Ned must have fallen back asleep, because the next thing he knew, he woke up again and his room was totally illuminated by the light of morning. Well...at least the light that peeked through the mountain of clouds that had convened in the sky.

The only reason he woke up at all this time was because he heard a loud rap on his bedroom door. He blinked his groggy eyes and sat up. He cleared his throat and cracked his neck. "Come in!"

His door opened, and in hopped Ivy. "Morning!" she cheered happily, bounding over to his bed. She leapt on top of it, making Ned release a whoosh of air and the bedsprings scream. "Happy birthday, big bro!"

Ned laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Man, you sure know how to make a flashy entrance, don'tcha?"

Ivy giggled. "I thought I'd let you sleep in, but I just couldn't wait! I wanted to wish you a happy birthday already!"

Ned chuckled. "Goddammit, Ivy! What time is it?"

"Nine!" Ivy replied cheerfully.

"Well...that's reasonable. I guess I'll get up now."

Ivy patted his head. "Nahh! Don't bother! I just wanted to say happy birthday! You can go back to sleep if you want!"

"I'm not wasting time like I did yesterday!" Ned insisted, whipping the covers off. He quickly checked to see if he had morning wood. He was clear. "I'm getting up NOW!"

"Alright!" Ivy replied, sweeping her legs off the bed and jumping off, "FINE! I'll meet up with you later! Oh, and, I already ate, but I don't mind waiting a couple minutes for you to get ready and do your stuff! It's your birthday! Go nuts!"

Ned couldn't help but let a smile overtake his face. Sometimes she was just too damn cute.

"I promise not to take too long, Ivy," Ned swore.

"Mm...I don't care!" Ivy replied jubilantly, shrugging. Her pigtails bounced behind her head. She sped back to the door and stepped out. "I'll see you whenever you feel like coming out!" she said, winking as she shut his door softly.

Ned shook his head. Well...she WAS giving him a few minutes to himself…

He quickly masturbated, then got dressed in his favorite black shirt and blue shorts. He came out within ten minutes after Ivy got him up, then strode to the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal, taking it to the living room to eat with Ivy on the floor. It felt almost like the summers he had years ago, sprawled out without a single worry of the future. Except this time his mind plagued him with the constant reminder that he had to be consistently wary of his surroundings. He couldn't trust anybody, specifically Candy. The problem with that, though, was that he knew that her benevolence was genuine. She CRIED, man. She fucking CRIED. She bawled like a four year-old, and she used him as her shoulder to cry on. He felt her tears. They were 100% real.

And yet he had to keep this all to himself.

Not only that, but it felt wrong to accuse someone who was so mentally damaged of being a fraud and an overall malevolent person. She was just misguided; she had a poor choice of friends. That's it. No story here.

But there was a story. At least, according to his inner Fred-bare.

The bowl he fished the flakes out of became a circle of conspiracies, thoughts that attacked Ned and caused him to lose track of everything around him. He barely even noticed when his mom walked by and wished him a happy birthday.

Wait...his mom?

"Wait, MOM?" Ned asked, immediately sitting up. He nearly knocked the bowl over. "What are you doing home? Isn't it a work day?"

Willow turned around and shrugged. "Hey! I took the day off. My big boy's sixteenth birthday isn't something I wanna miss! Plus, I haven't spent much time with either of you guys lately. I think it'd be great for us to go do something as a family for once instead of leaving you three alone all the time!"

Ned and Ivy exchanged glances. Ivy nodded and flashed him a smile. Ned did likewise. He turned. "Y-yeah, I think that'd be, uh…" He took a quick glance at her chin. Double. "...yeah, that'd be awesome! Sure!"

Willow clapped her hands together. "Great! Maybe I'll take you three to see a movie or something!"

"We're fine with just hanging around the neighborhood." Ned scooped up another spoonful of cereal.

Willow shrugged with a satisfied smile crossing her face. "Alright, then! We can just hang around the house if you like. Your choice!"

"Yeah, I didn't have much planned for today," Ned admitted, "I mean, any other day I would just play with Ivy somewhere. She usually comes up with stuff for us to do." He looked her way. She shrugged, sticking out her bottom lip. "Your decision, dude," she said, "It's your birthday!"

"Right." The choice was on Ned this time. Looking away, he remembered he promised Plushie to bring Ivy to his room and confess his love for her that day. He'd have to provide enough time to do that. Maybe after the party...that seemed reasonable. There'd definitely be enough time then.

"Well...if any of you are up for it, we could just go out for a walk or something to pass the time," he suggested. He scraped the sides of his bowl for leftover flakes. The spoon scraped along the edge and the sound reverberated repeatedly in Ned's mind.

"Alright!" Willow agreed, "I could definitely use the exercise, anyway. Being cooped up in some smelly factory isn't really doing much for me now, is it?"

"Fair enough," Ned agreed. "So, after lunch or something, we head out?"

"Sounds great!" Ivy concurred.

"I'll go see if Candy wants to join us!" Willow said. Ned felt his heart skip.

"NO!" he cried out. "I mean, uh...no. Please. Don't ask her."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Why? I'll make sure she doesn't pull anything!"

Ned gulped. Don't! Trust! ANYONE! he reminded himself.

"I, um...I don't trust her not to do anything," he lied. He totally trusted her, but Fred-bare's warnings kept bashing his skull in. "Just...please leave her out of everything we do today?"

"Well...alright. That's fair," Willow agreed, nodding her head faintly. "She's still coming to the party tonight, you know."

"Sure," Ned replied, "I hope she doesn't try anything with me there."

"Trust me," Willow said, "I've planned a little something just in case she misbehaves one more time!" She finished that with a sly grin.

Ned gulped. "I have half a mind not to trust you, either!" he blurted.

But in real life, he said "Thanks, mom."

She smiled. "You're welcome!"

She turned and left.

Ned sighed and looked down at his empty bowl of milk. His stomach was full, and unfortunately so was his mind.

. . . .

So much of the day went along the lines of "Ned couldn't stop thinking about what Fred-bare had said and if it were true or not". And indeed it was; half of the day had been completely spaced out, leaving Ned wondering if he was mentally stable or not. It half made sense and half didn't. Why would Candy pour out real blood, sweat and tears into trying to get Ned to trust her if she was just going to go back on it anyway? The argument Fred-bare made was too convincing, too realistic for him. He wished she had just said nothing. If she hadn't, he would have gone about his day without any sort of mental or physical paranoia. He found himself with his hand on the back of his head every time he saw Candy that day because he was afraid of an attack on his blind spot.

"What's with you?" she asked at lunch.

Ned looked back at her. "Uhh...my neck is sore. I slept on it wrong."

Candy scoffed. "Dork. Can't even sleep right…"

And of course he over-analyzed that one interaction for the next five hours before the time for his party came along.

. . .

Five o'clock.

The time of the party.

Willow had driven the three children to the club and basically snuck them inside, hoping not to draw suspicion from any people that may have been watching at the time of their entry. They wandered around the darkened area for a few minutes, fumbling for the light switch. For the longest time, the building remained dark, with faint snaps and clicks of the family's shoes slapping against the tiled flooring. Ned stayed especially close to Ivy.

"Dude! Why are you getting so close to me?"

Ned gulped. "Fear of the dark," he lied.

Eventually, Willow stopped tripping on chairs and made her way to the fuse that turned on all the lights to the building. Just like before, some turned on, some flickered and died, others just dimmed and stayed in the gray area of mid-illumination. In the crackling of the light fixtures coming on, Ned heard Candy leave his sight and sprint off to another side of the building, the only notice of her absence being the fading bangs of her shoes against the floor. And when they all came on, there were only two children visible.

Ned and Ivy.

"Oh, shit!" Willow swore. She threw a hand to her forehead. "Not again! CANDY?"

Her shout echoed through the empty bar. It scathed the walls and reverberated all the way back to the middle of the space, where it dissipated and died.

She tried again. "CANDY? God fucking dammit." She stamped her foot. "You guys stay put, I'm gonna go try to find her."

Ned gulped. He felt his stance weaken and his posture worsen. All the hairs on his arms and legs stood up and the color vanished from his face. "Ah, fuck," he kept muttering to himself, "Ah, fuck, ah, fuck, ah, FUCK!"

"Ned! Are you okay?" Ivy asked, "Why are you getting so worked up?"

"Ivy, LOOK." Ned was shaking quite visibly now. "I saw Fred-bare in my dream last night. She said Candy was going to try to KILL me! I'm gonna DIE today!"

"Why? For seeing her masturbate yesterday?"

"Probably not even!" he replied, his eyes darting every which way. He gulped a dry mouthful. "I think she's just doing it because she's evil! I think she wants me DEAD!"

"Ned, that's ridiculous!" Ivy sputtered, "The worst she's ever done to you is sprain your finger! While I DO think she's definitely a monster, I don't think she'd try to flat-out MURDER you!"

"Just because she hasn't killed before doesn't mean she's not going to now!" Ned argued, keeping his gaze wary. "And now she's fucking disappeared into thin air! She doesn't do that without a reason, Ivy! You KNOW this!"

"She's probably just gonna scare you!" Ivy argued, "There's nothing to worry about! This isn't the end of the world!"

"There's EVERYTHING to worry about!" Ned snapped, "My fucking LIFE is on the line and you're standing there telling me there's nothing to worry about!? What if it was YOUR life on the line, would you be-"

"Ned! NED!" Ivy interrupted, reaching out and grabbing hold of his shoulders. She pulled him closer. "Everything is going to be FINE," she said softly, "Okay? Candy's NOT gonna try to kill you and you're gonna walk out of here alive. She's just playing another practical joke is all. Now I want you to take a deep breath and relax yourself."

Ned shuddered. He did what she said, and felt a little bit of his anxiety let up, but the rest remained. He tried not to let it show.

"Good," Ivy said, "Feel better?"

Ned shrugged. Her cool hands felt nice against his warm shoulders. "I...a little bit, I think…" he answered. He looked her in the eyes and saw himself, his body floating in a black pool surrounded by a green moat. For a brief moment, he felt a sense of reassurance. His world became only what he could see in her pupils, simply himself and the floor and her cool, slender hands on his shoulders. Everything around him faded into the moat and disappeared into the lights reflecting off the whites of her eyes.

It was almost like a drug. It tranquilized him nearly instantly.

"There. See? You're fine!" Ivy assured him, "Now, come on. Siddown, birthday boy! There's a whole cake with your name on it waiting to be eaten! Literally!"

Ned chuckled nervously. "Yeah, alright," he agreed, shifting back into real life mode, "I guess there's nothing to worry about. She would have done something by now, wouldn't she?"

"Well, I don't even think she CAN do anything to you! She usually only attacks you when I'm not there," Ivy theorized. "I think she's afraid I'll, like...HURT her, or somethin'!"

"I think you're right!" Ned agreed, beginning to calm his senses. He sat down at a table, wedging his butt comfortably into the built-in cushion. "She can't get me if you're right beside me. So all you have to do is stick with me, and-"

"Well, there's only one way to prove it, right?" Ivy asked, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and come back, and if you're scared but alive, I get to say 'I told you so'!"

"WHAT!?" Ned asked, whipping his face back to meet hers, "NO! Ivy, you CAN'T be fucking serious! You're literally the only thing keeping me alive right now! My life is in your hands!"

"NED! Calm down!" Ivy cried, "Look! I just wanna prove that nothing bad is gonna happen! And trust me; nothing will! You're gonna be fine! I'm just gonna be gone for a minute and a half, and then I'll come back and then you'll see there was nothing to be afraid of!"

Ned gulped. "That's bullshit."

Ivy glared. "Ned…"

"Okay! Okay, FINE!" Ned agreed, putting his hands up, "You know what? FINE! I'll stick around by myself! And what exactly are you going to do if you come back and I'm dead?"

"Nothing! 'Cause it's not gonna happen!" Ivy retorted, "A minute and a half can't be long enough for them to do anything to you, and I'll be back before you know it!" She turned to walk down an empty hall on the far end of the building.

"WAIT!" Ned called after her, "If this is the last time I ever see you, I need to tell you something REALLY important!"

"You can tell me later!" Ivy called back. She waved without facing him. "BYYEE!"

"NO! IVY!" Ned shouted. But she had already disappeared behind a corner.

The last time he'd ever see her.

"Ohh, man…" Ned moaned to himself. He couldn't believe this. His own sister-his LITTLE sister-just left him to die. He'd expected this from Candy, but IVY? How could she just stand by and let this happen? Was she the malicious one all along, and SHE was setting this whole thing up as some cruel joke? But she couldn't be...she ALWAYS had good intentions and he'd known that since her birth! But what could-

"Heeeyy, Needdd!" came a singsong voice from the other side of the table.

Ned jumped. He looked back at his older sister, bending forwards over the table he was sitting at. He could easily see down her shirt, getting a spectacular view of her breasts pushed together in a black bra. Looking up, her icy stare froze him in place. A smile was carved into her cheeks that shook Ned to his core.

"Jesus!" he panted, "You fuckin' SCARED me!"

"Just like Ivy predicted," Candy chuckled.

Ned gulped. He tugged at his collar. "Y-yeah, I guess she did…"

"Look," Candy whispered, "My friends are going to appear any second for the best prank they've pulled yet. I barely know any of the details, so I'm just going to go along with whatever they do and you pretend you're scared. Or don't. Literally, I don't care. Do whatever. When they come in, I'm gonna grab you from behind and they'll finally let me in on what they're planning. Alright?"

Ned's look of terror said nothing.

"Ned?" Candy asked, "Are you okay? You've been acting really weird around me lately...don't you trust me?"

"You're going to fucking kill me," Ned whispered, "You and your friends are planning my murder. I just know it."

"Now, come on, Ned. They're mean, but they're not inhumane!" Candy argued, "Now just play along, and I promise you you won't see them again for a long time. Got it?"

Ned sighed. His whole body shook and shuddered. His mouth felt dry and his legs constantly buckled in his chair. He sucked in a breath. It tasted cold and hard. "Okay," he managed.

"Thanks again!" Candy said, winking.

Ned said nothing as she proceeded to hide herself underneath the table. He shifted, remaining completely quiet as the deafening silence penetrated his eardrums.

Every single second pounded and pulsed, drilling into Ned and tensing him up. His whole body was constricted with panic and the feeling of helplessness. He had half a mind to go find his mother and end this right now, but otherwise she'd probably find out about Candy's facade and...well...there were only so many places she could go after that. Maybe she was afraid something like that would give the idea that she was a dishonest bitch, and nobody liked a traitor. So Ned kept still and waited for the noose to be tied around his neck.

Just like Candy said, her friends stepped in quietly than he'd ever heard anybody enter the building. They came through the back door, making sure they weren't being watched or followed, and checking every so often to maintain their silent entry. The massive, rusted doors barely even creaked as they were pushed open and slid shut. All his ears could focus on now was their shoes slapping the tiles in a horrifying rhythm, echoing endlessly in Ned's mind.

My executioners await.

"Hey there, fat boy," same a smooth but malicious tone. Ned gulped. He turned to his right and saw the black-haired girl leaning against the back of his chair with the widest, cockiest smile he'd ever seen imprinted on a person's face. Turning to his left, the other two girls stood by, looking down upon him with disdainful frowns.

"Hey," Ned murmured. His fingers met his mouth and his teeth ground his nails into powder.

"So...how's your party?" the black-haired girl asked, "Your baby sister seems to have left. How...appropriate."

Ned gulped. His hand left his mouth for a brief moment. "She'll be back. She said so."

"Hopefully not soon," she said softly, "She'd interrupt us. And you won't like us when we're interrupted!"

I don't like you NOW! Ned thought.

At that very moment, he felt the back of his chair slide out from behind him. His eyes widened, and at that very second, his heart started pumping furiously and his senses screamed with panic. Every one of his nerves tingled with terror and his logical thinking momentarily turned off. All he could do was think of one word.

RUN.

Ned bolted, taking off from the table and hurtling towards the exit by the front doors. They weren't too far from where he was, but they became farther and farther and farther away in the split second Ned felt himself trip. He hit the ground listening to an angered shout, coming from underneath the table. He must have stepped on Candy's hand. Attempting to pick himself up, he was pinned again by a foot planting itself smack in the middle of his spine. He glanced up with his petrified brown eyes, right up at the black-haired girl and her minions. She smiled down at him.

"Alright, pick him up!" she ordered, pointing at Ned. "I know the perfect place we can put this fucker!" She ended her last line with an evil grin.

On cue, the two girls lifted him up with agonized grunts, and Candy followed suit by lifting his feet. Panicking, Ned looked past his shoes at his older sister and proceeded to beg for mercy. "LOOK! Candy, I KNOW I've been a pain in the ass for years! But PLEASE help me! Don't-"

"It's a bit too late for mercy now, TWERP!" the black-haired girl sneered. She guided the girls to the area of her choice with her finger. "There! On the stage!"

Ned gasped. Not the robot!

"Guys! Come on, PLEASE! Put me down! Put me DOWN!" Ned cried, trying to move any limbs but failing to. His wrists and ankles were all in a grip tighter than Ned could manage, and it was definitely strong enough to keep him from struggling. He never gave up, though, trying his best to find any way to get them to let him go but failing. The girls began an organized march towards the stage, their footsteps stomping on the tiles and echoing in the empty space of the bar. Ned's struggled grunts contributed to the noise, also reverberating off the walls of the building and coming all the way back to his ears, where they shriveled up and died. His mind raced furiously for a solution, of course coming up with nothing and instead focusing on how he should have just ran out of there the second he noticed Candy was gone. He knew this was it. This was what Fred-bare tried to warn him about.

Before he knew it, he was at the stage, and in a full panic as he was heaved up onto the platform with enough force to push a whale. Landing on it, he scrambled up, only to be stopped by the black-haired girl. She got him from behind, taking hold of his torso and pinning his arm to his back till he screamed. He was let go and then pushed into the grip of the three other girls. Their arms and hands seized him, ceasing all movement in his joints and limbs. His heartbeat drummed in his ears as he watched the black-haired girl pull Candy aside and order something to her. She seemed highly reluctant at first, and Ned had no idea what she was told to do. But she walked over solemnly and looked Ned straight in the eye and sighed. She turned towards the enormous robot and threw open the jaws.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Ned yelled, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Hey, guys! Let's help this poor sap give this robot the only kiss he'll ever GET!" the black-haired girl ordered. The other girls complied, nodding and trying their best to lift Ned up and slide his head into the mechanical beauty's jaw. His panicked gasps and pleads were completely ignored, and his dilated pupils could only focus on the inner mechanisms of Fred-bare's mouth as the jaw closed around his neck. He screamed as the girls parted and his body was left dangling helplessly from the mouth of the robot. He heard the black-haired girl laugh maniacally at his obvious misfortune. "HAHA! I honestly didn't think that robot would still be standing after his fat ass was shoved inside it! HAHAHA!"

Ned felt his world close in around him. He knew that every breath he took was a gamble, that every time he managed to exhale was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive. He remembered his mother warning him that the springlock suits inside of Fred-bare and her partner, Spring Bunnie, were extremely dangerous if they came into contact with moisture. And something about breathing causing the locks to close on themselves. So he knew that any moisture he accidentally made while breathing was one step closer to his inevitable demise.

Suddenly, for a split second, everything stopped. His whole life flashed before his eyes. And, as unpleasant as Candy made it, his whole life overall was nothing to scoff about. He had always gotten good grades, he had a loving sister and a good home and always had something to eat, if not more. He remembered all sorts of different events, some that had significant impacts on his life and some that didn't; there was that one time he accidentally saw Foxica strip and he saw all her private bits. There was that one time he and Ivy found a snake in the front yard and they spent all afternoon in a tree, cowering in it until their mother came home and told them it was a garden snake and they could come down. There was that one time he went down to the lake at summer camp and he caught his first and only fish. There was that one time he won a spelling bee. There was that one time he was hit in the face with a rock in elementary school. There was that one time he and Ivy explored an open sewer grate and they smelled like garbage for a week. The good times replayed over and over, each time letting Ned relive one or more of his most favorite moments from when he was alive. He remembered his friends. He remembered his teachers. He remembered the games he used to play and the songs he used to like. He remembered sights he saw and places he visited for the last time. He remembered those who wronged him and those who did him good.

And, of course, he remembered Ivy. His sweet, sunshiny, optimistic little sister who was always there for him and shared so many things in common with him. He remembered everything she ever told him in that split second, from her tallest tale to her shortest story. He remembered her secrets. He remembered her favorite things. He remembered that she told him that if he were to die, she would have nothing left to live for.

He sniffed. That last part really shook him.

But worst of all, he promised he would tell her he loved her. That he wanted her. That he would hold her close in times of peril and never let her go. And now that he knew his death was nothing short of imminent, he had completely failed on the one task he lived to accomplish.

And, faster than he could react, he heard a shrill scream behind him, and some familiar music began playing. He gasped as the mechanisms in the mouth immediately clamped down on his head, slicing right through his frontal lobe and causing him to black out. He emitted a short squeal, then went completely limp as blood trickled from the gaping, twitching mouth of Fred-bare. The red liquid trickled down Ned's neck and soaked into his clothes, a few drops missing him and slithering down his arms and dripping onto the floor in a macabre puddle beginning to form as the eerily cheery music continued. Two of Candy's friends shrieked as they looked away from the grisly scene. The black-haired girl stared on with a crazed smile on her face as she looked up at the corpse hanging from Fred-bare's mouth. Candy herself had her mouth agape, an effect of witnessing the death of her own brother. Her hands crawled to her face in incredulity and small tears formed around her eyes. She shut them and tensed up as she listened to Ivy's pained "NOOOOOO!" coming from the other side of the building. She kept them closed and cupped her hands over her face as Ivy ran up to the stage with tears in her eyes. She placed her hands on the stage and shut her eyes, sobbing.

"Oh, god…" she whispered, "Ned...why didn't I believe you? I-I didn't even get to tell you that…" She rubbed her eyes, but her tears kept falling. "Ahh...it doesn't fucking matter anymore."

The five of them all convened around Ned's corpse, dangling lifelessly from the robot's maw. And not a single one of them could believe with their own eyes the horrific scene they had just witnessed and created.

. . .

PFFFFHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Ahh...I honestly hope you didn't think that's how it went! AAAAHAHAHAHAAHA! Didn't you fucking read the second volume? HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!

No! No, no, nonononono! THIS is how it went:

And, faster than he could react, he heard a shrill scream behind him, and some familiar music began playing. He gasped as the mechanisms in the mouth immediately clamped down on his head. He shut his eyes tight and prepared to breathe his last.

The fuck?

Ned felt the robot's jaw repeatedly smush against his face. He looked around, making sure what he was feeling wasn't the after-effects of being dead.

He chuckled. Then he smiled. His laughter began a crescendo, eventually leading to a whooping cheer coming from the mouth of Fred-bare. It started becoming more of an insane cackle as time progressed.

"YES!" he shouted, "YEEESS! I'M STILL ALIVE!"

"Quite right, Ned!" came a familiar voice amidst the music.

All of Candy's friends froze, including Candy herself.

Willow stepped out from an area beyond the restrooms. "Now, Candy. If you recall, I mentioned once that the pressure that the springlock suits apply is hardly enough to kill someone. First of all, the springlocks weren't even pressurized, so there was no way they could possibly come loose even if you tried! Secondly, even if the suit was pressurized, the force needed to crack through human bone is 2,300 newtons. And the robots we manufactured-even the old ones-can only apply pressures of up to 100 newtons at BEST! Even when they come loose, it's only enough to break skin unless you apply too much moisture and they constrict past their usual limits!" She sauntered up confidently and stood at the foot of the stage, smiling. She planted her fists on her thick hips. "So I think that your devious little "plan" failed in its execution! Sorry, darlings, but it's just simple mechanics!"

Candy blushed. "Oops...I-I forgot about that…"

"Sure you did, sweetie," Willow teased, "Now take out your brother."

Candy sighed. "Yes, mom." She stepped to where Faith stood and switched off the robot. She came back to Ned and helped him out of the mouth of Fred-bare.

"Are you okay, Ned?" Candy asked. Ned cracked his neck and laughed. "Well...I think so! I survived!"

"CANDY!" Faith snarled angrily, grabbing her by the back of her collar, "What the fuck is THIS!? You SAID this little fucker'd be DEAD by now!"

Candy's blush worsened. "I LIED! And I didn't WANT to kill him, you sadistic, evil BITCH!"

Brooke and Isabella gasped.

Ned looked on in amazement, a smile still on his face.

"ExCUSE me?" Faith asked, crossing her arms over her chest, "Where is this ATTITUDE coming from? Why the hell did you LIE to us?"

"Because I didn't want to kill my brother, THAT'S why!" Candy snapped, "I've been lying to you about him for YEARS! I've NEVER hated him! I only hurt him because you fucking MAKE me! But it's not even WORTH it!"

"And let me tell YOU something!" Candy started, her tone continually rising in anger, "I am SICK and TIRED of living under your shitty, artificial friendship! All you've ever done was manipulate me and torture me into doing what you wanted! But you know what? I'm DONE! Trying to kill my little brother is where I draw the FUCKING LINE! I'm not going to sit here and take this anymore! Even HE can tell I'm out of my GODDAMNED MIND because you've been mentally abusing me since day one! And I've only stuck around with you motherfuckers because I didn't want to be the one girl whose friends gave up on her halfway through the semester! But you're NOT my friends! You've made me steal, you've made me cheat-hell, you even made me skip WORK yesterday, which actually got me FIRED, like I said it would! But you didn't FUCKING LISTEN, and now look where we are! And now you're just going to stand here and expect me to get down on my knees and apologize for blurting out what I am right now, but it's not gonna FUCKING HAPPEN because I don't want to be a part of your dumbass friend circle anymore! FUCK you Brooke, FUCK you Isabelle, but most of all, FUCK! YOU! FAITH!"

Candy was left in an angered stance, her fingers curled into claws and her legs planted firmly onto the stage. Minus the wires, she kind of resembled Fred-bare. Her eyes were intensely focused on Faith and her chest heaved furious, exasperated breaths. Her hair was ruffled and her mouth was open, letting her anger spill out and wash into her abusers.

Finally, a response came from Faith. It was a shrug. "Meh. Okay, then. I guess we'll just hurt your brother FOR you."

Candy jumped behind Ned and held him tightly in her arms. "You're not gonna lay a FINGER on my brother," she snarled. "The second you hurt what I love is when I go fucking crazy."

"Okay. You know what, lollipop?" Faith said, getting close to Candy, "You know what's not okay? That you've been deceiving us for all the time you were with us. We thought you were a part of our group, and THIS is how you treat the only group of people that ever accepted you?"

"I'm not friends with murderers," Candy growled, "Now shut the hell up and get the fuck out of here before I seriously fuck you all up."

Faith scoffed. "Fine. BE that way. We're going." She promptly got off of the show stage and beckoned for her cronies to follow. They obeyed like the ducklings they were.

Brooke stopped. "Y'know...I wish I was as brave as you are right now."

"Fuck off, fatty."

"Fair enough," Brooke replied, shrugging. She climbed cautiously off of the stage and began to walk out with Faith.

It was at that moment Candy realized she'd been hugging Ned this whole time. She looked down and quickly let go. "Uhh...sorry!"

"Dude...that was AWESOME!" Ned laughed, clearly unphased by the hug, "You told them off exactly like I hoped!" He turned himself around and threw his arms around her, still laughing and in shock from his near-death experience.

Candy hugged him back. Her hand stroked the back of his head, treading through his hair. "Thanks, Ned," she replied softly. She shut her eyes, holding him close.

Suddenly, there was a crashing noise from the costume closet. Everybody in the building startled at the noise, standing at attention and watching the slightly open door with wide eyes. Nobody dared make a sound. Nobody dared move an inch for the fear they might miss something.

The wide, red door bust open all the way, revealing Fred-bare in all her golden glory. Her clothes were dusty, her fur was matted, and a fearsome grin etched itself into her face. She stomped out of the closet, and her focus immediately shifted to that of Faith and her friends.

"Well, HI, there!" she groaned eerily. Her red eyes glowed with delight. "Looks like you three have been BAAAAD girls!" She continued approaching them, her enormous figure looming over them. "And you know what we do to bad girls here, DON'TCHA?"

"Cut the shit, Mrs. Afton!" Faith yelled, "We know you're tricking us! What kind of idiots-"

"Guys…" Willow stammered, pointing to the robot with a shaky finger, "That's...that's not me! I'm not doing anything! I swear to it!"

Faith looked back at the robot with a worried expression. She gulped and, in a complete lack of sense whatsoever, stepped towards the bear to check and see if she was really seeing this. Unexpectedly, Fred-bare unleashed an ear-piercing scream before going berserk and bolting after the three girls. Struck instantaneously with panic and fear, all three girls sprinted off faster than an electronic rabbit through the building. Fred-bare managed to keep up with them the whole time before they finally found a closet they could run into. Immediately, flies began spraying out and they all shrieked in disgust and horror. They prepared to run away, but Fred-bare had caught up with them and pushed them into the closet while laughing maniacally. The mammoth bear slammed the door shut on the three girls, picked a key out of her back pocket and sealed the door shut. Her evil laughter reverberated off the walls as the girls pounded on the metal door, begging and pleading to get out. The enormous yellow bear paid no mind to their pitiful cries, however, and instead began walking towards Willow and her children. Then, she reached around her neck and ripped off her head…

"I don't fucking believe it!" Candy laughed, "Henrietta!"

Henrietta posed. "In the flesh! Literally!"

Ned burst out laughing. "No way! I can't believe they, like, ACTUALLY thought you were Fred-bare! That was AWESOME!"

"Oh, yeah. Those girls TOTALLY deserve it," Henrietta replied, dusting off her hands. She stepped towards Willow and placed her hands on her hips. "How did I do?"

"That was only one of the best performances I've ever SEEN in one of those suits!" Willow answered, "Amazing! Somebody give her a raise!"

Henrietta blushed. "Aww. Thanks. Alright, now that the show's over, who wants cake?"

"ME!" Ned yelled from the show stage.

Candy chuckled. "He deserves it the most out of all of us," she said.

Ned scrambled out of her arms and jumped off the stage, preparing to head back to the table he was sitting at before he was captured. Then he stopped in his tracks and his giddy grin halfway disappeared.

Ivy ran into him full speed and locked him in a tight hug. She clutched onto him and pressed her cheek against his neck, making sure he was still here and this wasn't some hallucination. He felt her cool hands rub against his back and her chest convulsed with anxious laughter. He felt a red hot blush ignite in his cheeks.

"Thank GOD!" Ivy laughed, "I thought they killed you for a second! I thought you were gone! I thought you were DEAD! Oh my GOD!"

"Hey! Ivy!" Ned laughed, still in a bit of shock himself, "It's okay! I'm fine! Really! Everything's okay!" He wrapped his arms around her slowly, making sure he could feel her as well as she could feel him.

She pushed herself away for a moment, still in his arms but just far apart enough to talk. "I am SO sorry, Ned!" she apologized, "I am SO fucking sorry! I should have listened to you, I should have believed your gut feeling, but I was stupid and I thought...and I assumed…" She sniffed. She forced her body into a hug again. "I...I almost lost you. I'm so sorry."

Ned smiled. "Dude! It's okay," he said softly. He carefully stroked her back with his right hand. "I'm here...I'm still here."

. . .

The party went astonishingly well after that. The five of them reclined at a table in the middle of the bar, gulping down huge chunks of vanilla cake and laughing and joking about everything that had just happened and things that everybody thought would happen but didn't.

At one point, Ned asked if this was supposed to substitute his dinner for the day, and Willow shrugged with a disgruntled expression. "Hey! I'm allowed to be a bad mom every once in a while! Now hush up and keep eating your dinner!"

Ned grinned. "You don't have to tell ME twice!" he laughed.

. . .

The rest of the day went by unbelievably quickly. By the time the party was over, it felt like Ned had teleported all the way back home and into bed without any time passing at all. And yet, he still remembered a conversation he had with Ivy on the way home.

"Dude...did you know Candy was faking it this whole time?"

"Well...she told me she was, like, a week ago!"

"WHAT!? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I wanted to keep it a secret! I wanted her to be able to trust me!"

"But...you didn't trust ME not to say anything about it?"

"If I'm allowed to be blunt, you DO have a tendency to reveal secrets and ruin surprises."

"Heh...I mean…I guess you're right."

"But yeah, I guess I SHOULD have trusted you. You're, like, my best friend! I should be able to tell you things like that!"

"Especially when they're so big that they could have prevented her from trying to kill you!"

"Yeah...but, like I said, I wanted to be loyal. Even if it was for a bullshit purpose."

"Yeah. I get it. You're good at that, you know."

"Thanks, and I do know."

Silence for a while.

And all the way back home.

And it was only when Ned was tucked away in bed he remembered that he never told Ivy how he felt.

"FFFFUCK."

. . .

Ned smacked his lips and woke up on the carpet of the corridor with Plushie looking down on him from her wooden throne. She giggled innocently and batted her eyelashes excitedly as he sat up.

"Morning, sunshine!" she sang. She slid off her chair and came up behind him. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Ned replied honestly, "Actually, maybe better. I survived the party!"

"I know!" Plushie said, "Happy sixteenth, by the way!"

"Thanks!" Ned responded, shifting so he was facing Plushie. "You know, I always thought sixteen was the age in which every single bit of your physical and mental being evolved into a greater form. But...I don't feel any different, other than the knowledge that it's been sixteen years since I came out of my mom's vagina."

Plushie laughed. "Sorry, the delivery. Anyway!" She sat at attention. "So...you don't feel any different?"

Ned shrugged. "Nah, not really."

Plushie crawled up closer to him, a sly smile treading across her face. The light glinted off of her plastic eyes as she approached. "Well…" she said, a paw reaching down towards his pants, "Lemme see if I can feel a difference…"

Her right paw snuck into the waistband of his pajama pants and began sliding them off his legs, letting his cock spring out into her other paw. She let her soft, plush fingers wrap around the base. She bit her lip as the paw that grabbed onto his pants crept down her belly and wedged itself into her panties. She was already wet…

"Mmm…I dunno. I can't really tell just by looking at it. I'm gonna have to...taste it…"

Plushie stuck her mouth right onto his crotch, almost immediately taking in half of it in one smooth movement. Ned gasped as her mouth enveloped his dick, her tongue tracing it as her head bobbed up and down like a buoy on violent waters; smooth but rough. She kept both eyes closed and her paw planted on his leg, trying her best to keep a steady rhythm without losing her focus. The only thing going against that were her fingers rubbing intensely against her sensitive lips, every once in a while getting her to hum in pleasure and vibrated her mouth against Ned's cock. He seemed to enjoy it when she got distracted…

Eventually, Plushie stopped and pulled her head off of his crotch. She licked her lips and wiped her chin with her paw. She slid the other one out of her panties. Her fingers were dripping with her juices, fresh and warm.

"Hmm...it still tastes about like it should," Plushie thought out loud, letting her tongue trace over her soaked fingers.

Ned gave a sly grin in response. "Well...maybe you should try another method." He laid on his back, putting his hand around his wet cock. "Perhaps...a vaginal demonstration?"

Plushie chuckled seductively. She bit her lip. "I thought you'd never ask," she said. She practically ripped off her panties and continued to finger her pussy for a brief moment before Ned's dick replaced her fingers. She began humping Ned, feeling his cock drill into her with such intensity that every impact drew out a pleasured moan. Her ears bounced and her ass jiggled, all the while making Ned's jelly stomach flip and his chest wobble. He felt her tight lips surround his cock for the fifth time, and he could swear every time they had sex it felt better. Her methods were improving, her intake had increased, and her stamina was something else.

It was almost as if she was improving just for him…

Not ten minutes into their act, Ned already felt his release imminent. As always, he came inside of Plushie with little objection, and she continued her pattern of thrusts and bounces, eventually finishing herself in a whining, shuddering orgasm.

She got off of his cock and lay down on his stomach, letting her juices and Ned's cum drip from her pussy onto the carpet. Her smile was unremovable. Her eyes relaxed into a resting state, focused lovingly on Ned. She crossed her arms and giggled.

"Oooh, yeah!" she sighed, "Yup! You're sixteen, alright!"

Ned chuckled. "You can tell just by THAT?"

Plushie shrugged. "I have my methods." She shifted. "So...did you get any…"presents" from a special someone?"

Ned groaned. "No," he admitted, "I forgot after trying to recover from the shock of not dying today."

"Okay," Plushie sighed, blowing a drooping ear out of her face. "Well, I mean...I'd forget too if I almost died an hour ago. When are you gonna tell her?"

"You know what? Tomorrow," Ned stated confidently, "I swear to god, I'm SICK of forgetting or giving up! Tomorrow, I'm GOING to pull her aside and confess to her!"

"ATTA boy!" Plushie cheered, "THAT'S what I like to hear!"

"Look. Tomorrow's my second to last day of summer vacation," Ned added, "If she DOES love me back, I at least want to know before I go back to feeling like the bag of shit I am. You know?"

"Not really," Plushie replied, "I think you're one of the funniest, most kind people I've ever met and probably will meet. You're sweet, compassionate, you look out for those you care for, you're smart, you're cunning...you even accommodate every girl's sexual desires even if you don't entirely agree with them!"

Ned blushed. "Thanks."

Plushie brought her face closer. The tips of her ears tapped the center of his forehead lightly. "Even if Ivy doesn't like you that way, she'll still love you for all those things."

"Maybe not the sexual desires part…"

"No! Not that one," Plushie agreed, "But...for the most part, there's a lot to love about you. Even if it's just platonic love." She bent forward and kissed his nose.

Ned smiled. "I guess…" Looking into her eyes, she had romantic love very clearly sewn into them. She was into Ned.

"I'll do my best," he promised.

"That's all I could ever ask for," Plushie replied softly. She moved her face into his and they shared a passionate kiss until Ned opened his eyes and she had disappeared.

He was back in the room, this time with Fred-bare sitting confidently at the foot of it. Turning her head, her ears jerked and her eyes blinked with momentary confusion. Then she smiled. Several teeth poked out of her mouth when she did.

"You made it!" she said. Her tone was laced with sadness, but it was probably just from the trauma and disbelief he was still here.

"Yep!" Ned replied, placing his hands behind his head. "I'm totally fine!"

"Oh, my god, I was so WORRIED about you!" Fred-bare laughed, placing a hand on her chest, "I can't believe it! Thank GOD you're safe!" She scooched over to Ned and hugged him tight in her wide, fuzzy arms. His face squished into her chest. He blushed.

She parted after some time. He noticed her glowing red eyes had softened from the night before; they weren't as intense. They were still sharp, though. Ned couldn't make eye contact, because it felt like every time he did her eyes were scalpels dragging themselves across his corneas. It was painful to look directly at her; something about her felt different.

She looked him up and down. "I still can't believe it! I can't believe I still get to...um." She cleared her throat. "So...you're sixteen now?"

Ned nodded. "Yup. A real milestone. Old enough to get a learner's permit."

"Did you enjoy the party?" she asked, "Er-besides the biting part, I mean!"

"I knew what you meant," Ned assured her. "I did."

"Didja get anything?"

"What, like presents? No, I didn't ask for any."

"None?" Fred-bare asked, looking to be genuinely surprised. "Really?"

Ned hid a smile. "I mean, I got OLDER…"

Fred-bare chuckled. "Oh, be serious!"

"I am!" Ned insisted, "I didn't ask for anything, and in return nobody gave! Honest!"

"Well, now THAT seems unusual," Fred-bare said, letting go of Ned and standing up. "It seems to me that even if you didn't ask for anything, you still deserve to be treated on your birthday!"

"Where's this going?" Ned asked, an eyebrow raised and eagerness swelling in his crotch.

"Oh, it's not going anywhere," Fred-bare lied. "I just think that it's unfair for a boy your age to go through his birthday without receiving anything at all…" She glared at him, a seductive glint in her eye and a smile ripped into her snout.

"I think you're lying," Ned accused, trying his hardest to hide a smile.

"Come on," Fred-bare pleaded softly. A set of claws reached up beneath one of the straps of her tank top and loosened it. She shrugged her shoulder and let it drop to her lower forearm. Her eyes darted from the strap to Ned. "I'm just trying to compensate for your lack of gifts…"

Before Ned could say anything else, her hands slid to the opposite sides of the hem of her tank top and slowly lifted the garment up. It was already fairly low, considering her belly was totally visible, so it took no time at all for it to be taken off her body and toss it away. Her magnificent yellow breasts jiggled and rocked, her nipples poking out into the warm air. She put a hand behind her head and kept the other to her chest. Her elbow mushed into her breast, sinking into the softness and momentarily disappearing.

Her tongue escaped her lips and traced all three. The hand behind her head came forth and swept through her bangs. "I want to give you a nice birthday present," she said erotically. She climbed onto the bed on her hands and knees, keeping her arms tightly pressed together to increase the amount of cleavage she was showing. She came closer until her face was inches from Ned's and lied down on her side. She managed to slip her jean shorts off her thick, smooth thighs and wiggled them off of her feet. She rolled Ned onto his side so he was facing her. In a moment of lust, he looked in her eyes then quickly faced away. Something about her was just so...intimidating.

"So, sweetheart," she said, lust commandeering her tone, "What do you wanna do to me first?"

Ned gulped. "Whatever you want me to do, I guess!"

"Aww, come on, now," she pouted, "That's not how it works! The birthday boy oughtta decide how his girl gets treated!"

Finally, Ned forced himself to look her in the eye. He flinched. At first, he saw intensity and intimidation in her gaze, but after focusing for some time, he saw only benevolence and sweetness. Her red irises no longer scathed him; rather, they gently brushed him, coaxed him, caressed him with a tenderness he hadn't seen in anyone before. The first time he saw her monstrous form and the anxiety attack that followed, he imagined her to be possibly psychotic or just a downright nervous wreck. But this time was different. He saw the real Fred-bare. She didn't intend to come off as intimidating or anxious...she was a motherly figure. Her goal was to protect Ned, and she had no doubt succeeded. With that in mind, Ned concluded, she must be at ease and was only looking for a good time with him.

So he played along.

"Well…" Ned began. His hand slid onto her chest and his fingers curled around a section of flesh. It was soft and furry. "...I usually like to start with the chest and move on, i-if you don't mind…"

Fred-bare chuckled. "Not at all! Like I said, do whatever you want! You have my full permission!"

Ned gulped in his shyness and breathed out. The next thing he knew, his hands were caressing and squeezing Fred-bare's awesome tits, his thumbs rubbing sensually against her nipples and teasing them. She moaned every now and then, her quiet sighs brushing into Ned's ear and coaxing him to do more. Eventually he did, sticking his mouth onto one of her breasts while his hand reached down between her legs and his fingers started rubbing her folds. The moment his mouth met with her nipple and his fingers met with her flesh, she let out a gasp, which eventually exhaled into a pleasured groan. He closed his eyes as his tongue traced over her erect nipple, moving it for a moment to bite down gently on it. Fred-bare's hand moved behind his head, making sure it didn't move from that one spot. Her moans of ecstasy explained why without words.

Meanwhile, his fingers caressed her pussy, delicately rubbing in between her lips and occasionally dipping them in. She was hot and wet, and only getting more so as Ned continued to finger her. Her massiveness, he found, allowed him to fit four fingers into her if he held them together enough. The second he slipped in the fourth finger was when Fred-bare really began feeling how experienced Ned had become with his endeavors. At first, he seemed clumsy and awkward, but he was growing to understand what he was doing and how to improve and what to try and what to avoid and what really turned a girl on. He was maturing, and in a lot more ways than he cared to admit. He was taking risks just like he had been told so many times.

The risks were many, but every risk felt so good.

The risks, in question, were what Ned did to Fred-bare regardless of whether or not she liked it. He sucked on her nipples, albeit asking beforehand, yet his hand in between her crotch wielding four thick digits pressed together inside of her was not asked for and yet completely welcomed. The pleasured, blissful look on Fred-bare's face said all, but physically kept silent except for the occasional lustful growl.

Ned jerked. He pulled his mouth off of Fred-bare's nipple, a thin string of saliva dribbling down his chin. Yes, the top one. He smacked his lips and stared at her breast, a bewildered glint in his eye. Fred-bare looked down disappointedly, wondering why he had stopped and mentally pleaded for him to continue. Any longer and she would cum.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Your nipple is starting to taste a little weird…" Ned commented. He took his free hand and gently squeezed the areola. After a few seconds of massaging, tiny droplets of white liquid began dripping from her breast.

His eyes widened. "Holy fuck, you're lactating," he realized.

Fred-bare giggled. "Of course I'm lactating! Sucking on ANYbody's breasts for long enough will make them lactate!"

"S-so...so I was drinking your…"

Fred-bare smiled down at him, her eyes half-closed. "Yep!" she replied bluntly, "My breast milk! You like it?"

He squirmed. "I-I'm gonna be totally honest, I saw you as a mother figure before, but this is a whole new level of that now. I'm kinda weirded out."

Fred-bare chuckled. His flustered reaction was adorable. "There's no reason to be weirded out, Ned! It's totally natural. If it makes you uncomfortable to think of me as a mother, then you don't have to think about it! Just pretend I'm just another girl. And please do so soon, because I'm getting really horny and I want to cum really bad."

Ned gulped and reluctantly placed his mouth back on her nipple with some hesitance. After another minute, he began warming up to the taste of her milk and lapped it up as though he was fifteen years younger, still feeding from his mother's breast. His hand continued its activity between her thighs, and the accelerating pace of her hums and moans notified him that she was getting close to orgasm. In almost exact accordance with her pace, Ned exerted a bit more force as the acceleration continued, all the while keeping his mouth stuck to her nipple and nursing silently.

Minutes later, Fred-bare felt herself explode in an orgasm that felt like it lasted an hour. Her eyes nearly crossed, her mouth opened wide, and her fingers curled into tight fists while her toes clenched onto her own feet. She relaxed, dispelling all tension and releasing it in one last pleasured sigh. She looked down at Ned, whose smile was wider than his waistline. His fingers were soaked in her juices, so wet that even the end of the sleeve of his pajama shirt was drenched. His bottom lip had a leftover droplet of breast milk hanging off of it, which he quickly wiped off with his free hand. Overall, both of them looked very pleased.

But they knew they both wanted more.

Ned got Fred-bare to lay on her back, her hands kept behind her head and her legs spread wide. Ned stripped off the last piece of clothing he had on and got to work on Fred-bare. Of course, the first thing he did was jam his cock into her pussy. As an immediate response, Fred-bare tensed and squeaked. Her mouth opened wide again for a second, in that split second revealing every single sharp tooth she had lining her top jaw. Ned took a moment to absorb the feeling of being inside of her. It was faint and slightly underwhelming, but it was definitely there.

Everything seemed to go so fast; first Ned was pounding his cock into Fred-bare, keeping a decent pace without any problems whatsoever. Then, he was hanging onto her left leg while fucking her sideways. Then, she had both legs clamped together and was holding on to her thighs while Ned's pace began increasing force. Then she was on her hands and knees while Ned fucked her from behind, bent over and holding her tits in his palms. And sometime during this final position, Ned couldn't hold it any longer and came inside Fred-bare, continuing his thrusting just a little while longer so she could cum for the second time.

Ned collapsed on top of Fred-bare, making her fall from her hands and lay down backside-up on the bed. They both released muffled grunts on impact, but chuckled and sighed afterwards. Fred-bare rolled over so their chests touched each other and their eyes met. Ned sensed the same benevolence and love he had sensed in her before.

"Happy birthday, Ned," Fred-bare said.

Ned beamed. "It sure is, Fred. It suuure is."

They locked each other in a kiss and parted. This one felt particularly good, for some reason. Fred-bare wasn't as forceful as any of the other girls, nor was she hesitant or even apathetic. She just kind of...did it. Without even a word.

Except, of course, that he needed to improve on his kissing, which was met with a disgruntled growl. But he couldn't stay mad at her.

"Hey...thanks again for warning me about Candy," Ned told her, "I mean, I would've survived either way, but I appreciate that you told me."

Fred-bare smiled. "As your embodied anxiety, I feel it's my responsibility to keep you safe and on your toes. I don't do it to torture you, I just do it because-"

"I know, I know," Ned interrupted, "Because you can't stand to see me hurt."

"More than that," Fred-bare continued. "I love you."

Ned kept still and said nothing.

"Do you believe that?"

"Considering you've tormented me with mistakes I could potentially make for YEARS, it's kind of hard to take seriously."

"It's true!" Fred-bare insisted, "I love you, and I don't want you to hate yourself! I want you to feel like you can succeed, even if you don't end up doing so! But every time I subtly tried to help you, you rejected my warnings and made a fool of yourself, and now you're a self-hating, mentally scarred child because you hardly ever heed my warnings!"

She sighed. "Sometimes it's not anxiety that's the problem, but the way we react to it."

Ned bit his lower lip in thought. "I...I don't know how to respond to that…"

She smiled. "You will in time."

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her and locking him in another kiss. This one lasted longer, but by no means did Ned protest or try to get away.

"Aww!" came a voice from under the bed, "You two are so cute together!"

They jumped. They watched as a figure crawled out from under the bed and three more little ones sprang out and attached themselves to her.

Ned gasped. "FREDDIE! What are you doing here!?"

She chuckled, placing her hands over her crotch. "I just thought, y'know, as a birthday surprise, you could have a little...playdate with my kids?"

The three little demon bears turned their gaze from their mother to the naked Ned lying belly-down on Fred-bare. They eyed the area between his legs hungrily. One of them was drooling.

Ned looked at Fred-bare. She shifted her gaze to him and shrugged. "Hey, I don't have a problem with it if YOU don't. I'm letting you decide this one on your own, kid."

Ned looked back at the Freddles. They had climbed off of their mother, reluctantly albeit, with big, begging eyes and pouting lips. Their ears drooped behind their heads and their tails all went limp on their backsides. The color of their brown fur hid in the shadows of the dancing flames from the candles lighting up the room.

Ned sighed. "I mean...I did agree to fuck them once. Let's give this another shot."

One of them grew a wide smile. Ned jumped at the sight of all of her sharp teeth.

"AAH! But NO TEETH!" Ned cried in a panic.

"Relax, sweetie!" Freddie giggled, "They're perfectly harmless. They wouldn't DARE bite you unless you did something to them that they didn't like!"

Ned blushed. "Like...insult them?"

Freddie nodded.

"Ah, damn…" Ned cringed. "I-I'm really sorry about that. Really. I've been meaning to tell you that I apologize for being rude to them."

"Oh, it's okay! I think they'll forgive you if you show them a good time," Freddie said. She chuckled. "If you know what I mean."

"Excuse me." Ned slid off of Fred-bare and sat on the foot of the bed. "I'll show them a good time, alright!" he declared. He watched as the Freddles convened at the end, their pleading eyes still in awe over Ned's length. One of them licked her lips. Another wrung their hands together. The third was the boldest, stepping forward without hesitation and sticking her nose right in Ned's crotch.

He jolted. Her nose was cold and wet.

She pulled her nose away, sensing his discomfort, and focused her mouth on the area instead. Her hot breath stained his base with moisture, then her tongue slipped out and applied the rest. Ned moaned as the tip of her tongue fiddled with the flesh just under the head of his cock, teasing him and getting him worked up. The little bear stopped for just a moment to back away. She put a claw to the top of the one-piece she was wearing and tore it open, all the way from the collar to the obvious camel toe between her legs. The garment slid off of her, and she climbed back onto the bed, completely naked.

Ned simply laid back and expected the young bear to hop on his dick without a problem. And she did...but she didn't put it in the hole Ned thought she would.

"Wh-WHAT THE FUCK?" Ned cried.

"Oh, yeah," Freddie giggled, "Fredrika doesn't know where that goes yet. She thinks sex is supposed to be anal."

"NOW you tell me," Ned groaned. He glanced back at the bear, apparently named Fredrika, who had a disgruntled look on her face. She moved her hips slowly and winced whenever she did. She began panting, which sounded more like a bird being choked than it did actual panting. She must have real issues, Ned thought.

"H-here. Lemme help you," Ned invited. He took hold of the little bear's hips and lifted her easily off of his cock. She looked to be immediately relieved to have it out of there. Then she felt herself get lowered back on, this time plowing the rod into her vagina. She squeaked at first, but cooed with pleasure as she realized this was intended to feel good. She started moving her body up and down, going along with it in a smooth rhythm.

"Thaaat's it," Ned encouraged her, "Atta girl. You got it."

Fredrika bared a smile. But this time, her teeth were less visible.

He took some time to enjoy Fredrika riding his dick for a minute before the other two appeared. They had both stripped naked while Ned wasn't looking. One of the little monsters scurried over to where Fredrika was and began batting at her with a clawed hand. Fredrika snarled in response, beginning to bare her sharp teeth. Her pupils dimmed. The other monster grew angrier, too, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.

Not knowing what to do, Ned simply waited for things to clear up before Fred-bare tapped his shoulder. He bent his head back and looked behind him.

"You know, you can pleasure them both at the same time!" Fred-bare suggested.

Ned smiled. "Thanks!" he whispered. He bent his head back forward just as a brawl started among the two bears, biting and scratching and clawing at each other over Ned's erection. An idea came to Ned. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he had to take the risk.

At just the right moment, Ned slid his hand down to where the second Freddle was and placed his hand in between her wiry legs. Almost immediately, she calmed down, ceasing her fury and going back to her normal, contented persona. Once Ned began moving his fingers, stimulating her clit, her angered emotions were doused even more and replaced with ones of ecstasy and enjoyment. He watched her seem to melt into the covers the moment he stuck his fingers in. Her eyes crossed and her tongue spilled out of her stupid smile. He noticed her nipples were fully erect.

Then along came the third one. She nudged Ned's other hand, hoping he would finger her like he was with the one on his left. Instead, Ned beckoned her to come to his head and sit down beside it. He gave her careful and descriptive instructions, and she did everything he told her to, from spreading her legs to moving the slightest inch forward. Eventually, it ended up with Ned's face plowed into her crotch with his tongue sensually tracing her warm, moist folds. As the coos and growls of the Freddles echoed through the room, along with Fred-bare and Freddie's moans (who were masturbating in the background, don't mind them), one more high-pitched snarl was added in once Ned inserted his tongue into her. Immediately, he tasted a hint of salt but also a dash of fried pineapple. It was an odd sensation, but then again he was fucking three monster bear cubs at once while their mother and another bear fingered themselves in the corner. Odd was a meaningless term at this point.

The three bears all seemed to growl the same moans of ecstasy, compiling into one loud, intermittent hum fueled by Ned's ceaseless dedication to pleasuring them all. Ned repeated his motions, sometimes switching it up by moving his own hips instead of Fredrika moving hers, rotating his thumb around Fredna's (the second bear) clit, or humming into Fredlynn's (the third one) pussy to produce a vibration that caused her to squeal and press her hands to her face. Every one of them was being equally satisfied, their pussies being played with just the way they liked it while Ned was enjoying the whole experience himself.

They all came at different times; first to cum was Fredna, second was Ned, then Fredlynn and finally Fredrika, all left panting and sweating and wearing smiles wider than Kansas. Once all of the cubs had been thoroughly satisfied with their orgasms, they huddled up close to Ned and dozed off while laying down next to his plump tummy. Ned smiled and wrapped his arms around all three lightly, hugging them as gently as he could without disrupting them from their attempted slumber.

Freddie giggled. "I think they like you, Ned!" she commented from the corner, "They hardly ever curl up next to anyone!"

"Man...that's an honor," Ned replied. He stroked his hand through Fredlynn's hair.

"So, birthday boy," Fred-bare called, "How're you feelin' about all this?"

Ned picked up his head and smiled at her. "Y'know, to be honest...I don't think I could possibly be happier right about now."

"Me either," Freddie piped up, "Because, I don't know if this is a good time to tell you or not, but I think I'm pregnant with your child."

Ned felt his eyes open wide and his heart fall through his chest, sinking through the floor. "You're WHAT!?"

. . .

There was a knock on Ned's door. He jolted awake, sitting up in bed faster than he ever remembered. He checked his pants for morning wood.

Shit, he still had it.

He shifted the covers to accommodate his situation as best he could and eventually got it just right. "Come in!" he called.

His door opened, revealing none other than Ivy. "Hey, dude!" she greeted cheerfully, "You awake?"

"Noo," Ned replied sarcastically, "I just learned how to sit up and say 'come in!' in my sleep."

Ivy giggled. "Impressive," she replied, reading through his sarcasm. She looked out his window and leaned against the doorway. She crossed her arms over her orange shirt. "Man...y'know, Candy thinks it's gonna rain today."

Ned glanced out his window. The skies were dark and the clouds hung lower than an unrestrained ballsack. Wind smacked the trees with a hand of fury. The screen on the window howled in pain as the wind shook and swayed it.

A storm was definitely brewing.

"Yeah," Ned agreed, "I think she's right." He startled. "Wait-Candy talked to you? Or did you talk to Candy?"

"She talked to me!" Ivy beamed, pointing to herself, "I think it's the first time in, like, EVER that she's had a pleasant, normal conversation with me! Ever since yesterday, she's been SO much nicer to me! I could get used to this!"

Ned smiled. "Well...that's just who she is."

"Yeah, but I wish I'd known that earlier!" Ivy said, "I didn't know how much of a burden her friends were until now! And I STILL can't believe she told YOU first!"

"Me either," Ned admitted honestly, "Yesterday had to be the best day of my life because of that one moment where she told off those jerks!"

"Yeah! And then Henrietta ran them into the…" Ivy stopped. "Oh, my god! Do you think they're still in there?"

"Oh, they're still in there!" Candy answered. Ivy jumped and squealed. Ned and Candy laughed.

"You SCARED me!" Ivy laughed.

"Sorry!" Candy chortled. "Anyway, yeah. They're still in there. Mom told their parents they were going to spend the night here, so they should expect them to come back home right about now." She chuckled. "Wait until they hear their kids were trapped in a bug-infested closet all night long!"

"Let's hope we scared them enough to keep them quiet," Ned yawned, stretching his arms.

Candy sighed. "Yeah...well, mom's over there letting them out now. I'll let you guys know what ends up happening, if ever anything DOES."

"Thanks!" Ned called to her.

"Hey. It's the LEAST I can do to make up for fifteen ye-"

"Sixteen," Ivy corrected.

"...SIXteen years of torment," Candy finished. "I'm still beating myself up for that…"

"Well, we're all getting along now, aren't we?" Ned asked.

"Yeah," Candy agreed. She gave him a warm smile. "I guess we are."

"Then there's no reason to do that anymore! All I ever really wanted was to get along with both of my sisters, and now that goal is finally accomplished."

"Aww!" Ivy said, "We're, like, actually pretending to be a family now!"

Candy laughed. She flicked one of Ivy's pigtails playfully. "Got that right, kiddo," she said. She put her hands to her hips. "Well, I dunno about you guys, but I think I'm just gonna hang around the house today. If it wasn't gonna rain, I'd take you guys somewhere. But I'd rather keep myself dry unless I decide to take a shower."

"Understandable," Ned commented.

Candy nodded. "You two can do whatever you want. Enjoy your penultimate day of summer vacation!"

"Thanks, Candy!" Ivy called after her as she disappeared from the doorway. She sighed. "I'm so glad she doesn't have to pretend to hate us anymore!"

"I know!" Ned agreed, "She's turned a new leaf! It's another chapter in our lives!"

"We're gonna hafta get used to her being so nice to us now!" Ivy giggled. She leaned back against the doorway like she was before Candy came in. "Uhh...that being said, what do you wanna do today?"

Ned looked away from Ivy for a moment. He didn't have anything planned for today, so anything could go, really…

"I think I'll take Candy's route today," Ned told her.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself!" she said, "I'm gonna wait until it starts raining an' then I'm gonna go puddle jumpin'!"

Ned chuckled. "You do that," he said. He whipped off the covers, forgetting he still had a boner. He crossed his legs quickly.

Ivy beamed. "I think I WILL!" she insisted, beginning to leave. "Lemme know if ya wanna come with later!"

"Will do," Ned promised, planting a fist in his eye to rub away his tiredness. As Ivy shut his door, he began recollecting his dream and all the things he did in it. The compiled emotions made his dick hard, but his lust dissipated when he remembered his promise to Plushie.

He remembered that he had made a promise to tell Ivy he loved her. He failed yesterday, due to his near-death experience, and he wasn't going to make the mistake of waiting too long again.

He remembered telling Fred-bare that he couldn't possibly be happier.

He would make sure that he was lying.

Ha ha! Did that plot twist take you by surprise? Let me know! And thanks for reading! Comments, requests and questions are always welcomed, and it's likely I'll reply to you if you do try to contact me. Thanks again! See you next Saturday!