with their bullet and laser attacks from far away, the two of them were trapped.

. . .

‘I-Is this how I die!?...’ Click thought while whimpering.

. . .

“RRRrrrrr…” Louie growled, the fur on the back of his neck standing up straight.

Click turned to him in shock.

“Y-You seriously can’t believe we can take ALL of them on! Are you mad!?” he shouted, trying to keep an eye on every single one of them.

“RRRAAAWWWRRR!”

It was then that Louie suddenly chose to make the first move and lunged for the neck of one of the Werewires, and the FIGHT between them all began. The Werewire pack wasted no time and quickly focused on Louie, pushing Click out of the way and baring their claws, going in for the attack. They worked like cogs, taking turns to slash and swipe him without mercy, the Werewerewire keeping watch to make sure things were going well with the attack. Click was horrified that Louie was making such a sacrifice to defend them, he didn’t deserve to be beaten senseless for trying to save Click. Despite being completely bombarded and outnumbered, Louie kept up the fight, returning slashes with bites to some of their fluffy necks, and managing to dodge a couple of laser attacks. He kept a few from advancing further into their attack, but wasn’t able to escape unscathed, their claws were ruthless. He was bleeding quite heavily from the slash wounds to his sides and received a black eye from a stray bullet striking his face, but the pain wasn’t stopping him.

After a few minutes of the FIGHT, half of the Werewires grew tired and scampered back a bit, giving Louie a chance to get ahead of the assault and drive more of them away. However, the alpha Werewerewire’s attention was suddenly drawn from keeping Louie in check, to Click cowering in the corner, and began to float towards him.

“-Oh shit!” Click screamed, stumbling to get up and take off. “ No no no no no no no!”

RRROOOOAAARRR!

Click had only made it a few steps before unfortunately tripping on an error message sticking out from the ground, and tumbled forward, rolling a few times before coming to a stop. He flipped himself onto his back just as the Werewerewire caught up to him, he raised a fist to try and strike the beast. The Werewerewire quickly saw Click’s attempt to attack, and pinned his arm down, and then pinned the other when he tried to throw a second punch. Click couldn’t fight the sheer strength of the alpha, he couldn’t even manage to kick their behind since they were too tall to reach. He watched in horror as a teeth filled mandible appeared from underneath its pointed plug, dripping hot and slimy saliva as it slowly descended towards his neck.

It was about to BITE him! AND CORRUPT HIM INTO A WEREWIRE!!!

“NOOOOO!” Click cried out, legs desperately trying to kick the beast off of him.

He felt their teeth just about graze his neck…

. . .

“RRRAAAWWWRRRR!” Louie ran up from behind the Werewerewire and tackled it from behind, managing to pull them off of Click. He clamped his teeth down hard into the beast’s neck and tightened his arms and legs to try and restrict the Werewerewire’s movements long enough for Click to crawl away. He was weakened from the fight with the main pack, so it wasn’t long before the Werewerewire broke free of his grip. It was one on one now, but it was still an unfair advantage as Louie was injured and exhausted from the first fight and the beast was still at full health. The FIGHT began again as the two of them lunged at each other, exchanging slashes and swipes.

But this FIGHT wasn’t as long as before…

The Werewerewire easily evaded most of Louie’s attacks and took advantage of his previous wounds, slashing specifically at those areas again to slow him down. Once Louie was reduced to only being able to crawl, it soon performed the same restriction of movement as it did to Click, pinning his arms and body down to hold him still. It didn’t take its time and immediately went in for the bite, sinking its teeth straight into Louie’s throat.

“AAAAAAHHHWWOOOOO!!!” Louie screamed in agony as his legs flailed from the extreme pain.

“LOUIE NOOOOO!!!” Click shouted, pulling the error message that tripped him from the ground and chucked it at the Werewerewire’s head. “GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!”

Click managed to nail the Werewerewire with the error message right in the head, knocking their face away from Louie’s neck and causing it to stumble backwards. In the distance, there were sounds of approaching sirens of Ambyu-lances, did someone nearby call for an emergency? The Werewerewire shook its head to stave off the sudden dizziness it felt from the blow. It turned to the direction of the siren noises and slowly decided that the FIGHT was finished. It softly floated off the ground and confidently turned away from the two of them and followed the trail that the Werewires left behind, effectively choosing not to run nor spare them, but ending the FIGHT on its own terms. Once the Werewerewire disappeared into the Trash Zone darkness, Click shuffled over to Louie in a panic, unsure of whether or not he had even survived the FIGHT.

“Louie, are you okay!?” Click shouted, giving Louie a shake. “Say something- or, do something!”

. . .

“RRRrrrrr…” Louie softly growled under his hitched breath.

“Oh thank god you’re not dead…” Click sighed in relief. “...W-We need to get you to where that Amybu-lance siren is coming from, they’ll fix you up and-” SNAP!

“-Whoa!” Click yelped, pulling his hand back when Louie tried to bite him. “L-Louie?...”

. . .

“GRRRRRR…” Louie snarled and began twitching violently.

“Louie, w-what’s happening to you!?” Click stuttered, shuffling back.

It was then that Louie started to foam at the mouth, his fingers contorting and sharpening into points. His limbs cracked and bent in many different directions, lengthening with each jerking motion that he forcefully had to endure. His body violently glitched and spasmed, he screamed in agony as his body was going through a new corruption. The colors on his ears darkened from pink and yellow to purple and light blue, along with his hands and feet. The teeth in his mouth doubled and sharpened, the foam turning from an opaque white to a slimy green. Eventually, Louie stopped glitching and collapsed motionless onto the floor. Everything changing about him looked like…

“...L-Louie?” Click whispered, slowly leaning toward him. “...A-Are you-” GGRRRAAWWWRRRRLLL!!!

“AAAAAGGHHHHHH!” Click screamed, pulling himself backwards. “LOUIE!”

Louie rose up from the ground, now double the height of what he used to be. He bared his teeth at Click, saliva dripping onto the floor, it looked like a dark green fleshy meat grinder ready to tear him apart. He sharpened his claws, taking a few steps towards his ‘friend’. Click trembled in fear, in shock from his horrific appearance.

…It’s like Louie was completely gone after that attack, he was no longer there, and instead stood a monster in his place…

Louie lunged for Click, running on all fours to reach him quickly. He didn’t even have a chance to get away from him, being pinned down again immediately. Hot, dark green, and slimy drool dripped down onto Click’s face as he stared at his neck, Louie’s eyes were lifeless, cold, empty, and hungering for a bite. Click shut his eyes, not wanting to witness his inevitable demise…

.

.

.

BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG BANG!!!

.

.

.

Click suddenly felt the weight of Louie collapse onto his chest, he peeked one eye open, only to find Louie was bleeding heavily from his head. He quickly sat up and looked around to see what had caused him to bleed…

“...H-Hello!?” Click stuttered. “L-Louie… W-Who are you!?” It was then from around the corner, a familiar face appeared… Abigail, the Addison who ran the hostel that Louie had stayed in… She was holding a shotgun in her hands…

“...I’m… so sorry Louie…” she sniffly apologized, stepping up to the two of them and kneeling down to pet Louie’s fur. “...I wish we could have protected you better…”

“M-Miss Abigail?” Click confusingly asked. “L-Louie, he’s-” “...Gone...He ran away from the hostel two days ago, we found the firewall chip we installed in his hand on his bed…”  Abigail answered, holding back some tears. “...We knew those Werewires who changed him would find him again, infect him more, and take him… away from us… It’s… not your fault, this was something we knew would happen one day if we didn’t do more to protect him… but… We didn’t know he had planned to protect you from them…” . . .

Louie, he sacrificed himself for Click to live…

. . .

Others began to arrive where the two of them were, a group of Ambyu-lances who’s sirens warded away the Werewires, Swatch with a team of Swatchling police, Click’s Addison coworkers, and…

Spamton…

“Click, is that you!?” Banner yelled from across the way. “Oh my god, you’re alive!”

Click jolted from the sudden hug Banner gave them when they ran up to him, along with a few back pats from Vid and Survey. “Holy shit Click, we thought you were going to get eaten up by those Werewires!” Vid told Click. “You didn’t get bit, did you!?” “N-No, I-I’m okay…” Click reassured them. “Louie- uhh, this guy, saved my life… I uhh, met him a few days ago in a hostel run by her… But, he got… infected…” “...And I had no choice but to put him down... Left to roam, Louie would’ve gone on to infect more innocent Darkners and Addisons like yourself…” Abigail explained, sniffling and holding Louie’s paw. “...But, at least he got to help one more person again…”

The four of them knelt down to be silent with Abigail, if for just a moment…

“I’m… So sorry for your loss, ma’am…” Survey comforted her. “If there’s anything we can do to help you-” “No, that’s alright...” she answered, cutting Survey off and lifting Louie’s arm up into her own arms. “...I will take it from here, and prepare him a proper funeral at the hostel…”

“...If you’re sure…” Survey nodded. “...We’ll be sure to come by and pay our respects this week when we can…”

. . .

Spamton stepped forward to face Click, despite wearing his DEALMAKER glasses, Click could tell that even Spamton was worried about their safety. They both paused for a few seconds before slowly embracing each other in a hug. It was then that Spamton began to silently cry, Click realized and they held each other close.

“...I’m so sorry Spamton… I was such an asshole to you in your most vulnerable time of need…” Click apologized. “...What I did was selfish and cruel, you… didn’t deserve that garbage from me…”

. . .

“... I [FORGIVE AND FORGET] you, [CLICK HERE!]... I’m just [HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY] that you’re [ALIVE AND KICKING] and [WELL DONE]...” Spamton sobbed in Click’s arms.

Click was so relieved that Spamton actually cared about him…

. . .

“Will you four be alright taking Click home?” Swatch asked the group. “My colleagues and I can arrange a ride back home for you all if you wish.” “Y-Yeah, that would be great, Swatch, thank you.” Banner accepted. “It’ll be the safest way home for all of us, especially Click.” “Very well, it’ll just be a moment.” Swatch bowed, then ordered the Swatchlings to hail a cab with legs for them.

The four of them all helped Click to stand up then escorted him into the cab once it arrived. Swatch closed the door after everyone settled in and buckled up, waving goodbye for now to them, and then walking over to Abigail to assist her in transporting Louie back to the hostel. Click immediately felt so warm inside the cab, something he hasn’t felt in days, he lowered his head, exhausted. His mind began to disassociate from his environment now that he didn’t have to remain in fight or flight mode, which caused the voices around him to muffle.

“Click, you gotta tell us what happened to you out there!” Vid pointed out. “You almost died, man!”

“Vid, give Click some space.” Banner warned him, tears in their eyes. “He’s been through too much, and… It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done that, this could’ve turned out so much worse…”

“No, don’t blame yourself, Banner.” Survey comforted them. “This isn’t anybody’s fault, but… I don’t think it’s our place to be putting blame on what happened. It’s between Click and Spamton afterall…”

“...You’re right, Survey.” Banner sniffled, wiping away their tears. “Spamton… You and Click should have the main talk when we get back home.” “Very well, [BLUEBIRD].” Spamton nodded, turning to Click. “I’ll prepare the [VERDICT] while we’re [GO HOMETEAM]. [CLICK HERE!], clean up [FIRST AND FOREMOST], then we’ll [WALKIE TALKIE $16.99] in the [ALIVE AND WELL] room.”

. . .

“Click, you there?” Banner nudged Click’s shoulder.

“-Huh, what?...” Click responded, snapping out of his disassociation. “...Oh, y-yeah, sure…”

“Hrmm, he must still be in shock…” Vid mumbled to Survey.

“Not now, Vid…” Survey rolled their eyes. “Let’s just get him comfortable again, that’s the first step.”

- - -

Their cab ride finally arrived at their apartment complex, and the five of them stepped out, two of them supporting Click by his arms to help him back inside. Banner opened the door to let them all in, using Click’s keys to do so. They gripped the keys tightly, the guilt of what they did a week ago still looming over their head. They hoped Click wasn’t too furious at them for kicking him out of his apartment, especially since it almost cost him his life. They followed at the end of the group line and closed the door behind them all. Survey opened their shared apartment door and they stepped in one at a time, Click and those holding him first, then Spamton, and finally Banner.

“Alright bud, you need to get out of your clothes and get in the shower.” Survey instructed Click, letting him go once he had his balance. “I don’t think those clothes are going to be salvageable, so just put on some pajamas for now.”

“Y’know, I expected you to be a bit more muddy than you are...” Vid teased, tugging on Click’s sleeve.

“Vid, shut it, not now…” Survey growled under their breath. “We’ll prepare something for you to eat when you finish cleaning up.”

Click nodded, shuffling towards the bathroom and unbuttoning whatever buttons hadn’t fallen off of his shirt. Slipping off his pants and boxers, it was then he realized just how little remained on him after just one week; just three parts of an outfit, he lost his watch, his shoes, his socks… How much did Spamton lose over the years? When they first found him in the dumpster, he only had on a dusty sweater, a torn up overcoat, muddy slacks, and a pair of aged sneakers. None of them remembered Spamton having an outfit like that before or after his time in the spotlight, must’ve been an outfit he salvaged overtime. As he turned on the hot water and stepped in, he couldn’t help but imagine awful scenarios Spamton might’ve gone through in the past twenty years. If Click ran into a Werewire pack once during his time, how many times did Spamton run into them? How many Poppups? Virovirokuns? God, how many Ambyu-lances tried to delete him!?...

. . .

Click barely even went through a fraction of monster attacks than what Spamton went through…

. . .

Once he finished cleaning off all of the dirt and debris out of his fur, he took out all of the knots in his hair, the last of the hairs pulled out from his near-death experience with the train flowing down the drain. How much hair did Spamton lose over two decades? It’s certainly thinner than what they all remembered when they used to style each other’s hair at Banner’s friend’s hair salon. Click used to style Banner’s, Survey did Vid’s, vice versa, and Banner’s friend did Spamton’s since he had sensitivity issues and didn’t trust many to touch his hair. He probably hadn’t had his hair styled at all the entire time he was homeless, Click felt his heart drop at that thought. It was then that he realized that he had been standing in the shower with his thoughts for almost half an hour. He didn’t want to leave the soothing warmth, he had only just gotten it back, but his feet were killing him and he wanted to sit down. He turned the water off and dried himself off once he stepped out. He noticed a pair of his pajamas were laid out for him on his bed, probably by Survey, and he slipped into them once he was dry enough. He missed the silky feeling of those pajamas so much, he felt a tear beginning to develop in his eye. He sat on the bed for a moment, his head facing the floor. He felt his heart sink to his feet, because now that he was clean, it was time to talk with the group. How could he possibly face Spamton after everything he had said to him? After everything he had done to him? There was no way he was really serious about accepting his earlier apology.

. . .

“Hey Click, are you decent in there?” Survey asked, knocking on their door and peeking in. “We’ve made you some spaghetti code, you should eat some before it gets cold.”

“-Wha?... Oh, sure just, gimme a moment…” Click nodded, keeping his head down.

“Alright, we’ll be out here when you’re ready.” Survey told him, slowly shutting the door.

Spaghetti code, that was Spamton’s favorite at the Cyber Grill. He loved their recipe so much that Banner managed to replicate it enough for him at home to stop him from going there every time he wanted it. After everything Click had gone through today, he was in no mood to eat, but the nauseous and empty feeling building in his stomach said otherwise. Man, how much sickness did Spamton go through while he lived out there?... Click knew dwelling on it anymore was going to make it impossible for him to talk about it, so he shook the thought out of his mind and left the bedroom.

He entered the living room where the gang was sitting on their usual spots on the couches, all with their own bowl of spaghetti code. Spamton was still stuffing it down his gullet like he hadn’t eaten in days, except the reality was almost the complete opposite for the two of them. Click sat down between Spamton and Banner, a plate of his own spaghetti code was placed in his lap by Survey before they also sat down to join them all. The smell made Click want to throw up, it was so savory yet overpowering. His body craved the energy, yet revolted against eating until his guilty feeling was gone. If he was going to earn his freedom from this awful emotion, he was going to have to talk to all of them…

“...Click, who do you want to talk to first?” Banner piped up. “It’s up to you, take your time…”

“...I think… I should start with you, Banner…” Click decided. “...I’m… relieved to be home, but… it feels like I don’t deserve to be back here after everything I did… I thought you guys didn’t want anything to do with me this week…”

“Oh Click, I wanted you back home the minute you left…” Banner confessed. “I was so scared that something terrible was going to happen to you, I tried to keep at least one eye on your whereabouts everyday, but then, we hadn’t heard from you after you left the Color Cafe, we thought… we thought you were…”

It was then that Banner broke down into tears, crying into Survey’s shoulders. Fuck, he didn’t want them to feel responsible for his punishment, he got what he deserved, it was just they were the one to enforce it.

“Banner please, don’t do this to yourself…” Click reassured them. “I think… you did the right thing, because it’s true… I don’t know what Spamton had gone through…”

Click gave Banner a pat on their leg.

“I’m not dead, I’m still here, and I’m not mad, in fact… I agree with what you did… It… opened my eyes to my own hubris…”

Click then turned to Vid after taking a bite of his spaghetti code.

“What happened to you after you left the Queen's mansion?” Vid wondered. “Swatch told us you snuck in there and he set you up in a hotel, we hadn’t heard any other updates about you since then.”

“...Well, I uhh…” Click hesitated. “...I ended up in jail-”

“YOU [SAY WHAT!?]” Spamton shouted. “The [TWEETS] locked you [UPSIDE DOWN]!?”

“Y-Yeah, I was arrested for resisting arrest and theft, so they took all the money I had earned at the time…” Click explained. “And then, I had to train hop in order to escape some thugs and get myself over to where my work was…” “You train hopped to work? Why were you trying to go there?” Survey questioned. “Banner made it so you didn’t have to work that week.”

“Well, I tried to see if I could get my paycheck from last week’s work in check form so I could use it for the last couple days…” Click mentioned. “But… I was too late, and I had nowhere else to go but to take shelter from the rain in…”

He shuddered.

“...A dumpster.”

“HAAHAEHEEHAEHAHAE!” Spamton chuckled. “Just like [YE OLDEN TIMES]! Did you [LIKE SHARE SUBSCRIBE] it in there!?”

“Spamton…” Banner mumbled peeking out from Survey’s shoulders. “Don’t laugh at his… N-Nevermind, you did that a lot yourself…”

“N-No, it just made me realize more and more just how horrible you must’ve felt out there, cold, hungry, and alone…” Click admitted. “And then when I saw that my body changed, I got so furious at you all that I took it out on anything around me, which led to karma knocking me out…”

“And that’s when those Werewires came in?” Vid pointed out.

“Not exactly… I ran into someone else first.” Click clarified.

“That [DOG MAN] Were-[MR. HYDE] thing?” Spamton asked.

“Y-Yeah, that was Louie…” Click recounted. “He was, a nice guy before his first run-in with those Werewires… But then he changed, and that Abigail and everyone in that hostel were taking care of him… He left his home to make sure I was safe… and then…”

Click sniffled a bit.

“It happened…”

. . .

“And then Swatch told us his police team got a call about a FIGHT that broke out between something and those Werewires.” Banner recalled. “The Ambyu-lances were dispatched there to take care of the problem, but I guess she took care of the problem before we could all get there…”

. . .

“...I don’t even know where to begin making it up to Abigail for her loss.” Click shook his head. “It was my fault he knew about me in the first place and felt like he needed to protect me… He’d still be alive if I hadn’t entered that hostel…”

. . .

“...Well, we did tell her we’d visit another day to pay our respects at his memorial.” Survey proposed. “You can start there, I guess…”

“And you can [READY SET GO] by letting us [KNOWLEDGE] if you’ve learned your [LESSON LEARNED]!” Spamton butted in. “Do you [NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MUSIC] know how [DIFFICULTY LEVEL SELECT] it was for [ME ME ME] to [LIVE ON TV] out there!?”

“I suppose that’s a good question, Spamton.” Survey confirmed. “...Did you learn your lesson, Click?”

He thought about it for a moment…

.

.

.

“...No…”

“...W-What? N-No!? What do you mean!?” Vid asked in disbelief. “B-But you must’ve, you just went through a week of hell!”

“...That’s the point, Vid…” Click sighed. “...I only went through a WEEK of homelessness… Spamton went through twenty YEARS of it…”

. . .

“From the very get-go, I knew that I was only going to be going through this punishment for a short amount of time… Spamton never knew where the end to his torment was every single day…

Right at the start, I managed to make enough money to stay at a motel with the sale of my watch… Spamton wouldn’t have had anything nice enough out there to make that many Dark Dollars for that kind of luxury…

I was given permission to stay at that hostel even though I shouldn’t have since I made too many sales, but they let me in anyway… Spamton probably never got privilege like that, maybe even worse since he’s considered a higher class of color than I am…

I managed not to get kicked out of the Queen’s mansion, and Swatch gave me a hand with something to eat and a night at another hotel… Spamton would’ve been deleted had he stepped anywhere close to that mansion…

I only stayed in jail for a few hours… Spamton must’ve been arrested so many times out there for who knows how long…

I managed to ride the trains without getting killed by some monster or the train itself… I have no idea how many close calls Spamton must’ve had if he also rode the trains to get around different places…

I don’t think I ever went a day without food, sure I was starving, but… Not like Spamton did, I have no idea how many days he went without a single bite to eat over and over again for decades…

I didn’t lose that many clothes, I didn’t have to sleep in the garbage every night, I didn’t receive any marks on my criminal record, so much I didn’t experience… Because I was privileged… and Spamton wasn’t… I’ll never really know what Spamton truly went through… I don’t think I can say that I really learned my lesson because of that… Our experiences were not the same, and I don’t deserve to claim that I went through the same thing…”

. . .

“Click…” Banner hung their head down. “...I…You’re… You’re right… You didn’t exactly go through what Spamton went through-”

“But you certainly [ENTERTAINMENT] me with your [BEDTIME STORIES], Click! You may haven’t [GONE WITH THE WIND] through [EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING] I had to [ENDURE], but you sure did [FIGHT] your way [INSIDE AND OUTSIDE] of it!” Spamton encouraged, giving him a pat on the back. “I [FORGIVE] what you said to [MOI] a [WEEKND] ago!”

…So he really was forgiving him.

“Spamton, are you sure you’re forgiving Click just like that?” Vid confronted him. “He just said that he-”

“Yes, I [ACCEPT] his [TURMOIL], under one [TERMS AND CONDITIONS]!” Spamton proposed, holding out his hand towards Click.

“...Y-You would?” Click confusingly replied. “...What’s the condition?” “You take your [PINKY TOE] keister down to that [ANIMAL SHELTER] tomorrow and [SIGN HERE] to [GENEROSITY] some of your [KROMER] to that [HOCHI MAMA] every month! Make sure those [LITTLE SPONGES] don’t go [FAMINE] in honor of that [BARK BARK BARK]!” Spamton relayed out to Click. “Once that’s [DONE AND DUSTED], you [COME BACK] to me and [LET ME GO] slap you [IN YOUR FACE] really hard once! Then we’ll call it [EVEN AND ODD], okay?”

“...You just want me to donate to that hostel monthly?” Click repeated back to him. “...Well sure but- wait, what was that last-”

“Then you’ve got yourself [A DEAL’S A DEAL]!” Spamton shouted, taking Click’s hand and shook it. “Now let’s enjoy some [FAMILY FRIENDLY PROGRAMMING] on the [TEL AVIV], shall we!?”

“W-What? But I...If you say so…” Click huffed, taking another bite of his spaghetti code.

“Well, if you’re done talking to Click, Spamton… I guess we can take a break to let Click settle back home.” Banner nodded, picking up the TV remote. “But… I’m happy you two are going to work things out between each other…”

“Happy as a [HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS], Banner!” Spamton chuckled, leaning his head against Click.

And with that, the five of them turned their attention to the screen and watched the news together, eating their TV dinners like they used to many years ago. On the news was a story of the Werewire attack, with one dead and one injured reported on the scene. Down below the story title was a small phone number anyone could call to give a donation or sign up for a monthly donation to the hostel Click stayed at.

“You know [WHAT IN TARNATION] you can also do [CLICK CLACK MOO] to better [AYUDAME] at that hostel?” Spamton told Click, looking up at him.

“...What’s that, Spamton?” Click tilted his head, wondering what Spamton had on his mind.

. . .

“You can [UTILIZE] your [POWERPUFF] privilege to [SPREAD THE WORD] about that [NO TELL MOTEL], Addisons will listen to a [TERTIARY] like you, which means [MORE DESSERT] for that [ABBY HAYES]!” Spamton suggested. “It’s a [FIRST STEP] to get her to [LET GO] of the [FACTS] that you-”

. . .

Spamton’s glasses faded into static…

. . .

[killed her dog]...”

. . .

Click slowly backed away from him.

“I’ll uhh… Make sure to do that too…” Click mumbled, a bit unnerved about Spamton’s sudden guilt trip. “P-Please just, go back to watching the TV… I’ll sort everything out tomorrow…”

“...Very well, [CLICK HERE].” Spamton yawned, placing his plate down and cuddling closer to Click.

…Y’know, maybe just this once… he’ll let Spamton cuddle… It was… nice.

.

.

.

YOU GOT 237 EMAILS! “W-What?” Abigail stuttered as she checked her work email at the hostel’s office a week later. “Who would… Oh my god…”

. . .

Every. Single. Email, was a notification of a donation in honor of Louie’s memory and sacrifice, and each letter was signed by an anonymous organizer… The only signature provided on every donation was just the letter ‘C’. And when Abigail clicked on the link provided in each email, it led her to a website she had never seen before; A gateway to dozens of links that allowed those who wished to donate to any cause they chose, especially her business. She couldn’t help but silently break down in tears…

“...Thank you, Click…”

[shimii26]

PLUSH TOY GIVEAWAY!!! TWO WINNERS. TWO MEN.

GIVEAWAYYYYYYY ENDS JUNE 25TH (the same day preorders on ko-fi will open)!!! READ UNDER THE CUT FOR THE RULES!

One week until preorders open! I’m practically solidified with fear! But [[HERE’S YOUR CHANCE]] to get a free plushie of your choosing… willing we meet the minimums!

RULES:

1. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER PLATFORM, however you can get two entries if you share this on both instagram and tumblr. If I suspect you are using dupe accounts I’ll kick you, but there’s nothing against having your friends help.

2. You should be following me even though I get scared when I gain followers at a rapid rate. BE FOLLOWING @SWAGLIOSTRO

3. Share this to your story if using instagram (I must be able to see it) or reblog it (ONCE) on tumblr.

4. Celebrate your completing of this rule list by commenting “ENTERED”!!! Tumblr users must comment “ENTERED” on THIS POST, they cannot comment it in the tags of their reblog.

GIVEAWAY WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE 25TH WITH THE OPENING OF PREORDERS!!! ONLY ONE OF EACH PLUSHIE WILL BE GIVEN, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!!!

Secret Rule Number Five: Give Me A Dinosaur Toy Now And You Can Have A Treat.

[shimii26]

Deltarune Chapter 3 Spoilers Technically?

.

.

.

Spamton and Tenna eating each other for fun, idfk, I'm gonna crawl back into my deviant hole now... Deltarune characters belong to Toby Fox ^w^

[shimii26]

Walking in Spamton's Shoes: Chapter 6

CRRAACKK KOOWWWW! “Aaagghhh!” Click screamed, jolting out of his sleep and bumping his head on the lid of the dumpster. “Ahhh- fuck!...”

He moaned in pain as the hit spot on his head pulsed, giving it a quick rub to try and dull the pain. It was dark, really dark where he was. But where was he? What time was it? And why did it reek of old cheese and tasque litter? He shuffled around where he had been laying down, and the familiar texture of the wet plastic quickly alerted him to the answer.

He had SLEPT… IN A DUMPSTER!

“N-No! W-Why am I here!?” Click panicked, trying to feel his way out of there. “WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!?”

He finally managed to lift the lid of the dumpster open and stood up, only to be showered by intense downpour of rain. It was almost pitch black outside, presumably still in the early morning of the next day. He figured he must’ve passed out for the whole day after his ordeal, but woke up halfway through the night from some loud noise. The street lights were so dim in the fog, he couldn’t make out any landmarks around him, which meant it would be impossible for him to navigate around town. But no way in hell was he going to stay in that dumpster anymore! He climbed out from the top and stepped into a puddle, his socks immediately getting soaked.

“-Fuck staying in that filth, I’m going to find an open diner and stay the night there-” CRRAAAACK BOOOOOOM!

The lightning struck a nearby pole to him, causing it to spark and spray exhaust into the air.

“AAAAHHHHH! NOPE!” Click shouted, and proceeded to climb back quickly into the dumpster.

It was too dangerous to walk around outside, he would be an easy target for lightning to attract towards him and strike the ground where he stood since he would be conductible enough after being soaked from the rain. He had no choice but to stay inside until the storm ceased, or atleast the thunder passed him. He shivered in the pile of trash bags, both from fear and the sudden drop in his temperature from being exposed to the rain. Click reached down and slipped his socks off, keeping them on might cause his feet to be vulnerable to an infection from whatever diseases lurked in this metal prison. He kept the rest of his clothes on, trying his best to adjust to the uncomfortable feeling they inflicted upon him. He crossed his arms, shaking violently, it was difficult for his body to produce any warmth.

He was going to need some help.

Opening up his inventory, he took out the torn up mover blanket and started to wrap himself in it. There were quite a few holes in it, but it was something dry, and something that could hold in enough heat for him to feel a little better. He pulled the edges tight in the front, keeping his head down to seal up the hole in the front of the blanket, and continued to shake. The movement eventually began to produce a bit of heat, and the water in his clothes soon adjusted to his body temperature. It wasn’t a perfect system, he could still feel some of the plastic from the trash bags poking in through the holes of the blanket, and the plastic was a terrible heat holding material. He lifted his head up and took some breaths, noticing he could just about see his breath in front of him. It must’ve been cold enough tonight to chill the air that came out of him quick enough to see it happen, which usually only occurred in the winter time.

‘H-H-How i-is it t-this c-c-cold t-tonight?...’ Click worried, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. ‘I-I can’t f-freeze i-in this t-temperature, r-right?...”

He managed to produce enough heat to bring his shaking down to a shiver, still quite cold from the downpour. There was still a lot of time left in the night, but after such a long sleep, there was no way he was going to get back to sleep easily. Plus, there were a lot of other issues hindering him from resting; the fact that he was in a literal dumpster, the rain hitting the lid of the dumpster was too loud, lightning kept striking randomly nearby, the cold, and of course…

He was starving…

Click held some tears back when the empty and painful feeling returned, he felt like he was cursed, the victim of a sick prank. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, and had exerted most of his energy from train hopping and running. The only items he had to eat were the contents inside the dented can from the train, and the egg sandwich he had gotten for free five days ago. Not wanting to face the idea of trying to eat eggs, let alone eggs THAT old, he took out the dented can from his inventory and inspected the outside of it. There weren’t any severe creases in the metal, meaning it would take a lot of force to get the can to open. But what could he even use this time? No train wheels to run over the can, no can opener to remove the lid, he couldn’t even go outside to try and find something stronger to use than what he currently had; he was out of ideas. Frustrated with the never-ending struggle of hunger of his situation, he angrily slammed the can against the floor of the dumpster as hard as he could, which wasn’t really that hard to begin with, desperate to open it.

“-C’mon, dammit!... Break!… Open!” Click wailed, his voice beginning to crack. “Break, you stupid can!... Do it!... Please!... Please…”

. . .

He had barely made a scratch to it…

“P-Please…”

. . .

“...I… I just wanna go home…” he whimpered, letting the can drop from his hand.

. . .

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

. . .

He leaned back against the trash bags, pulling his legs and arms up close to his body and rolled onto his side, his emotions suddenly letting go. His eyes began to drain a stream of tears, his breath hitched as his throat clenched and spasmed. Each exhale he let out a small whine, he couldn’t stop. Everything hurts. The burns, the exhaustion, the starvation, his mental health, his physical health, all deteriorated.

How often did Spamton feel this way?

Was it worse for him?

Did he experience this nonstop?

. . .

Twenty years, outside and alone, and if Click was going through this much in just five days…

. . .

‘O-Oh god…’ Click shuddered in his mind. ‘...This is NOTHING compared to what Spamton had gone through…’

. . .

Grroooorrwwrrlll…

Click snapped out of his existential thought. Fuck. His ordeal tonight wasn’t over yet. He slowly sat back up and reached back over to the dented can. He had to find a way to get it open, he couldn’t take the discomfort coming from his stomach any more. Either that, or…

. . .

Consume the five day old egg sandwich…

‘...Do I dare?’ Click questioned what he was thinking of doing. ‘I’ve carried it around for five days… T-There’s no way it’s still safe to eat… But…’

Hesitatingly, Click removed the egg sandwich from his inventory and slowly inspected the outside. There wasn’t any visible mold on it as far as he could tell, and the bread hadn’t disintegrated from the moisture. The real evaluation to see if it was unsafe to eat would be to open it from its plastic wrapping and check for any mold on the inside. His hands had a slight tremor to them, probably his mind’s way of screaming at him to not do it. He grabbed the tip of the plastic wrapping and ever so slowly pulled it away from the sandwich, which released a sudden burst of stench into his nostrils. The fur on the back of his neck stood straight out and his face crumpled up, jerking his head violently as far away from the smell as possible.

“H-Holy shit! I-It reeks!” Click wailed, shaking his head back and forth. “N-No, I can’t do this, I can’t do this!”

It was at this moment that more sudden signals coming from his stomach began to counter his mind’s signals of self-preservation, the empty feeling grew more intense, and he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Doubling over onto his knees, he kept his arm with the egg sandwich raised so it wouldn’t touch the dumpster floor. It felt like an invisible force was twisting his insides into knots, unknotting them, then knotting them harder over and over again. A harsh whimper escaped through his teeth as he fought through the pain, but after about a minute of this severe feeling, it eventually subsided for now. He only had a bit of time left before his body would likely trigger another hunger pang attack like that, so his decision about whether or not he could eat it had to happen now.

“...I-I have to do this…” Click gulped, not looking forward to the taste if he concluded it was okay enough to eat.

Once he was able to sit back up again, he lifted the slices of bread and checked the inside; no mold or rot to be seen, it just smelled incredibly questionable. Eggs no matter what to him reeked, fresh or old; he had never gotten used to the sulfur scent. It just wasn’t a food Addisons ate regularly, or even at all, especially him. He dry-heaved a bit when he lifted each piece of bread from the eggs and the smell wafted towards his nose, taking a moment to wait for the scent to subside long enough for him to finish the inspection. He hated to admit it, but despite how badly the sandwich smelled, it was most likely safe enough to eat IF he could heat it up and kill any bacteria that may have been festering on it. The only heat hot enough to achieve that kind of preparation would be the lighter he managed to find yesterday. It would take a while since it could only make a small flame, but he knew this was his best bet on getting his mind to accept eating something he deemed incredibly horrendous and rotten.

He held the sandwich with one hand and snapped the lighter on with the other, carefully keeping the flame close enough to reheat it, but not too close to where it might catch on fire. Moments in, the section he was heating up began to emit a much more pleasant smell of eggs, it was still a vile smell to him. But his body begged to differ, now completely impatient waiting for its next warm meal.

GRRRGRGLLL…

“Shhhhh, enough -ough… please…” Click shushed, taking a moment to stop reheating the sandwich to tend to stopping his dry-heaving. “Just calm down… Gimme -urgh… a minute…”

As he continued to try and reheat what he could of the rest of the sandwich, drool began to pool in his mouth, much to his dismay. He REALLY didn’t want to admit this, but now that the food was sort of cooked, it began to look appetizing again. His eyes gleamed a bit when he gazed at the now completely reheated egg sandwich, his mouth hung slightly open with a bead of drool leaking from each corner. He couldn’t wait any longer, he wanted to- no, he NEEDED to eat it now. Closing his eyes and plugging his nose to prevent his mind from intervening with the ludicrous decision he was about to make, He hesitatingly opened his mouth and prepared to shove the sandwich in.

‘Don’t overthink it, don’t overthink it, don’t overthink it…’ Click reminded himself. ‘Just bite, chew, swallow, and get it over with… three, two-’’

CHOMP!

The texture immediately caused his tongue to press the food up into his palate, trying to prevent this abomination from entering or going near his throat. The taste was dulled since he plugged his nose, but he could still taste the sulfur, it was slightly nauseating. His cheeks swelled as his tongue split the sandwich in half and shoved them away from the middle of his mouth. His teeth shut tightly, locking the contents in place, he dared not to open them until he could manage to swallow the contents quickly enough. Once he gathered his bearings, he squished the sandwich halves into smaller globs of food using the muscles in his cheeks. Luckily the eggs and the bread softened significantly from being wrapped up at room temperature for days, so he didn’t need his teeth to break the mouthful down into swallowable size bites. Now that the mouthful he had was broken down enough, he prepared himself mentally for the moment his body was waiting for. He rapidly opened his teeth and squished the contents back into the middle of his mouth, and his tongue slicked backwards as fast as he could to push the food towards his throat. One final move with the back of his throat, and-

“Gulp! -OOMPH!”

Click unexpectedly felt his throat try to eject the sandwich back out of his mouth and ended up dry-heaving again, his breath hitched a bit in the process. His eyes shot open and he quickly covered the front of his mouth with his hands to prevent himself from coughing it up, which also caused the stench to rise up into his nasal cavity. All of his senses swamped with the overwhelming sulfur, his pupils shrunk from enduring the smell. He kept one hand over his mouth and went back to plugging his nose, which prevented another dry heave. And finally after taking a few moments to prepare himself…

”...Guuulllp guuuullllp… orffgghhh…”

He managed to do it.

“Hoo, man…” he sighed in relief, leaning back against the trash bags in the dumpster. “...I did it…”

He felt the empty aching feeling in his stomach slowly fade away, shutting his eyes to relax a bit. It wouldn’t be long before it returned, but he was content to enjoy the moment while it lasted. For now, he focused on reassessing what he was going to have to do to make it till the end of tomorrow. It was only very early in the morning of day six, so there were still over forty hours left to go until he could return home. He hoped Banner was serious about letting him back in tomorrow, he didn’t know if he could manage another couple days out here, he was already beyond exhausted. When he scooted himself back up to a seated position, he noticed his pants were a tad bit looser on his waist. His eyebrows raised, when did that happen? Were they snagged on something and got stretched out? He felt the hem to check for any sign of damage, but there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

“...W-Wait…” Click mumbled, slightly confused. “...T-They weren’t like this the other day… D-Did I… lose weight!?...”

The realization hit him right then and there; he had dropped a pants size from his ordeal! He could wrap both his hands around his legs and touch his fingers together, which meant he had lost an inch or two on each leg. Slight fear began to creep up on his face as he began to check the rest of his body for anything else that felt different. It was then that he also realized his shirt also felt a tad loose on his chest and shoulders, and he could feel his cheekbones easier. The bones in his hands and feet were slightly more prominent than they were before, and he could just about feel a couple of his ribs through his tummy without putting any pressure in. Click’s breath quickened as the panic about his body shape flooded his mind; he really WAS starving to death!

“I-I-I’m… I-I’M HIDEOUS!” Click wailed as tears started to well up in his eyes. “All my good looks are GONE! My clothes, my hair, and now MY BODY!?... Are you HAPPY, Banner!? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED!?”

…No answer.

“Of course THIS is what Banner WANTS…” Click growled under his breath. “It’s always been what they’ve WANTED, for ME to be taken down a peg… They were ALL jealous of MY success, just piggybacking off of MY hard work and accomplishments, and THIS is how they repay ME!? They took Spamton BACK in, and SENT ME TO STARVE TO DEATH!?”

A tiny red hot flame of anger began to burn inside of Click, and he started to punch the walls of the dumpster, not even caring about the blunt pain that shot through his bare knuckles. The flame of anger kept growing bigger and bigger until it was a furious blaze of no rational thought, and he took out his immense frustrations on the trash bags in the dumpster, ripping open half of them and chucking the other half out through the lid. He climbed out into the pouring rain when he threw enough bags outside, and began to stomp through the alleyway, kicking over any trash can that got in his way. Click kept going, turning down another alleyway and destroying every bag he could find in the dark. He looked up where the rain was coming from and laughed maniacally.

“YOU LIKE THIS, HUH!? HUH!?” Click shouted in the air. “YOU LIKE WATCHING ME SUFFER!? WELL HERE I AM, TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT ME!”

CRASH! CLANG! BAM! CRAACK KOOOWWW!

Click’s violent outrage timed with a lightning strike nearby perfectly, causing a loud eruption of noise. The soundwaves backhanded his eardrums harshly, and he snapped out of his episode. The torrential wildfire within him slowly simmered down to a small ember as the pouring rain snuck under his fur and iced his skin. He then stood still, staring into the foggy darkness, trying to take in any kind of shape in his environment. He couldn’t see a thing, and had no idea where he even ended up. How long were his eyes blinded by the fire?...

“...U-Umm… here I am… Wh-Where am I?...” He whispered in the pitch black night.

This wasn’t good, nothing around him looked familiar, he couldn’t see any of the trash cans he had knocked over to retrace his steps back to the dumpster he was staying in. The cold from the rain set in further, trailing down his spine and saturated his clothes. He pulled his arms close and slightly bent over, the shivers settling back in.

He couldn’t let himself freeze now, he didn’t want to die, he wanted to go home, back to Banner, back to the gang, back to Spamton…

. . .

And apologize to them all…

. . .

Turning around to where he felt like he was going backwards from where he traveled, he started to walk blindly into the night, taking his time to navigate around any trash he felt on the floor. Tripping now might cause him to lose his bearings and become even further lost, so he made sure not to move as quickly. The motivation to be back inside the dry dumpster fueled his fire this time, and he tried really hard to adjust to the darkness. Eventually, he felt the metal of a large trash can knock against his feet. Was this one of the trash cans he knocked over? He stepped over it and kept feeling around with his feet for another. To his surprise, there was another a couple feet away, he WAS on the right path back to the dumpster! He kept checking the floor for more trash cans, zigzagging his way through the next alleyway over, and could see in the distance the faint light of the electric pole that lit up the street. That was near the dumpster he was staying in! His face beamed with joyous relief as he picked up his speed and ran straight for the dumpster-

WHAAAAAAMMM!

A deep and heavy pain pounded into Click’s stomach as he had collided with a parking barrier pole that was hidden in the dark. He completely lost his balance and tumbled forward, his body scraping against the concrete and left him with more cuts. He quickly brought himself onto his hands and knees as he struggled to inhale the wind back in that was knocked out of him. A massive cylindrical bruise had begun to develop on Click’s stomach where he was hit the hardest, it pulsed with blunt pain and heat from all of the traumatized blood in that area.

“...Owww… Orrghhh, fuck…” Click groaned, catching his breath. “The fuck was that?...”

. . .

Severe nausea suddenly engulfed his whole body…

GRROOOWWRLLRLLL…

‘Noo!’ Click’s eyes shot open. ‘Not now!!!’

He bent over and held his stomach tight, keeping his head down to try and reduce the sensory input of everything around him and concentrate instead on keeping the nausea down. It felt like a nasty chemical reaction was brewing inside his guts, the contents inside churning and roiling around unpredictably. The muscles in his abdomen contracted slowly as his body was deciding if everything inside needed to come out. He could feel his stomach tensing and shriveling as the liquid inside bubbled with a sickening gurgling noise.

GRRGGGLLGRLL…

The contractions became faster, and his throat tightened, it was inevitable…

‘I don’t wanna do this, I just got it in there!’ Click begged in his mind, whimpering in agony. ‘I’ll do anything just don’t make me-’

His abdomen clenched and his throat opened wide.

BLLUUURRUUUURGHHH!!!

. . .

As quick as it came, it was all over. Click’s hopes of any amount of relief today were now splattered all over the concrete in various size chunks of dark green and yellow vomit. Saliva dripped from his gaping mouth as he stared at the disappointing and grim pile in front of him. The pouring rain mixed with his expelled stomach contents in a small puddle and slowly drained down the alleyway towards the sewer drain, effectively erasing most of his failure from the view of anyone who might pass by in the morning. It wouldn’t matter anyway; anyone seeing it if it stayed wouldn’t know the tragedy of what happened to Click tonight. Would they even care? Why would they care? They didn’t know him, and he didn’t know them…

. . .

His eyes grew heavy as his body began to shut down again…

“...I want to sleep…” Click rasped, and he shakily brought himself back onto his feet.

Wiping his mouth of the remaining vomit on his face, he turned to the dumpster’s silhouette illuminated in the distance, and began to step towards it. He wanted to be warm again, full again, loved again, praised again. He would get all those things after tomorrow, right? So long as Banner kept to their word, that is. He closed his eyes and began to imagine what feast awaited him when he returned, maybe a lovely surf and turf, or a bottomless mimosa brunch? He could phantom sense the silk sheets that lined his bed back in his apartment, they kept him nice and comfortable at any season of the year, cool in the summer, snuggly in the winter. What outfit would he wear once he got back? Maybe something comfy, like the pink puffy pajamas he would wear during movie night! Or perhaps some kind of-

BOOOONNNKk!

His thoughts were cut off when his face had collided with the ladder of the fire escape that hung close by the dumpster. His head vibrated from the suspended metal frame and he lost his equilibrium, falling backwards and hitting his head against a knocked over trash can. His consciousness slowly slipped away, but not before sensing some kind of creature approach him from the other end of the alleyway. It stepped up to him and gave him a few sniffs before it grabbed his shirt collar with its teeth, and began to drag him away to wherever it came from…

Six days down…

[shimii26]

Walking in Spamton's Shoes: Chapter 5

RUMBLE RUMBLE

FFFSHHHHHH

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

Click slowly awoke to the sound of the train above him becoming active again, and was beginning to move towards the intersection. He didn’t want to get out from underneath the train while it was moving as he could easily get snagged on something and run over, so he decided to wait for the train to move completely over him before getting up. He wasn’t sure what time it was as he no longer had his watch, but could tell it was still late in the night based on how dark outside it was. Perhaps once he got up, he could check to see if there was a wall clock at the train stop he was nearby. After a couple of minutes, Click heard the railroad crossing siren activate, which he was surprised it hadn’t activated earlier when the train above him was moving. Eventually the train had finally passed over him to the other railroad tracks, and he sat up to stretch and crack his neck from sleeping so stiff.

“Urghh, too many rocks in that spot…” Click groaned, managing to crack his back too. “...What time is it?...”

RUMBLE RUMBLE

Click could feel the tracks vibrating underneath him, but the train he was sleeping under was no longer moving. It had made its way over to another track before it came to a complete halt, much to Click’s confusion.

“What the…” Click mumbled before noticing there were very bright lights approaching him rapidly. “Wait- OOHHH SHIT!!!”

CHHOOOOOO CHHOOOOOO Click quickly laid back down on the track as fast and as flat as he could, narrowly missing being decapitated, the unexpected train shaking the ground violently as it began to pass by above him. His pupils shrunk as adrenaline coursed through his veins, causing him to hug the ground tightly to keep as far away from the bottom of the train as possible. He held his breath as he felt dust and debris hit his face, tons of it was tossed into the air from the train wheel’s collision on the ground where the dirt and metal met. Suddenly Click felt a few hairs on the side of his head sharply tear off, but then…

RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPP!

‘AAAAHHHOOOWWW!- AAAAHHHHHH!!!” Click screamed in pain and terror.

The train kicked up more dust and rocks, showering Click’s eyes, nose, and mouth with debris. It shook the ground with such force, he could feel his nose just grazing the bottom pipes of some of the train’s carts as he was being practically levitated off the ground from the vibration. After just a few short seconds but what felt like forever, the passing train was gone, disappearing into the darkness, leaving Click covered up by its wake. He slowly sat back up, his body shivering from the adrenaline and fear. He coughed up the dust and debris, pounding one side of his head to get the dust out of one ear, then the other ear.

“I-I’m… a-alive… wh-what h-happened t-t-to-” He stuttered.

A theory about what the pain on top of his head popped into his thoughts, and he hoped that he was wrong about it. Hesitant to find out, one of his hands shakily reached up to where the spot on his head throbbed with pain to find part of his ponytail missing. His pupils dilated as panic flooded his mind, he looked to his left to find clumps of his hair stuck to the tracks a few feet away.

“N-No… No, No! NO NO NO, MY HAIR!!! IT FUCKING RIPPED MY PONYTAIL OFF!!!” Click cried, holding the clumps of hair in his fists, trying to put them back in the elastic. “MY BEAUTY, IT'S GOOOONE!!!”

But it was too late…

The wind picked up and blew away the ripped hairs, leaving him with a wolf tail haircut, courtesy of the passing train. But there was no time to mourn about his hair, he had to get up, dust himself off, and make his way to work, he only had until noon to get his paycheck before it went into direct deposit. He shuffled his way off of the green line tracks and made his way to the train stop where the red line train would make its rounds and eventually arrive where he was. Since he didn’t want to be caught by the conductor, he stayed below the concrete platform, and simply bided his time. He still had a bit of time before the digital sun was to rise and for the red line to reactivate, so all he could do was rest and fix what was left of his ponytail. There wasn’t too much long hair left to be able to tie it securely, but he did manage to keep most of it out of his face. After that jumpscare of a train, there was no way he was going to be able to take a nap, his heart was still racing in his chest. After some deep breaths, his anxiety soon calmed down, which caused the rest of his body to wake up for the day, including his appetite. His stomach wasted no time telling him it was time for breakfast with a loud growl.

“Shhhh, shut the fuck up, I swear I’m gonna get caught by the conductor cause of you…” Click shushed, giving his belly a pat.

He checked to make sure the coast was clear before he reached into his inventory and pulled out two of the three canned goods he picked up yesterday, and went to open them. But then he remembered the issue he was about to have with the cans; they had no pull tabs, and required a can opener or a church key to retrieve the contents inside.

“Oh… Dammit, how am I supposed to open this?” Pink complained, double checking both sides of each can.

He picked up a rock from the train tracks and tried to smack the lids open with it, but the cans resisted being busted, the rocks simply weren’t strong enough to even put a dent into them. He took one of the cans and smacked it into the other can, hoping the material they were made of was strong enough to dent each other, but to no avail. After a few more swings with no luck of getting them open, Click grew so frustrated that he placed one of the cans into his jaws and tried to gnaw it open, which only made his teeth hurt. There wasn’t anything else he could think to do with the tools he had in front of him, all he could do was wait for the train and stare at the cans with hunger fueled envy, wishing that he could reap the filling rewards inside. He had no idea what was even inside the cans, probably some kind of salted vegetables or soup as they were the most common canned food. At least whatever was inside is assumed to be fully cooked, although the taste would be stranger since the food would be at room temperature. His mouth watered at the predictions of what was inside the cans his mind was conjuring, surely the wait to get them open to eat would be worth it, right? So far every food he had eaten in his ordeal had tasted better than the last, hunger really was a spice maker.

RUMBLE RUMBLE

The ground underneath him began to shake as he felt another train approaching, it was the one he had been waiting all morning for. Click sighed and picked up the cans, about to put them back in his inventory, when an idea popped into his head... If the train’s wheels were strong enough to crush an Addison to death, they should be strong enough to crush open a can too! He chuckled deviously and quickly placed the two canned goods he had on the tracks and waited for the train to arrive. He rubbed his hands together, excited for breakfast to finally be granted to him for his genius problem solving.

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

The train got closer and closer, Click having to reposition the can since it kept vibrating off of the center of the tracks. Once the train got about twenty feet from the train stop, Click had to move his hands away to avoid them getting run over. Unfortunately the cans didn’t stay directly in the middle of the tracks, and when they were run over, the can end opposite of Click busted open, and the contents practically exploded all over the gravel floor.

“ARGHH, DAMMIT-!” Click rage yelled, but quickly covered his mouth as he might’ve accidentally alerted the conductor.

The train came to a complete stop, the wheel just stopping after crushing the can, leaving the metal trapped underneath. Click watched as the conductor got out of the train and made their rounds by each train cart. When they was getting close, he hid underneath the cart to avoid being seen. While he was underneath, he shuffled over to the pile of the mystery food that exploded from the can, and scooped the top layers of what he could and into his mouth, trying to avoid getting any of the gravel, which ended up only being a mouthful. He still had no idea what food was even in that can, even after it had opened; the taste was definitely a bit gritty, cold, and metallic, but it was better than nothing for now. Click heard the conductor call to the driver that the train was clear and they were ready to begin moving, so he crawled out from under the train and climbed onto the open train cart like he was on yesterday night. The food cargo from before was missing and replaced with new cargo, presumably it had made it to its final destination in the late part of the night. He walked toward the back of the train cart and sat down, waiting for his ride to begin moving again.

Click pulled out his map to double check what train lines he would need to take in order to get to his work, and noticed that while the red line he was currently on does cross the orange line’s path, the train that he needed to take next, but it doesn’t stop at the station where the two rails cross, so he would have to hop off the red line while it was still moving to be able to change paths onto the orange line. Click was concerned about having to get off the train while it was moving, typically stunts like that lead to injury, and he wasn’t trained in any way on how to prevent himself from getting hurt. The safest way he could think to get off the train would be to simply get off when it reaches the closest stop and walk from there to the next train line, but checking the red line’s closest destination, that wasn’t going to bode well on his time limit. With the speed he’s able to walk or even run, he would be risking not making it to work on time, so he had no choice but to take the risk of trying a quick tuck and roll when he arrives at the track cross, despite not knowing how to execute it properly.

Suddenly he felt himself jerk from his seat sideways and the train horn blew, which meant his ride was finally moving towards its next stop. Click got back into a seated position and scooted over to the cart’s open door, watching the environment around him slowly pass by, then quickly accelerating in seconds. He held onto the cart’s door rail and took his hair elastic out, letting the wind blow through his cut ponytail, a few more stray hairs he hadn’t brushed out blew into the open air. He watched as the city’s bright neon lights grew brighter for the day, businesses were starting up, and the Addison residents were getting ready for work. One building he immediately recognized in the far distance stood tallest through the electric concrete jungle; it was the perfume department with a large billboard on top that was just a couple miles from his work. Since he knew which direction he could walk from that building to his destination, he decided once he got off the blue rail, he could use it as a compass to make his way to work. It was still quite a long distance from him, another twenty miles he had to ride until then.

The red line would take him about nine miles of the distance he needed, the orange line would take off another seven, and the blue line would finish the remaining four, and at the speed he was currently going, each mile would take about fifteen minutes, so if each train is on time for him to hop onto and kept this same speed, he should be about half a mile from his work in about five and a half hours. Since it was just about sunrise when he hopped on, it was most likely around 6:00, which meant if he wanted to make it to work on time, he would need each train to be perfectly timed, AND walk half a mile to his work building, scan himself in, find his manager, and request his physical paycheck in under twenty minutes, which was a tall order for not only his body to endure, but he needed some major luck timing each train line transfer correctly. For now, he was going to be on the red line for a couple hours, so all he could do was watch the city’s buildings and attractions whiz by him.

“...I wonder what Banner and the others are doing…” Click mumbled. “...Are they thinking about me?... Spamton’s never gonna forgive me for what I said to him.”

Click took the moment to evaluate what was left of his hair. There was still enough to make a wolf tail knot, but it was quite choppy and uneven. More strands were falling out now that they were free from the elastic and the wind was blowing… He sighed at the sight. Click took a lot of pride in his hair, it was something that made him stand out from most Addisons, typically hair styles of his kind trended towards wearing their hair down and cut short, longer hair was seen as a higher status symbol, especially since it was harder to maintain and keep it healthy. Now that it was gone, he looked just like any other Addison, or rather more like he had just rolled out of bed, mangled and ragged. He brushed the remaining hair with his hands as best he could, then tied it back into the wolf knot; it would probably be best to keep it tied up when he had to train hop, he didn’t want to lose the rest of it in another freak accident.

Click scooted over to the door of the train cart, letting his feet dangle out into the open air. He took in his surroundings, the hills that lined Cyber City were beautiful and remained barely touched by land development. Windflowers bloomed as far as his eyes could see, adding a splash of color to the environment which would just be green if they weren’t there. It wasn’t a sight he got to see often, he preferred to stay in the city, which was starting to look bleak compared to a life out here. But looks can be deceiving, it may look pretty, but where would Click even stay, or eat, or sleep? Poppups and Virovirokuns probably roamed the area, they’d surely try to FIGHT with him and take whatever dark dollars he had left on him at the end of the day. Perhaps beauty outside of Cyber City was only skin deep too, just like how the inside had been treating him for the past four days.

“...Did you ever… Sleep out here, Spamton?” Click asked himself. “...Werewires don’t live out here… Do they?...”

He shook that scary thought out of his head when he felt the train begin to slow down. He guessed they were close to their first stop after an hour had passed, which meant he was going to need to hide while the train conductor helped unload the first round of cargo to its destination. Click brought his legs back into the train and made his way over to the far corner where the boxes stacked higher and created a small hidey hole underneath them. If the first round of cargo were the crates in the front, he would have no problem hiding himself long enough to make it to his next train hop. It was a bit cramped, but he managed to squeeze himself into the small space and sit comfortably enough to be able to remain there for a while if needed. He could hear the steps of the conductor approaching, so he kept his breathing low.

“Alright Porky, get them crates outta here!�� The conductor yelled at a supposed loading dock worker.

“Don’t get your hat twisted in a knot, we’re on it!” The worker replied, presumably the one being called ‘Porky’, stepping up into the train cart where Click was hiding.

He could hear another worker approach with some kind of truck, probably an easier way for them to load everything they ordered into the building. The one who climbed into the train cart began to push crates towards the truck’s edge and they worked together to transport them from the train cart one at a time. Luckily none of the crates that kept Click hidden were taken, just a couple dozen in the front. He was just within earshot of the two loading dock workers to pick up on what they were discussing with each other.

“So, how’s life treatin’ ya?” “Can’t complain, I made some decent money doin’ some overtime' last week, I’m thinkin’ of makin’ that a routine so I can buy myself some new digs.” “Sweet, hell maybe I should do the same!”

“Wouldn’t be opposed to workin’ alongside you, so long as you don’t eat the cargo like the last rookie!”

‘Are there… others on this train like me, eating the cargo?’ Click pondered.

. . .

Eventually, the two workers finished both their conversation and loading the cargo the company had ordered and got off the train cart and into their truck, hauling it off into the building.

“All yours conductor, nice doin’ business with ya!” one worker shouted.

“About fucking time you two, you’re gonna make me late with the rest of the delivery!” the conductor scolded.

‘Late!? N-No, if this train arrives late to the crossing tracks, I won’t make it into work on time!’ Click thought to himself in a panic.

Once he felt the train begin to move again, he climbed out of his hiding spot and checked his surroundings. It seemed like a good amount of time had passed while the train was parked, the digital sun had appeared in the sky and illuminated the interior of the train cart, as well as Click’s unprepared eyes. He kept his vision shaded enough to where he could still see where he was located, and predicted that they had about two miles left until the train reached the crossing tracks. He knew he would have to be absolutely ready to make the stunt of jumping off of the red train safely and climbing aboard the orange train, or risk injuring himself badly enough to miss his chance of getting to work, or getting caught by the Swatchling police force again. With this in mind, Click began to practice some tuck and rolls in the train cart open space, using the train’s momentum to better simulate what he might go through attempting this maneuver. With much of the cargo removed, he had enough room to really practice multiple versions of the tuck and roll technique, it was probably best to try and get used to different kind of distances and landings as he had no idea what the actual jump was going to feel like, or what kind of ground he was going to land on. Plus, the failed tuck and rolls were giving him some unwanted bruises, and he dreaded what might happen to him if he didn’t manage to get it right when the time came.

After fifty minutes of practice, he managed to safely pull off some decent tuck and rolls without causing more bruises to himself. It was nowhere near perfect, but it would have to do as he was running out of time on this train and his next train was approaching. He decided to take the rest of the time on this train to double check the cargo for any useful items he could take with him, he had enough room in his inventory for a couple smaller items. The crates were much more secure in this shipment, but he did locate a couple with loose tops, and inside the first crate were packages of lighters. He wasn’t sure what he could possibly need with them, he didn’t smoke, nor could that small amount of flame provide any kind of warmth, but still, a tool was a tool, so he pocketed a few of them. The second crate he checked contained several small blankets movers use to keep furniture from damage when being transported. With the possibility of Click making it to work and getting his paycheck fresh in his mind, he was hesitant about taking one of the mover blankets, would he really need it if that was the case?

CHHOOOOOO CHHOOOOOO!

The orange train was approaching, it was time. Click looked out the train car door to see how close it was to the crossing tracks…

It was about to pass them!? He had no time to spare, he needed to leave the red train now!

His mind made the decision for him, and he quickly packed one of the mover blankets in his inventory without thinking. He took a couple quick breaths before leaning out of the train cart, and prepping for his dismount.

“Okay okay okay, one… two… three!” Click shouted to himself and began the tuck and roll. “Ohhh SHIII-”

BOOM BAM CRUNCH SPLAT!

Unfortunately Click’s feet jolted from the sudden pain of gravel since he no longer had shoes, and had tucked and rolled incorrectly, causing him to trip and fall face first into the gravel road. His inventory had glitched in his fall and his items spilled out in front of him, taking some damage in the process. He felt his health bar tick down a couple notches when he came to a stop.

“...Ooowww…” Click groaned into the gravel, slowly lifting himself back up. “So much for the practice…”

He looked over to see his inventory on the ground in pieces.

“N-No no no, my stuff!” he cried, shuffling over to assess what had broken. “Dammit, I just got that, and it’s already ripped?...”

The mover blanket had gotten cut up from the sharp gravel, his last food can dented, the cologne bottle shattered, all but one lighter smashed, the sandwich was unharmed, but his forty Dark Dollars were in tatters.

‘Great, I sold my shoes for nothing…’ Click complained in his head, holding the pieces of Dark Dollar paper.

Knowing that the orange train was about to pass him, he scrambled to pick up what was left of his inventory and began to run towards the other side of the tracks. The front of the train had already passed the crossing tracks, so he had to hurry to reach one of the open cargo train carts. There were only two open, so he had to time his arrival right or be left behind. The sharp gravel dug into his toes with each step, slowing him down enough to keep him just shy of lining up with the two open train carts once he got close enough. He reached his arms as far as he could to try and reach the guardrail of the open door, but couldn’t quite grab it. The train was starting to pick up the pace.

“HEY YOU! HEY STOP RUNNING!” The conductor of the red train shouted at Click when he caught sight of him trying to train hop. “STOWAWAYS ARE FORBIDDEN ON THE TRAINS!”

Click looked back to see the conductor had begun to chase after him, carrying a wooden bat, presumably to beat him if he managed to catch him. He reached out for the guardrail again, inching away ever so closer from it.

‘I’ve come too far to lose!’ Click motivated himself. ‘Do it now, for Spamton!’

With a sudden rush of second wind adrenaline, he pushed himself to run faster, completely ignoring the searing pain in his feet from running on gravel, and managed to grab the train cart guardrail. The train whistle blew, and the engine roared from the front cart as it grew faster and faster, completely unexpected by him since he thought all the trains traveled at the same speed.

“-WHOA WHOA WHOA, SHIT!” he panicked, now at a sudden new pace with the sped up train, his feet barely touching the ground as the momentum carried him forward.

Fighting against the force pulling him back, he slowly pulled himself up into the train cart, and rolled to the back where the cargo lay. His back smacked against one of the crates, and the wind in his lungs was knocked out, causing him to gasp harshly. It took him a moment to collect his breath again, and he struggled a bit to stand up in the train cart, not used to the speed it was travelling. It seemed like he wouldn’t be on the train for as long as he first predicted, he estimated the original time would be cut in half if this speed was maintained. Probably for the best, the red train took longer than he predicted, so the orange train would make up for the lost time, maybe even surpass the time he had left to make it to work. For now, he had some time to kill before his next train hop, so he checked the cargo to see if any of the crates were broken open…

‘...Damn, nothing…’ Click rolled his eyes in his mind. ‘Just my luck…’

With nothing else to add to his inventory, he took the time to sit down and relax, the exhaustion of running after the orange train catching up to him. He assumed if the train was going this fast, it wouldn’t make any stops before it crosses paths with the blue train, so he decided he would take advantage of this moment and take a quick nap so he would be more rested for the next stunt. It wouldn’t be a very comfortable nap since all he had to lie down on was the floor of the train cart and a torn up mover blanket, but any amount of sleep he could get in would help. He took the blanket out of his inventory and placed it down in the corner between the cargo and the train cart wall, not wanting to nap on top of the crates and risk rolling off from a high distance. This way, he would be protected from most sight with the train cart wall on one side of him, and the crates on the other. He laid down and faced his head towards the open end side of the corner, listening to the sounds of the train chugging along, which weren’t lulling him to sleep at all. He just kept his eyes shut, hoping his body would just get the message and go down for a rest. After a couple tosses and turns, he eventually fell asleep…

- - -

“OOOUUGHH!” Click belted, jolting out of his rest.

The cargo had shifted from the train suddenly slowing down and pinned Click to the wall, with no way of moving his arms or legs. His eyes darted around, trying to find some way to wiggle out of being pinned, but the weight of the crate pile greatly outmatched any chance he would’ve had to push them away one by one. His lungs were also put under pressure, he couldn’t take in a deep breath from the force, so he struggled to breathe. He was trapped, and the orange train was about to reach its stop at the crossing tracks.

‘Fuck fuck, what do I do!? He panicked. ‘I’m gonna get caught like this if I don’t suffocate first!’

. . .

“Alright unload the cargo, Mac!” The orange train conductor shouted to a loading dock worker.

“You got it, boss!” the worker replied back, backing a truck up to take the crates.

About a half dozen workers soon climbed up into the train cart where Click was located and began to push the crates in the front to the train cart door, passing them to each other in order to load the crates in an orderly and brisk paced fashion. They were only feet away from Click, and it seemed like they were planning on removing all or most of the cargo at this location, which meant they were guaranteed to find him. He tried to think of how he was going to get away from them, it would be pointless to try and outrun them, he was already out of breath from being crushed, and the blue train wasn’t there yet for him to train hop. The only way he could think to get out of this situation was to play dead, surely they wouldn’t try to detain an Addison who looked hurt or dead, right?. Maybe if they found him while he pretended to be unconscious or dead, they would put him outside the train cart in the open, and he could gain his breath back in time to make a run for it when the blue train did come! With that plan in mind, he kept his head down and went limp, awaiting for them to discover him.

. . .

“...The fuck?... Hey boss, there’s someone in the cargo!” one worker shouted.

“Not another stowaway… A-Are they dead?” Another asked, kneeling down to take a closer look.

“I don’t know…” The third worker mumbled, poking Click with a pencil. “Looks like it, the crates are crushing them…” “Ugh, this stowaway issue just keeps getting worse and worse…” The supposed boss sighed. “L-Let’s just get them off the train and call an Ambyu-Lance, they can take it from there for us so we can finish. I’ll grab ‘em.”

“Y-Yes boss!” the workers answered back, moving the crates around Click away.

The immense pressure from the crates was lifted from Click’s lungs, and his body desperately tried to take in a deep breath. But if he inhaled too quickly, it might give away his facade, so he repressed his breath to a snail’s pace as hard as he could. The boss of the loading dock workers then lifted Click up and over their shoulders, picking up the mover blanket and kept him wrapped up in it. They stepped down from the train cart and walked over to a nearby deck chair that they typically sat in while they waited for the trains to arrive and placed Click down to seat him in place. Click made sure to keep limp to be convincing to everyone around him.

“Poor fucker, must’ve had some kind of major fall in his career to end up a stowaway as a tertiary…” The boss of the loading dock told the conductor who joined them in watching over Click.

“It’s a damn shame, you called for that Ambyu-Lance yet?” The conductor asked the loading dock boss.

“Yeah, they’re on their way.” The boss updated them. “We’ll know if we have to send them to the ER to scrap them, either answer is gonna look like shit on our performance reviews…”

“True… Alright, let’s finish the job while we wait.” The conductor suggested, stepping back over to the train cart where they were halfway done loading the crates onto their truck.

After a couple minutes, Click let his breathing slow down to a regular pace, and peeked one eye open to see if the coast was clear. Looks like they left him alone for now, he could make his escape once he hears blue train-

CHHOOOOOOO CHHOOOOOOO!

-Arriving!

There it was, right on time! Click quickly sat up and stuffed the torn mover blanket back into his inventory and got onto his feet. The familiar sharp pain in his toes from the gravelled floor came back as he stood, but he had no time to tend to them now. Once he was certain no one was looking at him, he began to make a break for the blue train, which unfortunately caused a lot of noise, and immediately drew the attention of the workers to him.

“H-HEY! THEY’RE AWAKE!” the conductor angrily announced. “THEY WERE FAKING IT, GET THEM!”

Once again, Click was in a chase from the train workers to escape onto his next ride, but there was an immediate issue… The blue train was moving too slowly, they would easily catch him if he boarded now, there might not be any cargo on the train to hide behind. And even if there were, they’d surely find him within seconds. He had to make another decision, and quickly, they were gaining on his tail since they were faster running on the gravel floor. He hastily looked around for any kind of place to bide his time and wait out their search, and his eyes met with the sight of a small pond nearby. The outskirts of Cyber City were lined with various bodies of water and acid, and bridges allowed vehicles like cars and trains to pass over them safely. The only issue was that there was no way to tell if the pond was water or acid based, they always looked the same color. Click had about a fifty-fifty chance that the pond was safe or dangerous, and decided to take that risk; he had enough health points to take any damage he might take if the pond turned out to be acid.

He prepared himself to jump in, just as they were about to reach him…

‘One more leap of faith…’ Click thought to himself, plugging his nose. ‘One… two… three!’

. . .

SPLAAAAASSSHHH!

The workers came to a screeching halt just before they all tripped into the pond. They gasped in horror as they witnessed Click completely emerge in the liquid and disappear out of sight.

“-Holy shit, they jumped in!” The conductor screamed. “Now they’re really gonna be dead!”

“You mean that’s an acid pond!?” One worker hesitantly asked, praying their answer was wrong.

“W-What have we done?...” The loading dock boss stuttered. “...A-Are we… responsible for this?...”

“...I-I’m not sure…” The conductor responded, sounding quite nauseous. “...W-We should report this to the Swatchling police… I don’t wanna see them recover their body from the pond…”

“C’mon, let’s get you inside…” The boss suggested. “You look like you’re about to faint…”

. . .

“GAAAASSSSP!” Click choked from having to hold his breath under the intense burning to his body. “FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK OWWW OWWW OWWW OWWW OWWW!!!”

Pulling himself out of the acid by grabbing the vegetation that lined the pond’s edge, Click managed to traverse back onto land and quickly removed most of his clothes off of his body to get the acid away from his skin. For the sake of his dignity, he left his boxers on despite the fact they were soaked in acid and continued to slightly burn him. They weren’t disintegrating and disappearing from his inventory, but both his shirt and pants took some damage from the acid, they had quite a few small holes in them now. He checked his health bar and saw his health points were cut in half from being underacid for so long. He winced and whimpered from the pain coursing through his body, especially his groin since he kept his boxers on.

CHHOOOOO CHHOOOOOO!

-Fuck, the train! He had to pull himself together to make it aboard, or risk not making it to work! Shoving his acid soaked clothes into his inventory for now, Click shook off as much acid as he could from his body fur and began to make his way up the small hill to the train tracks. Luckily the train hadn’t picked up any more speed since leaving the loading dock, so he was able to reach it easily. Once aboard, His legs gave out and he collapsed on the train cart floor, writhing in pain from all the burns inflicted on his skin.

“O-Ooowwww… oww oww…” Click whined, trying to lie still. “Oh god, w-why did I do t-that?... It hurts, it hurts… Is… Is this what you went through, Spamton?...”

. . .

“I… miss you, Spamton… B-Banner… I’m s-so sorry…”

The pain from the acid slowly began to subside, leaving Click with several minor burns on his extremities and more sensitive areas. The fur on his body was singed, now at a much shorter length, even some bare spots where his clothes clung to him the hardest. The wind that blew through the train cart was now much sharper as the temperature pierced through his coat, causing him to shiver. He would have to put his clothes back on if he wanted to stay warm, so he took them out of his inventory and began to wring the remaining acid out of them. It stung the palms of his hands a bit to do so, but it was the only way he could dry them out effectively, the train wasn’t moving fast enough to use the wind as a dryer. Once he couldn’t wring out any more drips of acid, he slowly put his clothes back on, taking his time to avoid rubbing the fabric against his more sensitive burns. They felt stiff and uncomfortable on his body, it made his skin crawl having to get used to the damp feeling, but they blocked the wind from creeping under his blunted fur. For now, all he could do was wait and hope the pain would completely go away while the blue train made its way into Cyber City and towards the stop he needed to get off. He checked his health bar again to see if it was going back up at all, but it remained stagnant. He was too weak to regenerate health on his own and would need to eat something for it to rise back up, which he was reminded to do once again via a low growl from his stomach.

“...No, not again…” Click groaned, covering his face with his arm. “...How much more do I have to feed you to get you to shut up?...”

He slowly sat back up and took out the remaining food can from his inventory. No tab, dammit. There was no way a lighter was going to get the can open, it would only burn the contents inside or cause the can to explode. It was slightly dented however, which meant probably just a few good blows to something hard enough might crack it open. But he was in no condition to be smashing it open, his strength was sapped from swimming in the acid for so long, he could only stare hungrily at the can until he arrived at his last stop, which wasn’t that long since he spent most of the time tending to his burn pain.

CHHOOOOOO CHHOOOOOO!

He felt the train shift in speed after a few minutes of staring, and he sat up to look out the train cart window. There it was, his work’s blue train stop, he had made it back! A relieved smile creeped onto Click’s face as tears of joy streamed down his cheeks, he was going to make it. Once the train slowed down enough for him to step down safely, he got down from the cart and suddenly fell to his knees when his burnt feet hit the gravel floor.

“AAAAHHHHOOWWW!” Click howled, falling over onto his rear end and holding his feet tightly.

The pain was so much worse than he expected, every move he made hurt, like he had just finished cooking off of a rotisserie spit and tried to run away from the chef. His breath sharpened through his teeth as he grit his jaw to distract from the stinging, he tried to sit still to let the pain go down. But it wasn’t fading fast enough, Click had no idea how much time he had left to make it into work, and he still had half a mile to walk in order to get there, he had no choice but to bear it. Pushing himself back onto his feet, he began his trudge from the train yard to the streets of Cyber City’s business center.

Every step was like fire to his heels, every shift his body made feel like it was going to fall apart, he wanted to stop moving so badly.

Two blocks away…

His mind screamed at him to stop, begged for him to stop, tried to stop him with more pain signals, but onward he shuffled.

One block away…

He was starting to get stares from those he passed, they looked at him like he was some kind of freakshow, but he didn’t care, his appearance wasn’t important to him right now…

. . .

There were the steps to his office building…

- - -

Weakly shuffling his way in, he approached the front desk to speak with someone who could let him into his department. Mikey was the Addison who worked the front desk the most, it would probably be him that would be there today. To say Click looked like a mess was putting it lightly, to them, he looked almost unrecognizable, completely disheveled.

“Hey Click- Holy shit, what happened to you mate?” The Addison at the front desk asked him with concern. “Did someone mug you?”

“N-No time… for chitchat, Mikey...I need… my paycheck…” Click huffed, flopping his head on the front desk, trying to catch his breath from all of the running.

“W-What? Your paycheck? Don’t you normally get that sent to your account?” Mikey mumbled as they typed Click’s information into their computer.

“Different… Circumstances this week… I need my pay in check form…” Click explained, slowly standing back up. “Please tell me… I made it on time to pick it up…”

. . .

Mikey paused.

“Click…” He eventually spoke up, looking at him with worry.

“What Mikey?...” Click asked, awaiting to be answered.

. . .

“Paychecks in your office are dispensed at 11:30 on Fridays, it’s about noon now. Sorry but… it’s not gonna be here anymore.” Mikey regretfully informed him. “I-I can still let you into your department if you needed something in the-”

“-W-What?...” Click stuttered.

. . .

His eyes widened with realization that he was just too late to get his money…

. . .

He was out of time… There was no escaping the rest of his punishment.

. . .

“...Y-You mean… to tell me… that I just spent… five days in the fucking streets… struggling to make any kind of money to survive… just to be told… that I’m TOO LATE TO GET MY MONEY!?” Click barked, his tone aggressively rising.

“Click, calm down-” Mikey started, but Click interrupted him.

“Calm down!? CALM DOWN!?” Click shouted, grabbing Mikey by the shirt collar. “I’VE BEEN SLEEPING IN THE DIRT, STARVED OF ANY REAL FOOD, AND TREATED LIKE SOME KIND OF VIROVIROKUN! I’M STUCK OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT WITH NO MONEY AND NO PHONE, AND YOU WANT ME TO ‘CALM DOWN’!?”

“S-Stop, you’re scaring me! There’s nothing I can do right now!” Mikey whimpered, holding Click’s arms back to try and restrain the amount of grip he had on him.

“WELL DO SOMETHING!” Click screamed, foam practically coming out of his mouth as he shook Mikey. “I DID NOT COME HERE TO LOSE MY ONE CHANCE TO ESCAPE THIS HELL!!!”

“AAAHHHH!!! SECURITY!” Mikey yelled, tears streaming down his face. “LET GO, CLICK!”

“NOT UNTIL YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS-” Click threatened, but was stopped by security running over to the two of them from the front door.

“Alright pal, that’s enough!” one massive Swatchling guard informed him, grabbing Click under his arms and lifting him up.

“LET ME GO!” Click grunted, letting Mikey go and flailing his arms and legs around, trying to get out of the Swatchling’s grip.

“Are you alright, sir?” The chief Swatchling guard consoled Mikey.

“Y-Yeah, t-thank you…” he responded, his voice still a bit shaken.

Click’s massive hissy fit was attracting a lot of attention from his coworkers and other associates in the building, many that were walking by stopped to stare, others were in the middle of a smoke break and walked back inside to watch the chaos, and several heads peeked up from the lounge corner. The silence in the room was so loud besides Click, you could hear a fountain pen drop onto the tiled flooring. From the other side of the lobby, a manager who was on break made their way through the crowd and up to where Click was.

“Alright, what’s going on-” they began, and paused when they saw who was causing a commotion. “C-Click? What are you doing here? I thought you called out sick this week.”

Click paused his struggling long enough to notice that was HIS manager’s voice. This wasn’t good, he looked like a damn fool in front of them…

“O-Oh, h-hey boss… Uhh, this isn’t what it looks like…” he stuttered, his nervousness rising now that he was in full view of his manager.

“Well, you look like shit, I can see that much.” his boss confirmed, taking in Click's appearance fully. “Alright, here’s the deal, you can’t be in here like this, you’re going to stir up social media trouble for the company if the wrong Addison catches wind of your anger and decides to record it for views. I’m sorry, but you gotta go, we’ll… see you on Monday, clean yourself up before you return, we’ll discuss your disciplinary task when you come back.”

“W-WHAT!? Y-YOU AREN’T GOING TO HELP ME!? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH!” Click stirred up again, flailing like a Werewire. “I’M NOT LEAVING HERE WITHOUT MY MONEY!”

“Yes you are, take him out the building please.” His manager instructed the chief Swatchling guard. “And don’t let him back in until Monday morning.”

“Yes ma’am.” The Chief Swatchling guard nodded before they started to head for the door, carrying Click under their wing. “Now you stay out or you’ll be trespassed forever!”

The Swatchling gave a quick heave and tossed Click down the office building steps and he landed on his side on the concrete sidewalk. He sharply groaned from the returning pains of his burns scraping against the ground, curling up into a ball. He didn’t want to move anymore, what would be the point? No more escaping the hell he was in, no money to his name, and now he was further back from square one. Addisons walking by him on the street kept their gazes away, not wanting to make eye contact with him. He was thrown back into the public, yet he was alone…

. . .

Was this how Spamton felt?...

. . .

Drip… drip… drip drip drip drip

. . .

It started to rain.

Addisons around him noticed the weather change and hurried to their destinations, leaving Click by himself on the street. He didn’t want to move anymore, but his clothes began to grow soaked again, bringing his body temperature down enough to shiver. He didn’t want to move anymore, but the rain soon penetrated his fur, chilling him to the bone. He didn’t want to move anymore…

But he had to…

Click eventually got ahold of himself and shakily stood up, holding his arms close to his body to try and preserve any body heat he had. One foot forward, he walked away from his office, not really looking which direction he was going, it didn’t matter anyway at this point. He didn’t have any money for shelter, food, or a way to stay dry, he just needed to keep moving, so he followed the sidewalk’s path. With the way he appeared, no business would let him take shelter until the rain cleared, and who knows how long that would be? The only thing he knew right now was that it was past noon, and the rain started just now. Wet. Cold. Hungry. Alone. Click’s needs boiled and broken down to such simple necessities, he never had to experience them all at once for so long…

. . .

He bumped into a dumpster in an alleyway during his unguided walk…

. . .

His stomach churned at the thought of what kind of diseases and mold could be lurking in the dumpster, but fate had brought him here for a reason…

. . .

It was the dumpster, or nothing.

. . .

Click lifted the lid of the dumpster, a bit relieved that there wasn’t much inside, and it wasn’t as grimy as he expected. He hesitated to climb in, every ounce of his being fighting against the choice he was about to make. To him before this week, it was a place for garbage to be thrown away, never to be seen again, never to be used again, never to return, and he was now seeing it in a new light.

It was a shelter from the rain.

And so, Click stepped one leg at a time into the dumpster. His body violently shuddered at the texture his feet were now feeling from stepping on one of the trash bags. He forced himself further in, a soft whimper escaping his mouth as the reality of what he was doing hit him over and over again like a brick. Soon, he was far enough inside to close the lid, and he slowly settled into the nestle of garbage bags that surrounded him. He was so scared to move in there, he didn’t want to touch anything, but the choice was being made for him this time. His body had gone through so much exercise with no real food to fuel it and sustained numerous injuries today, it was beginning to shut him down. Click let himself lean backwards until his head and back rested against the garbage bag pile, and his eyelids began to close. He fought as hard as he could to stay awake, but it was a battle he wasn’t going to win. His body slumped into the pile and his eyelids closed.

Five days down…

[shimii26]

Faz-Pocket Shenanigans: Chapter 2

“Goodbye friends, we can’t wait to see you all tomorrow!” Sun squealed, waving to the last of the children leaving the daycare.

“Nice job today Sun, you almost went the whole day without tripping over a kid!” Moon chastised, chuckling as he went to clean up a pile of noisemaker barrels.

“Hey! I can’t always see where I’m going when I’m six feet taller than the kids, Moon!” Sun pouted, crossing his arms.

It had been four weeks since Sun and Moon’s most recent upgrade of being able to convert food into usable energy. The Pizza Plex has yet to make any progress with convincing the city to provide them the necessary power they need to power their robots with electricity only, so all of the animatronics have had to adapt their schedules in order to be able to eat on time. Sun and Moon’s schedule in particular was the easiest to transition since they work in a night and day manner already, and they need to refuel at least once every twelve hours. The Glamrocks however took a bit longer to adapt; with their numerous concerts and birthday parties they needed to attend everyday, it was difficult at first to implement breaks for them to be able to refuel. Luckily, the staff found it was easier to have the Glamrocks partake in some of the party food when they got the chance, that way, they wouldn’t have to leave their post and continue entertaining the kids. Sometimes the children in the daycare would bring extra snacks that Sun could partake in if he was offered during his shift, but not every kid brings in a ‘clean’ snack, so it’s not always feasible for him to get ahead on his eating schedule. Since Moon handles naptime and the sleepover nights, the kids aren’t sharing snacks since they’re meant to be sleeping, so it’s very rare for Moon to have a bite to eat during his shift, but he doesn’t seem to mind much, especially when the only things the kids bring in tend to be on the messy side. As long as they remember to eat after their shifts, the artificial hunger didn’t seem to bother them.

Sun even managed to gain an appreciation of all the new flavors he’s never had before and learn about different cultures from whatever snacks the kids bring in to share. Sometimes if he was lucky, he’d take a sample with him and give it to Moon once he was done with his shift (If he didn’t eat the rest of it himself that is…). But now that they have been running on this new schedule for a month, it was time for the staff to check in on everyone. A Parts and Service technician walked in on the closing daycare door as the last parent and child duo had left, and he walked up to the two of them. “Alright you two, come with me. It’s time for your monthly check-up, gotta make sure your new upgrades are running properly.” the technician told them, tapping on their clipboard.

“A check-up?” Sun wondered, tilting his head. “But, aren’t we in charge of the maintenance of our new upgrades?”

“I don’t think they’re talking about the cleaning part, Sun.” Moon informed him. “Shouldn’t we spruce up the daycare first?” “Don’t worry, we’re going to have staff do that tonight, you two will be staying overnight in Parts and Service while we go through your calibrations and downloading some new updates to your software.” the technician explained.

“Overnight?” Sun mumbled, it was the first time he had heard of this kind of Parts and Service option. “Is that why the sleepover was canceled tonight?”

“Yes, it was to make sure we could work on you two at the same time in order to avoid a possible emergency malfunction and prevent the daycare from being unattended while the kids were here. Now c’mon.” they confirmed, heading towards the door.

“Okay.” Sun and Moon nodded, following the technician to Parts and Services.

Despite knowing that this was only a check-up, Sun was still a bit nervous. Ever since the threat of decommissioning the two of them when Moon had his virus, he had been wary of being anywhere near this place. He shuddered and held onto Moon’s shoulders for comfort.

“Relax Sunny, it won’t hurt a bit.” Moon reassured him, placing one of his hands on Sun’s as they walked.

“I-If you say so…” Sun replied, keeping his head behind Moon’s.

- - -

“Alright, we’re here, stay put until the mechanic is ready for you two. They should be almost finished with Monty.” they instructed them, shutting the door behind them.

Moon could feel Sun’s hands increase their shuddering the longer the two waited.

“...Sun, you alright?” Moon turned to Sun, bringing his gaze towards his.

“...I-I know we didn’t do a-anything wrong, but… I just d-don’t like being i-in here…” Sun stuttered, starting to shake a bit more.

“Easy Sun, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll make sure of it, okay?” Moon comforted him, pulling him in for a hug.

“...T-Thank you…” Sun sniffled, leaning into the hug.

Suddenly the door behind them creaked open, it was the mechanic and an assistant. Their outfits were stained with various oils and dust patches, presumably from working on all of the other animatronics from earlier today. Sun jolted when he heard the door and hid behind Moon.

“Okay boys, we’ll need one of you to come with me and the other stays in here. We’ll shut one of you down to do the updates and talk with the other about any issues, then switch once the updates are done downloading, okay?” The mechanic informed them. “So, who’s updating first?”

Sun gulped. He hated the idea of being shut down for the updates, any lack of control put him at unease. Moon took quick notice of this and stepped forward.

“-I’ll update first, just… Want to get it over with, y’know?” Moon shrugged, turning to Sun and giving him a wink to show him his kindness.

“Alright Moon, come with me. Sun, you stay here with Miss Farnes and talk about any issues you may be having.” The mechanic nodded, leading Moon through the door. “I’ll be back, Sun, don’t worry.” Moon warmly smiled, stepping through to head to the other room.

Sun nodded, watching Moon head out the door. He turned to Miss Farnes, who smiled and patted the table next to her, encouraging him to sit on it. He hesitated, but did so, gripping the table as his feet barely dangled off the edge. Even though he was one of the tallest animatronics in the Pizza Plex, the table was still quite high for his height. Despite her friendliness towards him and Moon’s support, he remained a bit uneasy.

“Now Sun, let’s go over some of the issues you’ve been facing with this new upgrade first and go from there, okay?” she asked him.

“Well… Okay.” Sun replied, rubbing his neck. “It was a bit… challenging to figure out what I could and couldn’t eat. I had hoped the instructions were a bit more clear and precise, but some of the do’s and don’ts were a bit vague to say the least.”

“Oh, I see. Well, we can certainly get someone to give you a more extensive guide on what’s allowed and what’s not, does that seem reasonable?” she offered.

“...Yeah, I’d like that.” Sun smiled, relaxing a bit now that he was distracted. “A-And I think the new additions to our rooms have been really helpful… But I think we could use stronger utensils, Moon has a habit of snapping the plastic ones before he can use them.”

The two of them chuckled at that fact.

“Sure, we can get you two some silverware, but we’ll need to provide you with access to a nearby sink so you can wash them properly. We don’t want mold developing in your rooms afterall.” she nodded, taking down some notes about needed changes. “You two are able to clean the daycare by yourselves, some real silverware shouldn’t be an issue for you to learn.”

“Oh yeah, we’ve already had lots of practice in the play kitchen with the little ones in the daycare! They’re so smart, they even showed me how to use the play 'DishWasher’!” Sun giggled.

“Great, that’s good to know. Anything else we should know about?” She wondered.

“Hrmm…” Sun pondered. “...Do you think we can get some more unique foods in our fridge to eat? One of the little ones introduced me to Dim Sum, and it’s an absolutely delightful tasting treat! I’d like to eat more of it on my breaks!”

“Well, the pizzeria doesn’t sell Dim Sum, and I’m not sure if we can convince inventory to purchase food items that are only consumed by the animatronics, but I can put in a word for you!” she told him, taking down his food order.

“Thank you!” Sun squealed, excited for the chance to try more new foods.

“Okay, I think we’re all set with the questions, now we can get into the examination.” she told him.

“E-Examination?” Sun asked, his rays drooping a bit. “You mean, like, a tune-up?”

“Yes, I just need to check some of your internal parts for damage and make sure you’re cleaning yourself up properly, okay?” she informs him, reaching for his chest plate.

“W-Wait, don’t open-!” Sun tried to stop her, but-

FOOOOOOSH!

A massive cloud of black soot poured out from Sun’s chest cavity, covering Miss Farnes from head to toe. They coughed from the sudden dust cloud, both fanning the air to try and improve the visual field. “-that…” Sun groaned. “I uh… I haven't had a chance to clean that yet…”

“Oof, Sun…” she cleared her throat. “When was the last time you cleaned out your waste container?”

“U-Um…” Sun stuttered, twiddling his thumbs. “...Gosh, I-I don’t remember, maybe… fourteen days ago?” “Sun, you need to be more on top of cleaning yourself out.” she warned him. “We don’t want you trailing soot on the kids, or causing your body to overheat. If this can’t regulate your temperature properly, you might shut down during your shift.” “W-What!? Oh gosh, I-I don’t want to do that to the kids!” Sun panicked, locking his hands together. “I-I’ll make sure I clean up more often, I-I promise!” “That’s good to hear, now let’s get you cleaned up.” she smiled, taking his waste container out and placing it in the sink. “Would you mind lying down for me?” “Oh uh, okay…” Sun agreed and lied down, watching curiously at what she was going to do next.

She turned around and set up a brush tip vacuum, turning it on and began to clean Sun out. He giggled at the funny feeling the vacuum gave him, and was relieved that he wasn’t in much trouble for the mess he created.

- - -

“Alright Moon, lay down on the table and we’ll get the update going.” The mechanic instructed him when the two of them entered the computer room.

“Fine.” Moon grumbled, not looking forward to being shut down. “...Look, when you get to Sun… Can you try and be a bit nice to him? He’s not very thrilled about being back in Parts and Service, especially after you guys dragged him here to repair his neck weeks ago.”

“We did what we had to do to repair him, the least he can do is let us do the updates without a fight.” they glared at Moon, the two sharing an equal dislike of each other. “Just lie down and turn your head away from me.”

“As you wish, your majesty~” Moon mocked, putting on his best snotty servant impression as he bowed then lied down.

“Don’t call me that... Hold still, this’ll only take a few hours.” they told him, strapping Moon onto the table and taking out a USB cable to plug him into the mainframe.

“Damn, good thing I’m not going to be awake that long…” Moon yawned, beginning the shut down process.

“Yeah yeah, whatever…” the mechanic sighed, shutting Moon down and setting the computer up for the download once he was plugged in.

- - -

“Hehehehee, that tickles!” Sun laughed as Miss Farnes worked on his internal wiring.

“Hold still Sun, I just have to replace a couple more cables!” she chuckled, trying to keep her hands steady and pull out the right wires.

“S-Sorry, it’s just s-so sensitive there, hahahaha!” he continued, trying not to kick his feet.

“...Alright, that should do it! You’re all set for the update, then you’ll be ready for tomorrow!” she smiled, closing him up.

“Yeah! I-” he paused, remembering that this was only part one of his check-up. “...Oh yeah, t-the update…” “Don’t worry Sun, you won’t feel a thing. It’ll be just like playing hide-and-seek when you’re it, just close your eyes, count to ten, and you’re back! Nothing to worry about!” she reassured him.

“...O-Okay, I think I’m ready...” he nodded.

“Oh, but first, we should get you out of those soot stained clothes, we’ll wash them for you while you update.” she told him, giving his pants a tug. “Can you take ‘em off for me?” “Heh, oh yeah, can’t have them dirty for tomorrow!” Sun agreed, standing up and took them off. “Can I keep my wrist bells on though?” “Sure, they don’t appear to have gotten soot on them.” she shrugged.

Suddenly the door behind them opened up, Moon entering first looking a bit tired from being shut down for so long. The mechanic followed behind him, looking equally enthusiastic.

“Oh Moon, you’re back! Are you okay? Did it hurt!?” Sun concerningly asked, giving Moon a sudden hug.

“Heh, Sun I’m fine, there’s nothing to worry about. Now c’mon, the sooner it’s done, the sooner we can get back to work.” Moon reassured him, patting him on the back.

“Let’s go Sun, the computer’s ready.” the mechanic instructed.

“O-Okay…” Sun groaned, rubbing the side of his arm and following the mechanic to the computer room.

“Alright, and while you're here Moon, we can go over any issues you two have been having with your newest upgrade.” Farnes told him.

“Fineeee, I guess we do have a couple complaints…” Moon shrugged, shutting the door and sitting down on the table.

“Great, why don’t we go over some of the points Sun brought up?” she suggested to him.

“Aight, shoot.” Moon chuckled while crossing his arms and legs.

“Okay, Sun was hoping for a better instruction booklet that’s much more specific to help you two better learn what’s okay to eat and what’s not, he’s asked for stronger utensils in your room to use, and he’d like more new foods to eat, like Dim Sum.” she said going down the list.

“Yeah, I keep holding the forks too hard and the plastic snaps.” Moon explained. “..And I wouldn’t mind something new to eat, pizza does get a bit old once you’ve tried every topping…”

“Okay great, do you have concerns for yourself?” she asked.

“Hrmm…” Moon pondered. “...I want to try tacos.” Moon requested. “And I want more fruit snacks.”

“...Okayyy, anything else?” she asked, trying to redirect back to her question with one eyebrow raised.

“...Whole milk, not skim.” Moon responded.

“Any actual problems?...” she redirected again.

…He didn’t answer.

“Look, you don’t have to give me attitude.” she sighed, getting up from her chair. “I’m just here to help you two through this temporary upgrade… let’s just get to the tune-up.”

“Hey, this is just me at my best, I dunno what you’re talking about.” Moon mocked.

“Sure, just, shut up and let me work.” she rolled her eyes, opening up Moon’s chest cavity and examining inside. “...Okay, nice and clean so far, been keeping up with your maintenance.”

“Why thank you, Miss Farnes~” Moon chuckled with a toothy grin. “I do try my hardest afterall~”

“Moon stop it, I need to focus.” she remarked, taking out her stethoscope. “Let’s make sure your gears aren’t squeaking.”

“Umm…” Moon was about to say something, but...

CLICK CREAAK WHIIIIRRRR…

. . .

“Mooooon?…” she sighed and looked up at his face.

“Yeah?” he replied back.

“...Did you eat today?” she confronted him.

“...If I say yes, will you shut up?” Moon sleazily smiled.

…She gave Moon quite the staredown.

“Fine, no…” he grumbled, giving his stomach a pat. “I didn’t have time to eat…” “Moon, you should have plenty of time to eat while Sun is caring for the kids in the morning.” She scolded as she began to look through some of the cabinets nearby. “What could you have possibly been doing that whole time?”

“Duh, sleeping. It’s important to me.” Moon answered back, putting his arms and legs back in a criss-cross and turning his head away in a pout.

“Moon, you need to eat; plain and simple. Your gears are going to hurt you the longer you wait.” she explained, holding out a bag of cookies for him to take. “Here, eat this. We can check to see if your converter is working this way.” “Urgghh, cookies, really?” Moon groaned, taking the bag and opening it up.

“Eat it.” she demanded, bringing her voice tone lower.

- - -

Sun and the mechanic soon arrived at the computer room for his update. Taking everything in, Sun’s nerves started to get the better of him, and he began to shudder again. Shutting himself down made him uncomfortable since he lacked control in this state, just like when Moon had his virus in the past. But despite being in his own body and having full control of what he can do during the night, it still filled him with fear of the unknown.

“Alright, lay down and turn your head away from me, let’s get this over with.” the mechanic instructed.

“W-Wait! C-Can’t we just do this another way? W-We don’t need to s-shut myself down to-” Sun started, but was cut off.

“Sun, lay down. You will be shutting down for this update, no alternatives or excuses.” they ordered him.

“Y-Yes sir…” Sun stuttered, doing as he said.

As the cold table touched his back, he shivered a bit, keeping his head faced away from the mechanic. He felt their hands grip the back of his face plate, placing the USB cable into one of his ports. Sun gulped and turned to face him once the plug was in. “...I…I will… wake up, r-right?...” Sun whimpered.

The mechanic sighed, they didn’t have much choice but to comfort Sun just a bit.

“...Yes, you’re going to wake up in a few hours. Just relax already.” they sarcastically reassured him, switching one of Sun’s power switches.

“O-Okay…” Sun whispered, slowly shutting his eyes as he powered down.

“...Finally…” they rolled their eyes. “What a baby…”

- - -

“Aaaand that should be the last wire. Okay Moon, you’re good to head back to your room and get ready for today.” Farnes told him, closing up his chest cavity. “It’ll be a couple hours before Sun finishes, so you can take a nap beforehand if you want.”

“About time, I’ve been up all night…” Moon yawned as he sat up. “...Thanks for the tune-up, and don’t forget to let the staff know about our requests.”

“Don’t worry, I will. Take care!” she nodded, waving goodbye to him as he stepped out of the room.

. . .

Moon walked by himself towards the daycare, getting in a few stretches along the way. Despite being shut down for a few hours, he was still quite tired from the ordeal, and decided he would take advantage of the free time and have a nice long nap. Once he entered through the daycare’s double doors and stepped over to the play area, he hooked himself up to the fly rig that hung in place by the ball pit’s edge and lifted himself up to their room. Once he reached the wall stage, he then proceeded to unhook himself to store it on their own hook, and made his way inside, flopping right into his bed once he got to it. He rolled himself up with his blanket and grabbed a few pillows to snuggle up with. Soon his exhaustion combined with the warmth he began to generate overtook him and he fell straight to sleep, faintly snoring a bit.

- - -

“...Mnnnrgghh, wh- huh?...” Sun groaned, stirring awake from his shut down.

“Oh good, you’re up. You’re all set with your update, take your pants and head back to the daycare.” the mechanic told him while he unlocked Sun’s straps and handed him his freshly washed trousers.

“Oh, I’m… back awake. Whew, glad that’s over…” Sun sighed in relief, taking his trousers in hand. “Thank you for the work you do here.” “Mhmm yeah, just go, it’s almost time for your shift.” they said as they unplugged him. “Hurry on out.” “Oh my gosh! It’s already time for my shift!? I-I gotta go!” Sun panicked, jumping onto his feet and heading towards the exit as he tried to put his pants on at the same time.

. . .

Tying his tutu back into place, he rushed towards the daycare, seeing some of the kids already beginning to line up at the check-in. To avoid any of the kids running after him, he took the employees only path that led to the main door, luckily he had the code remembered in order to even use this pathway. As he sprinted down the corridor, he suddenly felt an odd twinge in his stomach…

CREEAAK CLICK CLICK VRRRRR…

“-Huh? What the?”

Sun slowed down to check what might have been causing the noise, along with the uncomfortable feeling. It had only occurred to him now just how much time had passed during his and Moon’s tune-up. Neither of them as far as he could recall were given a time reset with a snack, so he was due for a refueling.

“Oh that’s right! I’ve been at Parts and Services all night, I didn’t eat anything!... I-I can’t do my shift on an empty stomach!“ Sun told himself. “...I should have enough time to eat something quick before the kids come in…”

He eventually made it to the end of the employee path corridor and opened the metal door, heading for the main entrance of the daycare. He pushed the right door of the large double doors open just a crack to enter, stepping over to the ballpit’s edge where their fly rig is typically hung…

But the fly rig wasn’t there.

The fly rig is gone…” Sun gasped with concern. “Hopefully Moon is awake to throw me down the hook…”

It was 7:59, he only had one minute left to get upstairs and refuel. He stepped on the tallest play structure near their room entrance and called out to Moon.

“MOON!? YOU AWAKE!? I NEED OUR FLY RIG TO GET-” WOOOOSH!

The double doors flung open, and the morning daycare kids flooded in with excitement. Some kids jumped into the ballpit right away to join Sun, others began to crawl in the jungle gym, and a few began to create in the arts and crafts corner. It was immediately overwhelming to him since he wasn’t at the front to direct everyone to first put away their backpacks and shoes, as well as his focus was still on getting himself the fly rig so he could eat. If he couldn’t eat at any point during his shift, he could be in for a long day…

“-C’mon Mr. Sun, let’s play!” One child yelled to Sun, grabbing his attention.

“-Huh? O-Oh, y-yes of course! It’s uh, time to play, starlights!” Sun announced, his smile clearly on the artificial side today.

It was at this point he had no choice; with Moon unable to hear him in his sleep, there was going to be no fly rig to help him get back to his room to eat. He would have to wait until he could find the right opportunity to alert one of the guards to grab him a snack, but that was easier said than done. It seemed like the kids were riled up today, already looking like they want to play a very physically demanding game with Sun, hopefully he wouldn’t have to move as much as they were wanting to, the more he played in this condition, the more uncomfortable he would feel, and would soon be noticeable by the children. Always wanting to make sure the kids would never worry about him, he would have to be on top of masking his discomfort, and finding ways to distract them from the noise his body will inevitably make.

“So uh, what game do you kids wanna play first? That is, after we have you remove your-” Sun started, but was quickly cut off.

“We wanna play Color Tag, and we want you to be ‘it’ first!” One kid explained the rules, making sure everyone was on board, which they seemed to be. “If we call out a color before you tag us, we’re safe for 10 seconds, and you have to tag all of us out to win! We can only call out each color once, that makes it harder as we play!”

Great, Sun was it first? That amount of movement was surely going to put him through his paces. He would just have to bide his time and go along with the ordeal, hopefully the kids weren’t very creative with their colors besides the basics. Luckily since he towered over the kids in height, he didn’t have to run as fast to catch up with them.

“Ready!? Gooooo!” another kid shouted, causing everyone to scatter.

Sun got to work and began to chase the kids who were closest to him. Already his first attempts to catch even a single kid were futile, they knew their basic colors quite well thanks to all of the creative lessons he had given them over the months they’d been coming there. Soon they started to use more uncommon colors to escape being tagged, some colors he had no idea where they even learned their names, but luckily the younger ones weren’t as familiar, so they were the first to be tagged out. The strain of the physicality of the game was beginning to affect him as the hunger became more frequent and got louder with each kid he managed to tag out. Eventually there were no more colors the kids could think of, so this was Sun’s chance to finish up and alert a guard of his situation.

“I’m gonna get you!” Sun cheered as he got closer to the last child. “Aaaand, gotcha! Hahaha, I won!” “Yaaaayyy, Sun wins! Again, again!” many of the older kids shouted. “Again, again, again!”

Again!? No way was he about to play Color Tag again in this condition, but how to direct their attention away just long enough for him to slip away?

“U-Uhhh, ooooo new game! H-How about we play- um… Hide-and-Seek!? I’ll hide, and you all count to twenty! Cover your eyes now, cmon!” Sun cheekily smiled, thinking himself clever of his idea; if they couldn’t see where he went, he could get himself a snack from one of the security guards.

“Okay! One, two, three…” The kids in unison began to count.

Sun quickly scurried over to the front desk, where one of the employees was under the desk organizing which plugs should be connected to the only power outlet they had. He peeked over the edge and tried to get the worker’s attention.

“Pssst! Hey, I need your help…” Sun whispered, causing the technician to bump their head on the roof of the desk.

“-Aghh! Shit, that hurts…”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you…” Sun apologized. “L-Listen, I need to take a break, I didn’t-”

“TWENTY!” The kids shouted out loud. “READY OR NOT, HERE WE COME!”

They were already done counting!? Sun stuttered a bit trying to get his request for help out before the kids noticed he wasn’t really hiding, and sure enough, before he could ask, they ran to him.

‘Nuts, should’ve picked a higher number than twenty…’ Sun thought to himself before being dogpiled on by all the kids.

“FOUND YOU!” They all giggled, climbing over each other and tumbling off of him.

Sun knew he couldn’t just try to sit up when they were using him as a hill, he’d probably cause one of them to slip and hurt themselves, so he had to wait until they were done with the dogpile. But before he could notice…

CLICK CREEAAAK WHIIRRRRR…

His eyes grew wide as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, he couldn’t even try to comfort the sore spot since there were about a dozen children stepping on him. But suddenly, the kids also grew aware of the strange noise, and shrieked in surprise and confusion, tumbling off of him and gathering in a group a few feet away from Sun. He managed to finally sit himself up, but now there was a problem. Every single kid was looking at him like one would look at an angry dog staring them down. They were scared, scared of what came out of Sun. He really didn’t want the children to be terrified of him, so a quick white lie was thought up.

“Mr. Sun, w-what was that?” One kid hesitantly asked.

“-Oh sorry about that! Don’t you worry, it was uh-” Sun fumbled his words together. “M-My bear impression, yeah! Like a mean teddy bear, and I’m gonna get you all and eat you up! Raaawwrr!”

“AHHHH, RUN! HE’S GONNA GET US!” The children playfully screamed and scattered, buying Sun some time to slip away.

While the children were distracted, Sun quickly darted back over to the guard’s station desk and pulled down one of the guard’s newspapers to face them.

“J-Jim! You gotta help me, I need to get upstairs for a break!” Sun begged. “I was in Parts and Service last night, and they forgot to-” “GET THE BEAR!” The kids shouted, carrying pool noodles and charging after Sun. “MAKE HIS HEAD A TROPHY!”

“Nooooo!” Sun whined, unable to get help again and was taken down to the ground by the rain of pool noodles smacking his back. “Owww, darn it…”

“YAAAYYYY!” The kids cheered, waving their pool noodles around in celebration. “WE GOT THE BEAR! NOW LET’S STUFF HIM!” Sun’s eyes widened. Stuff him? He could only guess what they meant by that as he was dragged away from the security guard’s table and back over to the play area.

There was no escaping it, today was going to be rough…

- - -

CREEAAAK VRRRR CLICK CLICK WHIIIIRRRR…

Game after mindlessly long game, and several agonizing moments of being pulled and tugged by the children, Sun was being pushed to his limits. His back ached from the strain of endlessly bending down to pick up kids over and over again, his neck was stiff from having to constantly dart around for any chance of escaping to refuel, he couldn’t catch his breath despite not needing to breathe in the first place, and worst of all, his stomach wouldn’t stop it’s stabbing pain and constantly alerting him to eat. Sun laid face up and sprawled himself out in the ballpit, he stared up at the ceiling, trying not to move much, every single movement he made caused his body to ache more. It was driving him up a wall, and it seemed like there wouldn't be an end to his shift. Until…

“Alright kids, snack time!” One security guard announced as others set up tables and chairs. "Grab your snacks from your backpacks and find a seat!” “YAAAAYYYY, SNACKTIME!” The kids squealed as they dropped their current toys and ran over to the cubbies.

“H-Huh, what?...” Sun groaned as he slowly sat up from within the middle of the ballpit. “S-Snacktime?... Ughhh, finally…”

He was grateful his schedule always included lunch, or ‘Snack Time’ as the kids called it, at the halfway point, so with most of the children distracted with their meals, now was the perfect time to slip away. As the security guards guided each kid to their designated spots for lunch, Sun stood up and slowly tiptoed over to their station desk, hoping to luck out and be escorted back to his room so he could relieve himself of the pain. But the instant he made it to the desk, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Sun grit his teeth before he turned his head to face whoever was trying to grab his attention.

“...What?” Sun snapped back at the guard before they could talk to him.

“-Jesus Sun, turn your volume down, you’re gonna freak the kids out with that attitude.” The guard warned him. “Listen, the kids have requested that you join them during Snack Time. You can try anything they offer you, ONLY if they offer anything to you.”

Sun’s teeth gritting stopped and he softly gasped. That’s right! The kids were always so generous with their treats! Cheesy animal crackers, fudgy brownies with sprinkles, mini blueberry muffins, shoestring chips, and those fruit snacks with the jelly inside, how could he resist? He quickly made his way over to the snack table and sat at the end, where they had reserved him a special seat. Since he towered over the children and the chairs were meant for them to sit in, his legs bowed out to the side when he sat down. His eyes immediately were drawn to the lunch bag of the children who sat next to him, staring hungrily at their food as they removed each item one by one from their bags.

CLICK CLICK…

Sun resisted the temptation to grab any of the food he saw, knowing that he wasn’t allowed to eat anything unless the kids gave him permission. But the pain he felt was practically unbearable to hide from the children, his smile slowly twitching from its highest position downward. He swore he could feel drool beginning to form at the corners of his mouth, like a dog waiting to be told to eat. His pupils shrunk as all of his attention was drawn to the food, his hands shaking in his lap, trying to keep them from touching anything.

CREEEAAKK…

It was becoming too much.

The pain was too much.

The headache was too much.

The back pain was too much.

. . .

“Mr. Sun?” One kid tried to get his attention by tapping him on the arm.

Sun turned his head rigidly and his pupils dilated as he turned his focus on what they were holding out for him. His expression lightened a bit as he noticed they were a little surprised at his appearance, and calmly tilted his head.

“We made this snack plate for you!” The kid offered Sun, smiling as all of the other children nodded and clapped. “Join us!”

He was in disbelief, a whole plate, just for him! Sun couldn’t help but smile warmly as he gently took the plate from the child and placed it right next to him. Finally, he could stop the pain once and for all and have enough energy to finish his shift! He scanned the plate to see what the kids had prepared for him; a little bit of everything, like every child had contributed to preparing his plate. He decided to start with the cheesy animal crackers, and he reached down to grab a couple, when…

“I WANNA TRY SOME!” one whiny child sitting next to him yelled, reaching over the table without much care, and smacked their hand on Sun’s snack plate. “GIMME GIMME!”

Someone touching HIS FOOD!? HIS. FOOD!?

Sun’s eyes darkened and his pupils glowed a dark red, his teeth curling into a snarl, a sharp scowl blanketing over his face as his programming tried desperately to override his actions, but his hunger was too severe to succumb to the override. With a swift and aggressive motion, he snatched the hand of the whiny child with his right hand and gripped it tight, causing their joints to crack.

“OWWWW!” the whiny kid cried out. “YOU’RE HURTING MEEEEE!”

“That’s MY plate- MY PLATE! DON’T TOUCH MY PLATE, OR YOU’RE IN TIME-OUT!” Sun barked. “I NEED TO EAT, YOU GOT THAT, RULEBREAKER!?”

. . .

“...Waaaahhhh!” the kid began to sob, pulling their hand away from Sun once he let go and holding it in their other hand. “You’re a meanie!” “SUN!” One of the security guards alerted him, the others quickly taking over chaperoning the lunch tables. “Come with me!”

Suddenly Sun was jerked from his seat by the head security guard by one of his sun rays, he stumbled standing up and struggled to keep his balance when his head was held so much lower than the rest of his body, like one would drag a child by their ear when they were in trouble. The child who he had grabbed was also led away to a nearby first-aid station in the daycare to make sure the injury to their arm wasn’t bleeding or didn’t leave a mark.

“Ooooo, Mr. Sun’s in trouble!” The other kids mocked, returning to their lunches once he was out of the area.

- - -

“-AGGHH -OOWWW! You’re pulling too hard!” Sun whimpered, the additional pain on top of the pain he was already in was too overwhelming to resist being dragged along.

“Are you out of your fucking mind!?” The guard scolded him, letting go of his sun ray once they had reached Parts and Service. “Do you have any idea what kind of lawsuit we could face if that child goes home and tells their parents that they don’t want to come to the Pizza Plex anymore because you hurt them!?”

“I-I-I didn’t mean to…” Sun stuttered, twiddling his thumbs. “I-I was just stressed, t-that’s all… I just couldn’t help it, I was so hungry I-”

“No fucking excuses, Sun!” The guard cut off his sentence. “I don’t get paid nearly enough to deal with your bullshit, okay? You HAVE to refuel at least once before your shift!... Look, if you’re really having trouble keeping yourself fed, we can just start cutting your work time short or even change the naptime schedule to start before your shift ends-”

‘-NO! No please!” Sun begged, even getting down on his knees and clasping his hands together. “Please please please don’t cut my hours! I don’t think I could stand spending even a minute less with those little angels! I-I’ll refuel on time, I’ll speak up for myself, I promise, PLEASE!”

. . .

CREEAAK WHIIIRRR CLICK CLICK!

Sun’s face glowed red with embarrassment.

“...Umm, heh heh, ouch… Mind giving me a hand now?...”

“...Urgghhh, fine…” the guard grumbled, finding a pack of cookies in a cabinet nearby and handing them to Sun. “Eat. We’ll sort out that kid’s incident report paperwork once your shift is over and the parents come to pick them up.”

Without hesitation, Sun snatched the cookie pack from their hands and ripped it open, wasting no time in shoving a few into his awaiting jaws. The cookie crumbs coated his tongue, and the brown sugar and the semi-sweet chocolate inside the cookies wrapped Sun’s whole head around the absolute ecstasy of delicious flavors he had been dying for. He couldn’t help but let out a small moan of pleasure as his motherboard translated the taste information in his mouth into emotional stimulation in his head, much to the dismay of the security guard. Once the cookies were sufficiently chewed, he swallowed the mouthful down to let the rest of his body take over processing the nutrients into fuel, which took no time at all since the demand for the refueling was quite high. In moments he felt an instant boost of energy, a lightening of his mood, and best of all, the fading away of the pain in his stomach.

“Mmmmm, oh man… I really needed that…” Sun sighed deeply, relaxing his shoulders. “...Thanks for helping me out, I… I should go say sorry to the child I hurt, I don’t want them to think I meant to do that…” “Yeah, probably for the best, but you should maybe refuel a bit more before returning to work.” The guard advised Sun. “You’ve probably burned through more energy than you should’ve, so the energy from that snack might not last the whole twelve hours.” “Ohh, good point.” Sun agreed. “Alright then, whatever you’ve got to offer, I’ll eat.”

- - -

After a bit under an hour, Sun and the security guard returned to the daycare through the massive double doors, where they saw one daycare substitute playing ‘Parachute’ with the kids. Once he was in their line of sight, they were pretty excited to see him return as most of them quickly dropped their corners of the parachute and ran over to give him a hug.

“SUN SUN SUN!” the children cheered. “Did you miss us!?” “Where did you go!?” “Did you die!?” “You missed snack time!”

“Hey everyone!” Sun answered back with glee. “Sorry about leaving you like that, I just got a little out of control and went to time-out, but I feel better now!”

“And now that you do, there’s someone here that is waiting for their apology.” One security guard announced, leading the child that Sun had injured, over to him. “Go on, Sun.”

Oh no…

Sun could see how crushed the kid’s face looked; they didn’t want to make eye contact with him, and were still sniffling from crying earlier. They had a band-aid on their arm where he had grabbed them, so it was obvious whatever damage he had done left a mark of some kind. The kid was clearly traumatized to an extent, and it was all Sun’s fault. He bent down to meet the eye level of the kid and held out his hands for the kid to take.

“I’m… I’m sorry I lost control and hurt you…” Sun apologized. “I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you, it wasn’t fair, and you didn’t deserve that… Can you… forgive me?...”

The child paused before giving Sun a hug back.

“...Okay.” the kid softly chuckled. “Wanna play house now?” Sun smiled wide. He was relieved that everything between them had been forgiven. He just hoped any future confrontation with this child’s parents once they read the incident report would go as smoothly as this apology. But for now, he had a job to do.

“House!? My favorite, sure!” he chuckled, taking their hand and skipping with everyone towards the playhouses. “Who wants to play the mommy and daddy?” “ME! ME! ME!” several children shouted, raising their hands for the part.

“Okay, this group will be the mommies and daddies, and this group will be their little angels!” Sun instructed. “And who should I be?”

The children took a moment to talk amongst themselves to come up with an answer.

“THE DOG!” they giggled, one of them pushing Sun down onto the floor, then on all fours. “-Whoa!” he stumbled, picking himself back up. “Umm, okay, I can play as the dog! Uhh, woof woof!”

“FEED THE DOG!” all the kids playing the children of the playhouses shouted, grabbing various snack pieces they had saved from Snack Time and ran over to Sun with them. “FEED HIM!” “-Wait, what-” Sun started before several pretzels were shoved into his mouth. “-Ommph!”

It was absolutely precious to him, the children had felt so bad for Sun that they worked together during Snack Time to make him a new snack plate, a little something from everyone. He had already eaten his fill in Parts and Service, but the children went out of their way to make it up to him, how could he say no?...

He couldn’t, he was playing the house dog, and the rules of house dog?

Eat anything they fed him.

- - -

The clock struck 7pm, it was time for the children who weren’t staying the night to head home, which today was surprisingly everyone, giving the boys the night off. Sun sighed in relief that his shift was over, which meant he could take the break his body needed, especially after going through such a tough few hours on low battery. He guided the children back to the backpack cubbies with a ‘Goodbye’ song, and got them ready to head home, the security guards handling the checkouts with incoming parents there to pick up their kids. One by one, each child met back up with their parents, many of them eager to relay the day they had to them, and hopefully keeping quiet about any trouble Sun caused one of them. Once every child was accounted for exiting, he made his way over to the ballpit, stepping into it a couple paces before turning around and letting himself fall flat backwards into the plastic balls. He let out a groan and shut his eyes, remembering that just because his time with daycare duty was over, his time of cleanup and maintenance began. But luckily he wouldn’t be doing this task alone. 

When his eyes reopened a couple minutes later, his gaze was met with Moon’s, who had just awoken from his sleep and descended from their room via the fly rig he had kept upstairs the whole time. Moon smiled cheekily at Sun’s expense as he hung upside down in front of him. He sometimes took a bit of pleasure seeing his sunny work partner in disarray as it was completely out of his character. He knew Sun had quite the stamina for handling the stress of a long day of caring for children, but even he had a limit, and seeing him cross that limit was amusing to him. Sun replied to Moon’s smile with a scowl, unimpressed with his lack of consideration with access to the fly rig.

“Y’know you could’ve done me a solid before my shift began, Moon.” Sun grumbled, lifting his head up to address him better.

“It’s not my fault they didn’t feed you during your tune-up~” Moon chastised. “You should’ve spoken up and told them you were low.”

“I forgot, okay!?” Sun barked, plastic balls scattering around him when he lunged up and forward to be face to face with Moon. “Just- Help me with cleaning the daycare up for tomorrow, please? I’m… tired…”

“Hehehehe… Very well~” Moon chuckled, fiddling with Sun’s face rays. “Just give me a moment to prepare.”

“...Alright.” Sun sighed, standing back up and removing any plastic balls stuck in his pockets. “...Wait, you’ve had all day to yourself! What could you possibly need to do NOW to prepare!?”

CREEEAAK CLICK CLICK!

Sun stared at him in disbelief. No, he didn’t!

“I need to refuel!~” Moon sang as he ascended back up to their room via the fly rig attached to his back.

“MOOOOON!” Sun angrily yelled and stomped his feet. “GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW AND DO YOUR JOB!”

[shimii26]

Sugary Temptations

126 days after the crash…

“Leeeet’s paaartaaayy!” shouted Daisuke in his drunken state.

“That’s right kid, get your dance on, hahaha!” Swansea agreed with him and boogied in place.

“Guys c’mon, I think you’ve had enough today…” Anya sighed, watching them from afar.

It had been two months since the crew of the Tulpar discovered the cargo they were instructed to deliver for over a year turned out to be nothing but an ocean of alcoholic Dragonbreath brand mouthwash. Since it was quite clear to most of the crew that there would most likely never be a rescue team coming out to save them as they’ve been off course for months, Swansea and Daisuke decided that the Pony Express’s threat of docking pay for participating in what was being shipped was now worthless words, so they started to dip into the cargo and enjoy a taste.

Or two.

Or a few dozen bottles…

Despite her desperate need to distract her thoughts of their impending doom, Anya had decided not to partake in the mouthwash for numerous reasons, and Jimmy wanted to focus on ‘fixing’ everything that was going on around them. Curly was in no condition to be consuming any amount of alcohol, he was currently taking constant painkillers, which could be very damaging to his body. He could only have water and easy to swallow foods, so it was mainly just a two-man party on the ship. Daisuke had been brainstorming today about something else fun they could do together, and he stepped over to Swansea with a sudden plan brewing in his head, dancing over to him in the process.

“Heeeyy Swansea, I gots a plan I think you’re gonna liiiike!” he proposed with a tune in his voice.

“Aww yeah? Whatcha got for me, boy?” Swansea wondered with a smile towards him.

“I think Jimmy left the code scanner, next to his bed!” Daisuke giggled. “Let’s borrow it and find the code to the sweetener supply!” “...Y’know, that ain’t a baaaad idea, kiddo!” he nodded. “Hahaha, let’s do it, we can make another cake with it, why not?”

“-What? Guys, no we-”

Anya overheard their conversation, but figured this wouldn’t be an argument she’d probably win. Afterall, what else would the crew use the packs of sweetener and gelatin for?

She sighed. “...Oh forget it..”

“Let’s do iiiiittt!” Daisuke sang and skipped over to Jimmy’s sleeping bag, picking up the code scanner from the floor. “Got it!”

“The code should be on this page!” Swansea showed Daisuke, flipping through the provided Pony Express cookbook. “...Here it iiiiis, go on, scan it!” Daisuke checked for the code and Swansea punched the numbers into the packet machine several times, withdrawing multiple packs at once. Then Swansea prepared the cake as Daisuke withdrew the water and gelatin from the packet machine and handed it to him, eventually making another subpar birthday cake for them to feast on. Anya watched from afar, almost astounded that the two of them somehow didn’t fuck the recipe up. The nostalgic birthday music played once their delicious treat was created, further tickling the drunken excitement in their heads.

“Hell yeah, let’s eat!” Daisuke woohooed out loud, taking the waxy birthday candles out of the cake and sucking the white frosting off of them.

“Aaaalright alright, lemme cut us some slices!” Swansea chuckled, grabbing a nearby butter knife from the kitchen drawers and began to cut the pastry.

Daisuke sat on top of the counter and kicked his feet while he watched Swansea do his thing. Once the cake was cut into several triangle slices, the two of them clinked their mouthwash bottles together in a toast.

“Hear hear!” they shouted at the same time.

They took a bite of their slices, getting frosting all over their faces and clothes. Anya cringes in disgust, her nausea reemerging and occupying her full attention. Swansea finished his slice in almost record time as the Pony Express cake was one of his favorite work foods, and decided he was satisfied and returned to his dancing by the main lounge screen with his axe. Daisuke soon after finished his piece, but decided he wanted more than one, so after getting down from the counter and placing his mouthwash bottle in his back pocket, he grabbed another slice of cake in each hand and began to groove and walk towards the hallway.

“Oooo yeah! Feel the music in yah, Swansea! Hahahaha!” Daisuke cheered, shimmying his hips back and forth. “Imma go see if Jimmy wants a slice!”

“Okay kiddo, you do that!” Swansea answered back, using his axe as a dancing cane. Opening the hallway door, he shuffled his way towards the medical ward, not exactly paying attention to where he was going. Humming his favorite musical tune, he opened the medical ward door and moonwalked his way in, not even realizing where he just entered.

Curly snapped out of his disassociation and looked over at Daisuke, confused as to what had been going on in the other room without him. His vision was a bit blurred due to the fact that he couldn’t blink, but deduced based upon the sickly sweet smell of cheap frosting he could detect, the crew had made another cake. Not surprising since the code for the sweetener would have only been so complicated to decipher when there were only four buttons on the packet machine, but there really wasn’t much else to use the sweetener for besides maybe in a coffee.

Unable to get up and calm Daisuke down, he could only watch as Daisuke cut the rug next to him in his drunken state, getting frosting bits all over the floor and his clothes. Curly was hoping Anya would’ve noticed that he was missing and come to rescue the both of them, but it was clear he was on his own. He tried instead to call out to Daisuke, but his throat was still quite irritated and only some grunting noises could come out. They weren’t loud enough for those in the lounge to hear either.

It was then that Daisuke suddenly lost his footing underneath him and he tripped towards Curly’s gurney, smacking his face against the fabric and then onto the floor. A piece of cake from one of the slices broke off and landed next to Curly’s right arm, staining the sheet with a bright neon pink dye. He flinched when Daisuke’s face hit his gurney, and he tried to lift his head up to check and see if he was okay. Unfortunately he couldn’t lift it high enough to see, so he had no idea how bad the damage was.

“Arrggghhh… my face…” Daisuke groaned, rolling over onto his back. “...That hurt…”

He abandoned a piece of cake onto the ground to rub his nose, effectively getting frosting all over his face. He sat up and shook his head, trying to shake the pain off, somehow thinking it might work. After a minute of struggle to get back onto his feet, he looked back at Curly and drunkenly giggled, wiping the nosebleed he had developed from the fall.

“Soooorry Curly, I didn’t see you there!” Daisuke sniffled a bit. “Go back to your nap, Imma find Jimmy for yoooouuu!~”

. . .

Curly’s eye widened and he gulped.

. . .

N-No…

N-Not Jimmy…

. . .

With another disoriented moonwalk, Daisuke groggily picked up his second cake slice and stepped out of the medical ward and headed down towards the utility, where he hoped to find Jimmy working on his plan to ‘fix’ everything. Curly’s breath quickened a bit as it was sinking in what Daisuke meant with that comment. Jimmy was in charge of feeding him today as Anya had done so the past couple of times, the two of them took turns doing so as he guessed Jimmy felt like he needed to feel superior to everyone around him, hence why he took half of the tasks needed to care for Curly.

He had already done a horrendous job this morning with the fact that he tried to feed him something that wasn’t even close to slippery enough to slide down his throat, causing him to choke quite severely. Because he struggled so much, Jimmy lost his patience and took his frustration out on him, grabbing him by the neck and slamming his head against the cot multiple times. He was still recovering from the ordeal, his breathing hoarse from the damage and the back of his head aching, he was going to struggle harder because of the abuse, which meant if Jimmy was going to feed him again, it was going to be another horrific round of pain and torture. A small tear began to slide down Curly’s face, flashbacks of each time Jimmy had abused him fading in and out, he thought back to how he had treated Anya and placed too much trust in his friend.

He felt like this was the world’s ironic punishment for him…

But suddenly he was brought out of his distress when he felt something unusual touch the side of his right arm. He slightly lifted his head high enough to look at what it was, the piece of cake from Daisuke.

. . .

…it was within reach.

Something to protect himself from having to face the entire feeding ordeal of Jimmy! If he could just manage to eat some of it, he might be able to get away with not being force-fed his entire meal tonight. Jimmy and Anya could tell when Curly was full and would stop when he gets to that point, so if he could alter the time it takes for him to get full, he could escape another round or abuse.

But this plan came without major risk…

This was a thick textured cake, similar to a poke cake that would’ve been left out on a kitchen counter for hours, practically borderline dry as a bone. With his inability to swallow thick foods safely, the cake would be extremely dangerous to eat alone without Anya or Jimmy to either save him by unclogging his throat. Considering the fact that Jimmy would most likely feed him something too thick anyway, Curly decided to take that risk, anything to avoid more abuse from Jimmy.

Using the tip of his right arm, he began to slowly maneuver the cake piece’s position to his right side, his eye straining from watching his actions. Every little move he made with his arm shot lightning bolts of pain down his spine and stabbing pain seared in the crease of his elbow. His eye started to water from staring so long. The frosting dragged along the cot, leaving a pink streak in its path. Once he managed to move the piece of cake all the way to his side, he let his head fall back down to rest his vision, taking a couple breaths once the sharp pains subsided.

He looked over at the door and listened to make sure no one was approaching…

So far so good.

After a minute of rest, he grit his teeth and began to move his arm again, sliding the piece slowly up his waist. The pain screamed at his mind to stop, it was completely unbearable, but he knew he couldn’t stop or risk losing progress on getting the cake closer to his mouth. His forearm shook violently as he shifted it up more and more, so tempted to stop and give up. He panted through his grit teeth and pushed some more, finally getting the piece up onto his chest. He released the pressure he was putting on his arm, letting it fall back down too fast to lie on the cot, another jolt of pain down his spine. He yelped and bit his tongue to try and muffle the noise. He whined softly, more tears streaming down his face, it was taking longer to recover from this attempt. He struggled to lift his head back up to check his progress, only about a foot and a half away from his mouth, it was a bit farther than he hoped.

. . .

Step, step, step, step…

. . .

…Oh no, it sounded like someone was nearby. He was running out of time.

Grrooowwrrlrll…

Fuck, this wasn’t good, if he didn’t manage to eat this piece of cake, Jimmy would be able to tell that he was absolutely starving, and he was going to be fed his whole meal. He had no more time to waste, it was now or never!

Fueled by the sudden rush of fear and desperation overpowering his mind, he pushed through the worst pain he’s ever felt and lifted his right arm back up to his chest, his forearm’s remaining exposed nerves on fire from the slightest movements. Fighting back against the fierce strength of every instinct to stop moving, his forearm shifted little by little, guiding the piece of cake ever so much closer to his face. His head shivering from the pain jackhammering his brain from every angle, he slowly lifted it back up once more, sticking his tongue out to barely touch his chest and being an angled platform to guide the piece into his mouth.

Inch by inch…

Ever so closer…

Just a bit more…

The frosting beginning to glide across his tongue now…

Almost there…

. . .

Anya stepped into the medical ward to see why Curly had been making so much noise. She immediately saw he was straining to insert a piece of Daisuke’s cake into his mouth, and she quickly panicked, running over to his bedside.

“Curly? Are you- wha- no no no no no Curly! Don’t eat that!” she nervously told him, quickly taking the piece out his mouth. “Y-You’re going to choke from that!... Jeez, It’s all over your gown too…”

. . .

It was over for him.

. . .

Curly stopped moving and stared at the piece of cake in her hand. His saving grace of tonight’s torture stolen right from his mouth.

All that he worked for, gone in a flash.

His teeth quivered in fear, reality setting in for him. A cracked whine escaped his throat as his emotions flooded him, he couldn’t hold back his pain from her anymore. He broke out in a full blown panic, his eye’s vision blurred from the immense amount of tears and his senses shutting down a bit. He was so afraid of what Jimmy would do to him next, he just wished this nightmare was just a nightmare, but his wish seemed impossible to come true now.

. . .

It was hopeless.

He was stuck.

. . .

Anya looked down to see Curly in the middle of his panic attack, she knelt down to his face level and rubbed the top of his head.

“Curly, hey Curly, shhhh shhhh, it’s okay. I’m here, please relax, you’re okay, I’m not leaving you…” Anya reassured him. “...I don’t understand… What were you trying to do?...”

It was no use, her comfort wasn’t working, he wasn’t showing signs of stopping his meltdown. She was confused, racing through various reasons in her head, trying to piece together what might’ve spooked Curly so much. What would he possibly have been trying to do with the piece of-

Grrruuumble…

Cake. Jimmy hadn’t fed Curly yet…

He was trying to feed himself, but why?...

. . .

“...Oh my god…” Anya whispered, and turned to face Curly. “...Curly… Has Jimmy been… hurting you too?...”

. . .

…Curly paused his crying before giving her a tiny nod.

. . .

Anya froze.

Jimmy…

He took away Anya’s innocence, but he wasn’t satisfied with just her, he wanted revenge. Revenge from Curly, and this is how he was carrying it out. She covered her mouth with one hand and the other dropped the piece of cake onto the floor.

“...I’m… I’m so sorry, Curly…” she nervously apologized to him, giving him a hug. “...You must’ve been so scared to feel like you needed to do such a thing like this…”

She stood up and wiped away his tears with his hospital gown.

“...I won’t let him near you again when I’m with you…” she promised Curly. “...Let’s get something safer in you, alright?...”

He nodded and tried to control his breathing, feeling a bit of relief that he managed to inform Anya of what had been happening to him behind closed doors. She headed through the hallway and into the lounge, where the rest of the cake lay on the counter in the kitchen. There weren’t many cans of rations left for the crew, probably about less than a month’s worth, but food cans with easy to swallow foods were running very low. She had considered opening up another can of the peaches and juice he seemed to enjoy the most, but after seeing the immense struggle Curly went through so much pain to try and eat the slice of cake, she figured it wouldn’t be fair to completely exclude him from something nice to eat while the opportunity was there. Feeding him a slice in its current state wouldn’t be ideal, so some prep work would have to be dealt with first.

She took a slice and one of the water packets that sat next to their food rations, opening and emptying it out into a large cup that was in the sink. Adding in bits of the cake and mixing it a little at a time, she managed to make a slushed cake concoction, one that would be easier for Curly to swallow without struggle. It definitely wasn’t in any way a ‘meal’, or barely ‘food’ for that matter, but Curly probably needed a bit of cheering up after his meltdown, so one night of dessert wouldn’t hurt. She hurried back to the medical ward, where she sat next to him and bent down to his eye level.

“I’m back, are you doing any better?...” Anya asked him. “...I’m sorry you had to go through Jimmy’s abuse too, I’ll make sure he never tries anything else while I’m with you… Now, would you like some cake?” Curly sniffled and looked at the cup she was holding, confused from what she meant by ‘cake’.

“See? I made it safe for you to eat.” She warmly smiled and showed him the cake smoothie. “It probably won’t be as sweet since I had to water it down, but you deserve to eat the same foods as everyone else here. Ready to eat?” His teeth formed what could probably be interpreted as a little smile, and he opened his mouth to receive the first spoonful. While the sweetness was definitely dialed back quite a bit, he couldn’t deny that the flavor of the frosting was one he missed, despite it coming from a shitty work cake. His eye looked up and fluttered a bit from the reaction his brain was feeling when tasting the sweetener, the dopamine flooding his mind with better emotions. He let the moisture of the mouthful coat his throat a bit before gulping it down, feeling so much relief when he felt the weight of the food reach his stomach.

One bite down.

Anya prepared another scoop and placed it upon Curly’s tongue cake side down, letting him take control of how quickly he wanted to taste and swallow each bite. Little bits of pink dyed crystallized sweetener clung to his teeth, staining them a bright neon pink, he licked them up with absolute pleasure, oh how he missed this guilty flavor. Two bites, three, four, five, each one enjoyed better than the last by Curly, the cake smoothie slowly filling his belly and fading the hunger into temporary obscurity. Anya eventually scooped up the last bits of the smoothie from the bottom of the cup and placed it in Curly’s mouth.

“Last bite, okay?” Anya told him. “Let me know if you’re still hungry when I’m done washing out the cup and I can make you another. Not like Daisuke and Swansea are going to eat more of it now that they’re so drunk…”

While she got up and washed the cup in the sink, Curly savored the last bite’s taste, sliding it to each side of his cheeks over and over in his mouth. Once he was satisfied with getting his sweet tasting fix, he finally gulped the last mouthful down, where it joined the rest of his meal in his belly. With how thick the cake smoothie was, it was quite filling, so he felt he would be okay with the amount she made for him, so he shook his head when she turned to him for a response to her question. Anya chuckled when she saw him experience a hiccup, it looked like it might’ve stung his chest a bit, but it was something she rarely saw him do, even before the crash. She sat back down next to him and gave his belly a pat.

“Heheh, you okay?” she asked him.

He nodded, probably a bit embarrassed from that.

“We should probably get you your painkiller before you settle down for the night, hmm?”

Once he answered back with a soft grunt, she turned her swivel chair around to face the table and slid herself over, grabbing one of the bottles from the desk. She opened it up and reached two of her fingers inside to grab a pill.

. . .

It was empty.

“Huh?...”

She opened another bottle up.

. . .

Also empty.

“Wh-What?...”

She frantically opened the rest of them.

. . .

Completely empty.

. . .

“O-Oh no…”

She slowly got up from her chair in silence, turning to look at Curly, who was now staring at her, worry looming in his eye. What could she even say to him, ‘Sorry, but we’re out of painkillers, guess you gotta suffer after I just said I would protect you from Jimmy’?... N-No, there had to be more, there had to be! She quickly stepped over to the counter by the wall and searched behind every book she had, underneath her medical equipment, inside the first-aid kit…

. . .

Nothing.

Anya nervously huffed and tried to hold her composure, but her mind was overwhelmed with panic. Jimmy was going to be fuming when she had to break the bad news to him, he was already on edge constantly whenever Curly was coming off of painkillers and squirmed in his cot while making noise. She scanned through her guesses of every other place that a stray pill could possibly be, under the beds? In the vents? Hidden away in a cabinet-

The storage locker?

The storage locker! Anya had completely forgotten about that thing, there were some emergency supplies in there that she had packed! It was covered in foam however, it would have to be cleared in order to access it. But that came with a risk, if too much foam was removed or a weak spot struck, the ship might crumble from the vacuum pressure of space and open up, killing them all in an instant. It would have to be carried out with the axe, it was the only tool they had that could break through the mess, currently Swansea was ‘in charge’ of the axe. In the state he was probably still in, it would be unwise to ask him to hand it over, but Curly was going to need something soon to hold him over before retiring later tonight. For now he wasn’t in excruciating pain, and could tolerate what he was dealing with at the moment, especially after his cake smoothie meal, so she took the moment to check on the storage locker and assess how deep into the foam it was. Stepping out into the hallway, she checked the corner where the locker was located and analyzed its position.

…It wasn’t that far in. Good.

Maybe if Swansea was sober enough, she could get the axe and break the locker door free. She entered the lounge and turned her attention to the lounge sunset screen.

Great, Swansea was still drunk and dancing, she would have to wait.

Walking over to the kitchen table, she sat down and tried to clear her head, which was now beginning to throb. She was suddenly so consumed by the fear of the unknown of what Jimmy was doing to Curly, she prayed that the same thing that happened to her, wasn’t happening to him when she was away. Looking over to her left side, she noticed an unopened bottle of mouthwash was next to their food can rations. Reaching over to grab it, she attempted to distract her concerned thoughts about Curly by reading the ingredients label on the back. As she had stated weeks ago, there was quite a lot of sugar in the mouthwash, and more than your typical amount of cheap alcohol mixed within its filler components. Probably a way for the company to sell as much as they can for dirt cheap materials.

Anya suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Anya.” Jimmy uttered to her.

She quickly jumped in her seat and covered her mouth.

‘Ahh! Oh, you startled me. “She stuttered.

“...Sorry.” Jimmy half-assed apologized.

“N-No worries!” she nervously reassured him.

. . .

“You thinkin about drinking that too?” Jimmy wondered.

Mouthwashing characters belong to Wrong Organ ^w^

[shimii26]

Not Always Peaches And Cream

61 days after the crash…

“F-Four months of food left?” Anya repeated back to Jimmy who had relayed out the reality of the situation to each of the crew members.

“Yeah, Daisuke double counted what we’ve got left minus what’s probably left in the vending machines.” Jimmy confirmed. “If we have the discipline, it should last us the same amount of time as our remaining air supply.”

“I suppose that means no more mocktails by Daisuke on the weekends…” Anya mumbled under her breath.

The Pony Express crew had been under emergency protocol and off course from their original travel path for the past two months, with a distress signal seemingly being sent out to hopefully nearby rescue stations everyday, the team had gone through what could be extracted initially from the foam without tools and evaluated what wasn’t damaged from the blast. While their ship wasn’t prepared enough for emergencies as is, a good half of the supplies they did have were either destroyed or hidden under the foam, and most likely wouldn’t be accessible as it would be too risky to remove too much of the foam for the chance there could be another foam trigger. It was clear for all of them that while they were waiting for rescue, they would have to make do with using any supply sparingly and with thought, or risk starving to death before help arrived.

Curly was already causing quite a bit of conflict in how medical supplies were used, he required round the clock care of new dressings, painkillers, and a lingering sense of doom for the crew, considering everyone besides Jimmy was under the impression that this whole situation was his fault. Nevertheless, the team agreed to keep him alive and do what they could to reduce some of his suffering, but it wasn’t an easy task given the fact that Curly was basically completely helpless. With no appendages on his limbs and barely any skin left, he was at the mercy of the crew’s help, and couldn’t even communicate to them anything he needed. So due to the unusual language barrier, it was mostly guesswork by Anya and Jimmy who would take turns giving him his painkillers, food rations, water, and maintenance everyday. Anya handled most of the task as she was the crew’s onboard nurse, but lately administering Curly’s painkillers had been difficult for her, the noises he made when she had to insert the pill down his throat was gut-wrenching to put it lightly, each round made her stomach turn worse and worse, which meant Jimmy sometimes had to take her place and take care of it. It wasn’t an easy ask from him after he inserted himself as the new captain, along with Anya having to walk on eggshells around him after he had assaulted her before the crash. She was taken out of her looming deep thoughts about where the crew’s plans would go from here when Jimmy asked her a question she dreaded hearing.

“By the way, have you given Curly his medication today?” Jimmy sternly asked her, knowing he would most likely be the one to do so again.

“...I, w-well u-um…” Anya stuttered, not wanting to upset him with a ‘no’ answer.

He wasn’t in the mood to negotiate with, it was clear he was on edge about a conversation he must’ve had with Swansea about checking the cargo they were hauling all this time. She knew damn well that if she didn’t muster up the courage to bear through the nausea and give Curly his painkillers today, Jimmy would surely take his irritation out on him and further worsen his injuries. He let out a frustrated sigh and took a step forward.

“...I’ll take care of-” Jimmy started, but was cut off by Anya.

“N-No, I-I got it this time…” she interjected, trying to improvise her answer. “...Afterall, ‘People have to be worth their titles’, right?...”

. . .

Jimmy paused before answering. She flinched as he stepped back from her.

. . .

“...Fine, just get on with it. I’d like to sleep tonight without his interruption.” he huffed and turned away, heading for the door back to the lounge. “Keep an eye on Curly while I’m searching for the code scanner.”

“...Y-Yes, Captain…” Anya managed to squeak out, swallowing hard.

Once Jimmy had left the room to look for the code scanner, Anya released the tension in her shoulders and sighed in relief, any chance to take a break from dealing with him was welcome in her book. She had always been wary about her actions around Jimmy ever since he had assaulted her months ago, of course none of it was her fault, but she felt it necessary not to get on his bad side anymore. She leaned against the gurney, turning her head to face Curly, who was now staring at her with concern, he wasn’t shy about the conversation that just happened, he knew what was about to happen now was going to hurt.

“I’m… sorry you had to see me like that, Captain… Let’s get you feeling a bit better, okay?” she whispered to him.

Curly responded with a soft grunt.

After a couple moments of awkward silence and staring, Anya got up and stepped over to the counter where the remaining painkillers lied and she grabbed a bottle, taking out one of the pills inside. Taking a prepared breath, she sanitized one of her hands with the remaining hand sanitizer on her desk and got closer to Curly, trying not to make too much eye contact. She slowly tilted his head back and opened his mouth, readying her hand with the painkiller in it. Squinting her eyes a bit, she quickly inserted her hand into his mouth and hesitated from the slimy yet burnt texture of his tongue. The nausea wasted no time filling the pit of her stomach with its presence, but she knew she had to persevere, so she extended her hand further. Curly’s eyes watered and he began to choke, but attempted to hold it together, knowing that the pain would be over before he knew it. Finally, Anya stuck the pill far enough for Curly to be able to take care of it from there and swallow the painkiller down. Once she knew the pill was gone from her hand, she retracted it without as much care as before due to her panic and foggy mindset from the nausea. Curly flinched and coughed quite hard from the hand removal, gasping a bit for breath. Her hand had quite a bit of blood on it from irritating the more sensitive parts of his throat, a bit of guilt washing over her, she didn’t want to hurt Curly, but she had no other choice of pill administration since he couldn’t swallow properly. She took a couple breaths of relief as she closed his mouth and tilted his head back into its original position.

“...Sorry Curly, but… At least you won’t have to deal with Jimmy tonight now…” Anya reassured him as she wiped his tears away with his hospital gown.

Curly groaned in agreement and settled down a bit.

Anya stepped over to the sink and washed Curly’s blood off her hand, the sickly texture of his mouth still lingering in her mind as the nausea took its usual course. She decided to take a moment to try and settle the feeling and talk to Curly, so she slid her nearby office chair over to his face and bent over slightly to be closer to his eye level.

“...Y’know, despite the fact that I’ve yet to earn my nursing degree from my university, I’m surprised how well my lessons of emergency treatment were retained…” Anya began to trail off in conversation. “I mean, it’s very difficult now to keep the standards all the way given the fact that we’re out of most of the supplies we need to keep you the most comfortable, but we’ve managed to get by so far, right?”

Curly didn’t respond back, his stare giving her no reassurance about her explanation. She took the hint that despite the care she was giving him, he was still in a lot of pain and she sighed.

“...Okay, maybe ‘most comfortable’ isn’t the best description for your situation. But, at least we can keep your pain under control for a little while with the painkillers… But then… I’m unsure where to go from there with your care, pain isn’t easy to ignore without some kind of medical help once they run out…”

Anya placed her hand on Curly’s head, giving it a little pet.

“...But in any case, I won’t abandon you… not with Jimmy around…” she whispered to him, letting her eyes slowly close if just for a moment.

He responded with a little huff, putting all his trust in her better judgement.

Suddenly, Curly’s head jolted up from feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen, his limbs curling up in response too. A harsh, raspy barrage of grunts erupted from his throat as he tried to fight through the pain, the painkiller hadn’t kicked in yet, so he could feel the entirety of what was happening to him.

“C-Curly? Wh-What’s wrong!?...” Anya nervously asked him, getting up from her chair. “Where does it hurt?”

Grrooowwrrlwll…

Curly’s stomach let out an uncomfortably pained and empty noise, the painkiller hadn’t been taken with food, so it’s coating was causing some inside irritation within him.

“...Oh, that’s right…” Anya realized, looking at Curly’s strained expression. “When was the last time you were given something to eat?”

She knew Jimmy was the last person to feed Curly his rations, and he typically never wrote down the times he did so, but it was clear it had been quite some time given Curly’s current predicament. She had to feed him something as quick as possible with the minimum amount of viscosity since he had trouble swallowing and didn’t want to risk choking him. Plus, she couldn’t waste time feeding him slowly as his stomach needed help digesting the painkiller right away, and the more food in immediately, the better the outcome. Anya remembered one of the groups of cans of various foods they had stockpiled after the crash included cans of peaches with their juice, something that Curly should be able to swallow without much struggle. Despite the fact that the whole crew had to make four months worth of rations last six months, he was included in the crew’s calculations, so it wouldn’t be a total loss if a whole can was cracked open for him to eat. Anya gently rubbed his head and tried to softly shush him into a calmer state, eventually he managed to get ahold of himself long enough to listen to her.

“I’ll be right back with something for you Curly, try to breathe deep while I’m away, it should help subside the pain a bit.” Anya reassured him. “I won’t leave you like this, okay?” His exposed eye kept eye contact with her and he nodded, it was clear he was holding a bit of tears back from the pain.

Wasting no time to get back to Curly as quickly as she could, she ran out of the room and into the lounge, stepping into the kitchen area where the majority of their canned food rations lay. Following her finger to guide her eyes to quickly scan the labels of the cans, she managed to find one of the cans of peaches with the fruit juice on the counter. It was much larger in size compared to the other cans of the same product, but right now that didn’t matter to her, Curly needed her help right away, and she wasn’t going to disappoint him and Jimmy about her care for him. A clean enough spoon lay on the counter next to the cans, not the most ideal since it was on the smaller side, but it would do, so she took that with her back through the hallway. Daisuke sat nearby the kitchen and watched silently as Anya panic grabbed one of their ration cans and rushed it to the medical ward. He knew it probably wasn’t a good sign considering the whole crew was just made aware of their need to conserve rations, but he decided to trust her better judgement and didn’t get involved with what was going on. Ripping the top of the can open once she returned to the medical ward, she sat back down in her chair and prepared a scoop of peaches and juice on the spoon and scooted her chair next to Curly, her arms approaching his mouth.

“Relax Curly, this should help you settle back down, okay?” Anya softly whispered, trying to keep her nerves together. “Open up.” He turned his head to face her direction, taking notice of the spoonful of peaches next to his mouth. It wasn’t exactly a meal for someone struggling to heal from an almost complete third degree body burn, let alone balanced and nutritious, but it was clear there was thought put into his current swallowing obstacle. Peaches in a can were quite soft and moist, they could easily slide down his throat with minimal effort, and would be alkalizing enough to speed up the process of the digestion of the painkiller. Curly took a couple of rough breaths before uncurling his body and slowly opening his mouth to receive the food Anya was feeding him, the juice first coating every bit of surface in his throat. Most of his taste buds were destroyed from the blast, but enough remained that he could detect the syrupy goodness of the subpar peach juice, it was almost intoxicating to him. Once his throat was thoroughly lubricated with juice, the peach slice easily slid to the back of his throat without resistance, and he eagerly gulped it down, feeling almost instant relief from finally having something that didn’t taste like cardboard or charcoal. His tongue licked the remaining juice off his teeth, making sure not to miss a single drop. Anya seemed to relax in her seat, knowing Curly was now in a much calmer state of mind. She warmly smiled as she prepared another scoop from the can.

“Heh, you look like you enjoyed that. Haven’t seen you so excited for any of the Pony Express food.” Anya chuckled. “...But I guess any food would taste good if you’re hungry enough for it…Ready for another?”

Curly panted with anticipation, he couldn’t wait for another taste of temporary freedom.

. . .

Freedom from hunger, freedom from pain, freedom from his own personal hell…

. . .

If only just for a little while…

. . .

She spoon fed him another slice, this one almost tasting better than the first, sweeter and juicier, he happily took down the helping, and another, and another. The empty void in his belly fading as it was now filled with the sweet nectar of the Pony Express can ration Anya provided for him, the irritating pain subsiding as the painkiller soon took effect, rushing to his brain and giving him an instant euphoric high. The joy-filled experience for him intensified, he needed more mouthfuls of peaches and their juice, so her administration of each spoonful got a bit faster overtime. Spoonful by spoonful, the can of peaches slowly emptied to about half filled before Curly’s consciousness dwindled and it became harder for him to swallow effectively without coughing a bit. Anya soon realized that his painkillers had taken full effect, so he would most likely be in no condition to continue eating safely, so she decided to call off serving him another peach slice. The can she chose was quite large, so given that Curly managed to consume about half of its contents, he had probably eaten about a pound of peaches and drank a good half liter of the juice, probably a bit much of a portion for someone who hadn’t been able to eat much since the accident, but at least he hadn’t thrown it up like the last couple of feedings he had in the past.

For now, Curly was taken care of, medically distracted from the agonizing pain, and given a hefty meal of sweet bliss. Anya couldn’t hold back a chuckle as a bead of drool rolled down Curly’s mouth and a little snore escaped through his teeth. She could almost hear his stomach softly gurgle with contentment as it got to work extracting whatever nutrients it could from the meal to use towards further healing. If he wasn’t now just an almost inhuman looking pile of unsettling muscle, bone, and memories, the sight of him in this content state would’ve probably been kinda cute. She gave his belly a soft pat after she wiped away the drool off his face, it was one of the only parts of him that wasn’t completely burnt clean off, so she didn’t worry about injuring him with the pat.

‘...You’re not the greatest captain, you’ve let all of us down by not standing up for what’s right, but…’ she shuddered. ‘...Compared to Jimmy… You’ll always be the captain in my eyes… Captain Curly…’ she thought to herself.

Anya looked down into the can of peaches, the smell of them was actually a bit pleasing, enough to pique her appetite as well. She was pulled from her daydreaming and realized that she hadn’t eaten much today herself, and with the fridge in the kitchen no longer operationable from the foam’s impact, it wouldn’t be worth trying to preserve what was left in the can and eat something different. She shrugged and figured it was better to just finish them off for her ‘meal’ and call it a day, unless Jimmy managed to find the code scanner tonight. She stood up and took the spoon over to the sink and gave it a quick rinse before using it to scoop out a slice for herself. It still felt a bit odd eating food straight from a can, but nevertheless, it was technically edible in this manner, so she gave one a taste. To her surprise, the peaches were almost reminiscent of the fruit cups one might pack into the lunch bag of a child, nostalgic in their flavor, and decently seasoned in their own juices. No wonder Curly was so excited to eat them, it was one of the best tasting food can rations the Pony Express probably offered, and the two of them got to share the experience together, albeit not as together right now since he was a bit incapacitated with his painkiller high.

She sat on the edge of the gurney and watched over him as she took her time polishing off the other half of the peaches and juice, making sure not to let any little bits on the side go to waste. If they were going to be sparingly eating their rations to stretch their supply out for an extra two months, every bit from the can might as well be eaten to ensure they were all getting enough to eat when they did. Once all of the peach slices were gone, Anya sipped on the remaining juice and got up, giving Curly a once over check before deciding to step out for a break to maybe speak with Daisuke for a bit. However, once she entered the lounge area, she noticed that he was no longer in his original seat. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to jolt a bit, quickly turning around to see who it was. Luckily it was just Daisuke and not Jimmy, but she was now quite irritated with him for scaring her like that.

“Anya?-” Daisuke started, but was cut off from Anya’s yelp.

“-Don’t scare me like that!” she scolded him, keeping the can of peach juice close to her body. “...What’s wrong?”

It was clear that Daisuke was on edge about something, having one hand holding his other elbow as he spoke.

“...Jimmy found the code scanner, and managed to find the combination to our cargo hold… He wants all of us to be there when he opens it.” Daisuke explained.

The cargo hold. The Pony Express didn’t allow the crew to utilize anything from the cargo they were hauling without some kind of reprimand for breaking the rules. But what other choice did the crew have? If anything, it could be of use to them somehow. It’s not like after their possible rescue they were going to finish their transport mission, but then again, The Pony Express wasn’t very kind to those who had just gone through work trauma.

“...Oh, I see.” Anya nodded, keeping her eye contact minimal. “Whatever’s in there, I hope we’re doing the right thing by checking it… Let it be medicine, food, or water. Any of those will be a major help for our situation…”

“I’m keeping my hopes up that that’s the case, and if not… I can’t imagine what we could possibly be transporting for over a year like this.” Daisuke agreed, beginning to make his way down to the cargo hold.

“...I just hope it isn’t dangerous…” Anya mumbled under her breath, not wanting another reason to keep away from Jimmy. “...I’ll be right down.”

“Alright, but don’t take too long, he wants to open the cargo hold tonight.” he said as he turned back around to head down the steps.

She slowly shut her eyes and tried to clear her head, worried about the unknown outcome all of them were about to face by discovering what they had been hauling all this time. If it was survival supplies, then it could be a complete game changer, if it was something completely useless, then the panic would surely wash over them like an overpowering minty teeth cleaner after a serious dental procedure. All they could do was find out now. She opened her eyes back up and gulped down the rest of the peach juice before placing the empty can into the recycling bin nearby in the kitchen, and following not too far behind from Daisuke to meet with the rest of the crew.

It was time to find out what The Pony Express had them transporting all this time…

Mouthwashing characters belong to Wrong Organ ^w^

[shimii26]

"He knew the snack corner had been cleared of everything edible, so there wasn’t anything in the vicinity he could eat to stop the noise. Sun had also stepped out of the daycare, so it wasn’t like he could call on him to take over his shift so he could grab something to eat. And with the daycare guards away on surveillance duty through the pizzaplex, he couldn’t ask them for help either. He was at an impasse.

*WHIIRRR CLICK CLICK CREEAAKK*

‘S-Shut up, shut up!’ Moon shushed, holding his stomach tight to try and muffle the noise. ‘I… I gotta make this quick, one snack, in and out…’" -    -    - A scene from my most recent FNAF fanfic where Sun and Moon were given an upgrade to be able to eat. But with barely any instructions and guides, the two find themselves struggling to adapt to their new routine. https://www.tumblr.com/shimii26/739072420492804096/faz-pocket-shenanigans?source=share Five Nights At Freddy's belongs to Scott Cawthon ^w^

[shimii26]

"Moon placed the plate in the microwave and set it for two minutes according to the heating instructions; if it’s quick to cook, it’s quick to eat. He hungrily eyed the pizza pockets as they spun slowly on the glass disc, steam fogging up the window. Once they finished cooking, he took them out and gave one of them a taste, not even waiting for them to cool down. It was quite salty and artificially flavored, but he was in no position to complain. It filled the space inside him and gave him the energy boost he needed, that’s what mattered." -    -    - A scene from my most recent FNAF fanfic where Sun and Moon were given an upgrade to be able to eat. But with barely any instructions and guides, the two find themselves struggling to adapt to their new routine. https://www.tumblr.com/shimii26/739072420492804096/faz-pocket-shenanigans?source=share Five Nights At Freddy's belongs to Scott Cawthon ^w^

[shimii26]

Faz-Pocket Shenanigans: Chapter 1

“Aaaaand… That should do it! Alright Sun and Moon, your upgrades are done!” A Parts and Service technician told them.” Why don’t you try out some of the features here while you’re off duty?”

Sun and Moon sat up from the bench and began scrolling through their emotion settings. The two of them had been given a whole bodily system remodeling that’s required for all animatronics in the Pizzaplex. It had been quite some time since either of them had received any kind of upgrade after their initial separation. With Moon’s virus causing many concerns about the wellbeing of the daycare attendees, the staff felt it was safest if the two were separated into two bodies, that way, any defects could be identified and treated easier. Sun and Moon stepped over to a nearby mirror to take a look at some of their more obvious changes.

“Ho ho hooo boy, this is so exciting, my face looks so expressive! There’s so many options and colors, I can’t wait to see what else is new!” Sun squealed, looking at himself in the top part of the mirror.

“Hrmm, I guess I do look a bit more handsome with this upgrade.” Moon smirked, rubbing his chin in the bottom part of the mirror.

“Yup, you both have been given a new face lift! Your pupils can change colors and size, as well as display some emotes and symbols to help you better communicate with kids who may not be very expressive or nonverbal. Sun, your face rays have changed to a more softer material of silicone that can bend and flex so the kids will be safer touching them. Moon, you’ve been given a softer chest plate material, that way the kids will stay comfortable should they choose to lie on you during naptime. You also have some new body upgrades, give the temperature gauge a shot!” they explained.

“...Whoa, we can heat up!? The kids’ll love this!” Sun giggled, noticing their chest had become warm to the touch.

‘This could be useful for colder nights at naptime.’ Moon thought to himself, adjusting the temperature to various settings.

“Great, you’re working perfectly! Your fingertips also have this temperature feature, that way you can warm up baby bottles to a proper temp for the babies we may get.” The technician informed them. “Any questions you have so far?”

“Are there any more new features we haven’t tried yet?” Sun asked. “I want to-” before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of low gears grinding in his midriff. “What the?”

“What was that, Sun?” Moon wondered. “You’ve never made that noise befo-” before he could finish his sentence as well, a low gear grinding noise also came from his midriff. “W-whoa… was that me?”

The two of them were confused by the new uncomfortable sensation, sure they could feel textures they touched, and feelings they felt, but this was an unusually empty feeling. They also noticed the technician’s emotions change from pride to concern, almost like they were guilty about something they weren’t telling them.

“Ohhh yeah… That new feature… U-Uh, listen boys-” the technician shuffled closer to explain. “Sit down, we need to talk… The pizzeria has been going through a bit of a power crisis, the city isn’t allowing us to use as much power for the Pizzaplex as we need, so we had to come up with a temporary solution to power you two up without having to use so much electricity, so now… You two have been upgraded to be able to eat as a substitute measure to refuel.”

“W-We can eat now?” Sun gasped. “...We can eat, we can eat! Now I can finally have tea and cookies with the kids during tea parties and share their snacks at snack time!”

“Greeeaaat, we can eat, lovely…” Moon grumbled, not as thrilled with the new change to his body.

“You’re not excited, Moon!?” Sun asked.

“Sun, they’re all asleep when I’m working…” Moon explained. “Kids don’t eat during naptime…”

“Yes I know, I’m sure at least one of you is looking forward to testing this feature out with the kids, but I first need to explain a few rules about how to take care of your new system.” They warned, handing them both an instruction and troubleshooting booklet. “Please read over this before you go eating something stupid and damaging your bodies, we don’t want to have to bring you back here during your shift…”

Sun and Moon both looked at each other, there were already quite a lot of rules to follow in the daycare, so the thought of having a whole other function to worry about was a bit disappointing. Moon wasn’t a fan of restriction when it came to impeding his offtime while Sun didn’t like the idea of not having complete freedom over what he could do with his body. They flipped through some of the pages and read through the “Do’s and Don’ts” section.

“No sticky liquids or creamy substances, avoid consuming water at all times…” Moon read out loud.

“No eating inanimate or inedible objects?” Sun read with confusion.

“That means YOU, Sun. I know you have a reputation for getting glitter glue in your chest cavity…” the tech scolded him.

“Awww, but if the kids get to eat the glitter glue, why can’t I!?” Sun complained.

“Sun, they’re not SUPPOSED to eat the glue…” Moon chastised. “You’re not keeping that good of an eye on them if they are~”

“Hey! Meanie!” Sun whined, sticking his tongue out at Moon.

“Enough you two, now I need you both to kickstart your new systems. You should be able to convert the food you eat into immediate energy, so we’re going to give you your first meals now just to make sure everything's up to code.” they informed them, turning around to grab some sugar cookies from the desk. “You’ll need to make sure you’re eating something at least once every twelve hours, your bodies will let you know with the grinding you just felt earlier. It may not feel very comfortable if you let it continue for long. The signal will be subtle enough that the kids shouldn’t notice or be frightened by. If they do notice, it should be easy to explain to them that you just need a snack. With the way your shifts switch, you should be able to get a bite to eat while the other one is on duty. Now c'mon, eat up.”

“Cookies!? I’ve been waiting for this day!” Sun squealed, grabbing the cookie from the tray.

“Eugh, really?...” Moon groaned, not wanting his first meal to be so sweet.

Sun immediately tossed the cookie in and chewed with his mouth open. “MMMMMM~! SO GOOD, I COULD CRY!” Sun cried.

“Sun, you’re getting crumbs all over the floor…” Moon cringed, watching his friend munching on the dessert with gusto.

“You two, Moon…” They reminded him, holding the cookie closer to his hand.

“...Fine.” Moon sighed, grabbing the cookie from the tray and taking a small bite. He shrugged. “...Not bad.”

Once the two finished their treat, they noticed the uncomfortable feeling within began to fade, as well as the grinding noise. They assumed the system was set up this way to have an unnoticeable reminder in case they didn’t remember themselves, or perhaps it was a way of mimicking how human’s body systems functioned. Either way, it would be a sensation that Sun and Moon would have to get used to as it didn’t seem like the Pizzeria would be able to supply them with enough battery power for a while.

“Alright, the grinding noise has stopped, which means things should be working. How do you two feel?” They asked.

“Way energized! I feel like I could climb the tallest play structure in the world!” Sun shouted with glee, jogging in place with his sudden energy boost.

“And you, Moon?...”

. . .

“Awake…” Moon groaned, not enjoying the sudden rush of energy.

“Good, it’s ready to go. You two should head back to your rooms and read over the booklet, there’s a few more things we hadn’t gone through about your upgrades, and you’ll need to be familiar with these rules and regulations.” they told them, getting up from their seats.

“Yes sir.” They both answered back, heading out the door.

- - -

“Do not leave the daycare during your shift to refuel unless absolutely necessary…” Sun read.

“Make sure to empty out the contents of your waste storage tank after ten uses or less…” Moon reads as well.

“Eww, that doesn’t sound very sanitary… Wait, does that mean we have to use the bathroom now?” Sun wondered.

“No, I think we can just dump it out in a trash can.” Moon explained. “This is a lot more complicated of an upgrade than I expected, why can’t they just get the city to give more power to the Pizzaplex so we don’t have to rely on eating to refuel?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem fair to me either… Well, we can only make the best out of this. And hey, maybe it could be kinda fun trying any new foods the kids want to share with us!” Sun reassured him.

“Make sure it’s a food that's not on this list, we don’t want to end up back in Parts and Services, especially with your habit of getting glitter glue in your circuits…” Moon warned him.

“But it’s so shiny!” Sun whined.

“Anyway, we should probably get ready for tomorrow, you’ll be on shift, so you should eat something else tonight.” Moon told him.

“Oh yeah, that way I won’t have to deal with any grinding noises during my time with the kids!” Sun smiled.

“I guess that’s why they set the reminder to every twelve hours, it lines up with our schedules.” Moon pieced together. “So… what are you going to have?”

“Hrmm… Well, the Pizzaplex does try to support kids to eat healthy, so maybe I should try something healthy too! It’ll help me better understand why it’s important for the kids!” Sun decided.

“I think there’s a fruit bowl by the snack corner you can take from.” Moon pointed out.

“But isn’t that fruit for the kids to eat?” Sun showed his concern.

“Hey, we have to eat now. I’m sure the staff will make an exception.” Moon snickered.

“You’re right, I’mma go grab something now!” Sun agreed and got up, trotting over to the snack corner after jumping off of the stage edge and returning minutes later with a banana. “I can’t wait to try it!”

Moon watched as Sun proceeded to take a bite out of the banana without peeling it first with no hesitation. He cringed as the sound of the slimy fruit and peel was being horribly masticated in Sun’s mouth.

“Mmmmm, it’s sweet!” Sun told Moon with his mouth full.

“Argh Sun! You’re supposed to take the peel off first and throw it away, not eat it!” Moon complained, covering his hearing sensors.

“I’m not?” Sun asked, his mouth opening wider and getting banana bits on their rug.

“Gross Sun, keep your mouth shut while you eat too, you’re making a mess on the carpet…” Moon groaned.

“Gee Moon, I’m sorry. I didn’t know-” He started before his mouth was clamped shut by Moon’s hand.

“Shut up, I said keep it shut!” Moon barked. “You better not do that in front of the kids, learn your table manners before the morning.”

Sun nodded before Moon took his hand off his mouth, he finished chewing the mouthful before swallowing it down, letting his body do the rest of the work. He figured he was already halfway through eating the banana peel, so he decided to finish it as well.

“Sun, don’t- urgh… F-Fine fine, just don’t eat the peel again.” Moon started, but gave in.

“Whew, I feel great! I can’t wait to start the workday!” Sun jumped up, heading towards the stage to jump into the ball pit.

“Wait, you need to review your table-... Hmph, enjoy your day…” Moon sighed, following behind him and dangling his feet over the edge.

Sun jumped down and swam in the plastic balls, fully embracing the sudden boost of energy. He popped his head out an hour later when he heard the daycare guard opening up the gates to let the early morning kids inside to check in and play. He skipped over to greet every child that walked in, getting the play area ready for the backyard games first. Moon watched from the stage edge as Sun took care of business with the kids downstairs, softly smiling as he saw all those happy faces and laughter come out during their play. Despite having eaten a couple of hours ago, Moon felt quite tired from the stress of learning about his new upgrades catching up to him.

‘Hrmm, maybe I should rest before my shift. Gonna need some sleep if I’m gonna be watching for any naughty children who won’t sleep…’ Moon thought as he yawned and stretched his arms.

He got up from the stage edge and stumbled into his bedroom, flopping into his bed and pulling out his booklet from his pocket. He flipped through the troubleshoots section.

“I should read a bit more before I… I…Urghh…” Moon groaned as his eyelids grew heavier and closed, slowly drifting off to sleep, the booklet falling to his side.

- - -

“Ohhh Moony~!” Sun and the children called out to Moon.

“Zzzzz-snrrkk- Huh, wha-?...” Moon snorted awake in a rather unusual position on the bed with his rear in the air and his head halfway to the floor.

Sun and the kids were calling his name, he looked at the clock, it was 8:00 at night.

“-Oh shit, I overslept!...” Moon panicked, stumbling out of bed.

Moon spiffed himself up as best as he could before running out of his room and over to the stage edge, hooking himself up to the fly rig before lowering himself down to join Sun by the ball pit and begin his shift.

“Hrmm, I don’t think Moon heard us, let’s call his name again, Starlights!” Sun instructed the kids. “Ohhh Moooony~!”

“There he is!” “Moony!” “Yayyy!” “Over there!” The kids all screamed to Sun and pointed up to Moon.

“Ohhh, there you are Moon! We were getting worried about you! Are you ready to start the sleeping part of the slumber party?” Sun asked him.

“Youuu bet! I hope you had fun playing with Sun all day, but now it’s time to rest.” Moon explained, removing his fly rig from his back. “You two Sunny!”

“Whaaat??? Me???” Sun played along, having done this routine over and over.

“Yes! You must be soooo tired after playing all day, why don’t you set a good example and head to bed as well?” Moon carried on with the routine.

“But Moony, I’m not-” Sun started, but then let out a big loud yawn. “Sleepy…”

“Ooooo~ Are you sure about that? What do you think, Starlights?” Moon asked the kids.

“Yeah, go to bed Sunny!” “Nap Time!” “Get some rest, Mr. Sun!” the kids agreed.

“Well… Alright, maybe I am just a liiiiittle tired… I guess I’ll go to bed too. Thanks for all the fun today, kiddos! I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow!” Sun smiled, marching over to the ball pit to finish his act.

With one last loud yawn, Sun flopped into the ball pit and disappeared under the plastic colors, fake snoring quite loudly for a bit. The children giggled when they saw the balls fly everywhere, it was the funniest thing Sun did today. Moon began his second part of his shift by cartwheeling over to where the daycare’s pillows and blankets were kept.

“Now then Starlights, everyone grab a pillow and blanket, and we can begin to settle down for story time!” Moon smiled, opening up the pillow and blanket boxes.

“Yayyy!” “I want the star blanket!” “So sleepy…” The kids mumbled as they each grabbed their supplies one by one.

“I have some choices for which story you’d like to hear tonight, we have Cinderella, Goodnight Moon, or we have Alice in Wonderland~” Moon told them, obviously putting the more desired story by the kids at the end of the choices.

“Alice in Wonderland!” “Alice in Wonderland!” “Alice in Wonderland!” “Alice in Wonderland!” All the kids shouted.

“Hehehehe okay, we’ll read Alice in Wonderland. Now everyone, find a spot to lay your weary heads, and I’ll start to pass out the Sleepy-Time candy.” Moon chuckled.

One by one, the children chose a spot in the daycare near the ball pit to rest, and Moon walked by each one of them, giving them a piece of Moondrop candy. As they nibbled on their treat, the melatonin inside the sticky layers began to soothe even the most rowdy of children, and they all watched as Moon sat down in a criss-cross to begin the story.

“Now then, let’s begin… ‘Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, and what is the use of a book, thought Alice…’” Moon read softly outloud.

- - -

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days…The End.” Moon finished.

He closed the book cover and looked out over the daycare to see that every child had fallen asleep. It brightened his night to be back at his job, he was worried he would’ve been decommissioned due to that virus he had been subjected to a while back. Sun sat up from the ball pit and tiptoed over to Moon.

“You did great, Moony. Will you be alright here by yourself while I go refuel?” Sun whispered to Moon, patting him on the back.

“Yeah, you go ahead, it should be an easy night tonight, I’ll be fine.” Moon nodded and handed Sun his fly rig. “See you in a bit, and don’t forget this.”

Sun smiled and rose up with the fly rig cable to the exit of the daycare, making sure his wrist bells didn’t jingle. Moon watched as his friend slowly opened the door and slowly shut it behind him, leaving him alone to watch over the children as they slept. He checked the watch on the giant screen behind the security desk.

‘Hrmm, 11:30… That was quicker getting everyone down than I-” He thought at first, but then-

*CLICK CREEAKK VRRRR*

Moon jolted in his seat and looked down at his stomach. That noise could only mean one thing; his body needed more fuel. He remembered that he had fallen asleep before starting his shift, meaning he didn’t give himself a chance to eat.

‘Shit, it’s been over twelve hours…’ Moon thought, slowly panicking, he checked to make sure no one had woken up. ‘...That’s way louder in the silence, the kids are gonna wake up from that for sure…What do I do?...’

He knew the snack corner had been cleared of everything edible, so there wasn’t anything in the vicinity he could eat to stop the noise. Sun had also stepped out of the daycare, so it wasn’t like he could call on him to take over his shift so he could grab something to eat. And with the daycare guards away on surveillance duty through the pizzaplex, he couldn’t ask them for help either. He was at an impasse.

*WHIIRRR CLICK CLICK CREEAAKK*

‘S-Shut up, shut up!’ Moon shushed, holding his stomach tight to try and muffle the noise. ‘I… I gotta make this quick, one snack, in and out…’

Despite knowing he wasn’t supposed to leave his shift to go and eat unless it was an emergency, he felt with the risk of waking the children up, he had no choice. He remembered the security guards had a staff canteen just upstairs from the daycare, if he was going to find food quickly, that would be the first place to check. He slowly got up from his criss-cross and evaluated the walking space in front of him. The children were sprawled out everywhere, leaving little spaces in between them to step. Since he had given Sun his fly rig to travel out of the daycare, he would have to traverse to the exit by foot. Starting with his right foot, he tested the waters of how quiet he could tiptoe around the kids without them stirring, his wrist bells kept in a tight grip in his hands to avoid adding any additional noise. Moon could tell it was harder to keep up his tiptoeing for a long time, having to pause each time he passed about three kids. With his sudden lack of energy, Moon’s night vision was also affected slightly, making it difficult for him to see where any of the noisemaker barrels were stacked. He managed to pass by most of them without knocking them over, but one stack in particular he didn’t see in the dark, and the top piece of the barrel tower suddenly fell towards the floor.

‘-Shit!’ Moon panicked, quickly grabbing the barrel before it could make a sound.

He held still in his sudden lean, realizing that he was standing between someone sleeping and a noisemaker barrel tower. He was also quite low to the floor, just inches away from falling on top of a child. Making sure to maintain his balance, he slowly lifted one leg up and changed his direction towards the tower, placing the barrel back on top. He shifted his center of gravity now that he had let go of the barrel, and made his way back into a more stable standing up position without stepping on the child. Moon took a deep breath of relief that he managed to pull that trick off, especially with his lower energy.

“WHIIIRRRR CREEAAKK VVVVVVRRRRRRRRR*

Moon had waited to eat for too long, and his body’s noise had kicked up a notch from creaking to vibrating.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!...” Moon whispered and jolted as he held his stomach tight, quickly tiptoeing past the last of the children and finally reaching the door.

“Whew, made it…” Moon sighed in relief, slipping through and leaning against the other side of the door, taking a moment to recuperate. “Okay, five minutes, in and out…”

Moon made his way upstairs towards the staff canteen and looked around. It wasn’t anything fancy compared to the rest of the Pizzaplex, just one wall with cabinets and a few tables and chairs. The walls and floors were pretty plain, just beige coloring and a dirty carpet. He checked the cabinets first, nothing inside them but plastic cutlery, paper plates, and napkins. Moon scoffed at the Pizzaplex’s cheap setup they had for the staff, and couldn't even bother providing them with proper silverware. He then checked the freezer, on the top shelf he noticed a box of Fazbear-brand pizza pocketsTM with a sticky note attached to the lid that had ‘Kevin’ written on it. The note also read ‘DO NOT TAKE!’, it was clear whoever this Kevin was, it wasn’t the first time he had to write a note like this. Moon was hesitant to grab a couple pizza pockets from the box, seeing as how they clearly belonged to someone, but soon the return of the uncomfortable grinding in his stomach convinced him otherwise.

“Hrmm… I’m sure Kevin won’t mind if just a couple of these pizza pockets went missing~” Moon snickered, opening the packets and placing the pizza pockets on a paper plate. “Besides, it’s an emergency, and finders keepers!”

Moon placed the plate in the microwave and set it for two minutes according to the heating instructions; if it’s quick to cook, it’s quick to eat. He hungrily eyed the pizza pockets as they spun slowly on the glass disc, steam fogging up the window. Once they finished cooking, he took them out and gave one of them a taste, not even waiting for them to cool down. It was quite salty and artificially flavored, but he was in no position to complain. It filled the space inside him and gave him the energy boost he needed, that’s what mattered.

“Mmmm… Finally, trying something salty…” he softly moaned in pleasure, slowly chewing the food and indulging the savory flavors coating his newly installed tongue.

. . .

“Moondrop!? What are you doing here!?” Sun quietly yelled from across the canteen. “You left your shift to eat!?”

“...Umm, yeah. And?” Moon shrugged, gulping down his first bite.

“We’re not supposed to do that, Moon! It’s my time to be eating right now while you’re doing your duty with the kids!” Sun explained harshly, wagging his finger at Moon.

“Oh yeah, is it now?” Moon smirked, eyeing Sun up and down, noticing how sparkly he was. “And what exactly did YOU eat for your meal tonight then, hmm?”

“I-I… U-Uhh…” Sun twiddled his thumbs, realizing he had been caught.

. . .

“...G-Glitter glue…”

“As I expected, you can’t stick to the rules either!” Moon chuckled, taking another bite.

“Y-Yes I can! I-I just… I n-needed to know why I shouldn’t eat it!” Sun stuttered.

“You can’t eat glue, Sun. It’s gonna clog up your circuits, and there’s no calories in it anyway for you to fuel with.” Moon reminded him, holding out his plate to him. “Here, have one of these pizza pockets instead.”

“What!? I’m not gonna eat one of those greasy pockets of junk food!” Sun pouted. “How are we supposed to be good examples to the kids if you’re eating that slop!?”

Moon shrugged.

“...Fine, I’m going to watch the children if you won’t right now!” Sun yelled, and began to walk away.

“Ohh, so you’re JUST fine with working tomorrow on an empty stomach?” Moon twirled his head and deviously smiled. “There’s nothing to eat here but these… Very well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But trust me, that glitter glue isn’t going to stop that grinding noise…”

“I’m perfectly fine where I-” Sun turned around and started his backtalk, but was interrupted.

*CLICK CREEAAKK WHIIRRR*

. . .

“Gimme that pizza pocket.” Sun grumbled and blushed, grabbing the pizza pocket from Moon’s plate.

“That’s what I thought~” Moon chuckled.

Sun gave the pizza pocket a squish and a lick before taking a big bite out of it. Moon watched as his friend seemed to be struggling to chew his food this time. He finished up his pizza pocket and threw the plate away, leaning against the counter and waiting for Sun to finish as well. Once he was done chewing the big bite he took, he tried to swallow the mouthful he had, but something was very wrong. The glitter glue he had consumed earlier had dried and hardened in his throat, causing a major blockage. Sun swallowed harder to try and get it down, but the glue or the food wasn’t budging.

“Uhh, Sun… You okay?” Moon asked, getting up from leaning on the counter.

“Nrghh, ack-! Gack!” Sun gagged, grabbing at his throat. “-ACK -HELP!”

“-Oh shit, you’re choking! Hold on, don’t panic!” Moon yelled, not even attempting to be quiet.

He ran behind Sun and wrapped his arms around Sun’s chest, swiftly pressing his arms inward to give him the Heimlich. Sun coughed violently with each squeeze, his head throwing back and forth as he tried to expel the contents in his throat. Their episode’s volume level had reached the daycare, causing some of the children to stir from their rest. Without Moon down there to reassure that everything was okay, some of the kids grew frightened at the sounds of Sun choking and began to cry. The night guards were quickly alerted to the situation when one of the surveillance guards noticed neither Sun or Moon were in the daycare to soothe the crying children. One of them ran down to supervise the daycare center while another ran to where the choking noises were coming from.

“-C’mon -Sun! -Breathe! -Don’t -you -break -on -me!” Moon shouted, giving more forceful thrusts into Sun’s chest.

“-ACK! COUGH! HWARK!” Sun gagged, finally coughing up everything that was stuck.

“Whew, thank goodness… There you go, easy now. Take some breaths…” Moon sighed in relief, rubbing Sun’s back.

“What the hell is going on in here!?” a voice yelled at them.

The guard looked into the canteen and saw Sun bent over and was dripping glue and pizza sauce from his mouth, as well as Moon breathing heavily from the sudden force he had to exert. The two of them turned to the exit to see the night guard standing in the doorway. Moon stepped back from Sun and gave him some space as he stepped closer to the night guard.

‘Ahh shit, we got caught…’ Moon thought as he groaned. “L-Look, we can explain-”

“Save it Moon, the two of you left those kids unattended! Do you know how serious this is!? Anything could’ve happened to them while you were gone! Especially in the dark, YOU’RE in charge of them right now Moon, you’re in some huge ass trouble…” the guard scolded them.

“Y-Yes, I know, w-we’re just not used to this update, and-”

“No excuses Moondrop, get your starry keister down there and DO YOUR JOB!” the guard growled, walking towards them and grabbing Sun’s wrist. “You’re coming with me to Parts and Service to fix your throat.”

“I-I’m sorry-” Sun rasped, stumbling as he followed them.

“Just shut up and move!” the guard interrupted and led them away to Parts and Service.

‘Dammit… Sorry Sun…’ Moon thought, feeling guilty about leaving his post and pushing Sun to do something that stupid which led him to needing a repair already.

He made his way back downstairs to the daycare where several children were waiting for him by the door with tears in their eyes and lots of questions for him to answer.

“You’re on your own, Moon.” The substitute daycare guard told him, stepping out of the room.

“Where were you!?” “Is Mr. Sun okay!?” “Did he die!?” “Why did you leave us!?” “I had a nightmare, Mr. Moon!” The kids all yelled at once.

“Children relax, Mr. Sun is alright, he just had…” He paused, trying to think of a valid, yet child-appropriate excuse. “...A stomachache, but he’ll be back in the morning to play with all of you when you wake back up…”

“I’m not tired!” “I can’t sleep now!” “I’m scared to go back to sleep!” “We want to see Mr. Sun!” The kids kept yelling.

Moon let out a tiring sigh, this was going to be a long night…

- - -

It had been three days since the night of the “Midnight Snack Incident”, Sun and Moon were better adjusted to their new eating schedule and made sure there was always something in their room to snack on to prevent another disaster like that from happening again. The Pizzaplex’s mailbox had filled up quite a bit with letters from complaining parents about their children’s sudden grouchy behavior the night after the incident, and several of them having nightmares about the daycare attendants dying days later. While Human Resources dealt with the parent’s concerns, the Parts and Services team spoke to Sun and Moon on their break.

“Look, most of these cases we can just sweep under the rug, okay? But we can’t have another situation like this again, especially with the repeat kids having nightmares during their sleepovers here. Have the repairs to your throat been working, Sun?” the technician asked.

“Yeah, I-I think so…” Sun replied, rubbing his newly replaced, yet still sore neck.

“And Moon, you’ve been keeping up on your reminders to eat?” they questioned.

“Yes, my internal clock AND my watch are set to go off an hour early indefinitely…” Moon grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Good, now as an extra precaution, we’re allowing you two to have a mini fridge and a snack basket in your room to keep any food you may need so you don’t need to leave the daycare, as well as a portable manual charger as a last ditch effort to keep you going when you’re on shift. It’s not very efficient at charging, but it’s silent and should buy you two some time to reunite and take over if one needs to eat, okay?” the tech explained. “It’s going to take the Pizzaplex some time to get back up to a power level we can work with, so this charging restriction is only temporary. Once we’re back up to a more stable level, you may use the charger more, so try and make the most out of this upgrade.”

“Yes sir…” Sun and Moon begrudgingly nodded.

“Alright, back to your room. We’ll take care of the parent’s complaints before they drop their children off tomorrow morning for you.” the tech ordered.

“Okay…” the two of them sighed, and got up to leave the room.

“Oh, and Sun?” the tech prompted.

“Yes?” Sun wondered, turning back to them before he was about to exit through the door.

“NO. MORE. GLITTER GLUE.”

[shimii26]

A gift to a friend on Discord!

Pizzahead finally found a way to keep all his more important Peppino clones in check; just clone yourself into a dessert pizza and have them take care of the clones for you! Now he's got plenty of time for shenanigans against Peppino! Hopefully she doesn't mind the sudden responsibility over and over again...

Pizza Tower belongs to Tour De Pizza ^w^

[shimii26]

I've been on a bit of a Studio Ghibli kick and having pizza tower clone OC's to play with, it was only a matter of time a masterpiece was recreated. Sock, Sprinkle, and Meatball waiting for the next bus come across an alpha of the Peppino clones, a large and round individual named Torchio. In order to keep the peace and make sure they don't get eaten, an umbrella is gifted to Torchio, but it isn't exactly going to be of use...

Pizza Tower belongs to Tour De Pizza ^w^

[shimii26]

A discord friend had gotten me into Pizza Tower, and through some late night shenanigans, the two of us created some Peppino clones of our own! Sock (my creation ^w^) is a happy-go-lucky yet mute clone who wears a striped Christmas stocking over his chef hat, he bears some striking eye colors which almost resemble mismatched socks in themselves, and he loves to eat salty foods. Sprinkle (friend's creation) is a curious and shy, but outspoken clone who got had gotten into some trouble with the dessert table, he prefers to stick together in dangerous situations, and he loves to eat sweet foods. Meatball (our creation?) is a bit of a blank slate on the outside, not being able to express much in terms of emotion, tone, or body language, he makes up for in his galactic sized existential thinking, but would require some kind of device to decipher his mind, much like a tiny round Stephen Hawking. These three clones were written to have survived the WAR level by the aid of the alpha of the clones, Fake Peppino, as well as being the only four clones to have escaped the crumbling tower of pizza, as far as Pizzahead knows.

Pizza Tower belongs to Tour De Pizza ^w^

[shimii26]

A gift for a good friend of mine on discord! Spamton enjoys a multiple course feast all to himself, and has no regrets eating everything in front of him.

Deltarune characters belong to Toby Fox ^w^

[shimii26]

I figure it was time to draw the Addisons now that I have a serious fanfic at the work which includes them all at some point in the story, and i'll need their designs to draw scenes.

Deltarune characters belong to Toby Fox ^w^

[shimii26]

Walking in Spamton's Shoes: Chapter 4

*Beep beep beep beep click*

7:30 at last.

Click turned off the alarm he set on the hotel clock and rubbed his eyes. He pulled the covers off of himself and yawned wide, stretching his arms and legs. Getting some proper sleep in this hotel was a blessing, he had been quite sleep deprived in the past few days, and it shows as he had slept through the whole night without interruption. As he was stretching, a foul stench smacked his nose, causing it to wrinkle up.

“Ughh, what’s that smell?” Click mumbled.

He thought about where the smell could be coming from, and to no surprise, it was coming from him. Afterall, it had been days since his last shower.

“Oh yeah… It’s me.” he concluded.

Slipping off his boxers and removing his hair tie, he shuffled into the bathroom and got the shower ready, turning it to the right temperature, and opening up the pack of soap provided to him by the hotel. He stepped in and began to soak his hair, letting it get heavy with water before applying the shampoo. As he scrubbed his scalp, he noticed a few specks of dirt drip down from his hair to his feet and toward the drain. Guess being outside for most of the day caused him to pick up some stray dust and debris. Once the shampoo was done, he applied the conditioner and massaged it into his roots. While the conditioner did its thing, he grabbed the soap and began to clean the fur on his body, making sure to scrub his armpits and inner thigh area well. More and more dirt accumulated by his feet and flowed down the drain, it had taken him aback a bit as he was never the type to ever get dirty, even for events purposely designed for that like sports, so to see so much of it wash off of him was unexpected.

Once he was done cleaning his fur, he took a breath and leaned his head on the front shower wall, letting the water continuously pour onto his head and body. He didn’t realize just how much he had missed taking a shower, the comforting feeling of warmth from the water and the fresh clean feeling afterwards felt so long ago, but it had only been about four days. His eyes drooped and he relaxed, taking in the experience. He knew he had some work to do today, but it had been so long since he felt so safe and vulnerable, he didn’t want to leave it quite yet. He stood that way in the shower for a good ten minutes before deciding to finish, turning off the water, and grabbing the provided towels. He started with his face and worked his way down, squeezing the water out of his fur and rubbing the more hard to reach places dry. Once he was dry enough, he wrapped his hair with the towel and stepped out, the humidity in the bathroom keeping his face soft and warm. He then got to work on the rest of the hygiene routine and began to brush his teeth. Click often suffered from morning breath, and today was no expedition. Having only desserts to eat yesterday certainly did a number on his mouth, even the brushing he did last night didn’t remove all of the residue, so he had quite the punch to his breath. The minty taste of the toothpaste removed any remaining sugary residue, leaving his mouth fresh and clean once again. He grabbed the tube of deodorant that was also in the grooming kit and applied it under his armpits, it would certainly help him keep the sweat and stench away while he walked around the city. There were small spray bottles of cologne as well in the grooming kit, but Click decided to wait to use those until after he got dressed; he could apply them to his clothes and get a better result. Finally he took his hair out of the towel and used the blow dryer hanging on the wall to dry his hair. Once it was dry enough, he moved onto drying some of his fur that he missed with the towel, the hair on his head dangling in his face, blocking some of his vision. Luckily he didn’t need all of his vision to determine when he was all dry, and didn’t fix it up with the brush until he was finished drying.

He stepped out of the bathroom clean and ready for the day, and moved onto prepping his clothes. They were wrinkled from the day before, so he decided to iron them out again. Luckily the iron in this hotel was much nicer and had a water spray feature, so he could better smooth out the ripples without risking burning the fabric again. The previous iron mark still mocked him, unable to try and wash it away as he knew hotels didn’t have a laundromat he could use. All he could do was crisp them up and spray them with the cologne, which was better than nothing. Once his clothes were done ironing, he put the board away and slipped his clothes back on. Since they weren’t really cleaned up, the dry dust that was invisibly caked to them released onto his body, which gave him a bit of an itch. He decided to shrug it off and continue getting ready, putting on his shoes and tying the laces tighter this time as he didn’t want them to come undone again at the wrong place at the wrong time. He grabbed the cologne from the bathroom and used it on various parts of his clothes, mainly the spots he would most likely sweat from, and a bit on his neck. The cologne smelt of a sweet and tart citrus, which complimented his pink hue, but also woke his system up for the day, which quickly alarmed him to eat breakfast.

“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m getting to that…” Click sighed, rolling his eyes.

The remaining cologne he decided to take with him in case he couldn’t get another shower within the next few days, so he placed the bottles in his inventory. Once he was done stripping the sheets off his bed, he grabbed his keycard and walked out of the hotel room. He took the elevator to the lobby and stepped out, where he was greeted with the lovely scent of freshly cooked waffles and bacon. Intoxicated by the smell, Click wandered over to the hotel’s breakfast buffet nook, which practically begged him to grab a plate and dig in. There was also a sign that stood at the entrance, it read ‘Breakfast 6:30-9:30’. He was about to grab a plate, when he remembered something. He didn’t know if breakfast was included with his room, so he had to ask the receptionist first. He walked over to the counter and looked for a receptionist, but to his surprise, no one was there. Instead, there was a note that simply read ‘Back in thirty minutes!’. Click huffed and decided to wait for them to return so that he could ask them if breakfast was included. With nothing besides some magazines on the table nearby to entertain them, he chose instead to watch the clock on the wall tick down. It was already 8:47, which meant he had about over half an hour to find out if he could get something to eat here.

8:54…

8:59…

9:05…

Many minutes passed and there was still no sign of the receptionist returning. Click softly groaned and rubbed his face, he was getting impatient having to wait like some dog waiting for their owner to wake up and serve their food to them. His stomach was tired of waiting too, and it let him know with a loud growl.

“Urgh, shut up, we can’t until I know first…” Click complained, rubbing his belly.

But this did little to stop it, as it continued to pester and growl at him for another five minutes. Eventually he couldn’t wait any longer, and he got up from his seat.

“Stupid receptionist, what are they doing, taking a nap at home?” Click grumbled, walking towards the breakfast buffet nook. “Fuck it, I’m not waiting for their answer. If this place has a partnership with the Queen to provide rooms to her guests, then it’s gonna be free.”

Click grabbed a plate and began to fill it up with all kinds of breakfast goodies; bacon, sausage, a waffle, some fruit, a packaged blueberry muffin, and an orange juice. He did notice the buffet included scrambled chicken eggs, which he made sure to avoid. Just thinking back to that sandwich he ate on Monday made him shudder. He didn’t hold back on the portions, but made sure it was an amount he could finish before the time was up. If he didn’t finish everything on time, he could at least take the muffin with him since it was the only thing wrapped up. He sat down and started to eat, filling his cheeks with fluffy, crisp, syrupy waffle goodness first. He smiled and hummed a relaxed tune as he chewed, overwhelmed with excitement to be eating a real filling breakfast for once since Monday. He moved onto the breakfast meats, savoring the bacon with each crunch, and took his time really understanding the smoky flavors of the breakfast sausage. As he continued to eat, he overheard some guests that were checking out at the front desk, guessing that meant the receptionist had returned.

“Checking out?” the receptionist asked cheerfully.

“Yes, thank you.” the guests responded.

“Okay, one moment… So your three night stay, plus the use of the pool, plus the three times you had breakfast here, your total today is going to be one thousand, three hundred, and seventy two dark dollars!” the receptionist explained.

Click’s body ran cold. He looked down at the plate of food before him and realized that the food was not going to be free, it was a separate charge to your hotel stay. He gulped the remaining food in his mouth and silently looked around, checking to see if anyone had noticed him in here. Luckily he was the only one currently in the breakfast buffet nook, which meant no one but the receptionist would recognize him, which meant no one could snitch on him for trying to walk out without paying. He slowly went back to finishing his plate, trying not to act conspicuous. He kept his head down to avoid anyone who might suddenly walk in to see his face and report him if they caught him. Once he finished the food on his plate and the clock struck 9:30, he carefully stuffed the blueberry muffin in the back of his inventory, hoping they wouldn’t notice him walking out with it. He slowly made his way to the front desk and placed his key card down in front of the receptionist.

“Checking out?” they smiled with glee.

“Y-Yeah…” Click nervously responded.

“Okay, you’re one of the Queen’s guests… Did you have breakfast with us, sir?” they asked, tilting their head.

“No-!” Click quickly responded, his voice cracking a bit.

“Okay… Are you sure? Because according to the security footage, you had just grabbed a plate for breakfast over there twenty five minutes ago.” they explained, showing Click the screen they were looking at.

Oh shit, he forgot to look for cameras. Click’s face couldn’t help but look guilty, he bit his lip and his eyes darted around for the nearest exit.

“U-Umm… Oh jeez look at the time, I better be going!” Click shouted, suddenly making a run for it out the door.

“HEY! Come back here!” the receptionist yelled to him, jumping over their desk to chase after him.

Once outside, Click looked around to see which path to take to get away as quickly as he could. The receptionist ran outside too and noticed a Swatch that was patrolling nearby a police station.

“HEY! STOP THAT ADDISON! A THIEF!” they called to the Swatch, pointing at Click.

“Oh fuck-!” Click yelped and ran in the opposite direction to the Swatchling.

“STOP THIEF, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST! STOP THIEF, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST!” the Swatchling screeched as it ran after him.

Click darted through the city streets, knocking over trash cans to try and slow down the Swatchling chasing him. Unfortunately the Swatching was like a ninja with feathers, acrobating over the obstacles, and getting closer to Click. He had to make a quick decision, he was already running out of steam, and was being weighed down by what he ate earlier. The Swatchling suddenly lunged for Click, but missed as Click dashed down an alleyway on his left at the last second, giving him a bit more distance. Coming out of the alleyway, he recognized he was now in the jewelry and art district of Cyber City, somewhere he frequented and had bought his watch in. He had only seconds to find a place to hide, and decided on the nearby earrings store, opening the glass door and dashing over to the counter.

“Hey, who the fuck are- Hey, what the hell you doing!?” The Lightner running the shop screamed as Click hopped over the counter and hid underneath the office desk leg space.

“Sorry sorry, I’m being chased by a Swatchling! He’s trying to arrest me!” Click harshly whispered.

“What!? What the hell is going on!? Tell me who you are right now!” she demanded.

Suddenly the Swatchling walks into the door, and looks around for Click. Soon it catches the eye of the Lightner running the shop and began to approach.

“Ixnay…” Click whimpered, motioning his hand around his neck to tell her not to sell him out.

“Good morning miss, I’m on the hunt for a thief who stiffed out on a hotel bill. Have you seen a Pink Addison wearing a button down shirt with a dark triangular mark on it?” The Swatchling asked her.

“Umm…” she paused, and smiled deviously. “...Yeah, he ran in here trying to hide from you! He’s under that desk over there!”

“WHAT!? YOU SON OF A BITCH-!” Click shouted, but quickly covered his mouth.

“Alright, hands where I can see them, thief!” The Swatchling ordered, pulling out a fancy black whip with a small mace on the end of it and giving it a crack.

“Okay okay okay, j-just don’t hit me!” Click stuttered, following the Swatchling’s orders and held his hands in the air as he approached the counter.

“You’re coming with me, sticky fingers…” The Swatchling told him, picking him up by his arms and placing handcuffs on him. “I apologize for the inconvenience, Miss. Has he caused any property damage that you’d like to press charges for?”

“Nah, we’re good. Thank you.” she replied.

“Great, by the way, I didn’t catch your name.” The Swatchling informed her.

“It’s Guinevere.” Guinevere stated.

“Mark my words Guinevere, if I see your Lightner ass in my office for some tea, I will personally scald your face with it!” Click threatened.

“Whatevs.” Guinevere shrugged.

“Very well, have a good day, Miss Guinevere.” The Swatchling bowed and walked out the door with Click under his wing.

“Fuckin’ idiot…” she mumbled as she got back to work.

“Now then, let’s get your ass down to the station.” The Swatchling told Click, heading for the police station. “You’ll be staying in a holding cell until we get your papers ready and determine your punishment.”

Click groaned and went limp in the Swatchling’s grip, there would be no point in struggling or escaping with handcuffs on or without the key to take them off. He was also a bit nauseous from running around so much with his belly full, so he didn’t mind being carried. He stared at the looming police station building and grew worried about how long it was going to take for him to be released. His paycheck was going to be sent to direct deposit tomorrow, so he had to have enough time left in the day to make about one hundred forty dark dollars, which now might be jeopardized because he didn’t want to pay for this morning’s breakfast. The Swatchling brought him inside the building, where the other Swatchlings at the office greeted the one with Click and patted them on the back.

“Hey, nice job catching him, mate.” one of the Swatchlings at the front desk chuckled.

“It wasn’t easy, he put up quite the chase.” the one holding Click replied.

“Guess we can book him for more than just theft then, huh?” the one by the entrance smirked.

The two of them walked further into the building to where the holding cells were, and the door to one of them was opened up.

“Alright, I’m going to need you to hold still while I search your inventory for any weapons or illegal substances, okay?” The Swatchling instructed him.

“Fine, just get it over with…” Click sighed, making sure not to move.

The Swatchling searched Click’s inventory where he found ninety dark dollars, a map of the city, two small bottles of cologne, a packed blueberry muffin, and a four day old egg sandwich. He decided to confiscate all of it as he didn’t know if any of it was stolen from the hotel.

“Get comfortable, you’ll be staying with us for a few hours while we’re filing your paperwork. You’ll get your belongings back when we release you then” The Swatchling informed Click.

“Hours!? But-but-but I have to make enough money today to get a taxi ride to work, I don’t have time to waste here!”

“Sorry, but that’s the rules. Now please stay quiet.” they told him, locking the metal door up.

“W-Wait, what about my handcuffs? Aren’t you going to take them off me?” Click asked, holding his hands out the bars.

“I’m afraid not, it’s protocol that you keep them on until we release you. I have to get back to work.” they sighed and left the room, leaving Click by himself.

“P-Please! Y-You can’t just leave me here!... Alone…In the dark…” Click pleaded, slowly receding towards the concrete bed in the corner.

He sat down on the bed and softly whimpered, worried with what kind of punishment he was going to face this time. He was certain he wasn’t going to be able to get away with his crimes like he did yesterday since Swatch was already aware he was going to show up, but now he was in real trouble. All he could do was rest and wait for one of the Swatchlings to return and release him, so he took their advice and tried to get comfortable. The concrete bed was much less comfortable than the bench he slept on yesterday, he had to shift around a bit to find a spot he could tolerate. It was also freezing cold to sit on, he wouldn’t be surprised if he could see his breath if it wasn’t so dark where he was.

‘Man, I’m never going to make enough money to get to work… What am I gonna do without my paycheck? I’m almost out of places to sleep…’ Click thought to himself, trying not to let tears stream down his face. ‘...I hope Spamton didn’t have to go through this himself while he lived on the streets…’

After about an hour of staring at the ceiling, Click suddenly felt a tickle on his back, and he went to reach back to scratch it, but the cuffs prevented him from reaching behind himself.

“Shit, can’t get it… Argh, c’mon!... Stupid handcuffs…” Click mumbled to himself, trying every angle in an attempt to scratch his back, but to no avail.

Suddenly he realized that there was something in the cell that could reach his back; the bars. He got up and pressed his back against one of them, and scratched himself like a bear on a pine tree.

“Ooo, ahhh- yeah, right there~” Click sighed, relieved of at least one nuisance for now.

He turned around and looked over at the other holding cell across from him, no one was in there, and it sounded like he was the only one as there weren't any other sounds but his own. Any noise he made echoed in the room, so the volume was also amplified. Even his dress shoes stepping on the cold concrete floor sounded like he was walking through some kind of art museum. He lied back down on the concrete bed and yawned, all that running he did trying to escape that Swatchling was catching up to him. If he was going to be here a while, a little sleep wouldn’t hurt. That is, IF he could get comfy enough to sleep with the cold room and handcuffs on. He removed his shoes and kicked them over to the corner of the holding cell, figuring he’d give his feet a break and some time to breathe. He rolled over to his side and placed his hands underneath his head to create a makeshift pillow, he shuddered at how cold the concrete was on his bare hands, even with his fur insulating him. To preserve more heat, he curled up in the fetal position and tried to keep still. Eventually enough concrete underneath him absorbed his body heat and became warm enough for him to relax, his eyes slowly closing and he drifted off to sleep.

- - -

Click awoke to a sharp pain in his neck, probably from the lack of a real pillow, so he sat up to crack it. He couldn’t tell how long he was out cold, or if he even was out cold, there was no clock in the room to go off of. The only way he could possibly predict the time was when he were to get hungry. Typically he’d burn through a meal in just four hours, but since he had done a lot of running after his breakfast today, he was certain he could burn through it in less time. He could tell at least three hours had passed as he was starting to feel an empty sensation in his stomach, which was not exactly comforting to finally know. He wondered if he was going to be given a meal while being held here, surely they wouldn’t let him starve the whole day if he was going to be kept here later than a few hours. He looked outside his bars to see if he could spot anyone outside the room door’s window, but only the light of the building shined through, barely reaching the edge of his holding cell.

‘I hope they didn’t forget about me here…’ Click thought to himself as he stared at the door window. ‘How am I going to let them know if I need something?’

“H-Hey!... Hello?... Anyone?... Hello!?...” Click shouted, his voice echoing against the walls and back in his ears louder than he spoke.

. . .

But no answer.

“Guess they can’t hear me here…” Click mumbled, backing up to his concrete bed.

He shuffled his way to the bed corner, pulled his knees up to his chest, and miserably sighed; he was incredibly bored just sitting there. The empty feeling in his stomach worsened as he was now hungry for his next meal, but he couldn’t do anything to satisfy it. The only food he had with him was confiscated, so now any mercy on his hunger was in the wings of the Swatchlings. Since there was nothing in the room for him to distract his attention with, all his attention was drawn to his stomach, which was now beginning to churn and ache. He lowered his legs a bit to let his hands rub his belly.

‘Please… Don’t start growling, it’s gonna be so loud in here…” Click begged in his thoughts, holding his stomach tight with his cuffed hands, but it was inevitable.

*GRROOOWWRLLLL*

Click flinched hard and quickly covered his ears from the loud noise echoing through the room. Somehow the noise reverberated loud enough to be painful to listen to, which he didn’t manage to avoid in time.

“-Aghh! Shit, that hurt…” Click said to himself.

He removed his hand from his ears and went back to rubbing his stomach to hopefully calm it down and prevent any more harsh noises. He softly groaned as the aching progressively got worse, he slowly slid down to lie down on the concrete bed. He could feel another growl coming, so he quickly covered his ears in time.

*GRRRGGLLLRLL*

Click uncovered his ears when the noise stopped, he sat up and whined, tears now beginning to stream down his face. The hunger was becoming too overwhelming, with nothing to distract his mind or body from it, the pain was now up ten fold. Click sat up and wiped the tears, staring at the floor, observing some water dripping from the ceiling in one of the corners. Out of the corner of his eye where the water pooled onto the floor, he noticed a tiny shade of green glistening through the darkness. He got up from his seat and got closer to the green object, and he found there was a patch of moss that was growing in the holding cell, presumably thriving from the moist environment. Click remembered he had taken a herbology class in the Addison Academy and learned about edible plants, including moss. He knew that it wasn’t entirely edible without some preparation first, but he was in no position to do so. He had no idea when the Swatchlings would return to release, much less come in to check on him, and he was starving. He knelt down next to the moss.

‘I can’t believe I’m about to do this…’ Click thought, sniffling.

He slowly reached down and with shaky hands, picked the moss up. He cringed at the hand feel, but it was going to be worse in a moment. He brought the moss up to his mouth and slowly opened his jaws, his tongue retreated to the back of his throat involuntarily. His hands shook with hesitation, his eyes squinted with anticipation, but he quickly lowered his hands and sucked in a tearful breath.

“I can’t do this… I just can’t…” Click whined.

*GRROOWWRRLLL*

Click flinched harshly from the echoing noise that bellowed from his stomach and he let out a scared yelp.

“Okay okay!... I’ll do it…” he whimpered, slowly bringing his hands back up to his mouth.

Click shut his eyes tight and opened his mouth wide, his teeth bared and tongue hiding away. With one quick move, he shoved the moss pile into his awaiting maw, quickly shutting his teeth before he changed his mind. The taste was very bitter and gritty, like if you took a bite out of a rotten kale salad served from a dirty sandbox. His eyes watered with disgust, and a soft scream escaped his throat as he slowly began to chew the moss. He tilted his head back to maneuver the smaller parts of the mouthful towards the back of his throat, making sure not to touch it with the front part of his tongue. With great effort, he strained the muscles in his throat to open up and swallow the first bits with a loud gulp. He broke the remaining mouthful with his teeth into two parts, slowly chewing one of the pieces in more manageable bites, and maneuvering to the back of his throat. He strained again, and with tears streaming down his face, the second bite was swallowed. Suddenly he heard the sound of a door opening and he quickly turned around to see the Swatchling from before entering the holding cell room.

“Hello sir, I’ve come to-” The Swatchling started, but stopped when they saw Click with moss trickling out of his mouth. “Umm…”

“...Hey there.” Click responded, the rest of the moss dropping to the floor.

“...Okay, gonna pretend I didn’t see that. Listen, despite the fact that you’re being charged for food theft and resisting arrest, we are under legal obligation to provide a meal to those detained for longer than six hours.” The Swatchling explained, scratching the back of their head.

“I’ve been in here… for six hours, and none of you checked on me until now!? What time is it!?” Click argued, running up to the bars and gripping them.

“Calm down sir, it’s currently 2:45. It hasn’t been six hours quite yet, but you will be here for at least that allotted time.” they reassured him. “Here, you must be quite hungry, I apologize for bringing it to you so late, the office has been quite busy wrangling the stray tasques that escaped from the Queen’s manor days ago...”

Click wasted no time taking the tray of food through the cell’s rectangular opening. On the tray was a simple bologna and cheese sandwich with a mustard packet next to it, a banana, and a plastic cup of water. He stared at it for quite a bit, unable to take his eyes off the food.

“...Oh, you don’t have any dietary restrictions, do you? I suppose I forgot to ask before-” The Swatchling started, but was cut off.

“N-No no, I’m just… in a stare. Th-Thanks…” Click answered, taking the tray and sitting down on the concrete bed.

“We’re almost done with your paperwork, you’ll only be charged with a fine of thirty dark dollars for the meal you didn’t pay for, and sixty dark dollars for resisting arrest.” they disclosed.

“Ninety dark dollars? But… that’s all I have…” Click muttered, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“I’m sorry, but that’s how it’s gotta be. I’ll come back to release you from the holding cell in an hour.” they affirmed, heading for the door.

“Okay…” Click sighed, continuing to eat his lunch.

The meal was nothing special, the mustard packet offered little support for how bland and dry the sandwich was, bologna and cheese barely had any taste to Click. It was also harder to chew it without cringing as there were still grains of dirt left in his teeth from the moss, which made his sandwich a bit crunchy. The banana was just a boring piece of fruit, and the water, although decently refreshing, was lukewarm at best. But so long as it kept his belly quiet, he didn’t care what he was eating, it was a million times better than that moss. Once he was done with his meal, he placed the tray on the edge of the concrete bed and sighed, leaning against the wall. With his current problem dealt with, all he could do was wait to be released. His eyes began to droop from the exhaustion, and his head drifted down to his right shoulder into the corner of the wall.

‘What am I gonna do without my money? Where am I gonna sleep tonight?’ Click thought to himself. ‘If I wasn't so stupid and just paid the bill for breakfast, I wouldn’t be in jail right now…’

He crossed his arms and grumbled, his mind ruminating on his own recklessness and hubris. He still had several more miles to reach his work, and with no money saved to be able to afford the taxi ride, he was essentially back to square one, except more malnourished and tired than he was on Monday. Click looked down at his dress shoes that were lying in the corner.

. . .

‘Am I really going to need those to get around?’ Click pondered, his eyes focusing on his shoes. ‘I can still walk around without them, and they’ve been digging into my heels anyway… Dunno how much they’d be worth on the street since they’re clearly used…’

Click got up from his seat after some time and slipped his shoes back on, just in time for the Swatchling who caught him earlier to walk into the room.

“Hey, your paperwork is all set, we just need you to sign it, and you’ll be free to leave with your possessions” The Swatchling explained as they opened up Click’s cell door.

“About time, these cuffs are starting to chafe…” Click huffed, stepping out of the cell.

He followed the Swatchling into the next room over, the bright light slightly blinding him, and walked up to the front desk. One of them slid the release papers to Click and he signed them, to which they removed his handcuffs right as he was done. He rubbed his wrists as they were a bit sore from the tight metal, and was handed back whatever possessions he had that weren’t claimed by the police, i.e. his map, the cologne, and the egg sandwich. Click sighed as he noticed his money and the blueberry muffin were claimed, presumably due to the receptionist’s help of identifying what items from them were stolen and the charge he had to pay for his crime.

“Alright Mr. Click, you’re free to leave. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” The Swatchling at the front desk told him.

“Great, thanks…” Click mumbled, rolling his eyes and heading out the door.

Now back outside, Click had some work to do; he had to make some more money to try and afford a place to stay tonight or towards the taxi ride. It was 2:45 when he was given lunch, and an hour more probably passed while he was waiting for the Swatchling to return, so it was most likely 4:00 now. Since he had two meals today and one of them just an hour ago, he figured he could probably go without dinner and just have a snack before bed to keep the hunger pangs from bothering him as he slept and save the money towards the more important goals. The first thought he had was to look around on the edges of the sidewalks and street first for any stray dark dollars before he would give himself the green light to sell his shoes. Afterall, it was one of his favorite pairs of shoes he paid good money for, and he’d be damned if he sold them without the need to, like if he somehow found all the money he needed on the street out of the blue.

So with that plan in place, Click began to walk on the edge of the sidewalk, looking for any loose money, and after about an hour of searching, he found himself out of luck this time. Click sighed as the reality of needing to sell his shoes was creeping in closer, the sky’s hue was beginning to darken already, and a cold front was beginning to descend in the streets. So far the weather had been pleasant and comforting, but Click suspected that this was a sign that rain would be coming soon; he would need to speed up his game plan if he was going to make enough money for a warm place to stay tonight. With a heavy heart, he walked towards a busier area of the sidewalk and slipped his shoes off, giving them a good few taps together to remove any dirt or sand that might be inside them or stuck in between the grooves underneath. He gave the leather exterior a good shine with his sleeve just to enhance their appearance, and tied the laces to a fancy bow. He suddenly got the bright idea of masking whatever odor may be lingering inside them with some of the cologne he still had on hand, that way, almost no one would be able to tell they were recently worn. With a few well placed sprays, the shoes were as ready as they’ll ever be to be sold to some sucker who was none the wiser. Click got into prime position, standing heel to heel, holding his hand out with the shoes resting on his palm, and gave his best advertising smile.

“Looking For A Way To Get Stronger? Up Your Armors With This Pair Of… ‘Dating Shoes’! Only One Left In Stock, Buy Now!” he shouted with false charisma.

As expected, it took longer this time, about an hour and a half, for someone interested in purchasing from him to approach, the watch he sold on Monday was practically brand new compared to his dress shoes. It was a pale red colored Addison wearing a black turtleneck and dark tan khakis, they seemed to be on the older side. To Click’s perspective, they seemed like a well mannered and friendly looking fellow.

“Excuse me good sir, are you selling these loafers here?” they queried.

“Yes I am, did you want to try them on first?” Click asked them.

“Oh nooo… I’d like to keep mine out of them… May I inspect them?” they wondered.

“Uhh, go right ahead.” Click shrugged, handing the shoes over to the Addison.

He took a step back and let the old geezer take a look at his merch, observing them as they checked the underside, the sole on the inside, and even stuck his nose into it, which took Click by surprise.

“Ohhh yeah… These’ll do nicely~” they mumbled. “Would you take thirty dark dollars for them?” they finally offered.

“Uhhh…” Click stammered, still a bit confused by the Addison’s odd way of inspecting his merch.

“Not enough? Okay, forty dark dollars then! C’mon sonny, help an old man out…” they counter offered, holding out two twenty dark dollar bills. “I’ll even pay you in big bills, c’mon… You’re at least in your twenties, right?”

“Yeah- Wait, what?... O-Okay fine, deal whatever, just take ‘em.” Click accepted, snapping out of his confusion long enough to confirm the purchase and take the Addison’s money.

“Greeeaaat… Pleasure doing business with you, lad~” the Addison whispered, creepily smiling as they walked away with the newly purchased dress shoes.

‘Hrmm, that guy was a little weird…’ Click thought to himself. ‘But forty dark dollars is forty dark dollars…’

Now that Click had money to his name again, he needed to make his way towards work as far as he could and find a place to stay along his way that he could afford. Double checking his map, Click started to head down the streets towards the northern side of the City, the street corners were quite far apart from each other, and there weren't many streets that were directly heading in the direction of his work. However he noticed that some of the buildings parted to create alleyways that lead to the next street he needed to walk on, but they were blocked with either trash bins or fences. Eventually he came across an alleyway that cut to the next street he needed to get to that only had a small group of Addisons leaning against the walls of the buildings, so he turned down the alleyway and was making his way through it. Suddenly the Addisons in the alleyway noticed him, and got off the wall to face him. Click stopped when they blocked his path and stared menacingly at him.

“U-Umm… Can I help you?” Click asked.

“Well well well, look what the tasque dragged in, boys~” An Addison wearing a dark green hoodie over his head mocked.

“Someone who made their way into the wrong part of Cyber City~” Another Addison wearing a kitsune mask commented.

“And he’s probably got something purple and valuable in those pockets that he is just DYING to give to us~” The third Addison sang, flapping their wrists like a butterfly.

“Look, I don’t have time to be horsing around, I have to get to my work by tomorrow!” Click told them. “Please move out of my way.”

“Now now, don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, pal… Just hand over the money…” The hooded Addison warned, pulling out a small sword. “-And no one gets hurt…”

“Oh shit-!” Click yelled, taking a few steps back.

“Nice and slow…” The masked Addison whispered as they approached Click.

“Don’t go runnin’ away from us now~” The third Addison giggled, stepping closer the fastest.

“G-Get away from me!” Click yelled, quickly stepping further back.

“After him boys!” The hooded Addison roared, pointing their sword towards Click like a captain of an army.

The three alleyway Addisons suddenly charged forward, making Click have to turn around and take off in the other direction. He attempted to zigzag past the pedestrians walking by, and tipped over several trash cans to try and give himself some distance to them. He did manage to slow down one of them, the third one taking a nose dive to the sidewalk after tripping over one of the knocked down trash cans. The other two were still on his trail, the one with the sword getting closer and closer. Click made his way through the jewelry and art district, dashing through any stores with doors on opposite ends of the buildings, and around any crowds of Addisons, which he luckily managed to lose the one with the kitsune mask in the chaos. The hooded Addison was still hot on his trail, determined to catch him.

“I’m gonna cut you up into tiny pixels, man! You’re dead!” they shouted at Click, getting closer and closer, trying to swipe at him with the sword.

Click was running out of steam, obstacles, and places to change direction, the hooded Addison was not letting up. He had to make another move before his legs gave out from underneath him. Suddenly in the distance, Click swore he heard the sound of a train whistle.

“Oh my god, the train lines!” he shouted, remembering there was a train line near him.

He quickly changed direction and made his way toward the nearby train tracks, a train was just starting to leave the area. He and the hooded Addison ran up to the side of it, Click reaching for one of the cart’s ladders. He managed to grab onto it and used the last of his adrenaline powered strength to pull himself up onto the cart. The hooded Addison was finally losing momentum, and had to slow down and give up the chase.

“Haha! Try to keep up with the train, sucker!” Click mocked, waving goodbye to the hooded Addison.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH, I’LL GEt you someday when you least expect it!...” they yelled, their voice growing fainter as they stopped and became farther away.

“Heh heh… I got… away…” Click heavily huffed, his adrenaline beginning to fade already. “Can’t… breathe…”

Click slowly slipped into the train cart’s interior and trailed down its wall to the floor, his breathing was very erratic from the exertion. His heart raced in his chest, palpating rapidly to try and keep up with his breaths. Click shut his eyes to try to relax and calm down, now that he was out of harm’s way, he could take a moment to rest for a bit.

It was clear that wherever the train was taking him was much faster than walking, but at the moment he had no idea which direction he was traveling. He stood back up and pulled out his map from his inventory and checked for any recognizable buildings or landmarks. After a couple of minutes, he caught a glimpse of a building he did recognize; a freakishly tall perfume department that’s located about a couple miles from his work, and he was traveling west from it. He checked for which train he was currently riding based on his location from the building, knowing the side he was viewing was the south side as he could see the back of the billboard that was built on the top. Based on this information, Click concluded he was currently riding the red rail, which meant he was a bit off course. However, the red line was quite the popular track, it crossed paths with three other rails; the green line, the orange line, and the purple line. He suddenly remembered that the blue rail does make a stop about half a mile from his work, and the only rail the blue line crossed was the orange line. If he wanted to make it to work before his paycheck was direct deposited, he would have to freight hop his way to the blue line.

For now, Click was in no position to be freight hopping, he had exerted all his energy for the day during that chase, and it was late at night, most of the trains only trekked during the day, only one or two of the cargo trains traveled at night regularly. The red line that he was on was one of those, and with the conductors constantly inspecting the cargo for anything suspicious meant he couldn’t stay on the cart for long. The other two rails that were cargo lines were the orange line and the green line as they cut through the industrial parts of the city, the blue line and the purple line were more for the public to use as they cut through the business parts of the city. Click knew that in order to get to the blue line, he would have to wait for the red line to be heading back east, which it most likely do tonight, but he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere else, the orange line only ran during the day, and he would need to freight hop that line to get to the blue line. It was probably best to find a place to rest near the red line train tracks, but that was going to be difficult. There weren’t any motels in the industrial part of Cyber City, Addisons would only go there to work, so there wouldn’t be any beds for him to sleep in. On top of that, wild creatures like werewires, virovirokuns, and Poppups frequented the area, so it would be dangerous to sleep in the open. Click had to think outside the box on where would be the best place to stay close to the red line, and be protected from the creatures at night.

The train wheels began to screech, and the cart jerked forward as the train’s engine was slowing down. He must’ve been close to the train’s next stop, which meant he had to make a choice soon. Click stands up and takes a look around the cart for any kind of supplies he could take with him. He was in a train stocked with wooden boxes full of canned goods. Unfortunately they were cans without tabs to open them, requiring the use of a can opener, but he decided to take a few cans with him in case of an emergency. Eventually the train came to a complete stop, and the conductor stepped out of the engine and began their inspection. Click stepped down from the other side of the train cart and made his way to where the green line’s track was, just a few hundred yards from the two track’s intersection. Since the red line was the main active track for cargo, he suspected that the green line was going to be out of commission until the morning. Behind the red line’s pit stop was an inactive train on the green line’s track, its cart doors were all closed. Click noticed there was quite a bit of room underneath the train carts, but not enough where a werewire, virovirokun, or poppup could get under, so he concluded it would be safe to camp under one for the night. It would be best to stay out of sight while he rested, the worker Addisons would notice him if he was near the pit stop. He managed to crawl underneath the inactive train and used his hands like a makeshift pillow. It certainly wasn’t the most comfortable place to try and sleep, but the weather was nice enough to be able to camp outside, plus not only did the train provide him protection, but the metal still radiated a bit of heat from the previous treks. He wasn’t a complete stranger to camping, but it took some time for him to get into a comfy position, but after listening to the ambience of nature around him, he managed to shut his eyes and drift off to slumber. Four days down, three to go. Little did Click know the week still had some tricks up its sleeve for him, and he’d be seeing them real soon.