Your name is Dave Strider. You are 25 years-old and you are not going to die with a smile on your face like you thought you were. As you fall from the tallest point of your apartment building, you stare up in horror at the face of the lover you knew to be dead. Your platinum blond hair flutters violently but slowly as you inch your way down to the sidewalk. It feels like time has slowed or maybe frozen; you looking up at him while he looks down at you trying his hardest to save you but you both know he's already too late.
How did you get here? How did everything turn out so badly for you?
It all started after you and your friends finished playing a devil game called Sburb. Well, it started when you actually began playing the game but that's another story that you can't think about right now.
But really, how did you get here?
Your name is Dave Strider and you wake up in your bed gasping for breath. Your room is bright but it's not hot like it usually is. You feel like you've woken up after being asleep for three or four years but you know that's not true. You were playing a game with your friends and you finally found a way out, right? If you are in your room then it means you made it out and everything is like it's supposed to be. Right?
You decide to investigate. You swing your legs over the side of your bed and stand up but almost immediately fall back down. Your legs hurt and they feel all noodle-like, kind of like they usually do after an epic battle with your Bro on the rooftop. You freeze as the thought of Bro enters your brain. If you're here… Does that mean that everyone who died is back too? Or did they just stay dead?
The curiosity gets the better of you and you ignore the pain in your legs. You almost PCHOOOOOOO out of your bed and sprint for the door, pulling the door open violently. You're about to run out in search for your Bro but instead you crash into something hard. You were going to look up but whatever you crashed into has you in its grasps. It takes you a split second to realize that it's Bro. That hard thing your face is getting well acquainted with is his chest and he has his arms around you in… a hug? That's so not cool. But neither was your sprint to the door.
You think this is a free pass as the two of you are being uncool. You end up hugging him back tightly, probably the first time ever either of you have hugged since you were a coolkid tyke. It feels like you two hug for a long time and it's not awkward… Or maybe it is and it's just one of Bro's ironic things. The thought gets thrown out the window when you feel his chest heave and he sniffles. That's when you realize that you've been crying this whole time. Not cool.
He's the first one to pull back and for the first time ever you see him take his shades off. For the first time you see his tangerine orange eyes; you've seen this eyes Bro's eyes before … Except he wasn't your Bro. You start to wonder if he's going through the same thing you are right now but with his bro, which is really you. You shake your head and wipe the wetness from your face with the sleeve of your shirt. "S-So you're alive, huh?" You ask, your voice shaky and tiny.
"And you grew up." He said, his usually calm, deep voice just as shaky and tiny as yours. It's true, the last time he saw you, you were thirteen. "Ha, yeah, guess I did." You reply, clearing your throat and sniffling a bit. You both seem to have this understanding that it's totally okay to be uncool about this whole thing. "Um…. You wanna order something?" He asks, taking his hat off and running his hand through his hair. You note that his hair does look like that other boy in the game, the other boy whose name was –
"Dirk." You say. "Yo." He replies. His shades are still off, like yours still are, and you both see the look of surprise on the others face. "How did you—" He cuts himself off, his eyebrows knitting slightly. You get some joy from catching him off guard, but you'll revel in the glory of that later. "I met you… After you died… You were playing the game but it wasn't you-you. It was alternate universe-you." You clarify, feeling like the answer didn't make any sense but you feel the need to talk about it anyway.
"I was playing the game? But I died. Did I get like some extra life or something?" He asks. You aren't sure whether or not he's lucky to have missed out on the game. You decide he is, minus the dying part. Sure that sucked, but he only died once while you died over and over and over and over again. "No… No… We made friends with some aliens that made our universe because they thought we destroyed their universe and we had to hard reset both universes and John had to make us all through ectobiology and shit, so we're actually genetically related. Oh, and Rose is your daughter so… Congrats, it's a twiny combo." You explain, looking at Bro.
He looks at your like you're insane but laughs either way. "You're going to have to get me drunk later and say that again." The older man jokes as he walks away to the living room. "Right now, I want food." He calls out as he plops down on his couch-bed. You follow suit, your shades back over your candy apple red eyes just as his shades hid his tangerine orange eyes. It was nice seeing them at least once, seeing that he is in fact capable of emotion like you are. While he orders, you are on your way to the window to check if you're really back home. That's when you realize something is not right in your apartment.
"Hey, Bro… Was this always here?" You ask after he hangs up the phone. He's almost immediately beside you, still as quick as you remember him. "Nah, little man." He answers. Your Bro walks up to the foreign door where the fridge used to be. Your fridge is now beside said door. He is about to tap the metal door when it slowly slides up, opening. Your instincts - which are at this point derived from all of the movies you've ever watched coupled with your experience with Sburb - tell you this is a bad idea but you step forward with your Bro to investigate.
As you both step in, the door closes behind you. Shocker. You see that there are two buttons on the door; one button has the Sburb design on it and the other has the Pester Chum icon. You know for a fact that there is no way you will ever press any button that has that Gog forsaken logo on it. The Pester Chum icon seems like your only other option because that door is not budging. You look at your Bro curiously. "Do you wanna press it?" He asks, talking about the Pester Chum icon. You shrug. "I guess…" You mumble.
Taking a deep breath, your hand reaches up shakily to press the friendlier of the two buttons. As you do, you feel yourself being spun around slowly as the tube you're in shakes violently. Both you and Bro try to keep your balance but you end up holding on to each other momentarily until the stupid ride is over. Once on the other side, the door opens slowly and you feel the heat rushing at you. It's bearable and it's familiar. You step out first and look down at your feet. You are on the Hero of Time symbol over a small pool of lava and gears that definitely belonged on the LOHAC and not here… Wherever here was. You see that there is a bridge attached to the end of the symbol and it leads to a center of some sort. You also notice that there are other bridges. You follow the one to your immediate left and you see that it leads to another familiar symbol.
"Hey, that's—" you cut yourself off when you see that the tube protruding from the platform adjacent to you opens up and an excited, messy haired boy steps out, his sapphire blue eyes looking directly at you. You're about to shout and wave at your friend when suddenly you're tackled down to the ground . "DAVE!" You hear shouted into your ear. "Oh my Gog! You're real! You're real!" The girl on you shouts. You look up at her, your shades having been knocked off of your face in the tackle. Your red eyes look up into familiar green ones. "Jade…" You whisper. She nods and stands up, helping you up. You've decided that your coolkid mojo is basically gone for the day when you find yourself hugging her tightly.
"I want a hug too!" You hear John whine as he comes running at the two of you full force. The three of you fall to the ground laughing, tears streaming down all of your cheeks. "Is there something I should know about?" The three of you hear above you. You are the first to look up and that's when you see her, a small smirk on her face. "Rose!" John shouts, reaching forward and pulling her down onto the friend pile you've made. "You know… I could have joined on my own, John." Rose says hugging you and the dork twins tightly.
"Not to ruin your little happy re-union or anything but…. Does anyone know what's going on?" You hear Bro ask. The four of you pull back looking at each other in confusion, trying to understand what's happened. "That's what I'd like to know, you fuckasses!" You hear shouted from the bridge.