My first Arclight story. This was an idea I had buzzing around in my head after re-watching the WDC arc.
*Ring Ring!* Vetrix groaned and rolled out of bed. The time was 2:00 A.M. Who in their right mind would be calling at 2 o'clock in the frigging morning? The child picked up the phone. "Who is it and what do you want?"
"Hello Byr- Vetrix. It's Faker. I just wanted to say sorry again for everything."
Vetrix sighed. It had been a week since the WDC and Faker was still having fits of depression despite the fact that everyone had forgiven him. "Faker, I've forgiven you. I think I proved that when I saved your life. So please don't call me at 2 A.M."
"I'm glad you've forgiven me, even if I haven't forgiven myself."
Vetrix shook his head. "You were trying to save your son's life. I probably would've done something equally bad if I had been in your position."
He could almost hear Faker smile. "Thanks Vetrix. I hope we can still be friends."
"Of course we can. Now can I get some sleep?"
"Sure, sorry old friend." Dr. Faker hung up the phone. Vetrix yawned then trudged back to his bed to get a few more precious hours of sleep.
…...
*Ring Ring!* Vetrix looked up from the comic he was reading and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi Vetrix, this is Dr. Faker. I'm sorry for everything. Making you and Kazuma into human overlay units, tearing up your family, making you into a-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You just called me yesterday to apologize, why are you calling again?" Vetrix asked.
"I just feel like I don't deserve to be forgiven so easily." Faker whined.
"Of course you do. Yuma forgave me enough to risk his own life to save mine and he's forgiven you too. So have I, so stop feeling so guilty." Vetrix sighed and hung up the phone. He picked up the comic book and started to read again.
…...
"Father, phone for you." Trey leaned in from around a doorway.
Vetrix turned to his youngest son. "Thank you, Trey." He took the phone from Trey. "Arclight residence."
"Hello Vetrix. I'm sorry. I hurt you, betrayed your trust in me, and felt no remorse." Faker moaned into the phone.
A red anger mark pulsed on Vetrix's head. "You have apologized to me on a count of twenty-six times to date. Each time I have told you that I've forgiven you. Do you just want me to make a recording of myself saying 'I've forgiven you Faker'?"
"No no no. I just can't help but feel bad. I have done so much I just can't-"
"I stole almost 20 different people's souls and you don't see me calling them to constantly to apologize! Now goodbye!" Vetrix shouted. He threw down the phone on the receiver.
"Do you have to be so hard on phones, Vetrix?" Quinton asked as he walked in the room.
"Dr. Faker is driving me crazy." Vetrix growled.
"He called again?"
Vetrix nodded. "What will it take for him to realize that I've completely forgiven him?"
…...
*Ring, Ring!* Vetrix rather savagely picked up the phone. "Yes?"
"I'm so sorry. I failed you and our friendship. I hurt you in more ways imaginable. I-"
"FAKER! I've forgiven you! Do you need to recreate the WDC incident?! Do I need to f*cking save your life again?! I have friggin forgiven you! So STOP CALLING ME!" Vetrix shouted then threw down the phone. Quattro made a tally mark on a whiteboard. "How many times is it now, Quattro?" Vetrix seethed.
"Forty-five. He is really feeling the guilt." Quattro remarked.
"Maybe you should show him you've forgiven him. Actions speak louder than words, even if those words are shouted." Trey suggested.
Vetrix paused to consider what Trey had said. "Possibly, but how?"
Quinton spoke up. "You used to go over to his house to work but sometimes it was just a fun get together time for you two. Perhaps you should do that again?"
Vetrix nodded. "Excellent idea. I'll go over later today."
…...
Dr. Faker had his head on a table. Kite and Hart were at a sleepover at Yuma's so he was all alone in his depression. He had done so many terrible things. Nobody should forgive him. Just then he heard a knock. 'Maybe Hart or Kite forgot something.' he thought as he opened the door. To his shock, he saw the form of a child he now knew as his friend Byron or Vetrix as he was now known by. Vetrix pushed past him and sat on the coffee table. "Vetrix! Wha-what are you doing here?"
"Hoping to knock you out of your depression. Apologize and I'll hit you over the head with my mask." Vetrix warned.
"Isn't it made with a titanium-steel alloy?" Faker asked.
"Yep! So don't start apologizing." Vetrix said.
"But I-"
"No."
"But-"
"No!"
"Bu-"
"NO!"
Faker sighed. "Fine, you win. But you shouldn't forgive me so easily. I just can't-" he broke off with a sob.
Vetrix walked over to his friend and stretched on his tiptoes up to awkwardly pat Dr. Faker on the back. "Calm down. No matter what you think, everyone else has decided that you are worthy of forgiveness. You might as well go with the flow."
Faker wiped his eyes. "But I know that I'm not worthy of redemption. I don't deserve everyone telling me that they've forgiven me. Especially you..." Vetrix handed Faker a tissue box. Faker took one and loudly blew his nose. "Thanks."
"No problem. It's funny that your quality of being so sure of your own opinion that has saved you so many times is why you are stuck in this well of depression." Vetrix gave a small smile. Faker hesitantly smiled back.
"So... what do you want to do?" Faker asked after an awkward silence.
Vetrix thought for a moment. "Well... we used to try to cook dinner. We could do that again, though I doubt we'll have any better results than when we used to do it." Vetrix gave a small chuckle.
"Alright then, let's hope the kitchen is still there when we finish." Faker laughed and followed Vetrix to the kitchen.
"Do brownies use baking powder or baking soda?" Vetrix asked.
"What's the difference?"
"I don't really know... probably not much. Or at least anything too important." They spent two hours trying to cook brownies and three more hours cleaning up.
"Well, that was an epic failure." Vetrix peaked out from behind the fridge.
"How does brownie batter get in the cabinets?" Faker wondered.
"It was a pretty big explosion. I don't think we'll ever find everywhere it went for at least another two months." Vetrix wiped his finger across his mask which was covered with batter and tasted it. He made a face. "Yuck! It doesn't even taste good."
"How does it taste?" Faker asked.
"Like we dumped broccoli, spinach, raw meat, and coffee in a blender." Vetrix got a glass of water and gargled it to remove the foul taste from his mouth. Faker and Vetrix went to the bathroom to wash the brownie batter out of their hair and faces. Eventually the got most of it out and went outside to look at the stars.
"Nice night for stargazing." Vetrix remarked. Faker nodded back.
"Look, I- I'm so-" Faker began.
Vetrix took off his mask. "Do you want me to hit you with this?"
Faker looked at his feet. "I know you don't want me apologizing but, but I can't ever feel right about all I did."
Vetrix smiled sadly. "No one is asking you to. I did some bad things too and I can't say I'll ever stop regretting it. But I moved on because I can still do some good things. So can you."
Faker looked at his friend he had so badly hurt. "I destroyed your family life and your career."
"My family life may be a little different now but it's not the end of the world. As for my career, Quinton uses his name on any work I do now so it all evens out. Quinton is beginning to make his own important discoveries and inventions too." Vetrix said.
Faker gave Vetrix a smile. "So, you've really forgiven me? Completely?"
Vetrix laughed. "Haven't I been shouting that at you for these last few weeks via phone?" Faker started to laugh with his longtime friend. Soon they were laughing their heads off and rolling on the floor. Vetrix sat up and wiped away a tear. He looked at Faker's watch. "Is it really midnight already?"
Faker looked at his watch and jumped in surprise. "It is! You better start heading home. But you can't drive now..."
"How do you think I got here?" Vetrix opened up a portal and grinned. Faker laughed.
"Oh yeah. I forgot you can do that now."
"It's an effective form of transportation." Vetrix waved goodbye and dissolved into the portal. Faker walked back inside feeling more happy than he had felt in a very long time.