Before you read this, I just want to say that this is based on my personal experiences in real life. Ever since I found out about my bipolar diagnosis less than a year ago, I feel like wanting to share my experiences on what it is like to suffer from this mental illness. I figured that writing it in a fanfic form would make it easier for my viewers to understand what I go through every day. So please, do not judge me. I'm just writing what I feel like writing.
I don't own SRMTHFG.
Mania
It's just an ordinary early afternoon day for the Hyper Force. Nothing but the cloudless sunshine in the skies and all the people around them doing their daily routines around the streets.
Sprx, Otto, Antauri, and Gibson are all strolling together after their trip from a fast-food restaurant; Sprx and Otto both ordered burgers, fries, and soda while Antauri and Gibson both ordered salads and juice. As they held on to their own paper takeout bags and drinking cups on their way home, they were just having a conversation with one another, just some stereotypical guy-talk.
"And then I said," Sprx says to the others, "'Kid, you can never pull off that milk crate challenge on TikTok, stick to the cinnamon challenge!'"
Otto laughs along with Sprx at the thought, but for both Antauri and Gibson, they don't really find this amusing.
Gibson takes a sip from his drink through a straw, "There's nothing funny about those TikTok challenges, do you even know how hazardous they can be? People can actually hurt themselves, or worse."
Otto replies, "Oh, come on, Gibson. That's the whole point of them. They're all about survival instincts, which we may need someday."
Antauri responds, "Otto, I have to agree with Gibson. Clearly, those videos have specific warnings about not trying them at home. From what I recalled, a few of them ended up at the hospital for doing such things."
Sprx chuckles, "Hey, you got to learn someday." He then takes a sip of his soda.
They resume their mindless conversation about TikTok as they continue to stroll down the streets. After five minutes of certain debates about what they see on social media videos and showing their smartphones to one another to prove their points, their conversation suddenly ends. They continue to walk in silence.
Sprx suddenly breaks the silence, "Man, I wish Nova was here with us, she would take sides over who is right about this."
Gibson says, "Yes, well, she said this morning that she has something coming up in her mind and couldn't come."
Otto says, "I wonder what Nova is doing right now without us."
Antauri responds, "From what I recalled, Nova hasn't been herself lately. It seems as if she is hiding something from us."
"You're right, Antauri," Gibson responds. "She has been really distant from us these past few days. I wonder if she is okay."
"We're her closest friends," Sprx remarks. "We don't hide secrets from each other. That's our code. If we have something to hide, we might as well trust each other to keep it only in the group."
"Come to think of it," Otto takes a sip of his soda before he begins to bring something up. "Nova also has been acting strange lately. I mean, is it me, or is her anger getting worse than before? She has been getting mad over small things. I wonder what she is mad about?"
The others thought about that as well. Gibson responds, "Now that you mentioned it, Otto. It seems that—"
Suddenly, something else is catching their attention. From across the street where they are standing, they see a familiar yellow simian, wearing her rocker attire and her hair with pink dip-dyes tied into a ponytail, entering the butcher shop. They stop and stare to see who it is.
"Is that Nova?" Sprx asks.
"I think that is her," Otto answers.
"What is she doing at the butcher shop?" Antauri asks.
"Not sure," Gibson answers. "Normally, she would never step down at that place."
After a couple of minutes, they then see Nova exiting the butcher shop, this time holding a plastic bag with something inside it. She takes her merchandise out of the bag before throwing it towards the sidewalk to let the wind blow the plastic bag away. In her hands now is some sort of tray covered in plastic wrap. With a closer inspection, the clear-wrapped tray is filled with red ground beef.
The guys continue to watch her. Otto comments, "Huh, she just bought herself some meat. That's new."
Gibson replies, "This is so unlike her."
The four resume to watch her from the other side of the street. They then notice something that is not usual about her.
They see Nova holding onto the ground beef protectively in her arms. She then looks side to side, as if she is making sure that she is not seen. After taking brief glimpses around her, she goes to the corner of the butcher shop. Nova sits down on the concrete with her back leaning against the wall and her knees bent up to her chest. She has her pack of raw meat on her lap. With nothing to stop her…
Nova unwraps the meat package.
"What is she doing?" Sprx asks the others with incredulousness.
They continue to watch her without her knowledge. What they see next—shocks them.
Nova digs her hand into the ground beef, taking a handful of it before putting it towards her mouth—and she eats the raw meat. Ravenously.
Antauri, Sprx, Gibson, and Otto are all shocked and simultaneously disgusted to see Nova's action.
"She's—she's eating raw meat!" Otto exclaims.
"Why would she do that?!" Sprx is more shocked than the others and his reaction is also mixed with concern.
They continue to watch her, though very reluctantly, wondering what she would do next.
Nova remains persistent; after finishing up the first handful of uncooked ground beef, she resumes voraciously eating more handfuls of it. She keeps on going and going until the tray is now empty. Nova then wipes the remaining raw pieces off the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand. Lastly, she gets up from the ground and—aggressively—throws the empty meat tray into the garbage.
The guys watch her walk away in a different direction, her destination unknown. What they just saw just couldn't be unseen.
"My word," Antauri is entirely horrified. "I have never seen Nova act so bizarrely before, let alone her actions."
"Has she gone mad?" Gibson is as horrified as Antauri. "I think she is going mad!"
"I don't know," Sprx answers. "But I think we should interfere. I mean, something is definitely not right about Nova." His concern for her is becoming more acute. "I'm starting to get worried about her."
Otto replies, "Me, too. We should help her."
Without hesitation, the four color-coded simians make their way home, hoping that Nova is there by now.
At their five-bedroom mansion, they place their takeouts on the kitchen table and they begin to search around the entire place.
"Nova?" Sprx says her name as he looks around with the others, hoping to see her if she is indeed home. "Nova, are you here? We need to talk. All of us."
The search for Nova continues for the next several minutes. They already checked the main room and anywhere else where they assumed Nova would be. No luck. When all luck failed, they came to a conclusion about where she could be: her bedroom.
All four make their way to the second floor where their own individual bedrooms are located. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, which gives each Hyper Force member more privacy. They stand by Nova's closed doorway.
"I really hope she's in there," Otto says.
Sprx is just about to touch the doorknob.
"Wait," Antauri stops him.
"What is it, Antauri? Sprx turns to him.
The silver simian speaks, "We really shouldn't barge into Nova's room like that. I am not comfortable invading her privacy."
"Come on," Sprx answers. "I've been in Nova's room almost all the time. I'm sure she won't mind."
Gibson asks him, "What exactly have been doing in Nova's room?"
Sprx couldn't help but to blush at what he is about to answer. He chuckles and stammers at the same time while rubbing the back of his head, "I, uh… may have hidden in her closet a few times to watch her change clothes and sometimes I'd sneak into her bathroom to watch her shower behind the curtains. What she didn't know won't hurt her, right?"
Gibson and Antauri both scoff at Sprx's previous activities regarding to Nova. Otto on the other hand giggles.
Sprx continues, "Hey, I already told you my secret. Now's the time to find out Nova's." He turns back around and then grabs the doorknob.
Slowly, Sprx opens the door to Nova's room. They all enter and look around. Nova's room has yellow walls to match her fur. She has her own TV, her floors are full of stuffed animals, there is a floral-patterned tea set on the corner table, her bed is unmade with flower and heart shaped pillows strewn around the messy covers, and she even has martial arts weapons perfectly aligned in a rack.
As they look around, they notice that Nova is not around.
"You know, I've always wondered what a girl's room looks like," Otto comments. He sees a life-sized stuffed panda sitting in the corner of her room. "Hey, look! A panda!" He pets the giant toy panda by the belly.
"Forget about the panda, Otto," Sprx says to him. "We need to look for Nova and find out what she is hiding from us."
Gibson comes up with something, "Perhaps if we look around, maybe we could find something that tells us about her. Antauri and I will look around the room. You two," he points to Sprx and Otto, "Go check her bathroom."
The four begin to search around Nova's room, hoping for some signs. Gibson goes through her plushies and Antauri rummages through her drawers.
"I still do not feel this is right, Gibson," Antauri says. "This is definitely an invasion of privacy."
Gibson replies, "I couldn't agree with you more, Antauri. But this is Nova we're talking about. And we need to find out since we're her friends."
Both the blue simian and the silver simian continue to rummage through Nova's personal things. Suddenly, Gibson finds something underneath her pillow on her bed. He takes it out and examines it.
It's a yellow and pink book with a lock. Gibson turns towards Antauri to show him. "I got something."
Antauri, too, finds something hidden in one of Nova's drawers underneath her undergarments, though he is very uncomfortable to even touch it. "I found something, too, but I don't know if I should even touch it." He then walks closer to Gibson, leaving the drawer open. "What did you find?"
Gibson shows the locked book to Antauri, "I think this is Nova's diary."
Then, both Sprx and Otto come out of Nova's bathroom holding what they have found in there.
"Guys," Otto says. He and Sprx are both holding small paper boxes in their hands. "Sprx and I found something in there… and we're not sure what they are."
Sprx takes something out of the box he's holding, and Otto does the same to the one he is carrying. The red simian takes out a large strip of cotton and the green simian takes out a cotton tube with a string attached to it at the end.
"We don't even know what these things are or what they are for," Sprx says, holding up the thick cotton strip to show to the rest of the guys. "It looks like some kind of pad with wings on the side."
"Yeah," Otto says as he holds up the stringed cotton tube to show them as well. "And these tube things with strings. I wonder why Nova needs these. Does she get chronic nosebleeds or something?"
Gibson and Antauri are both reluctant to explain. The blue simian tells the two, "I suggest you both put those away. Those are sanitary pads and tampons."
"Why does Nova have these, and we don't?" Otto naively asks.
Antauri answers for Gibson, "Just put those away."
Both Sprx and Otto do as they say and returned the boxes of pads and tampons back to where they found them in Nova's bathroom. They return to the other two.
Gibson says, "I found Nova's diary," He shows the red and green simians the little book. "Maybe if we look through it a little, there may be something. The catch is we must unlock it first."
Otto takes the diary into his hands, "I think I can help with that." He takes out a bobby pin from the back pocket of his jeans. He inserts the pin into the lock and jimmies it up. It unlocks. Otto then hands the diary back to Gibson. "There."
Gibson asks him, "How did you do that?"
Otto shrugs, "Just because I may not be that smart, doesn't mean I can't pick locks. I carry a bobby pin around in case of situations like this." He puts the pin back into his pocket.
Everyone huddles in as Gibson removes the diary lock and he opens it.
Sprx says, "I just hope there are answers in there."
Gibson skims through the pages as the others look. The pages are filled in pink ink and Nova's neat and feminine handwriting is decipherable enough to read through. He reads out the entries out loud for the others to hear.
Last night, I had a dream about S, A, G, and O all spiking my drink and then they did things to me while I was unconscious. I could feel them entering inside of me and I could even feel the pain. Thank God, this was only a dream, and nothing happened to me yet. This is why I wanted to wait for the right person.
"Whoa," Sprx comments. "That seminar Nova went to that day really brainwashed her."
"Who are S, A, G, and O?" Otto asks.
"They're our initials, Otto," Gibson answers. "Nova used some kind of codes in these entries for more private reasons." He continues to read on.
I have a strange feeling that S, O, G, and A are too attached to me too much. This is one of the biggest difficulties of being the only girl in this household. Sometimes, they can be perverts when it comes to me. I don't want to bring this up to them, that will make things worse. I just hope they don't watch me fall asleep and then gang-rape me or something.
"Where did Nova get all these thoughts about us?" Antauri asks. "She knows that we would never do such things to her."
"Maybe she has been streaming too many movies about college dating and rape," Otto answers.
Sprx chuckles, "Or maybe she just has some dark fantasies about us."
Gibson shushes him, "Enough. Let's just move on."
The blue simian skims through the other entries. He begins to flip through the pages. "About us… about us… about us… Oh!"
"What is it?" Antauri asks.
"Nova recently tried out this vegan casserole she made the other day," Gibson answers. "She even wrote down the recipe on this page. We should try that out."
"Ooh," Antauri is astonished.
Sprx cuts in, "Yeah, no one wants to try any of that healthy crap. Right, Otto?"
"Yuck!" Otto replies.
Gibson changes the topic, "Ok, back to this. He continues to speed-read and flip through the pages. "Here it is!" He shows them the most recent entry. "This one is dated just yesterday."
"What does it say?" Otto inquisitively asks.
"Let's see…" Gibson reads the entry out loud.
It's been exactly six months since I stopped taking Risperdal. I hated taking these pills, they tasted so bitter, and they gave me side effects. Before when I first took them, I gained five pounds and I hated that. That's why I stopped taking them months ago, so they wouldn't make me fat. The good thing is that I lost weight. However, these symptoms I've been having lately ever since I stopped taking Risperdal were affecting my life. I just can't go back to those medications. I'm afraid of letting the guys know about this. I worried about what they would think of me. No one can know about this.
Everyone is astonished about what they have found out. Gibson closes the diary and relocks it. "Risperdal? Nova was taking Risperdal?"
"What's that?" Sprx asks.
"Risperdal is a prescriptive medication," Gibson answers. "Although, I don't remember what they are for, to be honest."
Otto is surprised, "Nova is taking drugs?"
Antauri answers him, "Prescription drugs, Otto. They're not illegal. And they can only be prescribed by a specialist."
Sprx is even more speechless. "I can't believe this. So, this is what Nova has been hiding from us. We're her best friends. She didn't have to hide this from us."
Gibson returns the diary to where he found it. He then makes eye contact with the silver simian. "Antauri, did you say you found something before?"
"Yes," Antauri answers as he points to the opened drawer he just looked through. "In there."
All four walk towards the drawer. Antauri rummages through it again until he finds something. He takes it out from the pile of Nova's undergarments. He then shows it to the others before closing the drawer.
It's an orange pill bottle and inside is full of unused pink pills. Gibson takes it from him to examine it.
Nova-52
Risperdal
2mg Tablet
Take 1 Tablet By Mouth Every Day
"It looks like this hasn't been used at all," Gibson informs them. "Look, it's still full."
"When was this last refilled?" Antauri asks.
Gibson reads more to the label. "Exactly six months ago."
Everyone is bewildered.
Sprx asks, "Was that when Nova first acted strangely?"
"Could be," Gibson answers. "It just that these are antipsychotics, and they are not meant to be stopped taking."
Suddenly, they hear the front door of their mansion unlocking, then opening, and then finally closing. The four jumps at the sound of the door.
"Shit, Nova's home!" Sprx says.
"We better get out of here." Otto informs.
"No time," Antauri answers. "I sense that she is heading upstairs to her room."
With no time to spare, all four panicked, rockstar clothed simians try to come up with a way to escape from Nova's possible wrath if she ever caught them snooping through her room.
"There," Sprx points to Nova's walk-in closet. "We can hide in there. Come on."
The four hurriedly hide inside the large closet and Sprx closes the door once they're all inside. They keep themselves silent to prevent Nova from hearing them.
Nova enters her room, talking to her yellow and pink cased smartphone by ear. "No, I'm pretty much sure that nothing is happening to me. I honestly don't remember much, sometimes I don't remember what I did whenever I'm having euphoric episodes…"
In the closet, Otto asks the others in a whisper, "Who is she talking to?" They shrug.
Nova stands in the middle of her room, entirely oblivious to the guys' hidden presence. She continues to talk on her phone, "I already told you, I'm fine without the medications. There is no way I'm going back to taking them. I just hate them." She pauses as she hears the other line. Nova then resumes, "Listen, I just got home, and all I want to do is lay down on my bed and relax. I've had a long day. I'll talk to you later. Bye." She hangs up and then tosses her phone on top of her unmade bed.
Nova sighs. She then examines her room, feeling a strange presence surrounding her. She couldn't help but notice that some of her things were not the way they were when she first left this morning.
"What happened here?" Nova asks herself.
"Crap," Otto whispers again. "She's noticing." The remaining guys shushes him loudly.
Nova can hear whispered voices. "Is someone here?" She looks around. "I know I'm not hearing things; I can hear someone hiding somewhere."
Suddenly, she hears a sneeze coming out of her walk-in closet. Nova, now feeling suspicious, walks to her closet. She opens the door…
And she sees her four friends collapsing outside of her closet. The guys let out yelps when they hit the floor and land on top of one another.
As they get up, Sprx scolds at Gibson, "You just had to sneeze, don't you, Gibson?"
Gibson rubs his nose with his index finger and then sniffs, "It's not my fault I'm allergic to Nova's perfume. The scent is all over her clothes."
Nova glares at them, "What are you doing here?"
Sprx steps up towards her, making eye contact. "Nova, we need to talk."
Antauri makes eye contact with Nova as well, "We know what you've been hiding from us. Care to explain?"
Nova answers, "What do you mean? I have nothing to hide."
Gibson glances at her, "You have been acting strange lately and it's not right for you."
Otto glances at her as well, "Yeah, just earlier before, we saw you eating raw meat from the butcher shop you went to."
"What are you talking about?" Nova is perplexed. She is not comfortable with four guys staring at her at the same time, regardless of their reactions.
"Don't hide from us," Sprx says. "We know what we saw. We were actually there when we saw you chowing down raw meat by the handful. You probably didn't see us."
Gibson explains to her, "Do you even know the hazardousness of consuming raw meat? You can contract foodborne illnesses from that."
"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Nova is even more puzzled.
"Nova," Antauri, calmly, goes into detail with her. "Don't deny this. We all witnessed what we saw there. All we're asking for is an explanation."
Nova sighs, "Look, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I—I just don't remember much and sometimes, I just do things without thinking. My mind—my mind is just somewhere else, okay? That's all I can say about it."
"Your mind?" Sprx raises his eyebrow at that statement.
"I… please," Nova stammers. "There's nothing that I'm hiding from you four. Now, if you don't mind…"
"We're not leaving until you tell us," Sprx says. "Remember our Hyper Force code about not keeping secrets from each other?"
Nova is suddenly becoming irate. She snarls, "Get out."
"Nova—"
"GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! NOW!"
With all her ire, Nova kicks them out. By the time the guys were forcibly let out of her room and standing outside of her doorway, she slams the door shut and then locks it.
Antauri, Sprx, Otto, and Gibson are perplexed at what just happened.
"Wow," Otto says to them, "She's really mad."
"I've never seen Nova this hostile before," Antauri says.
"Something is still not right about her," Sprx informs. "And it's worrying me even more."
"Maybe," Gibson says. "It has something to do with those medications she hasn't been taking. We need to go back there and find out more about those medications."
"I still have it right here." Antauri pulls out Nova's medications out of one of his pockets and shows it to them. He hands them to Gibson.
"Great," Gibson says. "Now, we have it, we can do some research about these pills. Everyone, to the living room. I'll go get my laptop first."
At the main room, the four guys sit on the large, cushioned sofa as Gibson clicks the keys on his laptop. Sprx, Otto, and Antauri look at the screen with him.
"What are we searching for, Gibson?" Otto asks.
"The information about these pills." Gibson clicks away without looking at Otto, keeping his focus on the screen. "Maybe there's a medical website that explains the full details of it."
Without wasting time, Gibson finds a suitable site about certain types of medications. Using his trackpad, he clicks on the link and then strolls through the list.
"No… no… no…" Gibson drones on until he finds the match. "Here it is, Risperdal." He clicks the link.
"So, what are they for?" Sprx asks.
"I'm reading through them now, Sprx," Gibson answers. "Please be patient." He scrolls down a little more until he gets the full view of the article. He reads them out loud to the others.
Risperdal
General Name: Risperidone
This antipsychotic is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder. It balances the levels of dopamine and serotonin in your brain that helps regulate mood, behavior, and thoughts. Common side effects may include drowsiness, weight gain, and is best if not mixed with alcohol as behavioral issues may worsen.
"Bipolar disorder?" Antauri says.
"What's that?" Otto asks.
"Hang on," Gibson answers. "Let me search that for you for clear understanding."
He opens another tab and searches "bipolar disorder." Gibson finds an informative link to the website about mental illnesses. He finds the right link and clicks on it with his trackpad. He reads the information out loud.
Bipolar Disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a serious mental illness that causes dramatic changes in a person's mood, energy, and ability to think clearly. People with bipolar experience high moods called mania and low moods called depression that can last for days or weeks.
Signs and Symptoms:
For mania, symptoms include talking excessively, racing thoughts, hostility, insomnia, delusions, reckless behavior, and occasionally, euphoria.
For depression, symptoms include extreme fatigue, prolonged sadness, and memory loss.
Talk to your health-care provider if you suffer any of these symptoms.
Everyone remains silent after what they have learned. Gibson closes both tabs and then closes his laptop.
"Guys," the blue simian says. "I think Nova is bipolar."
"That explains everything," Sprx says.
"Yeah," Otto says. "It sounds like she has all of those symptoms, judging by her behavior lately."
The guys are even more concerned about Nova now that they have the information. Sprx sighs, "What should we do?"
Antauri informs, "One thing we know for sure: if Nova doesn't want to talk about this, then I guess it is best if we don't bring it up to her as per her request."
"You're right, Antauri," Gibson answers.
"But still," Sprx informs, "We should at least help Nova. I mean, she cannot be like this for the rest of her life. What if something bad happens to her if she doesn't treat it right away?"
"I don't like thinking about this," Otto says. "It's hard for me to not stop worrying about her."
"I couldn't agree with you more, Otto," Gibson responds.
Suddenly, they hear a loud crash coming from Nova's room. They jump at the sound of it. Then, they heard her screaming.
"AH! WHY IS THERE A PEN WITHOUT A CAP?!" There is another crashing sound coming from her.
This is getting serious for the Hyper Force to deal with.
"Perhaps we should—" Antauri gets cut off.
"No, remember her request." Gibson answers.
The Hyper Force then hear Nova coming down the stairs, her ankle-booted feet thumping loudly at every step as she descends. They stood up to look at her. This time, Nova has a pair of pink wireless headphones hanging around her neck as she makes her way to the different room on the ground floor.
Standing several feet away from her, they were about to get in her way. Sprx asks her with her back facing towards them, "Nova, are you okay?"
Nova stops walking and then turns around with an emotionless look on her face to briefly look at her friends. The only answer she could give is, "Don't mind me. Just heading to the library." The way she said it is all monotone and nonchalant. She turns back around and places her headphones over her ears. She makes her way to the Hyper Force's personal library. Strangely, she didn't even slam the door this time.
"Huh." Otto couldn't help but notice something else. "She suddenly calmed down."
"Like what the site said about having bipolar disorder," Gibson informs. "It erratically shifts moods. It's part of her manic episode."
Without Nova's knowing, the rest of the Hyper Force make their way to the library while at the same time, bracing themselves for her next doable fury.
The library door is open ajar. Antauri silently opens the door a little wider, so that they can get a clearer, perceivable view of Nova. The four perk their heads over the open door, meticulous enough for not letting Nova see them.
They find her sitting on an overstuffed armchair with her feet up on the ottoman. Nothing is happening currently. Nova is simply reading a novel while listening to loud death metal from her headphones. Judging by the high volume of the music coming from her headphones, they can tell that she's listening to Arch Enemy. The growling and screaming lyrics muffle out all the sounds surrounding her despite the complete utter silence. Nova is surprisingly calm at this moment as she reads and listens to the deathly growls.
"Look at her," Sprx whispers to the others. "She's just so chilled all of a sudden."
They continue to stare at her, wondering if something else is going to happen next. Nothing.
The guys step away from the open doorway to give Nova more personal space for safety reasons. They make eye contact with one another outside of the library, knowing that she cannot hear them at this time.
"We should keep a close eye on her for now," Gibson informs.
"I agree," Antauri replies. "We can't just leave her alone all the time. Chances are that we may not make it on time if Nova did something more drastic to herself."
Sprx asks, "How are we going to do that?"
Gibson instantaneously comes up with an idea on how to surveillance Nova, in case of any urgency. "I got it." He turns to Otto. "Otto, do you still have those discreet cameras in your room?"
Otto answers, "Yeah, why?"
"I know how to keep track of her without her knowing."
It's been one hour, and Gibson is just finishing setting up the cameras on certain places around the mansion where Nova routinely goes to.
"And that's the last one," Gibson says after setting up the last camera on top of the doorway inside of Nova's room. He gets down from the step ladder.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Gibson?" Antauri asks.
"Positive." Gibson says as he takes out his smartphone. "These cameras are highly subtle; Nova won't know a thing. Now, let's get out of her room before she finds out."
They exit her room and head back to the main room. Gibson goes through his phone, tapping on the screen with his thumb. "I just need to set up this app that connects to these cameras. Whatever the cameras see, the footage will appear on my phone. And…" He resumes tapping with both of his thumbs. "Done. The cameras are now on, and it will capture every one of Nova's movements." He puts his phone in his back pocket.
"I'm pretty sure this is illegal," Otto worriedly says.
"Not if it's about our friend doing something dangerous," Sprx answers.
"Now remember, everyone," Gibson informs the other three. "Don't mention any of this to Nova until I say when the time is right. We don't want to cause any more trouble for her as we interfere with her life."
They all agree.
"I'm hungry," Otto says.
"Yeah, me too," Sprx remarks.
"We still have our food from this afternoon," the green simian reminds them. "Let's go eat them."
As they mutually agree that it is time to eat, the four Hyper Force members head to the kitchen to eat their fast-food takeouts.
It's been a quiet night. Nova hasn't been suffering from any manic or depressive symptoms throughout the rest of the day. For dinner, she just casually walked to the kitchen and grabbed a full box of leftover pizza from the refrigerator. Without even heating up the pizza, she just took the entire box all the way up to her room and ate them cold in the privacy of her domain. Nothing is happening right now, much to the concern of the rest of the Hyper Force. Everyone resumes doing their routines for the rest of the night until it is time for bed.
The next morning comes.
Gibson group texted the others except Nova about what he has found out from the surveillance app. He told them to meet him in the main room, so that Nova remains oblivious.
The four male Hyper Force members appear at the living room. They are all barefoot and still wearing their pajamas and their hairs are tussled into bedheads.
"Gibson, what have you found out?" Antauri asks him.
"Guys, I'm not sure how to explain this." Gibson goes through his phone to the surveillance app. "I just found out that something happened to Nova in the middle of the night, and… it's shocking."
"What is it?" Sprx asks.
"Tell us," Otto urges.
Gibson prepares to start the video. "Look at this." After getting it done, he shows his phone screen to the others. They all surround the small screen in his hand. He plays the video.
What they see in the video… just cannot be unseen.
In the night-visioned video, Nova appeared in the kitchen, barefoot, her hair being a mess, and wearing nothing but a pink T-shirt and black panties with frilly laces. She urgently looked around the dark kitchen, looking frantically back and forth, and side to side. She then looked nervous, but they didn't know what for. Nova then had both of her hands touching the back of her head. She resumed looking around for something in the dark. She remained frantic about something.
"What was she doing?" Sprx says curiously and worriedly. No one answers as they keep watching.
Back in the video, Nova appeared to be shaken about something. She looked around some more, and still, none of the guys knew what she was seeing or looking for. Then, Nova frantically looked around, all full of panic.
The next part sends chills down their spines.
Nova stared into the dark space… and she erratically made sudden movements with her hands. She swatted at the empty air, as if she was trying to catch a fly. She repeatedly did the same movements for the next several seconds until she finally gave up.
Then, here comes the most shocking part:
Nova leaned her lower back against the island table in the center of the kitchen… and she repeatedly punched herself in the head with her fist… multiple times. She continued to hit herself until she bent down a bit to catch her breath with her hands resting on her knees. Nova then placed both of her hands on top of her head, as if to stop a migraine. She remained in that position for the next several seconds as she appeared to take deep breaths. Finally, Nova stood up straight, looked around some more, and lastly… she left the kitchen to head back to her room. The rest of the video is completely still and empty.
The video ends. The four guys are all shocked and horrified at what they have seen.
"Holy crap," Otto says, still unable to wipe the horror out of his face.
"Delusions." Gibson explains as he turns off his phone before putting it into his pajama pants pocket. "Nova was experiencing delusions last night. That's part of her manic episode."
"I cannot believe it," Antauri says, still shocked. "It's… just so hard to see what she's going through."
"We need to do something about that," Sprx answers. "But how?"
They all come up with a plan with how to interfere with Nova and her mental health. After a moment of thinking, they come up with something… and it's not going to end well—for her and them.
The male Hyper Force members head upstairs, back to Nova's room. Aware that she may have locked her door from the inside, Sprx gently knocks on the door.
"Nova? Nova, are you awake? We need to talk." The red simian says.
They wait a few seconds. They can hear her bed creaking as she gets up and then her footsteps padding against the floor. Nova unlocks the door and opens it.
By the looks of her, Nova's hair is a mess, and she has bags underneath her pink eyes. She glares at them, "What do you want?"
Bracing themselves, they enter her room. Nova is perplexed about their facial expressions; they're all serious with a mix of concerned. She's also not happy with them entering her room without her consent.
As Sprx, Otto, Antauri, and Gibson all make eye contact with her, they couldn't help but to look at Nova's appearance. She's still wearing her pink shirt and is still in her panties from last night. They subtly blush in embarrassment—without her knowledge—from seeing Nova half-naked in front of them. It's just so awkward for the guys. Nova ignores their reactions and resumes talking.
"Why are you all here?" She demands. The guys get more serious as they stop blushing.
Sprx gets closer to her, "Nova…" He is not sure how to put this. "There's something… we saw something…"
"What do you mean?" Nova asks.
Sprx turns to Gibson. "You tell her."
Gibson steps towards her as well, taking out his phone from his pocket. He turns it on and opens the surveillance app.
"Nova," Gibson says. "There's no easy way to tell you this, but… we set up cameras around the household to watch you."
"YOU WERE STALKING ME?!" Nova's ire flares up.
The guys brace themselves even more. Otto then nervously tells her, "Before you say anything else, we did this for your own good."
"Yes," Gibson informs. "The reason why we set up cameras for you is because… we are all worried about you."
"What's there to worried about me?" Nova asks, her sudden rage quickly calming down.
Gibson sighs, "Here," he hands Nova his phone for her to see for herself. "Take a good look at this."
Nova takes the phone into her hands. She taps the screen to press play and the video starts. Her reaction shifts as she sees herself in the video. First, she's confused… then bewildered… and now, horrified. She gasps towards the ending.
The video ends… and Nova is all speechless. "How… why…" She meekly returns the phone to Gibson. "What was happening to me? Why all of a sudden?"
"Nova," Antauri brings himself closer to her, just a couple inches apart. "We know about your state of mental health. We know about your bipolar disorder. And we know that you have stopped taking your medications six months ago."
Nova remains speechless.
It's Gibson's turn to inform her. "You were suffering from delusions in the middle of the night, which is part of your manic episode. You do know that you're not supposed to stop taking those medications, right?"
"I…" Nova stammers. Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes. They become heavy and she begins to sob. She has her hands to her face to prevent them from seeing her cry. She begins her story to tell the others.
"I'm so sorry! And yes, I do know that I'm bipolar! I recently found out less than a year ago!" Nova lets her hands down from her face. She wipes the tears off with the back of her hand. She resumes as she tries to hold back her tears.
"Lately, I've been feeling strange, which is so unlike me. First, I'm happy, then depressed, and suddenly, I'm all angry for no reason. And I then do reckless things without my own knowledge, like eating a pack of raw meat yesterday. I just couldn't control myself. I didn't mean to act too hostile to you guys, and I'm sorry for that.
"So, I went to a psychiatrist to talk about my symptoms, and he diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. He then prescribed me Risperdal. I only took it for a week until I gained weight as a side effect to those pills. Feeling unhappy about the side effects, I decided to stop taking them despite what the psychiatrist said about not stopping." Nova pauses to take a deep breath and to sob a little more. She continues, "I've been hiding my medications and my mental health from you all, because… because I worry that you four wouldn't understand it. I just want to prevent being judged by you guys. I should've been honest about it in the first place. And… I'm sorry! I'm sorry for breaking the honesty code. I just don't want anything else to happen to me. Please forgive me."
Nova continues to sob as more tears form and run down from her eyes. She then sits on the edge of her bed as she waits for their reactions. Nothing from them. Just total silence from them.
After the silence amid her cries—Nova can feel all four of her friends sitting on the bed next to her. Sprx and Otto sit beside her with her in between them. Antauri sits next to Otto and Gibson sits next to Sprx. Nova can feel Sprx bringing her head on his shoulder and Otto rubs her back. She is now able to cease her sobs after feeling their touches.
Nova looks up to make eye contact with all of them with her eyes blurred by her tears. She can see the warm smiles on their faces.
"Nova, it's okay," Sprx whispers to her as he gives her a soft kiss on her forehead as a way to comfort her. "We're not mad at you."
She sniffs, "You're not?"
"No…" Otto answers. "You're our best friend. Of course we're not mad."
Gibson speaks up, "And we understand what you're going through. We won't judge you. That's not what we do."
"Absolutely," Antauri answers. "We may not be specialists at this kind of condition, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come to us."
"We're always here for you, Nova." Sprx comments.
Nova sniffs again and then wipes the tears off her eyes some more. For the first time ever since her diagnosis… she lets out a warm smile that matches theirs.
"Thanks. You guys are the best." Nova pulls them in for a group hug.
After they pull themselves apart, Antauri, Gibson, Otto, and Sprx stand up from the bed. Sprx takes something out of his pajama pants pocket. It's her medication. He hands them to Nova.
"I believe these are yours," Sprx says. "You really should go back to taking them. For us."
"And if you ever feel any side effects," Otto informs her. "I'm sure we can all help you with that. Right, guys?" They all nod in agreement.
Nova takes her medication from Sprx and holds them into her hands. She smiles, "For you, I'll continue to take these. For the sake of my mental health."
She removes the cap and then shakes out one pill as it lands onto her palm. Nova puts the pill into her mouth and taking her water bottle from her nightstand, she takes a sip and downs the entire thing. She puts the cap back on before placing it on her nightstand next to her water bottle. She waits for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Nova feels the change. Her happiness has finally returned.
"You're right, I do need this." Nova gets up from her bed. "Now, come on. I'm hungry. Let's have some breakfast."
Everyone agrees. They exit the room and head towards the kitchen.
From this day forward, nothing bad will happen to Nova ever again.
As long as she persists in taking what she needed to help heal her mental health.
She has her friends after all.
Her everything.
That's the most imperative part of the Hyper Force's friendship.