For the kids of FARAWAY, their journey through the forest to visit BASIL's house was supposed to be a normal one…
That was until they heard the scream of a familiar boy calling out for help.
"AH! NO! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!"
SUNNY, normally easily distracted and lost in his own world, had perked up immediately at the voice of his friend, "BASIL?"
"Sounds like he's in trouble." HERO murmured seriously, before quickly running after the noise, "We should probably hurry to see what's wrong!"
Not needing to be told twice, the entire group raced towards the end of the forest to reach BASIL's house as quickly as possible.
What they saw when they arrived was too shocking for words.
There BASIL was, in the middle of the chaotic mayhem, running around as he desperately begged, "No, stop it! Please, don't ruin my garden anymore! All my plants...!"
Surrounding him from all sides were a group of POTATO BEETLES, making a huge mess as they partied on top of BASIL's garden and feasted on every flower they like a buffet. Poor BASIL was left only to watch helplessly as his hard work was left to ruins by the heartless creatures.
"HYEA HYEA HYEA HYEA!" One of the POTATO BEETLES laughed, "Eat up as much as you can boys! Momma is gonna be so proud of us tonight for bringing home dinner!"
Disgusting monstrosities they are, being insects the size of an average person's head. From far away, they looked like potatoes with wings, but in actuality, the potato skin was only a camouflage for their hard shell. They were inconsiderate, rude to anyone they met, and smelled horrible to boot.
Several of them invaded BASIL's property as they laid waste to each patch of garden on sight. It must have been like a massacre for the poor boy, to have him watch his hard work being eaten like that.
HIKIKO ran up to BASIL, crouching to his level and asking in concern, "BASIL? Are you alright? Are you hurt?!"
BASIL, hearing the sound of familiar friends, turned around with a relieved cry before running up to HIKIKO and hugging her tightly, "HIKIKO! The POTATO BEETLES are eating my garden! I keep asking them to stop, but they won't listen to me!"
HIKIKO went to comfort the poor boy by hugging him back tightly, "There, there, don't worry. We're here now to help."
Stepping up from behind, AUBREY proceeded to assert her dominance as she screamed out to the beetles, "HEY! What do you bullies think you're doing to our friend's garden?! You're eating all of his flowers!"
Only one of them seemed surprised by the audacity of AUBREY calling out to them, as it indignantly replied back, "His flowers? What the heck are you talking about?! We found this place first, fair and square! These flowers are all ours!"
"Hey, that's not fair!" KEL shouted back, "What do you mean you found this place first?! BASIL has been living here his whole life! He planted all of these flowers, not you!"
"Oh yeah?" The beetle looked around for show, then asked, "If these flowers belonged to him, why don't any of them have his name on it? Nobody was around when we showed up here, so that means these flowers didn't belong to anyone! So scram you little shrimp!"
"That's not nice, Sir." HERO, ever the peaceful mediator of the group, stepped up to plate with a stern glare, "These flowers were on BASIL's property. You had no right to come waltzing in and suddenly claiming these flowers as your own!"
A different POTATO BEETLE gave a dismissive scoff as it gulped a clawful of daisies, "Property schmoperty! If he wasn't here first before we showed up, then that means we were here first! It's finders keepers, losers weepers! He should have stuck around if he didn't want anyone taking these flowers! Who would be dumb enough to leave their territory unguarded?"
"But I was just leaving for a moment to refill my watering can! I was gone only for a few minutes!" BASIL sobbed, unable to calm down even when HIKIKO did her best to comfort him.
"That's your fault, kid. Not ours! These flowers belong to the POTATO FAMILY now, and you can't do nothing to stop us!"
HIKIKO, now severely pissed off beyond all measure at the callous treatment shown, called her little brother over and politely asked, "SUNNY, be a dear and take BASIL away to a good hiding spot. Big Sister has some insects to exterminate."
SUNNY nodded resolutely, grabbing BASIL by the hand and gently pulling him away to someplace safe nearby.
Good. Since both of them were the youngest and didn't know how to fight, it was better that they'd get out of harm's way.
Standing back up, HIKIKO faced the beetles with a glare, "This is your last warning! Give back all the flowers you stole from our friend and leave, or else we'll kick you out ourselves!"
Many of the POTATO BEETLES practically seemed offended at her threat, as all of them dropped what they were doing to surround the kids in an intimidating manner, "You really trying to pick a fight with the POTATO FAMILY? You should know that us beetles don't take kindly to bullies!"
"Who's the bully here?! You're the ones ruining our friend's garden and eating all of his hard work! You're nothing but a bunch of mean jerks!" AUBREY shouted back angrily.
"We told you kids already, FINDERS KEEPERS!" One beetle aggravatingly shouted back, "If you don't leave us alone to eat in peace, we'll show you who the real mean jerks are gonna be!"
Things grew tense and silent as the two groups stared each other down.
BASIL and SUNNY were watching nervously from behind the trees of the forest.
HIKIKO narrowed her eyes, refusing to back down.
Behind her, everyone was getting ready for a fight.
The beetles in front of them grew more aggravated as their wings sped up to make an ominous buzzing sound.
Looks like a fight was inevitable.
AUBREY smiled with a glint in her eye as she readied up her foam bat.
Just as a POTATO BEETLE was about to fly directly towards her, AUBREY timed it just right as she swung.
By the time AUBREY placed her bat down and held a hand up to cover the sun out of her eyes so that she could see where the beetle went, it was already a star shining in the middle of the sky.
Just behind her, KEL was dribbling past everyone with a bouncy ball. His speed and athletic prowess were unmatched, even as countless POTATO BEETLES attempted to grab him.
"Haha! You're too slow!" KEL taunted, blowing a raspberry before hurling his ball at a group of foes.
With precision, the ball mercilessly bounced back and forth between three beetles like a pinball in a pinball machine, knocking them out of the air before KEL caught the ball as it came back.
A little way to the side, a group of beetles was surrounding HERO, circling around him like predators to prey. To them, they must have thought he was easy pickings.
Of course, it would be foolish to think so.
Before any of the beetles could charge at him, HERO had pulled out a hand to call for a timeout before he started a campfire in the middle of the fight. While the fire was lit, HERO took out his trusty frying pan and started heating it up with some cooking oil.
This caused the beetles to blink in confusion, staying back a bit as they wondered what the heck he was doing. They watched curiously as HERO even began mixing and frying something up.
After a few moments, HERO proudly beamed as he showed off the red curry in his pan, "Ta-daah! Red hot spicy curry! Cooked to perfection!"
"Er… Okay…?" The beetles looked between themselves in confusion, before one of them asked, "So, you gonna eat it or something?"
HERO had a devilish glint in his eye as he simply answered, "Nope! You are!" and then proceeded to throw the curry into all of their faces.
Several of them then screamed in agony as their eyes became blinded by the delicious hot spiciness of HERO's cooking, as they flew around like headless chickens and colliding into each other.
Breathing a quick sigh, HERO turned around to double-check how the others were doing. Over his shoulders, he saw a quick glance of HIKIKO focusing on a POTATO BEETLE in front of her, unaware of two that was sneaking up from behind.
"HIKIKO! Watch out behind you!" HERO warned.
HIKIKO heard his warning just in time as she ducked and rolled out of danger, right as a beetle nearly bit her head off with its pincer.
"Thanks, HERO! I can handle it from here!" HIKIKO nodded towards him in gratitude before facing off against her own fair share of foes.
As the POTATO BEETLES swarmed around her, HIKIKO pulled out her trusty jump rope and got ready for action.
When one beetle charred directly at her, HIKIKO slid down while holding the jump rope out right above her head, catching the beetle by the foot.
Quickly tying his feet up, she jumped back up and pulled on one end of her jump rope to swing the beetle around, launching it away right as the jump rope loosened up and causing the beetle to collide with another.
The last one in her sight started buzzing around at incredible speed, hoping to catch her off guard and confuse her.
HIKIKO straightened her jump rope out as she focused on her target, taking aim and then cracking her jump rope out like a whip.
One end of the jump rope hit directly into the beetle's wing, causing it to spiral out of control and crash to the floor like a gunned down plane.
"Nice shot!" She heard HERO complimented from afar.
HIKIKO turned to him and winked back in response.
HERO chuckled a bit with a blush as he looked away.
As the fight continued, many of the POTATO BEETLES were starting to realize how outmatched they were as they started falling one by one against the group of kids. Despite their initial unassuming appearances, it seems the kids were far tougher than the POTATO FAMILY bargained for.
"Ah boy, this isn't good…" One of them muttered bitterly as it retreated, "I need to get outta here and call Mama!"
As it buzzed away, HIKIKO and the others continued their relentless onslaught against the beetles in order to drive them out of BASIL's garden.
SUNNY and BASIL watched from afar, with BASIL continuing to worry about his plants while SUNNY was silently cheering on his sister.
Neither of them noticed the big giant bug shadow lurking right behind them.
Meanwhile, HIKIKO was beginning to feel a bit tired from dealing with so many POTATO BEETLES as they continued swarming around her. Despite taking down so many already, they were very stubborn in sticking around to finish the fight.
HERO had already noticed HIKIKO's condition and was halfway done prepping his next meal.
AUBREY and KEL continued working together to cover each other's back, their teamwork surprisingly effective despite normally being constantly at each other's throats.
"Think fast!" KEL threw his ball straight at AUBREY, who then proceeded to knock the ball out of the park and directly into a bunch of beetles grouped together.
Sound effects of a bowling ball getting a strike would be an appropriate choice here.
Despite the impressive display, KEL found reason to criticize AUBREY as he went to pick up his ball, "Aw, come on! AUBREY, pick up the pace! You could have hit it harder than that!"
"Screw you, KEL! I hit the ball back just fine! You're the one throwing it so weak!"
"Guys, stop it!" HERO piped up in between them, "Seriously not the best time to have an argument right now!"
Fortunately, HERO was just finished with his next meal. A piping fresh well-done slab of steak, ready to be eaten.
"HIKIKO, here! Use this!" HERO called out, launching the steak into the air for her to catch.
Noticing the slab of well-done meat coming her way, she lit up like a Christmas tree and caught it with her jump rope.
"Thanks, HERO! This is perfect!"
Instead of eating it like he thought however, HIKIKO actually ended up tying the steak on one end of the rope with a tight knot before swinging it around like a flail.
HIKIKO then proceeded to charge directly at a group of beetles with a war cry, knocking many of them out of the air as she passed by with her impromptu steak-flail.
HERO watched on awkwardly as he scratched his head, "Well, I mean, it was supposed to help you get your energy back- but alright… If it works, it works…"
The battle continued raging on until finally, a majority of the POTATO BEETLES were down for the count.
The remaining ones became demoralized as they watched their brethren fall like flies before most of them decided to run away in fear.
Eventually, when there were no foes left in sight for them to fight, the group calmed down and gained their bearings.
"Did… we beat all of them?" AUBREY asked first, breathing heavily to regain her stamina.
KEL, with a cocky smirk, spun his ball around his finger and loudly taunted, "Serves them right! Bet you they realized we were unstoppable together and couldn't keep up the pace! Who's the mean jerks now, huh?"
HERO wiped the sweat off his brow as he gasped for breath, "Is it over? Oh thank goodness it's over… I didn't know how much longer I could keep going…"
Rolling her up jump-rope, HIKIKO asked in concern, "Everyone alright? Nobody hurt too bad?"
Everyone shook their heads negatory, showing that they were fine if not a bit tired. Nothing a couple of juice boxes couldn't fix-up.
Seeing that the coast was clear of any danger, HIKIKO called out, "SUNNY! BASIL! You can come out now! We made sure it's safe!"
HIKIKO did not hear a response.
That… was worrying…
"SUNNY? BASIL? Can you hear me?" HIKIKO shouted louder this time.
SUNNY didn't run off with BASIL too far, did they? She knows that she told him to find a good hiding spot, but she never did specify how good it had to be, did she?
"SUNNY?!" She called out again, this time much more frantically, "SUNNY, please let me know you're alright!"
Sensing that HIKIKO was about to panic, HERO came to her side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Easy, HIKIKO. I bet SUNNY's just fine. He's with BASIL after all, and BASIL would do his best to keep him safe."
Right… Right, of course. BASIL would keep SUNNY safe. SUNNY wouldn't be in any danger as long as they were smart and stuck together. She could trust BASIL.
"Come on, let's go look for them together. They couldn't have gone that far." HERO gently suggested with a calming smile.
HIKIKO smiled back and nuzzled HERO's hand appreciatively, "You're right. I'm sure SUNNY and BASIL are around here somewhere…"
"Don't worry, HIKIKO. I know how much you hate being separated from SUNNY for too long. We'll find them before you know it." HERO reassured.
Of course… They all knew how important SUNNY meant to her. Being the protective older sister that she was, she had the tendency to go a bit overboard when it involved her little brother. She just didn't want to lose him, that's all.
Before they could begin a search party to look for the two missing boys, the group heard an ominous laugh ringing throughout the forest.
KEL brought up his ball again, "They back for some more?"
HERO hurriedly sucked the last bit of juice in his juice box in preparation before pulling his frying pan and spatula out.
HIKIKO carefully looked around, ready to jump in with her jump rope at a moment's notice. "Keep your eyes peeled."
AUBREY held her bat up, already prepared the whole time.
The loud buzzing noise coming from nearby did not help make the situation any less tense.
When it started growing louder and closer, it was actually AUBREY who noticed where it came from first as she looked up at the sky and pointed out to the others, "Guys! Look!"
Everyone looked up and felt a chill run up their spine at the sight that they were not prepared for.
A big giant ladybug was flying above them, with comically huge human lips instead of pincers like the other bugs. It was almost the same size as BASIL's house and was wearing an overbearingly annoying amount of makeup on, making it look horrendously tasteless.
But that wasn't what HIKIKO was focused on right now. No, something much more serious caught her attention as her breathing hitched up.
Within the grasps of this giant ladybug's many legs, she saw both BASIL and SUNNY were struggling to break free from.
"SUNNY!" HIKIKO screamed out in fear.
KEL was already voicing what everyone thought, "Oh no! SUNNY and BASIL's been caught by that thing!"
The giant ladybug slowly hovered closer before finally landing right in front of them, menacingly standing on its hind legs as it shielded itself with BASIL and SUNNY.
BASIL gave a distraught and apologetic look to HIKIKO, "I'm sorry, HIKIKO! It snuck up behind us before we could react! I couldn't protect SUNNY like I promised…"
SUNNY vehemently shook his head even as he continued to struggle to break free, "Not your fault…!"
Neither of them looked like they were hurt or in any immediate danger of getting hurt, which eased some of HIKIKO's worries.
But that doesn't mean that they were out of harm's way, not until HIKIKO could somehow think of a way to get them free and back into her arms again, away from this disgusting thing in front of her.
Looming over the group, the giant lady began to speak in an irritated tone.
"So, here I was, having a nice family outing with all my sons today. We were out and about, having fun, enjoying the scenery, when all of a sudden we found the motherload of all meals! Flowers and plants of all variety, neatly organized and stacked together like a vegan combo meal! What a perfect day, right?" The giant ladybug asked rhetorically, before loudly screeching, "WRONG! I find out all my sons are getting annihilated by a bunch of kids who wanted the flowers for themselves! Now I need to figure out how to repopulate our family again to make up for all the boys I've lost before we start the great migration! All because of you!"
"And who are you supposed to be?!" AUBREY growled.
"I am the great MOTHER BEETLE, the matriarch of the BEETLE FAMILY!" The giant ladybug introduced herself coldly, swinging BASIL around in one leg, "And who the heck are you kids?! What makes you think you can hurt my children and get away with it?! You guys don't even eat flowers, you eat those disgusting artificial stuff like meat and post-processed sugar bars!"
"We didn't stop your dumb kids just so that we can eat the flowers for ourselves! The flowers already belonged to one of our friends, we were just stopping them from stealing and eating the entire garden!"
"YEAH!" KEL joined in audaciously, "The flowers were sitting on BASIL's property and he worked really hard to grow them by himself! You guys were the bad guys here for barging in here and suddenly eating all of it!"
"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE MY BOYS OF SUCH A FALSE CRIME!" The giant ladybug began fuming in rage, "My boys are angels who would never steal from others! The flowers didn't belong to anyone, it was just sitting here out in the open for anyone to take! If this so-called BASIL really owned them, then why didn't he eat all of them first?! Why did he just leave all these delicious plants out here without protecting them, letting it slowly rot?!"
"The plants weren't for eating, they were for caring and decoration!" HERO spoke up sternly, "What part of this is so hard to understand? Your family invaded BASIL's home and devoured everything in sight! How would you feel if you had someone break into your houses and start stealing all of your stuff?!"
"We beetles do not live in homes! We're migrators who move where the Summer leads us! Your argument is stupid and invalid!" The ladybug screeched back stubbornly. "My family did nothing wrong, and I'm going to make sure you pay for attacking us!"
"Oh my god, it's like we're talking to a brick wall!" AUBREY muttered irritably.
"I don't think anything we say is gonna get through to her." KEL groaned in annoyance.
HERO turned to HIKIKO in concern, asking, "How do you want to go about this, HIKIKO? We'll follow your lead."
Considering the fact that this fat idiotic insect refused to accept the responsibility for what they did to BASIL, HIKIKO could only see this leading to one direction.
Stepping forward, she snapped out the jump rope in her hands to make a loud menacing cracking sound as she got ready in her stance, "No more talking. Give me back my brother and his friend, or else we're going to take you down next!"
"UGH, you disgusting kids are so rude!" The giant ladybug continued seething in rage, before taking a pause to give a considerable look at SUNNY and BASIL in her leg arms. The ladybug hummed, before asking in a mocking tone, "You want me to give you back these two younglings?"
HIKIKO was not going to say it twice, making it clear by glaring nastily at the ladybug.
What the ladybug did next, however, was beyond her imagination.
With only a smug smile, the ladybug suddenly opened her giant mouth and swallowed SUNNY whole, causing him to scream in surprise even as he was being gulped down the ladybug's throat.
Everyone began panicking.
AUBREY was screaming in terror.
KEL could only shout in, "SUNNY!"
HERO looked like he was going to be so sick that he might even puke.
HIKIKO froze up in shock, unable to grasp the sight in front of her.
BASIL looked on with a terrified expression, as he started thrashing about even harder than before, "SUNNY! NO, GIVE HIM BACK!"
"Oh, you want to be with him too? Oh well, if you insist. Bottoms up!" The giant ladybug smiled cruelly before opening her mouth to swallow BASIL as well.
Nobody could do anything but watch as they watched for a second time as another friend got swallowed whole.
The ladybug gave a loud burp, before groaning, "Ugh, disgusting. I'm going to have indigestion by the end of this, I just know it." Facing the group of four again, she smiled evilly, "Now how does it feel to know what it's like to lose family members, hm? Maybe this will teach you not to hurt anyone else and spread lies ever again!"
HIKIKO couldn't hear her. In fact, HIKIKO couldn't hear anything.
There was a ringing in her ears that drowned everything out, even covering the commotion that her friends were making behind her.
Her vision blurred, only able to focus on the giant insect in front of her.
All HIKIKO could think about was the fact that SUNNY was taken from her by this thing.
Her little brother.
He had been right there, just now. Within her grasp to save.
But she couldn't save him.
She had just lost her little brother.
Again.
And this monstrosity took him.
Something within HIKIKO snapped.
HIKIKO has become LIVID.
HIKIKO can no longer feel any other EMOTION.
Ignoring everything else that could distract her, HIKIKO took slow steps towards the monster that took her brother away from her.
Noticing HIKIKO walking towards her, the giant ladybug smirked arrogantly, "Oh? Are you upset? Did little ol' me do something naughty?"
HIKIKO gave a quick snap of her jump-rope, letting it silently trail behind her.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Doesn't feel very good to lose someone important to you, does it?"
HIKIKO continued walking towards the insect, staring directly into its eyes.
At this point, the giant ladybug began wavering a bit from the cold glare that HIKIKO was giving her, stepping back a bit with a stammer, "H-Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Stop giving me that look."
HIKIKO got closer.
The ladybug stepped further back, "Y-You're not scary, you know! A little pipsqueak like couldn't lay a finger on someone like me!"
HIKIKO got even closer.
The ladybug nearly stumbled as it tried backing away even further, "Q-Quit looking at me like that! You're creeping me out!"
"Give him back." HIKIKO stated coldly.
"What?" The ladybug blinked in confusion, "But I already ate them both!"
"Give him back." HIKIKO repeated, now stretching the jump rope out between her hands.
HIKIKO got even closer.
"Look, you're just going to have to reproduce and make another one! I can't give you back what you've already lost!"
HIKIKO paused in place.
The ladybug gave a brief sigh in relief when it saw her stop, only to feel a chill in the back of it's spine as HIKIKO's glare became more murderous than ever before.
"I'll kill you."
…
Nope. The ladybug thought just as it spread its wings out to fly away.
Before it could get very far, something tight latched around its neck and pulled it back down to the ground.
The jump rope that had been tied into a noose was suffocating its neck, slowly becoming even tighter as HIKIKO kept pulling and pulling, mercilessly staring down at the face of the monster beneath her.
"Give him back."
The noose tightened.
It couldn't breathe.
"SUNNY, BASIL! I'm so glad you two are okay!" AUBREY cried out in relief as she hugged the two boys covered in slime, not at all caring how she was getting covered as well.
"There, there, AUBREY…" BASIL gently hugged her back as he comforted her, "There's no reason to cry! We're gonna be just fine."
HERO came up to SUNNY and gave him a soft head pat, "Man, it's a good thing we managed to pull you guys both out before that thing could digest you. You must have been so scared!"
Far back in the distance, a headless corpse of a giant ladybug sat against one of the trees in the forest. Its detached head was hanging out loosely on the ground even further back.
SUNNY shook his head neutrally, "Not really."
"Oh?" HERO tilted his head curiously, "And why weren't you scared, SUNNY?"
SUNNY pointed at HIKIKO, who was doing her best to calm down just a few feet away from them, "HIKIKO."
"Ah, I see." HERO chuckled, "You knew your big sister was going to save you, right? That's why you weren't scared."
SUNNY simply nodded.
"I don't know about you, but I was actually very scared." BASIL laughed right next to him, "When I saw you get eaten first, I was so sure we were both gonna die."
"I thought you already were dead!" AUBREY cried out, tears streaming out of her eyes like a geyser, "I didn't know what we were going to do if we lost the both of you! I was more scared than either of you!"
"Aw, c'mon. We all know that HIKIKO was the most scared out of all of us. Didn't you see her snapping like that when she saw SUNNY get eaten? Compared to her, you're just being a crybaby, AUBREY." KEL teased.
"SHUT UP, KEL!" AUBREY continued crying. "I'M NOT A CRYBABY!"
SUNNY hummed in thought, before turning back to see HIKIKO again.
She was still breathing heavily, staring ruthlessly at the dead insect corpse as if preparing to fight it again if it somehow came back to life.
Seems she hasn't calmed down yet.
SUNNY went over to her and gently tugged on her sleeping gown, "Sis?"
HIKIKO flinched before turning around, calming down considerably when she saw that it was only her little brother.
With a smile, she collapsed to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her little brother, "You came back to me…"
"Mm-hmm." SUNNY nodded, returning the hug.
When HIKIKO felt him hugging her back, she began quivering against him, becoming overwhelmed with relief.
"I… I thought I was going to lose you again…" HIKIKO sniffled, hugging SUNNY even tighter.
"Mm-mmm." SUNNY shook his head, "Never leaving you alone."
"I'm so glad… I promise I'll never leave you by yourself ever again…" HIKIKO sobbed, doing her best to keep her emotions steady.
"Okay." SUNNY responded simply, allowing her to cry on him for as long as she needed.
She cried for a while before her tear tanks ran dry.
Thank god…
Thank god that she managed to save SUNNY before it was too late...
Now that everything was calming down and the worst of it was all over, everyone regained their composure and resumed back to business as usual.
The whole trekked back to the main front garden of BASIL's house, surveying the carnage and mess that was left behind by the BEETLE FAMILY.
The entire place was a mess, nothing but the dead bodies of POTATO BEETLES and leftover pieces of flowers scattered everywhere.
BASIL had a miserable expression on as he walked over to the garden, only to find that nothing was left. Practically every single flower he ever planted was eaten or ruined.
"Oh, BASIL…" AUBREY murmured in pity, wishing she could do something to help the poor boy.
"Man… This place used to be so beautiful…" HERO lamented, looking over the whole garden, "Now look at it…"
KEL huffed angrily, "I can't believe this all happened in just a single day! Those stupid beetles…! if I see another one, I'm gonna beat the crap out of it!"
HIKIKO could only stand by awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She felt bad for BASIL, for certain. But even she knew that she couldn't do anything to take back what happened here.
BASIL sniffed a bit as tears started dropping before he quickly wiped it away and covered his eyes with his arm.
Seeing this, SUNNY walked up to him and gave him a pat on the back.
BASIL looked up to see SUNNY giving him a remorseful expression.
"Oh, SUNNY." Despite the situation, BASIL forced himself to smile in order to ease his friend, "It's not your fault, don't worry."
"Are you okay?" SUNNY asked in concern.
BASIL shook his head, wiping the last tear in his eye and continued smiling, "Don't worry, I'm fine! I may have lost the garden, but things could have turned out a lot worse! I'm just glad all of my friends are fine."
SUNNY didn't seem convinced, still giving BASIL a worried look.
Following SUNNY's lead, everyone else came up to BASIL as well as they gave their own comforting words.
"BASIL is right. We almost lost both him and SUNNY to that MOTHER BEETLE character." HERO reminded with a gentle smile, "We should all be thankful that nothing serious happened beyond that."
"I still feel bad for the flowers…" AUBREY frowned remorsefully, "BASIL, is there anything we can do to help?"
"Yeah, it's not the end of the world!" KEL cheerfully proclaimed, "Even though the garden is gone, we can just help you start over a new one! Sure, it'll take time, but if we work hard together and wait patiently, we can help BASIL's garden regrow back to the way it used to be!"
Slowly being cheered up by everyone, BASIL's sad smile became more genuine as he giggled, "That's not a bad idea. Sure, we can start the garden over again. Even if it'll take a long time to set it all up, I think it might end up looking better than before if we all work together."
"That's the spirit!" HERO proudly clapped on BASIL's shoulder before announcing confidently, "Okay gang, you know the plan. Let's help BASIL clean this whole mess up and start the garden over again. By the time this is over, we'll make this place look better than when it started!"
AUBREY, KEL, and SUNNY playfully saluted, as both KEL and AUBREY cheered, "AYE AYE!"
HIKIKO gave a sigh of relief, glad to see that her friends were able to get their spirits back. She wished she could have done more for the flower boy, but helping out to fix the garden seemed like it'll have to do for now.
If only she had gotten here sooner though, she might have helped prevent this whole mess from ever happening to begin with…
Another regret that'll follow her, she supposed…
KEL asked cheerfully, "Alright, BASIL. Since this is your garden, you're gonna be the leader! Where do we get started first!"
AUBREY nodded excitedly, "Yeah! Tell us what to do, LEADER!"
BASIL blushed at the attention, a bit taken aback by the sudden responsibility placed upon him in such short notice. Awkwardly scratching his neck, he hummed and stammered, "I… Uh… Hm… I guess the first thing we need to do… Um…"
Seeing the nervous boy unable to speak clearly, HERO jumped in with a helpful suggestion, "Why don't we start by cleaning the whole place up first? Pick up all the ruined flowers, throw the dead beetles in the trash, something like that."
BASIL looked over to HERO with a relieved smile, before turning to the others, "Yeah. Let's do that first. Let's clean the garden up."
AUBREY and KEL raised their fists up cheerfully, "YESSIR!" before immediately going to work.
SUNNY tugged BASIl to get his attention, pointing at the house, "Let's check to see if the house is okay."
BASIL glanced over and nodded, "Right, we should check my house too… Thankfully I locked the door before I left, so everything inside should be in one piece."
"You have seed packets, right? Let's use them to regrow the garden." SUNNY mentioned.
BASIL nodded happily, "Good idea. I'll grab those too and hand it out to everyone once the garden is cleared up."
HERO gestured over to KEL and AUBREY, "In that case, I'll be supervising the others to make sure they're focused on the job. Can't let them accidentally get into another argument and start another mess of things, you know?"
BASIL giggled, "Yeah, okay."
With everyone's roles sorted out, the group spread out into separate teams as they begin getting to work.
HIKIKO was still on the sidelines, unsure of what to do for herself. Maybe she should follow HERO's example and help out with cleaning the garden too?
Although, she felt a bit uncomfortable after everything that just happened… She'd rather take a breather to calm down and stick around SUNNY to make sure he's alright. The stoic boy didn't seem all that bothered despite being swallowed whole a moment ago. She hoped he wasn't hiding his emotions away again just to make sure everyone didn't worry about him.
He was such a considerate boy, but it was a bad habit for him to keep things inside all the time…
HERO noticed HIKIKO awkwardly rubbing her arm, before asking, "HIKIKO? Are you alright?"
HIKIKO snapped out of her thoughts, mumbling, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure? You still seem a bit shaken up." HERO pointed out in concern.
"I mean… I guess…" HIKIKO admitted nervously, "I just saw my little brother get eaten alive… It still hasn't left my mind yet."
HERO gave an understanding smile before reaching out to hug her, "Hey, no reason to worry anymore. He's fine. Everyone's fine. You saved your little brother before anything could go wrong."
Yeah… That's right…
HIKIKO managed to save SUNNY before it was too late…
That should be all that matters…
With a gentle smile, HERO suggested to her, "How about you go follow your little brother. Make sure they don't need any help inside. It'll do you some good to stick closer to them so that you can see that they're alright."
HIKIKO smiled back gratefully at HERO's understanding nature. No matter what happened to her, it always seems like HERO would be there to cheer her up.
Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, HIKIKO said softly, "Thanks, HENRY. You're the sweetest."
HERO blushed and stammered a bit, the kiss taking him by surprise, "O-Oh, uh, yeah! N-No problem. Anything for you!" He chuckled nervously.
HIKIKO giggled to herself, proud that her ability to make him flustered was still at the top of its game. He was always so cute like that. It was her favorite thing about him.
Giving a final wave, HIKIKO went to follow after BASIL and her little brother to make sure they'll be alright.
Behind her, she could hear AUBREY and KEL getting into another shouting match as they argued who wasn't pulling their weight in pushing all the dead beetles into the corner.
"C'mon, AUBREY! You gotta push harder, this thing is still heavy!"
"I'm pushing harder than you, KEL! It's not my fault these things weigh so much!"
"Hey guys, settle down. No need to get heated, let's just take this one at a time." HERO mediated between them.
HIKIKO turned back to give one final look at her friends with a grateful smile.
She was so lucky to have everyone with her. She couldn't ask for a better group of friends to care for her and SUNNY.
She hoped their friendship would last forever.
Taking a deep breath as she neared the door to BASIL's house, she turned the knob and entered.
Black.
Everything was black.
HIKIKO blinked in surprise at how dark it was inside his house.
Did SUNNY and BASIL not turn on the lights?
HIKIKO went to look for a light switch near the door, fumbling a bit in the dark before she finally felt one in her fingertips.
Flicking the lights on, HIKIKO felt her breathing hitch as she looked at the sight in front of her.
This wasn't BASIL's house.
This was MARI's house.
…
This didn't make any sense… Why was she…
HIKIKO felt a growing headache starting to rise, causing her to hold her head in pain.
She was…
What was she doing here again?
She was just outside… doing something with… a garden, right? Then SUNNY and BASIL came in here to…
SUNNY…
Her little brother was in here… Wasn't he?
…
HIKIKO had to go find him.
She felt her nerves crawling up the back of her spine as she had a bad feeling all of a sudden.
"SUNNY? Are you here?" HIKIKO called out nervously, before walking forward.
She couldn't hear a response.
Maybe SUNNY was in their room? Yeah, that's it. He was just hiding out in their room, that's why he couldn't hear her.
Better go check…
HIKIKO stepped past the living room couch, pausing briefly to see the fire in the fireplace lighting up all of a sudden.
The comfortable fire was so warm… the bright red glow was drawing her in for some reason.
Inside, she could see something familiar being burnt to ashes in the fire. This made her feel good. It deserved to be burnt. That was the conclusion she came to as she saw it.
As the ashes burnt away into dust, all that was left within the fire was a small tiny piece of… whatever it was sitting there.
HIKIKO felt compelled to reach in and grab it.
The fire was strangely cool to touch.
Once the object was in her hand, she opened it up to take a closer look.
It was… one of the musical keys to a piano. What was it doing in the fireplace? It didn't look like it was supposed to belong to whatever was burning in there.
The piano key seemed… important, somehow… Like she was going to need it in the future.
She pocketed it away, making sure that it was safe.
What was she doing here?
…
SUNNY.
Recovering from her thoughts, HIKIKO made her way to the stair room to go up to their rooms.
She didn't expect to see BASIL standing at the bottom of the stairs though.
"BASIL?" She called out, "Where's SUNNY? Is he with you?"
BASIL looked up at her, giving her one of the coldest glares she's ever seen him give in her entire life.
She froze in place, her instincts telling her that she was in danger if she got any closer.
"B-… BASIL?" She nervously murmured.
"Why did you pull him down with you, MARI…?" BASIL asked harshly.
"W-... What? What are you talking about?" HIKIKO stuttered fearfully.
"You were older than him. You would have been just fine…" BASIL continued, staring deep into her soul, "SUNNY was young. Fragile. His injuries would have lasted longer than yours."
HIKIKO wanted to back out of this room, away from BASIL, be anywhere else in the world.
But the doorway behind her vanished, leaving only a wall to keep her trapped.
"I saw you, MARI. You were about to fall, and you pulled him down with you. Why?!" BASIL tone became harsher than before, the intensity in his words was making HIKIKO stumble back until she was on the floor.
"I… I didn't…" HIKIKO couldn't make the words come out of her mouth. She didn't even know what she wanted to say.
"Why couldn't you just fall by yourself?!" BASIL's voice started growing louder, "At least then, only you would have suffered from the fall! SUNNY would have been just fine! So why did you have to pull him down with you?!"
HIKIKO didn't know what to do.
She just wanted to leave.
"It should have been YOU! You should be on that hospital bed with a missing eye, MARI! NOT SUNNY!" BASIL began screaming at her, his face showing nothing but contempt and hatred, "You were screaming at him! He looked so scared! Why were you shouting at him near the stairs to begin with, MARI?! SUNNY didn't do anything wrong, so why were you so angry with him?! Why did you pull him down the stairs with you?! It's your fault! Everything was your fault! SUNNY is gone because of you! WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN YOU?!"
She wanted to leave.
HIKIKO crawled up into a ball to try to close herself off from the world.
She just wanted to leave.
She didn't want to see this.
SUNNY wasn't gone… SUNNY was still here with her.
Where was SUNNY? Why wasn't he here with her?
"I HATE YOU, MARI!" BASIL continued screaming into her ear, "YOU TOOK SUNNY AWAY FROM US! GIVE SUNNY BACK! MAKE HIM COME BACK!"
No- stay away- shut up- This isn't real. SUNNY was still with her, he never left!
SUNNY's still awake! He never fell asleep! He's still with her! He was just with her a moment ago!
She had saved him! She saved SUNNY before it was too late, she knows she did!
Why won't BASIL shut up and go away?!
ShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutupShutup
SHE WANTED TO LEAVE-
…
…
…
..
.
.
WELCOME TO BRIGHTSPACE
HIKIKO kept herself curled into a ball as she laid there in the middle of the vast emptiness that was BRIGHTSPACE.
…
…
…
HIKIKO didn't know how long it was before she suddenly came to and realized she was stuck in a ball position on the floor.
Calming herself down, she pulled herself together and stood back up again.
She couldn't seem to remember what she was doing. It was like she had just woken up from a bad dream.
Everything should be fine though. Nothing wrong happened to her.
Nothing wrong ever happens to her in BRIGHTSPACE.
It was a simple place. Easy to understand. Easy to live in.
Nothing bad ever happens in BRIGHTSPACE.
Taking a look around, she saw that her kitty MEWO was still snoozing away in the corner of her blanket.
All her personal items were still where she left them.
The door that led to HEADSPACE wasn't there anymore though… Maybe it was just closed off to her for the time being?
With nothing better to do, HIKIKO decided to keep herself distracted as she passed the time, waiting for something to happen.
She checked her laptop, placing it on her lap to enjoy the warmth as it heated up. She casually checked her planner to see that everything was still as orderly as it ever was. Nothing seemed out of place. Opening up her journal, she began typing as she recorded what happened today.
Today I went to visit my friends. Everything was fine.
With nothing else to do, she stared blankly at the home screen for a bit before growing bored and shutting her laptop down.
What else should she do?
Piano practice might be good. It wouldn't do for her to get rusty.
Stepping up, she walked over to her toy piano and cracked her fingers in order to play a few songs.
At least, that was the plan.
For some reason, her toy piano didn't have any of its musical keys attached.
That's weird. Did she accidentally break it the last time she played with it?
How was she supposed to play anything now if her piano was broken?
Hm…
She blinked for a bit as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piano key.
Where did this come from? How did she manage to get this?
It felt… very important to her for some reason…
Shrugging, she went to attach the piano key back in its rightful place on the piano.
One key down.
Looking down at her piano, the single key sitting on the keyboard seemed very lonely. Hopefully, she'll find the rest soon enough.
…
HIKIKO looked around one last time, finding herself wondering what else she should do.
Maybe she let time passed long enough… She should probably wake up now. She had something important to do today, didn't she?
She turned to look at the rope dangling from the endless ceiling above the chair, before walking over to it.
Setting the chair up, she stood on top of it before looping the rope into a tight knot to form a noose with comfortable ease.
When the knot was done, she pulled on it to make sure it was sturdy and tight. Satisfied with her handiwork, she wrapped the noose around her neck and took a deep breath to prepare herself.
When she was all ready, she pushed the chair away from under her.
She enjoyed the brief weightless sensation for a bit before the sudden-
…
…
...
MARI slowly opened her eyes as the sun shined over her face.
Today was SUNNY's birthday. She should get ready so that she could come visit him in the hospital again.
Pulling herself away from her bed, MARI rubbed her eyes clear as she went to prepare her day.