A few hours later, Beiki and Dick left the courthouse. News outlets were all around them, swarming them with questions, microphones and cameras.
"What are your thoughts on the judge's verdict?"
"How will this affect Single Fragment?"
"Is it true that the staff behind Single Fragment have foreigners from third-world countries that are required to hide their faces in order to be around them in public?"
"STOP YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!" Dick yelled. He cleared his throat.
"We aren't answering any questions at the moment. Thank you." Beiki addressed, leaving for his car.
"Great job Beiki!" Snake said to the lawyer. "We can rest a little with Park Ranger being slapped with disbarment." "Oh yeah, everyone I'd like for you to meet someone. This is Silver, my soon-to-be fiancé." Everyone gasped. A young woman with silver hair and eyes to boot introduced herself. "Fiancé?" Steve said. "But if you get married, that means you're going to…"
"Yep. The Cowardly Sniper is calling it quits."
The room got really tense. "I've decided that I've gotten over my past insecurities. I've been using this as a reason to run away from my problems. Don't get me wrong, I've been genuine about Single Fragment. And it's been a good year since we've started this little project of ours. But now, I think it's time for me to call it quits. Move on and start anew with someone I truly love." Snake shed a tear. "Ero, I hereby give you this key. You are now the owner and chief director of SuperCola Powered." Erocook was shaking. He suddenly left. Everyone else was still silent.
"So Snake's just gonna leave us like that, huh?" Winnosh said. "We can't just kill off the Cowardly Sniper. He's literally one of the more popular characters in the story!" "I agree. This is injustice!" Justice said. "Shut up, Justice." Photon said. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean Fuwa's gone. And we're all still as happy as can be." Everyone looked at Noone.
"What?"
"You still didn't speak to her?"
"I tried to. She just keeps throwing things out her window."
"I miss Fuwa. She was bubbly, happy and she had personality." Brolax said. "Dammit, go get our girl back!" "I tried to. Again, she's being difficult." "No, you just don't care about her." "What?"
"Just admit it. You like Bunny and Mika both more than her."
"I don't like them like that. All three of us are friends. Nothing more." "Really? Is that why you weaseled your way into the vegetable juice commercials Mika stars in?" "Weaseled? I asked for a part in it because I love that juice as well." "And you and Bunny's intermission shows? You don't like to participate in Single Fragment, but you'll do those skits and commercials with two staff members who just so happen to be female?" "I'm not diving any further into this." Noone said, leaving. "I know what my intentions are, whether you like it or not."
"I'll get Fuwa back! Watch!"
"Go ahead. I tried. She'll just throw her Navy Gal ball at you."
At the table read, Snake was reading his lines. "I-I-I'm not scared of him!" He said as the Cowardly Sniper. "I'll show you, you bastard! I'll-" His phone rang. Everyone groaned. "Hello? That was tonight? Okay, babe. I'll be there in an hour." Everyone was angry. "I'm sorry, but Silver's parents are hosting a cocktail party." He said. "Oh! Why don't you all come? I'm sure the cast behind Single Fragment will get a warm reception." Everyone eventually complied.
At the party, were snobs, bourgeois and a number of people with silver hair. From the entrance, came Fuwa and Brolax. "Oh, look who came out of her house." Photon said. "Huh. Looks like Brolax got to her. Wonder why I couldn't." Noone asked. The two came to him and Photon. "Well, if it isn't Photon and…who were you again?" Noone rolled his eyes.
In a secluded corner, were Steve, Walter and Erocook. "I'm still not comfortable with this." Steve said, with a bandage around his torso. "Don't feel like you have to strain yourself." Erocook said. "We WILL make this work. We've gotten this far, we can't fall now." "I honestly can't see us recovering well from this situation." Walter said. "Hiro, Steve and Snake? We're losing our best guys." Erocook took a sip of his drink. "I need something better than this."
Less than an hour later, Erocook was on a drunken tirade, with Snake taking a full dose of it. "Stop, you're making an ass out of yourself!" He told his perverted cohort.
"No, YOU stop!" Erocook slurred. "You're just gonna up and leave your buddies, the same buddies that were there for you when you were about jump off that bridge?!" Snake tried to subdue him when Silver came to the two. "Snake, what's going on?" She asked. "You know full well, you silver-haired thief!" Silver looked shocked. "Hey, that's enough out of you!" Erocook turned to him.
"-hic- Back to you, you really are gonna pick THIS over US!?" Erocook placed his hand on Silver's crotch. She screamed. "Get your hands off of that!" The other guests were looking at the scene. In another part of the party, Fuwa was on a stool spinning around, under the influence as well. "Fuwa, get down right now!" Noone said. "I'm taking you home!" "You don't rrrrrrrrrrrun me, Nobody!" She said, slurring. "I can do whatever I want! I think I'll do a handstand on the counter!"
From outside, was the wide man with the silly grin and blonde hair. "Let us take a look at what they are doing-" A crash was heard near the bar. Everyone gasped. "Is she okay?"
Brolax and Noone were pulling her back and forth. "I'm taking her home, Brolax!" Noone said.
"No, me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"ME!"
"ME!"
Fuwa stood up."Mimimimimi~ She began to sing, head high. However, she merely vomited. "Okay, you can have her." Noone said, leaving. From the corner, the cohort of Park Ranger took pictures of the incident. In another section of the party, crashes were heard. Erocook had Snake pinned down. "You are the worst friend I've ever had!" He said, crying. "We built this foundation and you just up and abandon it?"
"All for that albino bitch."
Snake snapped and punched Erocook in the face. "I'm done with you. You can have the S.C.P. key and its treaty." In the crowd circled around them, the wide smiling man was recording and snapping pictures. "This is too rich! The Single Fragment creators are at each other's necks!" He said, sipping a cocktail. Security came and took away Erocook.
Later that night, the staff lay in the S.P.C., concerned and angry. "So, what does mean for them?" Winnosh said. "It's one thing if Snake left on good terms but that fight just made his departure even more painful to bear." Walter came to them. "You all are still here?" He said. "We're worried about Snake and Erocook. This whole thing has gotten to a point we didn't want it to get to." "I know. I just picked up Erocook and he's home sleeping it off." "We should probably call it a night. Maybe things will get better in the morning." Wookie said, scratching his underarm.
The next morning, in a nearby city where the S.C.P. lays stationed at, another ship flew above it. "EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! THE FOUNDERS OF SINGLE FRAGMENT NO LONGER FRIENDS, DRUNKEN BAR FIGHT AT THE LE FANCY GALA EXCLUSIVE STORY!" Magazines came down in bundles, people reading them. "Hey, this is Snake and Erocook!" A reader said. "Isn't that Fuwa? Whoa, what the hell happened?" "This is…this is by that same guy?" Someone said, holding it. "No, it isn't the National Enquirer." He turned to see the cover.
"The New Pork Times?"