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Cold...
That's the right word to describe White Space...
An empty, cold place...
A place that only exist with the purpose of letting Sunny dive in his thoughts without the Headspace counterparts of his friends go on on him inviting him to play...
A place where Sunny can peacefully do what he does best...
Nothing...
yes, he can write on his computer's journal, draw on the sketchbook, pet his cat pet Mewo, and also cry away his worries to... nobody...
but nothing beats the relaxing feeling of slacking off after a tired evening, left alone with nothing but your thoughts
he had Abbi once, that one imaginary friend who was known as Abbi the wisest
she was mostly the voice of consciousness. Sunny still remembers how that came to be
when he and Mari were young, like, very young, they were watching The Pinocchio movie, there was Jiminy Cricket, a cricket that functioned as Pinocchio’s consciousness, as the voice of reason for the wooden boy. Sunny was so fascinated that he even made one of his own
Abbi
a girl with some squid features such as tentacles instead of hands and feet, which was like that because he was making her up in a drawing and didn't know how to draw hands at the time, Abbi also had a pair of shorter tentacles in her head that seemed like horns(?), she would even function as an imaginary friend Sunny could play with whenever Sunny was felt that way, sometimes Mari would join the game
but of course, as he'd grow, Abbi became less and less part of Sunny's life, which was enforced upon meeting Kel, Hero, Aubrey and Basil
Abbi only functioned as an imaginary friend whenever Sunny felt lonely, but with now real people to call friends, what use did Abbi have other than that voice in his head that functioned as his consciousness?
but Abbi would return shortly after the incident, during Sunny's lockdown... it was fun to have her around while it lasted, but she was thrown away... why? she was too wise for her own good
Abbi had committed the crime of suggesting to remember the truth, to forgive himself, and go outside with his friends
First. Why would he want to remember something that brought him nothing but pain?
Second. Whatever he did, he didn't feel as he deserved to be forgiven
Third. His friends might be doing well without him anyways, they still have each other
and thanks to this suggestion, Omori had banished her to Blackspace, torn apart from her wisdom and left to be forgotten, becoming a shell of her former self.
then, Headspace came, and Omori would make sure that Sunny felt safe in there as much as he needed to be, making sure to erase any explicit reminder of the truth, or any reminder at all.
Sunny hates to be alone, and Omori knew that better than nobody ever could, not even Mari. Omori is part of Sunny's mind after all. And that fear of loneliness was the reason he decided to make these dreamy versions of his friends, alongside a version of his sister that can never be hurt
Kel was as hyperactive as Sunny remembered him, perhaps he was more, but that's okay
Aubrey was cheerful and trusted him on everything, Sunny had a crush on her, so it felt like a dream when this Aubrey felt the same for him
Hero was the big brother figure, the one to keep the kids on check to prevent them from getting into trouble, almost like a guardian
Mari was caring, sweet, and most of all, supportive, she rarely left the picnic
And Basil... Basil was something else, Sunny can't understand why, but something in him makes him feel off... as if he should stay away from him... although one thing is certain... Omori doesn't seem to have a good opinion on him
Sunny didn't know why, Basil is a good friend, just like Kel and Aubrey are, why is Basil supposed to be any different?
But anyways, Sunny would have all these adventures in Headspace, laughing at silly jokes, watching the usual bickering between Kel and Aubrey, watering flowers with Basil, taking down evildoers such as Sweetheart, Mr. Jawsum or Humphrey
But things don't last forever, turns out lots of things changed ever since he was last outside, and most of those changes were not for the better
As Sunny saw the pain that Kel, Aubrey and Basil were carrying since Mari's death, a small part of him wanted to help...
His friends needed him...
That thought of consciousness was the one push that he needed to do the one thing Omori fought so hard to avoid
Remember the truth
...
How did that go?
You know what they say: Be careful with what you wish for
The Truth... The Incident...
Mari didn't kill herself
Sunny killed Mari, he didn't mean to, but the fact that he did was enough to break him...
and that's not the worse part... he now understood why in recent headspace adventures, Basil became missing... why Omori disliked him... why Stranger looked like him...
Basil was the one to hang her corpse, all to protect him. but at what cost?
after that, Sunny woke up after that, where was he? oh... right... he was staying at Basil's house for a sleepover, and he was moving tomorrow...
Sunny went back asleep, tomorrow was going to be a moved day and he needed all the energy necessary to help his mom with the moving, nothing could possibly go wrong from here
oh, how wrong he was...
Basil killed himself that night, Polly was the first to find him, then Kel and Hero followed up, Aubrey found him, and their cries awakened Sunny, who was the last to see what happened...
Basil was found with a hole in his stomach, Polly had recklessly removed the garden shears that were stabbing him in a desperate attempt of helping, she wanted to call emergencies, but Hero was the one to realize that it was all worthless effort...
Basil was dead and there was no changing that...
as Sunny walked to his friends, he could hear their laments
“Sunny...” cried Kel with heartbroken tears "Why does this keep happening to us?"
“Basil...” Aubrey's voice was utterly broken “I-I'm... I'm sorry...”
and Polly, Basil's caretaker was broken by it too “Why am I so useless?”
and lastly Hero, who tried to keep his composure “You should go home, you're moving tomorrow and have a new start, aren't you? don't worry for us, we'll be okay...”
“At least I hope so...” not even Hero was convinced that it'd be the case, in fact, no one was.
Sunny didn't need to hear anything else; this was enough...
not only you killed Mari, but your inaction killed Basil too... is there anyone you won't hurt, Sunny? who's gonna die thanks to you next? Kel? Aubrey?
shut up...
it wouldn't surprise me if both died thanks to you...
shut up...
but that won't matter... you have Headspace to heal that pain...
Shut up!
Why cry Mari's death when she's right there? unharmed... alive...
and the same can go for everyone else.
Shut up!
After all, YOU made headspace for that!
C'mon Sunny, we can see them again by staying in Headspace forever
believe me. you won't regret it.
But it's not the same! Headspace felt good when he didn't know anything, and now that he remembers, it will feel as what it truly is
Escapism
that's what it was, a pathetic escape from his problems.
upon reaching his house, he found himself in his room... and there it was
a steak knife...
he could end it all right there...
Everything would be better without him
Aubrey still has the Hooligans
Kel and Hero still have each other
and his mother... at least she won't have to deal with this dead weight of a son anymore
but then...
something tackled him, just as he was about to end it all
Aubrey?
What is she doing here?
her eyes were tearing, as she held him tight “W-what were you thinking!? Is this your way of solving things!?”
“S-stop...”
“P-please stop...” he begged as he tried to separate himself from Aubrey “I-I deserve this, it's my fault!”
“Sunny... it's not your fault! It's mine...” the girl cried attempting to comfort her friend “I bullied Basil for years! if there's someone to blame, that's me”
Sunny looked up to Aubrey, he was crying and it pained her to see her friend like this
“Y-you don't understand... if I told the truth from the start... none of this would've happened...”
Sunny. Don't you dare say a word, that if you don't want her to-
“I killed Mari”
you idiot...
Sunny then proceeded to explain what happened... the events that led to the argument, and soon after, Mari's death, and Basil's plan
upon finishing, Sunny expects Aubrey's reaction to be disgust, hatred, perhaps immediate abandonment
and while her initial reaction was a step back, he didn't expect to be hugged shortly after...
“W-why?” Sunny asks “why are you still here? Aren't you angry at me?”
She was indeed angry, but he didn't need to hear that, he needed help.
As for Sunny... he was confused, but right now... he was feeling sleepy, and given how easy he falls asleep, he fell asleep in Aubrey's arms... it's not rare for him to fall asleep when feeling sleepy, to fall asleep easily in comfortable places to rest in
Was Sunny this much of a sleepy head? perhaps, but little did he know, that this dream would be quite different from all the others
Plenty of memories of 4 years ago were flooding back
The tree house, the trip to the beach, the secret hangout spot, his crush on Aubrey, playing basketball with Kel despite not being good at it, Basil's birthday, the gift everyone bought for him with their own money at Christmas, the times he would listen to Aubrey at the swings
How could he forget all of this? seriously, how could he?
Sunny realized he was making a mistake... to kill himself would only hurt his friends further...
Basil was bad enough.
And Aubrey... she blames herself for taking part in leading Basil to end his own life. What will it be of her if he left too?
For these 4 years, Sunny has been running away from his problems, acting as if Headspace was his one and only home, while ignoring the real one
That caused Kel to feel forced to smile and pretend that he was okay
That caused Aubrey to feel abandoned and change for the worse
That caused Basil to feel hopeless and alone for a broken promise
His 3 best friends... all hurt because he was a coward.
But that’s about to change!
And then those moments were over... as Sunny met him again...
His vessel to venture through Headspace
His protector now turned tormentor
Omori
took you long enough, huh?
"..."
not much of a talker, as usual...
fine by me, you won't be speaking anytime soon...
As Omori prepared his knife, Sunny was left to fight Omori in Whitespace on his own...
He can't call for help and expect anyone to come magically, and even if he called the headspace counterparts of his Friends, the Bosses or even anyone in Headspace, it'd be a fruitless effort, as Omori could finish them off with a snap of his fingers, they aren't real after all...
But what about Omori? he wasn't real either, was he?
Well... not exactly...
What else could Omori be other than his “protector”?
Sunny was empty handed to face him... if he wanted to stand a chance, he needed to take away Omori's knife, but that wouldn't happen so easily
Sunny walked around Omori without taking his eye away from him, that'd be a mistake, so he hoped for an opening, but Omori knew what strategy Sunny was going for, so he stood in place, not taking an eye away from him either...
Nothing would stop him from protecting Sunny, and if he has to use his fears against him to achieve his goal... So be it!
Omori knew that Sunny was patient and could walk a while, but he could wait as long as Sunny walked too, but then Sunny changed his strategy by charging immediately, and while Sunny got stabbed, he managed to push himself away with the knife still in his left arm
But Omori wasn’t disarmed, as he created another knife, but it was too late as Sunny sliced his neck...
But...
Omori did not succumb
You've caused so much suffering... and yet you did nothing. And so you've earned nothing in return.
Sunny continues his fight, now with Omori being the one assaulting him, Sunny does his best to avoid the attacks, but his wound in his arm, causing him the pain that makes him lose a bit his balance, good for Omori to get a hit on him
Your friends will never forgive you. They'll abandon you just like you did to them... and that's what you deserve.
Omori blocks some of Sunny’s attacks, then moves aside to grab the boy from the shirt’s neck, and throw him to the ground
Before Sunny can regain composure, he’s stabbed multiple times in the back, as Omori stops, he gets up and continues speaking
You tell yourself that you don't want to burden others... But the truth is that you're selfish. You just don't want people to depend on you.
But before Omori can go on, Sunny quickly gets up and stabs Omori in the chest
Sunny remembers Kel’s words
“Friends... Friends are supposed to be there for each other.”
Thanks to this, Sunny’s wounds were healed
And just in time, as Omori did not succumb to death either
“...”
Omori then decides to make his knife float around, multiplying them and launching them as projectiles, Sunny jumps to the side avoiding them, but gets hit by one in the leg
When do you think about others? How long are you going to let people take care of you? You say you care but you're a liar.
You've never done anything for anyone else.
You're useless... less than useless. You're sick.
Sunny runs towards his monochrome counterpart, with all the knives that flying towards him, and piercing through his body
Sunny remembers Aubrey’s wish
“I hope you can find some peace... or you know... some happiness.”
With a good aimed attack, Sunny stabs Omori in the eye, but the doppelganger doesn’t express any pain, stabbing him with floating knifes what appeared behind Sunny’s back
People like you don't deserve to live.
But Sunny resist and continues to stab him repeatedly, so much so that he should be dead
However, Omori did not succumb
And Whitespace was now changing its white color for a blood red one, with black waterfalls
It’s then when Omori brings one of his abilities... red tendrils that come out from his back, said tendrils would end in red human hands
With said tendrils, Omori grabs Sunny from his head and swings him around, slamming him against the floor, twice before letting him hanging
Your friends are wrong about you. The person they love isn't you at all. You let them believe in a lie to protect yourself.
Sunny winces in pain as the hand’s grip tighten, but frees himself by stabbing said hand, falling to the floor, which Omori uses as an opportunity to send him flying knives at his back
As Sunny struggles to get up, he notices Omori being circled by his own knives, with the edge of these pointing outside. He was clearly keeping distance
You're nothing but a liar... and when they see the truth... They'll hate you as much as you hate yourself.
Sunny remembers Hero’s promise
“Last time... We made the mistake of leaving each other when we needed each other the most. This time... we'll stay together.”
Omori lifts up his red hands to slam Sunny to the ground, who gets to dodge them, then the knife circle expands as an attempt of catching Sunny off guard, but he stays down, dodging them successfully, grabbing a knife, receiving like 2 cuts, and rushes to stab Omori in the ribs
If they know the truth, you'll never be able to regain their trust. No matter what you do, it will be hopeless. All you'll do is make things worse.
A red hand grabs Sunny from the feet and slam him to the ground multiple times
It would be better to just die.
Then launches Sunny a considerable distance, with Sunny loosening his grip on the knife go from the dizziness
Omori once again uses this as an opportunity to strike, shooting yet another knife, hitting Sunny’s eye, finally letting it go falling in a floor that now felt as if it was wet... the black liquid was now staining him
And yet, Omori simply walks towards him with the red hands ready to grab him as soon as Sunny rushes towards him
Sunny tries to run away, but Omori’s hand was faster, grabbing him
Upon dying, Headspace will provide you with everything you need.
The friend group will never separate, Mari would be fine, and nothing terrible will ever happen to us.
It’ll be like paradise
“...w-what about my... friends...?”
“Friends”? what friends?
The friends that left you as soon as everything went wrong? The friends that cared for Mari but never for you after her funeral? The friends that left you to rot?
The friends that will turn their backs on you once they learn the truth?
“w-what about... Aubrey?”
She’s confused. the shock of Basil’s death and the fact that she found you about to follow his steps have forced her in a situation where she cannot allow herself to say it out loud
Because if you died, it’d be her fault, she’d fail Mari.
She doesn’t care about you, she cares about Mari, and so, she doesn’t want to disappoint her by letting her brother die.
Sunny wasn’t convinced...
But in Headspace, that’ll never be the case, your friend will never hang out with you for being Mari’s brother, but for being you.
Sunny remembered Basil’s hope
“Maybe one day... things can go back to the way they were before.”
Wishful thinking, Mari and Basil are dead and there’s no changing that...
But if what Basil meant by that is that they’ll stay together, supporting each other at the bests and at the worsts... then he wants things to go back the way they were too...
Sunny managed to break free, Omori slipped when he thought Sunny gave up, and that would cost him another eye when Sunny grabbed on of the knifes and stabbed him there
Omori did not succumb
Now, the environment was changing again, surrounding the two with hanging corpses, and Omori was growing desperate
You killed MARI. She loved you and you killed her.
Now, with thin patience, Omori runs with knife in hand and slashes Sunny’s arm
HERO loved her and you killed her.
Sunny gets to block an attack and hits Omori with his elbow
AUBREY loved her and you killed her.
Omori attempts to strangle Sunny, but receives various cuts in his arm instead
KEL loved her and you killed her.
Sunny gets stabbed in the stomach twice, but quickly backs off to save distance
BASIL loved her and you killed her.
Omori and Sunny clashed their knives, but Sunny slips and the right side of his mouth is cut open
YOU loved her and YOU killed her.
Omori finally launches himself at Sunny, with now Omori on top of Sunny, he attempts to strangle him, now with both hand
Sunny remembers Mari’s request
“You'll forgive yourself... Won't you... Sunny?”
You should just die.
Sunny felt his breath constricting, and while his body healed, his lack of air made it difficult to not feel as dying
...
...
...
Give up?
Yes
No
...
...
But... how?
Omori won’t give up until I do...
Wait... what is that...?
Is it... what I think it is?
...
I... I never thought that I’d be happy to see that vioin...
As Omori thought that he won, he lets Sunny go, getting up and walking up, but...
Something is not right...
Why is he frozen in place?
Where are his powers?
Then he turns...
Is that...?
Sunny had that violin in his hands, and the red of whitespace seems to be vanishing, along with the black liquid and the corpses...
Wait, who is that behind him?
M-Mari!?
There she was... sitting in front of the piano, and there was a stage, like those in the theaters
Don’t tell me that...!
The recital...
The cursed event that started everything!
Omori wanted to do something, he wanted to rush there, he tried summoning his knives, his red hands, even throw the one knife he had in his hand!
But nothing happened.
Without caring for Omori’s pathetic attempts of attacking them, they started playing the song that was supposed to be played in the recital
With the addition that... Mari... was... SINGING!?
Let’s play
to a song we made
Wipe your tears
and your fears
I’ll be here
When the nights get too lonely
When the skies become gray
It’s okay, it’s okay
Just take everything day by day and you will see
It’s not as bad as it seems
I know, times can be tough
The waves can reach high and low. It can be rough
But I promise This will soon pass away
Everything will be okay so...
Let’s play
to a song we made
Wipe your tears
and your fears
I’ll be here
...
Once the song was over... Sunny’s life had flashed through both counterparts’ eyes...
Omori saw it... all of it... Sunny’s life...
None of what he does will matter if it’s not real...
Omori the walks towards a now tired Sunny... and Mari was gone, and so was the piano, and the stage too...
Omori now knew what to do...
He walked towards Sunny and...
He hugged him, he allowed Sunny to rest on him... he deserved it
Perhaps he should let go... there is a life out there that Sunny needs to live
And maybe... if Aubrey truly forgives him, then... maybe there IS hope for forgiveness and a happy life... not all of his friends, but...
...
Omori lets go of his knife... right now, Sunny has to wake up...
Don’t mess up again, will you?
Those were his last words before vanishing into nothingness...
And now... Sunny was waking up.
It was morning.
It was moving day.
He looked around and-
“good morning Sunny” Aubrey greeted him, she was in the same bed as him, she didn’t seem... angry or upset... she was... happy to see him?
“u-uh...”
“Sunny!” his mother called from the other side of the door “are you ready? It’s time to go-” as the woman entered the room, she was surprised to find not just Sunny, but to also find Aubrey in the same bed as her son
“...”
“...”
“...”
“uhh...” Sunny was unsure of what to say, and Aubrey knew what it looked like, but she swears it’s not any of that
“...alright...?” Mrs. Suzuki wasn’t sure of what to think “I’ll be... waiting in the car, don’t take too long, please”
“Wait!” Aubrey pleads, calling the woman’s attention “can I go with you?”
Sunny was surprised to hear this, Aubrey wanted to move with him? Why? What about Kel? or the Hooligans? Aubrey wouldn’t be leaving the behind just for him, right?
His mother, too, was taken by surprise at Aubrey’s suggestion “Huh? What do you mean Aubrey”
“there’s... something I’d like to talk about...” the pinkette was ashamed, but this was necessary... Sunny won’t be able to fully heal on his own, so she made it her own mission to be there for him, as a familiar face may help to make the change of environment feel more organic
Not to mention that her life in Faraway Town was already finished... maybe she’s a monster for what she did to Basil, but... maybe she can be the monster that saved Sunny