Chapter Text
I stumble through the door, back into Black Space. Of course my first trip was to Spider Area. Stranger sees me.
"Welcome back, Omori."
I wipe webs and spiders off of me, glaring. "You could have told me where that went."
"I was going to. But then you had an attitude, so I decided to let you see for yourself."
How annoying. I roll my eyes, returning to the center and picking up my sketchbook.
That's strange... There's another pen here.
I look up at Stranger. He gives me a smile. I think. He doesn't have a mouth.
"Don't break that one, Omori."
"Where do you keep getting these."
"Last Resort."
"Wh-" I narrow my eyes. "Stealing? That's not very truth of you."
Stranger shrugs. Whatever. I don't care. I flip to my map, clicking the pen. I mark the first door as "Spider Area."
... God damnit. My eyes keep drifting to the flower on Stranger's head.
I don't care about that.
I don't care about what Stranger is doing. I don't care about him. I don't care about this place.
So why am I so curious?
"... What's with the flower." And the words flood out. Damnit.
Stranger turns to me. Dear god. He's *beaming.* This was a horrible idea.
"I found it growing in Pain Area, strange enough."
Pain Area?
That place is riddled in corpses, death, and, well, pain.
What was a flower doing there?
"I was taking a walk through the room, when I found a stem with a white spider lilly. It was the only one growing."
Stranger's face softens. "I never thought Black Space could sustain the life of anything meaningful. Much less a flower."
He looks up. "Spider lillies often represent death. Quite fitting for Pain Area. But, for one to grow in these conditions... I'd say it could symbolize hope in the face of destruction. Wouldn't you say that's beautiful?"
I stare at him. That is...
... Incredibly cheesy.
"... You really are a Basil."
Stranger shrugs. "Even a stranger will have the traits of who he mirrors. If there's one thing you can't separate from Basil, it's flowers."
I didn't want to hear a Stranger monologue, but I got one, anyway.
What a pain. I got distracted.
I head to the next door. If I can remember correct...
"This one is new."
Stranger nods. "I can guide you through, if you wan-"
Slam.
I go through before he can finish his sentence. No thanks.
What I see before me is winding boardwalks, above a stretch of water as far as I can see.
Black Space 2, huh.
I move south. The wooden boards creak under my feet. Looking to the east, a TV floats atop the water, but I can't exactly see what's on it from here.
Farther south, something catches my sight.
It's just a pot. Nothing seems abnormal about it. I reach out for it.
Nothing makes sense in Black Space.
So why didn't I expect this.
Why not?
Why wouldn't I be transported somewhere else?
I look up to a monochrome kitchen. The first thing I notice...
This is Sunny's kitchen, isn't it?
He and Basil's table is directly to the right of me.
... How did I miss the most glaring detail?
Hero is at the counter. But not the Hero I know.
Not the Hero Sunny knows.
His color is desaturated. Black □□ □□ stains his pajamas, hands, feet, and face. A belt is around his waist, with knives, spatulas, and other cooking tools. He kneads some □□ □□ with his hands.
... Gross.
As I step forward, he turns towards me.
"Hey, Omori! Are you hungry?" He gives me a smile. "I was just about to cook something up! But..." He looks to the fridge. "I appear to be missing some important ingredients... Why don't you find some and bring it back to me?"
... I only stare at him. Looking deep into his broken, souless eyes.
I never sent this one here. He was formed by this place, wasn't he.
I look into the fridge. It's empty, but stained head to toe with the black sludge.
I check the alarm clock. It doesn't seem to be moving.
The bells don't even make noise.
I try to look in the pot next, but Hero slaps my arm.
"It's a secret, Omori! I'm sure your stomach can wait!"
He looks like Hero, but definitely doesn't have his personality.
I turn on the sink. The blackened water from the docks pour out. I don't think that's going to clean anyone's hands.
I hit the on button on the blender.
... It's loud.
Very
VERY
LOUD.
I cover my ears, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth. I fumble with the buttons, but eventually am able to turn it off.
Wait.
Was I just...
... No. I was just surprised. That's all.
I can't feel fear.
There's nothing else I need to do here.
I go to the door, and leave to the docks.
I continue walking through the docks, heading northwest. Angi float around the water. Perhaps looking for something to eat. ... What *do* they eat? ... If I were to guess, I'd assume Basil. Everything here will most likely target a Basil if they see him.
Another thing catches my eye. A phone floats on the water.
I reach out, but I just can't grab it. Whatever.
Walking further... I find a ladder, dipping into the water.
I'm not afraid of the water. But this blackened water can't be safe to swim in.
But, it seems like I have no choice.
I carefully climb the ladder, dipping my feet into the cold, dark water of the docks. Wet socks.......
... The illuminated water stretches far. This is going to be a long, exhausting swim.
As I swim, I glance at the Angi floating in the darkness. They don't like light, do they? Too bad for the balls of light on their heads.
I don't know much about Something variants. They're all just nuisances to me.
Stranger probably- agh!
Stop thinking about Stranger! I don't care about him! How irritating...
Eventually, I get to another set of docks. I climb out, squeezing the water out of my shirt. I hate water.
Heading north, I see a door. Yet, as I approach it, a web appears in front of it.
"... Excuse me? ... Fine. I didn't want to know what was in there anyway."
I move to the east. And see a house. ... A very crude house, but a house either way.
I go inside.
... Is this?
This looks like the junkyard. I look up.
Ah. The sky is broken. So I'm not back in Headspace. Disappointing, but expected.
I look around.
Out of place items.
I touch the picnic bench. My hand goes through.
Intangible objects.
Walking forward. ... Traffic cones. They won't budge without my knife, unfortunately.
Well, theres another way around.
I climb the ladder attached to a junkyard crate. I head across to the other side, and carefully climb down the back of the crate.
It hurts a little landing. But that's fine.
On the other side is a block of junk. If Aubrey were here she could smash it to pieces.
... But she's not. So there's not much I can do about it. Instead, I head to the left.
Two of the crates are open. In headspace, they're usually full of toys and garbage.
But, in here...
Flower crowns? Bows? Bats?
... Staring at this, I feel a little guilty.
Only for a second. I can't dwell on that forever.
I keep going.
As I walk, there's a fence of plants.
I look between the leaves. Oh. It's her.
The hollow eyes of Hellmari stare back at me.
Delightful.
Well, she doesn't seem to be doing anything. I might as well move on-
More traffic cones. Well, what now?
I can try pushing through the leaves. But being right next to that thing...
She doesn't look hostile, at least. Might as well try.
I pull the leaves apart, pushing through. Until I'm right next to her.
I'm most definitely outside the boundaries of where I should be. Not like that matters. This place is already broken. What more damage can I do?
I walk outside of the bounds, into the darkness.
Trying not to fall through any broken tiles.
What would even happen if I did? Maybe I'd fall into Red Space.
Or fall forever.
I come to an area where I can get back into the junkyard. An alley with a tree and fence.
Climbing isn't my strong suit. I'm not exactly tall.
So. I reach for a branch on the tree, and pull myself up. Once I'm high enough on the tree, I hop over the fence.
I glance to the left.
That's a hanged mari. I avert my eyes. These things are everywhere, but they don't do anything. They don't think, or move. They're more... Uncomfortable to look at.
I head southwards. To the left. ... More traffic cones. Looking past them, I see a disgusting sight.
An infestation.
The remnants of the past Basils.
I hate them.
They're nothing but a nuisance. Nothing but worthless vermin.
They're better off being stomped out.
They're better off all being erased.
I turn away. I don't want to look at them anymore.
I continue heading west. There are sprout moles everywhere, staring at me with lifeless, beady eyes.
Past a fence I see a monochrome tree. With a noose. That's no surprise, here. I ignore it, running into a dead end.
It's strange. I've never seen any of this before.
Glancing behind me, something catches my eye.
Hiding in a crate, is that?!
It's certainly a Basil. But he was different. His hair, was much blonder. His eyes were brighter, he only had a single flower, his overalls were a mess.
... A defect.
As soon as he meets my gaze, he slams the crate shut.
"Hold it-!" I run over to the crate, and pound on the shutter. "Open up, Basil!"
No matter how much I knock, he doesn't answer. What is his problem? It's not like I'm going to hurt him.
If this were any other time, I probably would have. But I don't need to, anymore.
It's not safe for him here, does he really want to hide in that crate for the rest of his life?
...............
It's useless. He won't come out. Stubborn.
I don't think I can get out of here without my knife. It's time to return to the hub.
I summon a red hand. "Back to Black Space."