My First Post Is An Original Piece!

My first post is an original piece!

This is Me- or at least, it’s who I’ll be here. Like I said in my bio, you can call me Noise! I’ll draw myself more eventually, but for now, here’s this!

I’ll be trying to post and draw at least once a day, but no guarantees!

After falling into two different video game fandoms (Psychonauts and Omori- Thank you Steam Sale!), I've been kinda compare and contrasting the two, y'know?

They both deal with exploring the human mind as a game level, but vary wildly in themes and genres.

And because I'm trash, I now want to try and imagine what the Headspace would look like as a Psychonauts level. Will update when I have more Ideas.

Basil-Kel Swap Prologue Part 3

[The screen is white. A boy stands at a door. A girl stands at a door. A boy stands at a door. They knock, but the door doesn't shift. The doorknob has been removed.]

[The screen is black. A boy stands at a broken window. A single red eye peers from the darkness, slowly blinking. He turns to look at the person recording, and calls out. The audio is corrupted.]

["What did you do?"]

‘5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!’

Hide-N-Seek. A game older than time itself, revolving around the lessons taught so long ago- Hunter and hunted, predator and prey, an unending cycle where the only victories were-

“Omori… Psst!! Omori! Over here!”

Omori blinked. ‘Ah. It seems you were zoning out for a moment.’ He looked around, catching sight of Kel standing behind the tetherball pole. They stared at each other for a moment, before he ran to the seeker’s side, glowing a faint yellow.

“Hey, you found me! Nice job, Omori! Now I can help you find everyone!” he cheered.

Omori stared at him for a second longer, and Kel looked away in a fluster.

“Okay, fine! I wasn’t really hiding. I know you don’t like being alone, right? So I’ll help you out! Just don’t tell Berly, okay? Heh heh…”

He took Omori’s hand, with a grin, sheepishness erased.

“Come on! I don’t know where everyone is, but I know about how they hide! Let’s find everyone!!”

“Hmm… Basil’s normally pretty good at hiding. But he only ever hides near plants! Like, trees and bushes and stuff!” Kel put his hands on his hips, cape flapping. “How’s that for a hint, Omori?”

‘Was that a good hint?’

He was given a thumbs up, ‘it was serviceable.’ and Kel bounced in place.

“Heck yeah! I know my stuff, Omo!”

Basil was sitting behind a bush, staring at a small cluster of flowers growing nearby. With his light green hair, he was almost invisible, except for his flower crown.

“Found you!” Kel cheered, grabbing his shoulders, and Basil jumped, turning gray. His crown spat out another batch of petals as he caught his breath, flickering red. “Hehe, got you good, too!”

“Kel?! Oh, don’t sneak up on me like that!” He huffed, brushing off his pants as he stood up. He gave the pair a once over, and the anger faded away into a comfortable smile. “I guess you two are searching together now? Well, I’ll tag along too then! If you don’t mind, I mean…”

Kel wrapped Basil tight into a hug, grinning. “Of course we don’t mind! The more the merrier! Right?” Omori gave another thumbs up. “Yeah! Now, let’s go find everyone else!”

“Okay! Hero’s SUPER good at hiding! I bet he’s got an awesome spot picked out! Which means I won’t be much help, I guess. Sorry! Aubrey, though…” Kel hummed in thought, bouncing on his toes. “Well, she was eyeing the swingset earlier!”

Basil frowned. “But, that’s where everyone’s going once they’re found, right? Maybe that’s why she was looking at it.”

“Ohh, yeah! That makes sense!” Kel laughed. “Guess I’ve got nothing then! Oh, wait, no! Happy’s pretty small, and really likes to play, right? So I bet-”

‘You stopped listening, and indulged in the moment.’

“TEN-HUT!!” Berly shouted, beginning rollcall and Omori began to zone out again.

‘You didn’t find everyone… But you think you did a pretty good job! Congratulations, you!’

Omori abstinent-mindedly watched Berly smack Kel upside the head for falling asleep, and zoned back in.

“Hey, that was-!”

She smacked him again, and he glowered and shone red for a moment.

“BASIL!”

The green-haired boy smiled and waved. “I’m- I’m here!”

“AUBREY!”

There was no response, and Berly seemed to notice that she wasn’t there.

“Huh? Where’s Aubrey? Hey, Hero’s not here either!” She crossed her arms, flickering red as she looked at Omori. “What’s the big idea! You’re supposed to have ONE winner, not TWO!”

Kel hopped to his friend’s defense. “Hey, Omori found everyone else! So what if there’s two winners!”

Berly huffed. “Ugh. Fine. They went to hide up there, near that tree, right?”

Kel’s gasp of “I was right!” was ignored, as they all turned towards the tree.

“Hero? Aubrey? Are you two hiding there?” Basil called. There was a quiet thump, but nothing more.

 “C’mon! You already won, you can come out!” He raced to the tree, then grinned. “Oh, I get it! You two are trying to see who gets found first, right? Well, Omori’s not seeking anymore!”

The tree shook, leaves rustling.

Basil took Omori’s hand with a frown, looking for reassurance. Omori shrugged, and they walked over to the tree with Kel.

“Uhm, are you guys okay?” He glanced at Kel, who frowned, in thought.

“Did… Did you get stuck? It’s not my fault this time!”

The tree slumped forward, falling like a dropped blanket.

“HWEHWEHWEHWEHWE!!” Boss laughed, Hero and Aubrey squirming from where they were being held under an arm each.

“BOSS!! I should’ve known it was you!” Berly yelled. “You good-for-nothing-... Let them go!”

“Yeah! What’d Hero ever do to you?!” Kel yelled, and Aubrey glared at him with an angry “Hey!”

Basil stepped back, eyes wide. “What-what are you doing Boss?! Aubrey and Hero are our friends! You can’t just-”

The Purple dinosaur bully cut him off with another laugh.

“You stupidheads! This isn’t about them!” Boss flexed, trying to look tough, and Hero winced.

“Ow, ow! Too tight, Boss!” Boss loosened his grip, continuing without even acknowledging Hero’s quiet “Thanks.”

“How dare you not invite me to play hide-and-seek! I’m the one who showed you all how to play in the first place!”

“That’s not really a good reason to kidnap our friends,” Basil said, and Aubrey joined in.

“Yeah! That’s right! Tell him, Basil!” She kicked frantically, huffing as she did.

Boss hopped in place. As he did, Mr. Plantegg tumbled to the ground with a squeaky whine, and Hero wheezed.

“MR. PLANTEGG!” Aubrey yelled, at the same time that, Kel flashed red, yelling louder.

“HEY! DON’T HURT MY BROTHER!!”

“Kel, I’m… huff, fine! Just… huff winded,” Hero said, before Boss straightened up, hopping again.

“If I can’t play with everyone, then no one can! This is a Boss-Only Zone now,” Boss puffed up. Basil took a step back in a panic. “And you’re NOT INVITED!!”

‘What will Omori and friends do?’

“Uhm, uhm!!!” Basil winced, looking confused and anxious. “I, I don’t fight! O-Omori, what do I do?!”

Kel rushed in front of him, grinning. “Don’t worry, alright Basil? Leave it to us!”

Basil nodded, still looking uneasy.

‘Kel encourages Basil! Basil’s ATTACK rose! Basil’s DEFENSE rose!’

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

Omori stepped forward, slashing at Boss.

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 19 damage!’

“Hwehwehwe!” The purple dinosaur laughed. “You weakling! You call that an attack!?”

‘Boss kicks out at Kel! Kel takes 7 damage! Kel counters! Boss takes 24 damage!’

Kel threw his ball at Boss’s face, and they backed up, shaking their head.

“C’mon Omori! We’ve got this, remember? Let’s go!”

‘Kel encourages Omori! Omori’s ATTACK rose! Omori’s DEFENSE rose!’

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

‘Omori attacks Boss! IT HIT RIGHT IN THE HEART! Boss takes 30 damage!’

‘Boss kicks out at Kel! Kel takes 8 damage! Kel counters! Boss takes 23 damage!’

“Hey, that kinda hurt! Hmph!” Boss huffed, frowning as he stumbled back again. “This isn’t fun anymore.”

Aubrey yelled as he regained his balance. “Hey, watch where you're aiming, Kel! You nearly hit me!”

“Oops! Sorry Aubrey!” Kel called back, distracted.

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 18 damage!’

“Grr…” Boss growled, tightening his grip again. “Now you’ve made me ANGRY… It’s time for my special move!” He held his arms out and placed Hero and Aubrey on the ground, before rushing forward. “BODY SLAM!!”

Boss leapt into the air and slammed down the trio.

‘Kel took 100 damage! Kel took 100 damage! Kel became TOAST! Basil took 30 damage! Omori took 100 damage!’

‘Omori did not succumb.’

Kel let out a shocked “Gah!” before he became TOAST, and Basil screamed as he was flung backwards from the leftover force. Omori staggered to his feet, heart beating and a distant monitor beeping in his ears.

Watching Omori get back to their feet, Boss gaped. “HUH!? HOW ARE YOU STILL MOVING!?”

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 22 damage!’

…

He didn’t go down.

Omori’s eyes went wide.

Boss took a step forward, cracking his knuckles. Then, a familiar jump rope grip whacked him in the forehead.

‘Basil attacks Boss! Boss takes 14 damage!’

‘Omori’s party was victorious! Gained 32 EXP! Gained 22 clams!’

Boss slammed face first on the ground, laying there, completely defeated as Hero rushed to Kel’s freshly unTOASTed side and Aubrey rushed over to Basil and Omori.

After a moment, he stood up, huffing and stomping a foot.

“THIS ISN’T FAIR!!” Boss yelled. “REMATCH!! I WANT A REMATCH!!”

Kel huffed, flickering red for a second as he whacked the bully’s knee.

Basil picked up the dropped toy, and held it out to Aubrey. “Are you alright, Aubrey? Hero and you were being swung around pretty hard…” He flushed. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m okay! Don’t worry about me! Right, Hero?” She grinned at him, and the older brother gave a thumbs up and smiled.

“Safe and sound over here.”

Aubrey’s smile faded, and she chewed on her cheek for a moment. “But you guys took a beating! Are you guys okay?”

Kel bounced on his feet. “Oh? Is Aubrey worried about me~?” He teased and she stomped up and down.

“AM NOT! I was asking Basil and Omori!” She yelled. “Not you!”

Hero shook his head, standing back up and ruffling Basil’s hair.

“You three were very impressive back there. Good job!”

Kel latched onto Omori and Basil, pulling them into a loose hug. “Hell yeah, we were!”

“Kelsey! Language” Hero gasped. Kel just laughed.

“If it weren’t for Omori holding on and Basil’s sneak attack, we all would’ve been toast for sure!”

Aubrey hummed, frowning as she turned to look at Boss. “... Would we?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kel asked and Aubrey stepped up in front of Boss again.

“Boss didn’t just drop us. He tried not to hurt Hero, too, and didn’t try to use us as, like, meat shields…” Boss turned away, quietly huffing. She hummed to herself again, then turned to the eldest in the party, smiling. “What do you think, Hero?”

Hero pursed his lips, thinking quietly to himself. “... that’s true… but he also hurt the kids… but it might’ve been because they were already fighting… but then again, he TOASTed Kel and hurt them…”

After musing for long enough, Hero shook his head and forced a smile. “I’m not sure I can forgive him. But if he behaves himself, then I guess it doesn’t matter. Whatever you want to do, Aubrey.”

She nodded sagely, then turned back to the humiliated Boss.

“Then, here’s what’s gonna happen!” Aubrey declared, and whacked his other knee with her plushy. Then, she pointed it at his stomach like a knight’s sword. “You’re going to sit here for a while and stay out of trouble! And then, you can help Berly and Van out with whatever they want to do! Does that work for everyone?” She glanced back at the group of spectators.

No one objected, so she nodded and walked back to her friends.

Boss huffed in embarrassment. “That’s not… I… TH-THIS IS A BOSS ONLY ZONE! YOU’RE NOT INVITED!”

He grabbed the tree blanket disguise, and hid behind it without another word.

“Well,” Kel whipped around towards the group again, beaming. “that’s enough fighting for now! Let’s go to my house. Come on! Movie night!”

Hero sighed, and smiled tiredly. “Everyone ready?”

Basil cheered, Aubrey grumbled, and Omori gave a thumbs up. ‘Yes’, definitely. Movie night time.

‘Would you like to have a picnic with your friends?’

After the food was devoured, the five broke into smaller groups to do their own thing.

Basil sat in the grass next to the blanket as he wove together a neat braid of small flowers. Next to him, Kel watched, trying his best to imitate Basil’s practiced motion. When he managed to get a chain as long as his spread hand, he rushed to show the light haired boy, practically vibrating with excitement. In his haste, the poor chain gave way, and Basil laughed pityingly as it fell apart and Kel gaped. He grabbed the flowers back up, turning back around to try again. 

On the middle blanket, the older siblings were happily chatting. Hero was snacking on one of Mari’s famous cookies, he’d only just been able to distract the younger kids from before they were gone. Mari spoke animatedly, tilting her head towards him, then towards the rest of the playground, gesturing with her closer hand and occasionally stopping to squeeze Hero’s cheek and make him hide his face in his hands. When he wasn’t too flustered to face her teasing, Hero seemed content to just listen to her with adoration in his eyes, occasionally nodding or humming along.

Omori watched them from his place on the far edge of the blanket. When he’d finished eating, he’d sat down away from the others, and Aubrey had plopped herself down next to him, leaning against his shoulder as she chattered about this and that.

“I still think it’s dumb that Kel got the last laugh with that trick! I mean, come on!” She huffed, waving Mr. Plantegg around as she flickered red. “I bet he knew Hero was gonna say we couldn’t set traps anymore at this picnic, so he wanted to get the last laugh.”

Omori shrugged, and she flopped against his side, leaning her full weight on him.

“At least I can rely on you, huh Omori?” She said more than asked, and giggled at him at his blank expression.

“Oh! I heard Sweetheart made a new season of her show! ‘Sweetheart’s Quest for Hearts’ has been going on /for-ev-er/, hasn’t it? It’s weird!”

He tilted his head, and she nodded, as though she could hear his unsaid question.

“I know! It’s been going on for 57 seasons! I still like watching it, but honestly, it’s a bit boring.” She huffed, then gently leaned against Omori’s shoulder. “... I still wanna see the new one.”

Omori patted her back.

‘The curse of hyperfixations. Poor Aubrey.’

["...Did you say something?"]

Next time, we'll be heading into a more original area- A tunnel under the forest to get to BROTHERS' HOUSE! And we deal with the tutorial moles. And Basil's tutorials. Maybe Ye Old Sprout.

Oh my god, the tutorial took so long to write, and most of its just rehashing game stuff (UoU") Honestly, Imma ask my friend if I should remove redundant text. It feels like a waste of time and effort, but if it makes the experience less... interesting, then I might have to axe it.

Feel free to let me know what works, and what doesn't!

Oh, and here you go! @babil-plush

I'll add a little segment I'm worried about from the next part, so you can see for yourself. Note: This kind of re-explanation would be a good amount of the writing.

Basil watched the Sprout Mole stomp about uneasily, then tugged on Kel’s cape. “Hey, Kel? Just a little question, but why is the Sprout Mole… glowing?”

“Heh! It's because the Sprout Mole is ANGRY, see Basil?”

Kel pointed as the plant creature shook its head back and forth. Basil nodded, looking confused. “Enemies feel EMOTIONS, too, you know! Not just normal ones! And in battle, they change how you fight! So, you gotta remember what emotion does what!”

“Oh, uh, right. I’ve never seen them in a fight before. ANGRY makes you… hit harder, right?”

Kel cheered. “Yeah! ANGRY brings your ATTACK up! But you’re not being careful, so your DEFENSE goes down. Got it?”

He hummed, nodding slowly. “Defense down, attack up… So, now would be a good time to use Wallflower, so that I don’t get hurt, and the opponent takes damage?”

“Perfect!” Kel held up his hand for a high five, and Basil nervously clapped his hand.

Basil-Kel Swap Prologue Part 3

[The screen is white. A boy stands at a door. A girl stands at a door. A boy stands at a door. They knock, but the door doesn't shift. The doorknob has been removed.]

[The screen is black. A boy stands at a broken window. A single red eye peers from the darkness, slowly blinking. He turns to look at the person recording, and calls out. The audio is corrupted.]

["What did you do?"]

‘5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!’

Hide-N-Seek. A game older than time itself, revolving around the lessons taught so long ago- Hunter and hunted, predator and prey, an unending cycle where the only victories were-

“Omori… Psst!! Omori! Over here!”

Omori blinked. ‘Ah. It seems you were zoning out for a moment.’ He looked around, catching sight of Kel standing behind the tetherball pole. They stared at each other for a moment, before he ran to the seeker’s side, glowing a faint yellow.

“Hey, you found me! Nice job, Omori! Now I can help you find everyone!” he cheered.

Omori stared at him for a second longer, and Kel looked away in a fluster.

“Okay, fine! I wasn’t really hiding. I know you don’t like being alone, right? So I’ll help you out! Just don’t tell Berly, okay? Heh heh…”

He took Omori’s hand, with a grin, sheepishness erased.

“Come on! I don’t know where everyone is, but I know about how they hide! Let’s find everyone!!”

“Hmm… Basil’s normally pretty good at hiding. But he only ever hides near plants! Like, trees and bushes and stuff!” Kel put his hands on his hips, cape flapping. “How’s that for a hint, Omori?”

‘Was that a good hint?’

He was given a thumbs up, ‘it was serviceable.’ and Kel bounced in place.

“Heck yeah! I know my stuff, Omo!”

Basil was sitting behind a bush, staring at a small cluster of flowers growing nearby. With his light green hair, he was almost invisible, except for his flower crown.

“Found you!” Kel cheered, grabbing his shoulders, and Basil jumped, turning gray. His crown spat out another batch of petals as he caught his breath, flickering red. “Hehe, got you good, too!”

“Kel?! Oh, don’t sneak up on me like that!” He huffed, brushing off his pants as he stood up. He gave the pair a once over, and the anger faded away into a comfortable smile. “I guess you two are searching together now? Well, I’ll tag along too then! If you don’t mind, I mean…”

Kel wrapped Basil tight into a hug, grinning. “Of course we don’t mind! The more the merrier! Right?” Omori gave another thumbs up. “Yeah! Now, let’s go find everyone else!”

“Okay! Hero’s SUPER good at hiding! I bet he’s got an awesome spot picked out! Which means I won’t be much help, I guess. Sorry! Aubrey, though…” Kel hummed in thought, bouncing on his toes. “Well, she was eyeing the swingset earlier!”

Basil frowned. “But, that’s where everyone’s going once they’re found, right? Maybe that’s why she was looking at it.”

“Ohh, yeah! That makes sense!” Kel laughed. “Guess I’ve got nothing then! Oh, wait, no! Happy’s pretty small, and really likes to play, right? So I bet-”

‘You stopped listening, and indulged in the moment.’

“TEN-HUT!!” Berly shouted, beginning rollcall and Omori began to zone out again.

‘You didn’t find everyone… But you think you did a pretty good job! Congratulations, you!’

Omori abstinent-mindedly watched Berly smack Kel upside the head for falling asleep, and zoned back in.

“Hey, that was-!”

She smacked him again, and he glowered and shone red for a moment.

“BASIL!”

The green-haired boy smiled and waved. “I’m- I’m here!”

“AUBREY!”

There was no response, and Berly seemed to notice that she wasn’t there.

“Huh? Where’s Aubrey? Hey, Hero’s not here either!” She crossed her arms, flickering red as she looked at Omori. “What’s the big idea! You’re supposed to have ONE winner, not TWO!”

Kel hopped to his friend’s defense. “Hey, Omori found everyone else! So what if there’s two winners!”

Berly huffed. “Ugh. Fine. They went to hide up there, near that tree, right?”

Kel’s gasp of “I was right!” was ignored, as they all turned towards the tree.

“Hero? Aubrey? Are you two hiding there?” Basil called. There was a quiet thump, but nothing more.

 “C’mon! You already won, you can come out!” He raced to the tree, then grinned. “Oh, I get it! You two are trying to see who gets found first, right? Well, Omori’s not seeking anymore!”

The tree shook, leaves rustling.

Basil took Omori’s hand with a frown, looking for reassurance. Omori shrugged, and they walked over to the tree with Kel.

“Uhm, are you guys okay?” He glanced at Kel, who frowned, in thought.

“Did… Did you get stuck? It’s not my fault this time!”

The tree slumped forward, falling like a dropped blanket.

“HWEHWEHWEHWEHWE!!” Boss laughed, Hero and Aubrey squirming from where they were being held under an arm each.

“BOSS!! I should’ve known it was you!” Berly yelled. “You good-for-nothing-... Let them go!”

“Yeah! What’d Hero ever do to you?!” Kel yelled, and Aubrey glared at him with an angry “Hey!”

Basil stepped back, eyes wide. “What-what are you doing Boss?! Aubrey and Hero are our friends! You can’t just-”

The Purple dinosaur bully cut him off with another laugh.

“You stupidheads! This isn’t about them!” Boss flexed, trying to look tough, and Hero winced.

“Ow, ow! Too tight, Boss!” Boss loosened his grip, continuing without even acknowledging Hero’s quiet “Thanks.”

“How dare you not invite me to play hide-and-seek! I’m the one who showed you all how to play in the first place!”

“That’s not really a good reason to kidnap our friends,” Basil said, and Aubrey joined in.

“Yeah! That’s right! Tell him, Basil!” She kicked frantically, huffing as she did.

Boss hopped in place. As he did, Mr. Plantegg tumbled to the ground with a squeaky whine, and Hero wheezed.

“MR. PLANTEGG!” Aubrey yelled, at the same time that, Kel flashed red, yelling louder.

“HEY! DON’T HURT MY BROTHER!!”

“Kel, I’m… huff, fine! Just… huff winded,” Hero said, before Boss straightened up, hopping again.

“If I can’t play with everyone, then no one can! This is a Boss-Only Zone now,” Boss puffed up. Basil took a step back in a panic. “And you’re NOT INVITED!!”

‘What will Omori and friends do?’

“Uhm, uhm!!!” Basil winced, looking confused and anxious. “I, I don’t fight! O-Omori, what do I do?!”

Kel rushed in front of him, grinning. “Don’t worry, alright Basil? Leave it to us!”

Basil nodded, still looking uneasy.

‘Kel encourages Basil! Basil’s ATTACK rose! Basil’s DEFENSE rose!’

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

Omori stepped forward, slashing at Boss.

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 19 damage!’

“Hwehwehwe!” The purple dinosaur laughed. “You weakling! You call that an attack!?”

‘Boss kicks out at Kel! Kel takes 7 damage! Kel counters! Boss takes 24 damage!’

Kel threw his ball at Boss’s face, and they backed up, shaking their head.

“C’mon Omori! We’ve got this, remember? Let’s go!”

‘Kel encourages Omori! Omori’s ATTACK rose! Omori’s DEFENSE rose!’

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

‘Omori attacks Boss! IT HIT RIGHT IN THE HEART! Boss takes 30 damage!’

‘Boss kicks out at Kel! Kel takes 8 damage! Kel counters! Boss takes 23 damage!’

“Hey, that kinda hurt! Hmph!” Boss huffed, frowning as he stumbled back again. “This isn’t fun anymore.”

Aubrey yelled as he regained his balance. “Hey, watch where you're aiming, Kel! You nearly hit me!”

“Oops! Sorry Aubrey!” Kel called back, distracted.

‘Basil hides behind Kel! Kel gets ready to counter!’

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 18 damage!’

“Grr…” Boss growled, tightening his grip again. “Now you’ve made me ANGRY… It’s time for my special move!” He held his arms out and placed Hero and Aubrey on the ground, before rushing forward. “BODY SLAM!!”

Boss leapt into the air and slammed down the trio.

‘Kel took 100 damage! Kel took 100 damage! Kel became TOAST! Basil took 30 damage! Omori took 100 damage!’

‘Omori did not succumb.’

Kel let out a shocked “Gah!” before he became TOAST, and Basil screamed as he was flung backwards from the leftover force. Omori staggered to his feet, heart beating and a distant monitor beeping in his ears.

Watching Omori get back to their feet, Boss gaped. “HUH!? HOW ARE YOU STILL MOVING!?”

‘Omori attacks Boss! Boss takes 22 damage!’

…

He didn’t go down.

Omori’s eyes went wide.

Boss took a step forward, cracking his knuckles. Then, a familiar jump rope grip whacked him in the forehead.

‘Basil attacks Boss! Boss takes 14 damage!’

‘Omori’s party was victorious! Gained 32 EXP! Gained 22 clams!’

Boss slammed face first on the ground, laying there, completely defeated as Hero rushed to Kel’s freshly unTOASTed side and Aubrey rushed over to Basil and Omori.

After a moment, he stood up, huffing and stomping a foot.

“THIS ISN’T FAIR!!” Boss yelled. “REMATCH!! I WANT A REMATCH!!”

Kel huffed, flickering red for a second as he whacked the bully’s knee.

Basil picked up the dropped toy, and held it out to Aubrey. “Are you alright, Aubrey? Hero and you were being swung around pretty hard…” He flushed. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m okay! Don’t worry about me! Right, Hero?” She grinned at him, and the older brother gave a thumbs up and smiled.

“Safe and sound over here.”

Aubrey’s smile faded, and she chewed on her cheek for a moment. “But you guys took a beating! Are you guys okay?”

Kel bounced on his feet. “Oh? Is Aubrey worried about me~?” He teased and she stomped up and down.

“AM NOT! I was asking Basil and Omori!” She yelled. “Not you!”

Hero shook his head, standing back up and ruffling Basil’s hair.

“You three were very impressive back there. Good job!”

Kel latched onto Omori and Basil, pulling them into a loose hug. “Hell yeah, we were!”

“Kelsey! Language” Hero gasped. Kel just laughed.

“If it weren’t for Omori holding on and Basil’s sneak attack, we all would’ve been toast for sure!”

Aubrey hummed, frowning as she turned to look at Boss. “... Would we?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kel asked and Aubrey stepped up in front of Boss again.

“Boss didn’t just drop us. He tried not to hurt Hero, too, and didn’t try to use us as, like, meat shields…” Boss turned away, quietly huffing. She hummed to herself again, then turned to the eldest in the party, smiling. “What do you think, Hero?”

Hero pursed his lips, thinking quietly to himself. “... that’s true… but he also hurt the kids… but it might’ve been because they were already fighting… but then again, he TOASTed Kel and hurt them…”

After musing for long enough, Hero shook his head and forced a smile. “I’m not sure I can forgive him. But if he behaves himself, then I guess it doesn’t matter. Whatever you want to do, Aubrey.”

She nodded sagely, then turned back to the humiliated Boss.

“Then, here’s what’s gonna happen!” Aubrey declared, and whacked his other knee with her plushy. Then, she pointed it at his stomach like a knight’s sword. “You’re going to sit here for a while and stay out of trouble! And then, you can help Berly and Van out with whatever they want to do! Does that work for everyone?” She glanced back at the group of spectators.

No one objected, so she nodded and walked back to her friends.

Boss huffed in embarrassment. “That’s not… I… TH-THIS IS A BOSS ONLY ZONE! YOU’RE NOT INVITED!”

He grabbed the tree blanket disguise, and hid behind it without another word.

“Well,” Kel whipped around towards the group again, beaming. “that’s enough fighting for now! Let’s go to my house. Come on! Movie night!”

Hero sighed, and smiled tiredly. “Everyone ready?”

Basil cheered, Aubrey grumbled, and Omori gave a thumbs up. ‘Yes’, definitely. Movie night time.

‘Would you like to have a picnic with your friends?’

After the food was devoured, the five broke into smaller groups to do their own thing.

Basil sat in the grass next to the blanket as he wove together a neat braid of small flowers. Next to him, Kel watched, trying his best to imitate Basil’s practiced motion. When he managed to get a chain as long as his spread hand, he rushed to show the light haired boy, practically vibrating with excitement. In his haste, the poor chain gave way, and Basil laughed pityingly as it fell apart and Kel gaped. He grabbed the flowers back up, turning back around to try again. 

On the middle blanket, the older siblings were happily chatting. Hero was snacking on one of Mari’s famous cookies, he’d only just been able to distract the younger kids from before they were gone. Mari spoke animatedly, tilting her head towards him, then towards the rest of the playground, gesturing with her closer hand and occasionally stopping to squeeze Hero’s cheek and make him hide his face in his hands. When he wasn’t too flustered to face her teasing, Hero seemed content to just listen to her with adoration in his eyes, occasionally nodding or humming along.

Omori watched them from his place on the far edge of the blanket. When he’d finished eating, he’d sat down away from the others, and Aubrey had plopped herself down next to him, leaning against his shoulder as she chattered about this and that.

“I still think it’s dumb that Kel got the last laugh with that trick! I mean, come on!” She huffed, waving Mr. Plantegg around as she flickered red. “I bet he knew Hero was gonna say we couldn’t set traps anymore at this picnic, so he wanted to get the last laugh.”

Omori shrugged, and she flopped against his side, leaning her full weight on him.

“At least I can rely on you, huh Omori?” She said more than asked, and giggled at him at his blank expression.

“Oh! I heard Sweetheart made a new season of her show! ‘Sweetheart’s Quest for Hearts’ has been going on /for-ev-er/, hasn’t it? It’s weird!”

He tilted his head, and she nodded, as though she could hear his unsaid question.

“I know! It’s been going on for 57 seasons! I still like watching it, but honestly, it’s a bit boring.” She huffed, then gently leaned against Omori’s shoulder. “... I still wanna see the new one.”

Omori patted her back.

‘The curse of hyperfixations. Poor Aubrey.’

Here’s a Friday Night Funkin’ OC because I have no self control and severe brainrot!

This is Umbra, a cocky, opportunistic thief with an eye for anything valuable. He picks a fight when BF and GF wander into his territory, aiming to steal and sell their speakers for quick money.

(Honestly, don’t take him too seriously. He’s just fun to draw, haha! His story isn’t really important.) I... haven’t quite nailed the style yet, but I’m working on it!