BE WORRIED ABOUT RYAN, YOU GUESS?==>

Oh man, you almost forgot about Ryan getting stabbed! I's a little sad that you've been in so many fights that this just feels normal. Huh. But it just looks like some minor lacerations. Nothing serious. Man, it's also a little sad that you think of any lacerations as "minor." You'd better ask him if he's okay. 

YOU: Ryan... Are you alright? 

Ryan: Huh?

He looks down at his torn shirt.

Alex: Are you okay? With your being stabbed? 

Ryan: Oh. Yeah. I'm probably gonna be fine. I think. Where's Will?

You snap up to attention, because where is Will? You look around, and find him literally just running away down the street behind the deer. You guess it isn't focused on him, seeing as he isn't one of the six. It's nice to feel special :3

But not cool, Will.

Wren: Honestly, I can't hate. He's doing what I wish I was doing. 

Antimony: I can hate, and I will. 

YOU:  Haha, "Will." 

Wren: :?

YOU: Like his name.  

Antimony: Haha!

Wren: Okay. 

CUT OFF SOME ANTLERS==>

Your brain developed a plan immediately, because you're awesome, or potentially being aided by some sort of outer force? You turn to Alex.

YOU: Are we sure this thing cannot understand us? 

Alex: *I don't know noise*

Wren: Probably not.

Deer: Hnnn.

Antimony: Why is it not attacking us? Is it just waiting, or-

YOU: WE SHOULD CHOP IT'S ANTLERS OFF :D

Wow, you sounded completely insane when you said that. Hm. Oh well! You think it's a good idea? 

Antimony: I think that is a good idea!

Ryan: Well yeah, but you're her?

Antimony: ... >:0 

Antimony: Not cool, Ryan! I am a separate person! 

Ryan: I know, but you're, like, similar! But, uh-

Alex: I think it's an alright plan. 

YOU: Really? :D

Alex: Yeah, sure. Good as anything else. I mean, it has canine teeth, it still might bite us.

Ryan: It isn't doing anything. It's just standing there. 

Wren: I think it's blocking our way to Apophis, you know? As a show of power. 

Deer: Hnnn. Correct. 

Oh jeez. It turns to face you, entering the cener of the road and walking forward, eyeing you madly. You can anticipate it charging, and you knock into Alex to knocked out of it's way. You swing the sword, hitting it's antler. The blade digs in but doesn't cut it. The tip is about to slip between your ribs, but Antimony flies around, and slices off the tip before it gets to you. The antler still hits you, and it hurts a lot, but a bad bruise is better than a stab wound! 

YOU: Thank you, Antimony!

Antimony: No problem, Diana! Ow!

The deer bites her leg, and she falls to the ground. Ryan jumps forward, and swings his sword at the antler that's almost missing a piece. The sword is glowing red with his Apostate powers, and the antler turns black and explodes. It hits you and your friends like shrapnel. 

Alex: Ow!!!

The thing tramples Antimony , and Wren crawls down on her hands and knees, and yanks Antimony back to safety. While sh's already bent over, she swings at the deer's massive leg. It collapses, and the bottom of its leg crumbles like sandstone. No blood. Creeeepy. 

The antler grows back, tearing some of it's face off. The clean white skull is revealed on half of it's face. 

YOU: Okay, it looks like the antlers can grow back? So, just... Stab everywhere. But still cut off the antlers. If that works, Wren.

Wren: I'm not really in charge, honey. You can do whatever. 

YOU: I am in charge! I am going mad with power!!!

Antimony: I am in charge!!! Because according to Ryan, see, we are the same person. 

Ryan: I'm sorry, okay?

Antimony: Anyway, I say that your plan is good.

YOU: Awesome! 

You prepare for second round, only for a bright light to appear behind the deer. Is it a car? Oh jeez uh what do you do?

LOOK INTO THE LIGHT==>

You squint harder at the light, however, you do not go into it, because that is called "death," and you wish to avoid that. You look past the deer, which is staggering towards you. At first you think it might be headlights shining through the mist, but it's just one light. A headlight.

On the end of a motorcycle. Sorry, a chopper. 

There are three people on it. Tracy, of course, and Sam, with his thin pale arms wrapped around their waist. But on the back, Will is almost dangling over the edge. He helped you! He actually went to get help :D Your previous beef with him is rescinded. 

Oh. Huh. Wait. You're in the middle of the road.

YOU: Everyone get out of the way!

You all scramble out of the road, Alex and Ryan going to the right, and you and your girlfriends going left, into a copse of trees. The deer turns around, just as the motorcycle crashes into it. Will leaps into the grass, so he doesn't get hurt, but Sam jumps from the motorcycle and swings his sword at the deer's neck, because he's stupid, probably. Tracy Akira slides the chopper into the deer's legs, and it falls down, right to the point where Sam is able to decapitate the creature. It's head splats to the ground. The eye rolls back into it's head.

The body crumbles to dust, or into a pile of black sand. It's creepy. The head stays there though. The motorcycle is on it's side, and Tracy is laying on their side, one leg pinned under the motorcycle. Sam is facedown on the road, sword beside him. 

Alex walks over and rolls him over. She looks frantic.

Alex: Sam? Sam, are you alright?!

Sam: hhhnyeahhh... nice to see you care, dude.

Alex: Sh-shut up, man, I was worried you were hurt.

Sam: I mean, I do have road rash on my whole body I think but mostly it's alright.

Tracy: Hey, I'm pinned under a motorcycle.

Sam: Help my spouse, you jerks. I can't stand up. 

Wren walks over, and lifts the motorcycle with ease, because she's RIPPED. You feel so lucky to have her. Tracy stands up uneasily. Their jeans are ripped on their left leg, and it looks like their leg isn't doing well.

Tracy: Ow, ow, ow, man. My leg looks like ground beef. 

Sam: Physician, heal thyself.

Tracy: >:|

YOU: Their powers do not work that way! 

Antimony: I think he was joking.

YOU: oh

Ryan wanders back from the trees he was in. Bro is acting mad scatterbrained, or something. You are a little upset with him currently, and you can't really tell whether you're being reasonable or not. He probably isn't going to let Tracy heal him. This martyr nonsense is either going to get him killed or just... Keep being incredibly annoying. 

Sam: Guys okay, Diana's mom is coming to pick you guys up in a minivan. We had no way of knowing, you know, but town isn't exactly... Safe to walk into without cover right now. It's a little crazy honestly. Flooding and stuff. We're still uphill here, and so down the- lord almighty, that deer head is still looking at me. That's really creepy. 

YOU: Oh, Will, I just wanted to thank you for going to get help. We thought you had abandoned us! 

Will: Oh, no, I was getting help, you know? They were stopped at a blockade, which was lucky I guess. Otherwise we'd have been back a good deal later! 

YOU: Blockade? 

Sam: Yeah, it's crazy.

Man, it seems like you might be about to experience some real trouble! You're waiting for your mom anyway, and your friends social group is a little messy currently. Anything you want to work out while you're waiting? Just so long as you have time.

STRAIGHT UP JOKING IT==>

You look at your peers. The people you love. The people you almost love. Will. As you look at Will, you feel a strange burst of envy. He's going to get to leave before you have to see this through. Crazed as he is, he can still leave. There was a fork in the road of your life, and you and your friends went left ages ago. He still stands at the fork, wavering between roads, and you can almost see him, but the road is long and winding, the switchbacks are innumerable, and you will never really be normal again. 

Your mood is bleak, and you know there are serious conversations that need to be had, and so you decide to lighten the mood a little. 

YOU: Hey, guys?

Wren: What's up, Deen?

YOU: How do... Aliens... Keep their pants up?

Tracy: With an asteroid belt?

YOU: With an aster- I am very angry with you, Tracy. 

Alex: Dude, I appreciate you trying to lighten the mood, but we've heard basically every joke that could ostensibly involve an alien. Because those are the only jokes you and Antimony ever tell.

YOU: I am just a girl. 

Alex: Nevertheless 

YOU: Just a girl who loves aliens.

Wren ruffles your hair in a special way that doesn't make you feel like a little kid. It makes you feel like a cat getting scratched behind it's ear, and that's essentially what it is, with your sensory stuff. Antimony leans her head on your shoulder, and you clumsily brush her face or something, you feel stupid as soon as you do it. Ryan eyes you with some inscrutable intent. 

Wren: Can I talk to you guys about something? 

Sam: Of course, dawg. Shoot.

Wren: I guess first I want to ask what exactly you mean by the road being blockaded?

Tracy: Government agents of some sort are at these blockades, and they're only letting certain people in. If we caravan with Diana's mom, I think it'll be okay. 

Sam: Yeah. But, it's like, flooded. Pretty badly. Uh, the agents at the front noticed that I... Matched up with a body they saw? Probably a clone Apophis yeeted out of his void bubble.

Alex: Did you say yeeted?  

Sam: Yeah, that's... That is current slang, Alex. I'm hip with these youth.

Will: How old are you?

Sam: Eighteen, man.

Will: You're ... One of the youth.

Sam: I'm also hip though.

Wren clears her throat, obviously trying to keep a straight face, and you turn to her with rapt attention. 

Wren: Uh, I guess I want to offer us some encouragement. This reminds me of a parable, but, uh, not enough that I can actually remember any details, come to think of it, but when I remember I'll tell you. I just want to say that I love all of you guys, and there's nobody else I'd be willing to do all this with. You're all... You all mean a lot to me. Some of you have been with me since I was little and lonely, and some of you I met later, but I'm just... Really glad I met you all. I know we can beat this. That thing....

She gestures to the black dome that is somehow darker than the sky itself. 

Wren: I feel sorry for It, honestly. It's tired, and warped by hate, and it just isn't gonna stand a chance against us, you know?

Alex: Dude, I think Apophis is one thing you don't have to feel sorry for.

Antimony: We love you for your empathy, but He doesn't deserve it.

Wren: I dunno. I guess it isn't that important a question, since we're going to destroy it, but... I just feel bad for It. It's this awful caged animal that can't do anything but hate. It's this sterile thing that's poisoned itself so much... Can you really hate something that can't do anything but hurt other people? If that's all It can do, is it even evil?

YOU: Wren... I really do not want to hurt your feelings at all. If you are feeling vulnerable, I will not say this, because I will never try to hurt you, but...

Wren: It's cool. I'm feeling alright.

YOU: I think you may be... Projecting certain feelings you have onto Apophis.

Wren: What do you mean?

YOU: I mean... Are you certain you are talking about Apophis and not... Your grandfather? 

Alex lets out a sign like a tire stabbed by a pocketknife. She glanced askance. Wren smiles slightly.

Wren: Huh. 

YOU: Oh jeez, that sounded Freudian and snarky, I mean to say... He, you can... Your feelings about your grandfather are valid, and complicated, and you can, uh, feel how you... But Apophis is just, He exists to hurt us, He does not-

Wren: I'm not mad, Deen. It's alright. You're probably right, I just... 

She frowns and looks down.

Wren: I guess I'm not ready to think about any of that directly. But you didn't hurt my feelings. You were probably right. 

YOU: I do not want to come off as callous, I - 

Wren: Deen. It's ok, honey. We're all good. 

She scratches behind your ear, and you crane your neck to rest your head on her shoulder, and Antimony does the same to you, and you get to a point where you are as close to snuggling as you can get while standing up on the side of a street in the rain. Alex looks a little embarrassed. Ryan looks weird, and you privately resolve not to alter your behavior too much to accommodate someone who is crushing on your girlfriend. All this stuff feels like him still trying to stake a claim on her, and it makes you feel a little mad, honestly. But that doesn't really matter. What matters is meeting your dad and coming up with a strategy to fight evil god! 

Your mom pulls forward in her minivan. She slows down, and you see the raindrops suspended in the air in the twin lights of her car. She jumps out, and looks at you.

Danielle: We thought you were dead!!!

Uh, what? What do you do? Or say, whatever.

~~

hey gang im tired but i still wrote this. please be merciful in your esteem of me if it's chock full of typos 

@azalea: yes! this is the intended reaction, it is nice to see it working! one of my irl friends has said essentially exactly what you said, and... yeah! ryan has done some indefnsible things, but his motivation is intentionally relatable. (a funny writing trick is making characters that are deliberately divisive in the opinions of the audience. is Ryan a sadboy or a totally self-motivated jerk who thinks he deserves a person? or both? you decide! 

(but yeah a good deal of his issues are autobiographical, which is true of most of my characters. i have definitely liked people who didn't or couldn't like me. im in a healthy reltionship now though, so take that fictional character i made up, im winning)

~~

HUG YOUR MOM!==>

You and Antimony run over to your mom and jump to hug her. She's so light you almost knock her over, but she laughs and wraps her arms around you, adjusting her sun hat and trying not to cry, visibly. Being able to look both at her and Antimony has made you realize that family friends were telling the truth when they said you look a lot like her. You have a lot less difficulty discerning her emotions than other people sometimes do. But.. wait... 

What was that she said? 

WHY DID THEY THINK YOU WERE DEAD?!==>

YOU: It is really good to see you, mom!

Danielle: It is very good to see you too.

YOU: Why did you think we were dead?

Danielle: I should clarify.

She clears her throat and looks vaguely in the direction of your friends.

Danielle: Terrance was absolutely certain that you were alive. He never lost hope. I just do not have the same amount of optimism as him. I am very, very glad that Alice and I were wrong in this instance.

Wren: I'm also glad, Ms. Zhu.

Alex: My mom thought I was dead too? :(

Danielle: Yes. There is a reason. 

She pulls her cellphone out of her pocket, inputs the code, and clicks around for a bit.

Sam: Uhh...

Danielle: Hold on. It is here somewhere.

...

She clicks a bit more frustratedly. She's only, like, forty-three. She should not be technology blind. But she is. You briefly think about helping her, but you have no idea what she's even looking for. Finally, she sticks her pointer finger up, in the "eureka!" pose, and spins the phone around to face you. 

Danielle: Found it! 

It's a... What are you even looking at?

Oh! It's a video thumbnail... It's titled "my apology." The thumbnail is a picture of Hastur sitting in a folding chair, head hung low, hands crossed in front of him. He appears to have been badly photoshopped in front of the room in the tunnels filled with cloning tubes. A bright red circle is around a Hawthorne clone in a tube, with a red arrow pointing at it. The words "WE DIDN'T COOK WITH THIS ONE" in bright yellow letters is at the top, like a banner. There's something else odd about the picture. You squint, and see that a ridiculously compressed and stretched out photo of Alex making a weird face appears to have been made into an almost completely transparent watermark. The video also appears to be over two hours long.

Danielle: Um... The... Little alien guy apparently recorded this video weeks in the past, and... Look, the pont is, the first hour and a half are describing how he manipulated Sketch into cloning himself, set up the Six... You guys... To be as traumatized as possible so he could manipulate you, create an enormous clone army, and position you into fighting Apophis, killing him, but dying in the process? So he could destroy the status quo and start anew. But then he said that he recorded this video in case something messed up his plans, and said that that meant he was going to kill all of you so he could claim responsibility for dooming the whole universe. 

Tracy: All of that is accurate information, ma'am. 

Sam: But he lost. 

Wren: My... My grandpa stopped him, Ms. Zhu. He sacrificed himself to save us. 

Danielle: ... Seriously? That sounds deeply unlike him. 

Alex: He might have done it as a final way of making us feel bad.

Danielle: That does sound like him. Let's just get in the car, it is raining.

Sam and Tracy board their Motorcycle, and give a thumbs up. You start to climb into the car, but you see Will walking away.

YOU: Will! What are you doing?

Will: Walking, I'm just... I think you guys are, like, magnets for danger! No offense! I just want to avoid that. Bye guys! Bye Ryan! 

Ryan: ... Mmm? Bye, Will.

Will walks away, into the woods. He's probably going to be fine. The car drives down the empty road for a while, and you sit in silence with your mom, girlfriends, Alex, and Ryan. You can hear them all breathing individually. You can hear rain and wind. 

You see a blockade ahead. There are a pair of people in black suits out front. One of them is a man with long hair, wire rimmed glasses and a long beard that makes him look like a goat, and the other is...

No. 

It can't be.

Is that... Ten? What do you do?

hey im gonna wait for a command obviously but i couldn't wait to make this comment as of this comment the terminal is now the fourth longest thread on inkwell pat yourselves on your backs guys we did it. 

TEN?!==>

You look closer. It's them, there isn't anyone else it could be. Short black hair, a round face with brown eyes peeking out of glasses in the shape of an infinity symbol. They're wearing a black suit, and they look sharp! You wish they were looking in your direction, but they're facing towards Sam and Tracy. It doesn't seem like they recognize them, which is fair. They've only ever interacted briefly over FaceTime! 

Sam: Come on man, let us in. We're the chosen ones, I keep telling you. We're like Harry Potter. 

Tracy: Yes. We are here to fight a god and meet the mayor. 

Ten: I'm sorry guys, but I told you. I can't let you in! The town is flooded, and overrun with some pretty terrible things! Your best bet is heading up towards the hills, before this whole area floods!

Sam: You think we're not as attractive as Daniel Radcliffe, don't you? Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For example, I likeGene Wilder, you know, but Alex thinks I'm weird.

Ten: I'm going to be honest. I think you might be insane! And... Wait, did you say...? Wrong Alex, probably.

The Bearded guy in an ill fitting suit taps Tracy on the shoulder.

Beardo: Hey, uh, the mayor guy's wife is back, it looks like. 

Ten: Okay, John. Seriously, try to learn people's names. 

John: Uh, I try, but then they start mattering to me, and I remember their bodies, heh, y'know?

Ten: Maybe just retire, John.

John shrugs, and walks a few steps away, and Ten turns around and faces your car. They abruptly stop, shaking their head, and they look at you with a grin. Wren rolls down her window.

Ten: GUYS?!

Wren: Ten!

YOU: Ten!

Alex: Sup.

Ten: Look at you!!! You're all adults and stuff! I feel old! I mean, we've talked online and stuff, but... It's so... Wow, you know?

YOU: Yes! And you became one of the men in black! 

Ten: Haha, no, we're way too underfunded for that. We're a volunteer organization, you know. I, uh, can't give details, sorry. If we had some proper funding we could fight whatever ultraterrestrial abomination is growing in that cocoon instead of playing traffic warden and fighting the little creatures it has running around.

Antimony: Creatures? 

Ten: Yeah, you know. Crawlers, a few drowners. Woodsmen seem to be basically non-existent around here since all that stuff with the old voice. Those other two... That's Sam and Tracy, right? I feel so dumb for not recognizing you! Sorry!

Sam: Yeah, expect a phone call from our lawyers.

Tracy: (sam!)

Sam: Okay, I was kidding, but if we had lawyers, or the money for lawyers, and we cared enough to actually do anything, and we had anything that could even potentially make up a genuine case, and we had the patience to do that, and Wren and Diana would let us, and we weren't busy doing other things, then you'd be in trouble, by cracky.

Ten: Hehehe :)

Alex: It's good to see you, Ten. 

Ten: It's good to see you too, Alex! You look really pretty! 

Alex: Um... Thank you. I'm glad I figured things out. I wouldn't have without all the stuff that happened, you know, bringing me close to all of you. Uh, you and Lillie helped a lot.

Wren: Tell Lillie we're thinking about her!

Ten: Sure, yeah! Be careful in there. It's seriously bad. I gotta work I guess, but hey, this was pretty great!

They wave to John, and he pulls the blockade out of the road. Your mom punches the gas, and you drive down the road into town.

Danielle: You want to head straight to the Town Hall, or is there anything else you need to do? You are the heroes, you know!

Hm. Decide! You are hungry, so that's a concern.

~~

Captcha says biwzu. bi Zhu? Diana is bi, you're right

while we're waiting, here's a piece set during the time skip! back when our heroes were all around sixteen! Alex gets a little day in the limelght. good for her. 

~~

They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach 

Your name is Alex Hawthorne, and you are sixteen years old. Currently you are riding shotgun in your mom's car, about to pick up Tracy from their house. You have a sneaking suspicion that your mom brought you along so she could have a private discussion with you. You're not alone, Sam is in the back, but it doesn't matter, because he isn't paying any attention at all. 

Sam. You like Sam, despite yourself. He's been nothing but supportive in the past few weeks. Everyone has, since you came out, but it feels like a bigger thing coming from someone who's mourning his dad at the same time. He takes the time to be supportive. He's a little irritating, of course. For one thing, he constantly talks over movies like he's doing a commentary. For another, his attempts at training you to swordfight have been bizarre and probably traumatic. But he cares a lot, it's obvious that he does. He also constantly sings or raps under his breath, it's really weird.

You look in the rearview mirror. He's doing it right now, quietly muttering some K-Dot feature to himself, bobbing his head to an imagined beat. What a strange guy. You're driving down a narrow road toward one of the trailer parks around here. Tracy lives here, with their dad. Or lived there. You're picking them up, they're gonna live in your commune now. "Commune." You guess it's not really a commune. Or, it fits the definition, but not the idea implicit in the word.

You think Ryan lives around here as well. You guess you're supposed to like him, but he's kind of a creep. He asked you out about a week after you transitioned. Probably because you look like Wren. You turned him down. You have zero interest. 

Your mom leans over and tucks your hair behind your ear, smiling at you. You roll your eyes, and smile. 

YOU: Mommmm...

Alice: Aww, who am I embarrassing you in front of? Sam? He is not paying attention.

Sam:  (hit the streets then we break the code no way uh, hit the brakes when they on patrol no way)

YOU: Fair enough.

Alice: You know you can talk to me about anything, right?

YOU: Figured we were gonna have this conversation.

Alice: Um, yes, I'm your mom. It's... My job. 

YOU: Yeah. I know.

Alice: And I get it, okay? You know, personally. Your mom is also a trans woman, you've been blessed beyond measure. I'm willing to talk to you about anything, okay kid? No matter how weird it seems. 

YOU: Yeah, I know. I guess I held off on this for so long because I thought, you know, you're trans, Wren's trans, what are the chances that I am too? That it isn't osmosis.

Your mom sighs, and turns into the trailer park. You look around. Mobile homes, with long yellowing grass and patches of moss. Trees making up a dark ring around the little clearing. You shiver instinctively at the sight of shapes moving in the dark, behind trees. Might be animals, or bushes in the wind. But it might not be. It could be something much worse. That's a possibility now. 

Alice: Yeah. It kind of... Runs in the family, kid. 

YOU: Okay, you're making a weird face.

Alice: Weird? I'm smiling!

YOU: You're never not smiling. That's your "I am withholding information from my child" smile.

Alice: No, it's my "My daughter is destined to fight an evil god, and so I can't protect her from very much,so I'm going to keep her safe this little way" smile.

YOU: I'm going to figure whatever you're withholding out eventually.

Alice: I know, kid. But, suffice to say, I knew this was something that might happen, and I'm happy for you. I'm glad you figured yourself out. That's why your name is just Alex, you know. It isn't short for Alexander or Alexis or anything else. I figured I could let you figure out what it was short for yourself.

YOU: ...huh. I figured you were just kind of dumb.

Alice: Hey!

She laughs, and you smile at her.

YOU: Isn't your name legally Alice? Not short for anything?

Alice: Okay, well, that is because I'm kind of dumb, Hehe. I was like, to be fair,  I was exactly eighteen and, like, three days. And my deadname is Anton.

YOU: Yeesh. 

Alice: Exactly! It was a bit of a hurry to distance myself from that name. 

YOU: Understood.

You pull up in front of a specific trailer. Sam pulls out his phone and starts typing.

Alice: You're really lucky to have the friends you have, you know. Your cousin is trans, Tracy is nonbinary, that nice Will boy who kind of stalks you is trans, I think. Your mom is trans. Even that college kid, Ten? They're nonbinary too. You have a demographically improbable support group, kiddo. Not everyone is so lucky.

Your mom shoots a dark look at the trailer.

Alice: I mean, Tracy... That poor kid. I don't know what you know, but their dad is... Terrible. Maybe the worst human being I've ever had to deal with. Just... Monstrous, you know. I can't imagine what they've had to deal with. He is lucky they only wanted to cut him out of their life. We were more than willing to press charges.

Sam: I was more than willing to press him through six feet of dirt, if you can pick up what I'm putting down.

YOU: How long have you been listening to us?

Sam: Dude, the whole time. We're in... A car. There's not even any music on. Not really a conscious choice. But yeah, I'm here for you, you're pretty cool for a nerd. Keep on rocking in the free world and doot doot a lot doot.

YOU: ?

Sam: ... Doot doot! I'm gonna go get them. They're, uh, scared to try to leave alone. I... Am going to try to leave peacefully. But, you know. I can't stand the idea of that guy hurting them and getting away with it. I- Okay, I'm just gonna go. 

He walks up to the front door, and it opens. The outline of a man appears behind a closed screen door for a moment, and then recedes into darkness. Tracy leaves after a few minutes. They're shaking a little, but walking steadily. They have two suitcases. Sam takes one, and they load them in the back of the car.

Alice: Is that all you have?

Tracy: Yes.

Alice: Aw, kid...

Tracy: I'm good now. It's okay.

Tracy and Sam get in the back. Sam leans into their shoulder, and they stare blankly forward, placing a hand on his head. Alice clears her throat.

Alice: Well, I'm trying to beat Danielle at being cool mom, so who wants pizza?

Everyone wants pizza. In general, but also in the moment.

~~

yo that's it send in commands i beg

Hi, so I think I could join in on this, but I don't have time to read the 43 pages story. (No offense, I read some of it and it's awesome) Could I have a summary?