Sometimes, I wish this site puts character tags in the Madness Combat character tags. I mean, there are a lot of characters in there.
If you're wondering about the OC tag, yes, the other character is indeed an OC. However, he isn't my OC. That OC belongs to YingYang48.
No, he isn't created with Tricky's connections in mind. He's supposed to be standalone. I decided to write this anyways because there are a few similarities between them.
It was a normal day in the Project Nexus headquarters. The sun is shining, the people are working, and the scientists in the facility finally got to catch a break.
"Jesus fucking Christ! I swear, we're being overworked here!" A lead scientist with short hair said in exhaustion.
"I know, Hofnarr. I know," the other lead scientist who has longer hair said. "But this is for the greater good, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. You keep saying that, Jebediah," the short-haired scientist—Hofnarr—said in an annoyed tone. "But I guess we have no choice on the matter," he added with a sigh.
"I know," the other lead scientist—Jebediah—responded in a cynical tone. "Sometimes, I just want to go home and sleep."
"Good thing we have an hour of breaktime, or we would have bags under our eyes right now!" Hoffnar said, turning on his TV to watch his favorite show, lowering the volume knowing that his friend doesn't like it.
"Seriously? You're watching Slaughter Time again?" Jebediah asked in an annoyed tone.
"Why not? I like it."
Jebediah stared at Hofnarr as he watched the show start. He then sighed in defeat. "Fine, you can watch it. We had a rough day," he then decided.
As Jebediah prepared to brew some coffee, Hofnarr decided to talk as the slaughter was about to begin.
"Y'know? I sometimes wonder what the outside world is like," Hofnarr said while his eyes are focused on the television.
"Let me guess, because you want to see some slaughter in real life?" Jebediah asked sarcastically.
"W-W-What!? N-No!" Hofnarr yelled in shock, facing towards Jebediah. "W-Well, um, kind of, b-but it's, but it's not for the reason you think it is!"
Jebediah raised his eyebrow at that statement.
"Um, well, I, uh, j-just happened to, uh, to connect to the internet from the, uh, the outside world, although it is kind of, uh, limited," Hofnarr began to explain in embarrassment. "But e-even with that limitation, I got to see certain stuff!" he added enthusiastically.
Hofnarr began to explain things from the outside world. From things like different species, stories, culture, and heck, even entertainment.
"With my limited internet connection, I didn't get to see whether or not the rumors about the outside world being worse than Nevada are indeed true. But even if it is, I applaud the civilians for finding happiness during these trying times," Hofnarr continued. "How about we do the same, Jeb?"
"Hm, perhaps we'll do that. Thanks, Hoff," Jebediah said in gratitude as he waited for the coffee to brew.
"You're welcome!" Hofnarr then returned to watch TV.
Suddenly, he had a thought.
"Actually, once Nevada is peaceful, how about we go outside the barrier?" Hofnarr asked. "I'll find us a way out of here, then we will see what the outside world is truly like!"
"What? Are you… sure about that?" Jebediah asked with worry in his tone. "If the rumors are true, then… then…!"
"I might die?" Hofnarr finished Jebediah's sentence. "Well… that is true, but remember, we are learning how to fight just in case of an intruder alert!"
"Yeah, you're right," Jebediah agreed. "But I can't help but worry. If you are… gone, then, what do I do?"
Now Hofnarr is frowning. "I… I don't know what I would do without you either," he admitted. "But, whatever happens, we will be going to the outside world together. And… who knows? Maybe spread Project Nexus to include the outside world!" he then added, back to his optimistic tone. "Would be nice to see people from other species work here for the sake of the rest of the world."
"Huh, you're right. Then we can help more people in harsh conditions," Jebediah said in realization, taking his coffee from the coffee dispenser. "Maybe even make the whole world a better place."
"Would that be nice, a world where everybody is friends with others, even from far away."
"Heh, that sounds really nice."
…a memory dream. This time, back when everything hasn't gone horribly wrong yet.
So naive, Hofnarr was. If he and Jebediah knew that the project only exists to stroke a narcissist's ego instead of helping others like they originally thought, then they would have left the job immediately.
Well, they did eventually leave the job. Killed the director, even! And yet, it was too late. Hofnarr's dissonance poisoning had finally gotten to him, and turned him into something unrecognizable once he was revived from death as a zombie.
Out of the two lead scientists (we don't talk about the third), only one lived to see the outside world for what it truly is.
Hofnarr, no, Tricky, woke up with tears in his eyes. He was too insane to feel anything towards his friend's death, dismissing it as a casualty as a result.
He finally felt guilty for that ever since he started to treat his dissonance poisoning and started to become sane again. He is understandably distraught about the fact that he never paid any respects towards him, and the fact that in his last moments, they were on bad terms.
Sometimes, he wants to travel back in time before any of that ever happened and try to save his friend and himself from their fates. However, the improbability drive couldn't do that, even at full power.
He wanted to meet him again, even if it's just once, just so he could apologize to him for everything he did against him. And everyone else.
But… he knew that it's impossible. He cannot turn back the clock, and he couldn't revive him, even though he has remnants of the drive's power.
And so, Tricky had no choice but to weep through the night.
"Jeb, I'm… I'm s-so, so sorry…" he choked.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The door opened to reveal a robot with a television for a head.
"Tricky, are you ok?" the robot asked. "I heard you crying back there," he added.
Tricky wanted to tell his robot roommate that he's ok, it's nothing to worry about, but he couldn't lie. Some of the improbability drive's power had been absorbed in his undead body, one of which is the red texts that appear when he is feeling extreme emotion. It tends to say what he is truly feeling.
"I'M NOT FINE" "CLOWN FEELS GUILTY" "CLOWN WANTS TO CRY" "I'M SORRY JEBEDIAH" Those are the red text that pop up around him right now, and both of them knew that there was no point in lying.
"You're… not ok, aren't you?" The robot asked.
Tricky sheepishly nodded his head.
"Do you… want me to come in?"
Tricky nodded, also sheepishly.
The robot entered the room, then sat next to the zombie clown. "So… what's in your mind?" the robot asked.
"…something from the past," Tricky answered.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"…" Tricky looked away from the robot. The red text seemed to be torn over telling the robot the story, and not telling him.
"It's ok, you don't need to tell me now if you aren't ready," the robot said. "Would you like me to stay for a bit?" he asked as he put his, uh, claw-hand on Tricky's head.
In response to this, Tricky hugged the robot. "Hex… don't leave me," he sobbed.
The robot—Hex—only heard a fragment of the story. Tricky was once a scientist, but got too curious about a substance called dissonance energy that can make you insane if you get exposed for long periods of time. While he did discover a way to handle it safely without exposure and getting dissonance poisoning (as the robot called it), it transformed him into what he is now anyway thanks to prior exposure. The improbability drive seemed to be a factor to this too, but it seemed to be more of an amplifier than anything.
Also, that Jebediah person. It sometimes pops up in the red texts. From what the robot can tell, they're a person important to Tricky.
But other than that, that's… it. The robot didn't know why he was researching dissonant energy in the first place, and if he had any friends before the poisoning. He didn't want to look it up on the internet, as it is an invasion of privacy, even though he is very curious.
This isn't the first time Tricky is reminiscing about the past in the middle of the night and crying. But this is no time to wonder about the scientist-turned-clown's past. He had to call him down.
"Hey, I don't know what you're going through, but I'm here now," Hex comforted the little zombie, patting him on the head.
Tricky seemed to calm down from that, but he's still crying. The claw is cold to the touch, but he didn't care.
"You know, that reminds me, a dear friend of mine used to comfort me like this when I get sad," Hex mused. "He would come to me when I get sad, and try to calm me down. Letting me hug him, telling me stories, and… making me happy," he explained.
"He would let me vent about how I was feeling, listen to every single word that I said, and understand what I'm trying to say." Hex continued. "It doesn't matter if it's something minor like losing a chocolate bar or something major like my status as an artificial being, he never berated me for any of that."
This seemed to have caught Tricky's attention. "Really? Sounds like a good friend…" he said in a sorrowful tone.
"We used to play basketball, sing karaoke, heck, we learned how to bake together!" Hex said, now reminiscing the past himself. "We were so happy back then… sometimes, I wish I could turn back time to experience these again."
Now Tricky is getting really curious. "Did… did your friend…?"
"Yeah, he's… not in this world anymore," Hex said in a sorrowful tone.
"I'm… I'm sorry for your loss," Tricky swiftly apologized.
"It's ok. I'm over it now," Hex said. "I sometimes go to his grave to pay respects. How about you go with me sometime?"
"…" Tricky looked away. Too many bad memories. "N-No. Not… now."
"Oh? Well, that's ok. You probably don't want anything to do with death…" Hex stopped to think of some joke, but decided that it would just be disrespectful to do such, so he didn't.
"U-Um, it's… not that, it's…" It seems like Tricky has decided. There is no turning back now. "I… also lost a friend," he finally said.
"R-Really, I'm sorry for your loss," Hex apologized.
"Yeah… I'm… fine, I guess," Tricky said, but the red texts made it clear that he isn't fine.
"You sure about that?"
Tricky took a deep breath. "He… died while trying to destroy the main improbability drive," Tricky finally spoke. "We were on bad terms during that time, with my deteriorating mental state and all. I… even tried to kill him for his powers at one point."
"…"
"I… I was disrespectful towards him before he met his fate. I… don't- don't like to think of it anymore, but…" Tricky is about to burst into tears once again. "I-I guess my biggest regret is that… I n-never listened to his w-warnings about d-dissonant energy t-to begin with… e-even though I… discovered a way to… h-handle it… safely…"
Tears are starting to fall off his eyes. "I should have listened to him… then- then none of this would have happened…!" He then burst into tears. "We- we could have…" a sniff. "Gotten out…" another sniff. "Together…!"
Now Tricky is crying out, unable to say anything comprehensible in this state.
"Hey, hey. It's going to be ok. I'm with you now, and you made some new friends, right?" Hex said, comforting the little clown rather awkwardly, as he does not know how to cheer the clown up.
He decided a hug would suffice, and did it rather awkwardly.
Thanks to the motors inside Hex's body, his body is warm, just like a real person should. It felt comfortable. Safe, even.
"I know you might have been grieving, but I'll be there every step on the way to healing," Hex said, patting the little clown's head gently.
Tricky calmed down a bit, wiping away his tears. "T-Thanks…" he said. It felt like some weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders from all of these years.
"So… you want to sleep with me for the night?"
"…sure."
The next day…
Hex and Tricky came to the cemetery where the robot's friend was buried.
"I know what you might have been thinking: 'are you insane? This creature is a zombie clown… murderer… thing!'" Hex said as if he was talking to that friend. "But… hear me out.
"He… well, he is indeed a murderer, no doubt about that. You know me, I hate murderers. But… if you move that aside, he's actually not that bad," Hex began. "He's funny, he's cheerful, but even he has some regrets from time to time.
"Tricky… he once had a friend like you, apparently. While I don't know them personally, I can tell that whoever that person was, they were important to him. However, he didn't listen to his friend's warnings about doing something that could risk his sanity being… destroyed." Hex took a deep breath. Well, a simulated one, but still. "I think you know how that went."
"Anyways, I'm just trying to help him treat his insanity alongside my friends, but the treatment gave him a lot of… regrets that he never let go thanks to his insanity. But… we're trying, one step at a time."
Hex chuckled. "I've only met Tricky a few months ago, after…" Hex then sighed in annoyance. "Yet another attack from IRIS," Hex rolled his eyes. Seriously, why are they trying to sabotage him when they only want to sabotage Mr. Dearest? "And ever since that, I guess we are kind of… inseparable at this point," he added, returning back to his reminiscent tone. Tricky can be seen nodding his head in agreement.
"Yeah, we didn't get along at first, with all of that murder stuff going on. But… I decided to take him in because he had no home to go to, and—according to my friends—I need someone crazy in my home.
"Then again, it is kind of getting lonely in that huge mansion," Hex then faced Tricky. "I appreciate the company, Tricks."
Tricky seemed to be happy about being called that. "Aww, thanks Hex!" he said in a cheerful yet grateful manner and hugged the robot. His mask seemed to reflect that. He liked to express his emotions using the mask ever since Hex gave him the idea to use the drive for that.
"Oh right! I, uh, want to show you something," Tricky said in a less cheerful voice, as if something serious is going on. The clown dug through his pockets to take out the item. He showed it to Hex, hands shaking a little bit as if he's nervous.
It's a dirty ID with a picture of a meek-looking scientist. There is a green upside-down triangle at the bottom.
"What's that for?" Hex asked.
"Um, it… used to be mine," Tricky explained, looking away from Hex and his friend's grave.
Hex gently took the ID to take a closer look.
While the name is covered with dirt, grime and other stuff, there are a few things that are legible.
"'Hofnarr'...something I guess? Is that your first or last name?" Hex mused in a curious whisper. "So… your name was something along the lines of… Hofnarr?"
Tricky nodded sheepishly. It doesn't have a cheerful flair in it.
But why would Tricky do this? He seems to be nervous about this, as if he does not want to show this to anyone else.
Unless…
"You… trust me?"
Now Tricky is looking at the robot straight at his camera-eyes and nodded at him.
"So… uh, what do I call you now?" Hex mused out loud. "U-Um, doesn't mean I won't call you 'Tricky' after that!" he clarified.
Tricky thought about it. "Both. Both are ok," he answered a bit more confidently.
"So I can call you 'Hofnarr'?"
"I guess…" Now Tricky is a little nervous.
The red text seemed to be screaming at the robot to not let the others know. Tricky's pleading look seemed to support it.
"So… I can only call you that name once there isn't anybody else hearing me say it, right?" Hex asked.
Tricky nodded with a little "uh-huh."
"Well, I say I agree with these new terms," Hex said, stretching his hand.
Tricky seemed to be… amazed by this development. He expected Hex to call him by that name every chance he got for some reason. Where did he get that idea from anyway?
"Terms accepted!" Now Tricky is back to his bouncy self, holding Hex's hand.
After that, Hex faced the grave. "Well, I guess we have to go now. See you next time, my old friend." He then walked away, Tricky following suit.
Hex expected Tricky to just burrow into the ground while his stop sign (don't ask) is on the surface as an indicator of where he is, but surprisingly, he didn't, and just walked with him like a normal person.
And so, they walked home while holding hands, while a ghost looked after the two.
…it looks like there is another ghost looking after the two. He looks like an edgy Jesus.
"Ah, you scared me!" the ghost said.
"Oh, sorry about that," the Jesus lookalike apologized.
Yes, that bit with the rich guy is canon to Hex's lore.
Anyways, likes and reviews are always appreciated.