So Long & Goodnight...

Part 1: A Break in Routine

After a long day of battles, the worn out gift shop employees took a stop at the store to rest up before heading home.

Edgar was a pigsty. His normally neat emo haircut was ruffled and messy. His red uniform vest was littered with burns and tears from all the fire and bullets. His arms were covered in wounds and bruises as his pants tore at points. His long trusty scarf was covered in cuts and singes, but still reached to grab him a drink. Colette was just as worn out and messy as her co-worker, but still wore a bright sharp smile walking in.

"Wasn't that amazing!" screamed the cheery cashier. "So many battles with all those brawlers? I even chipped a tooth!"

Edgar's head was ringing. "Please! Stop talking!"

Despite his rudeness, Colette just snickered and continued going on. She was used to his temper and edgy personality. At times, she had even tried making the boy crack and laugh, all ending with failure. Edgar was quite the stubborn emo, but she was noticing something was particularly off about him recently. He was more moody than usual.

"Ugh, just leave me alone, freak!" he screamed, turning away towards the exit while opening a can of energy drink.

She knew he was tired, but he was never usually this distant. "Jeez, what's gotten him so antsier?" She said to herself as she taped her tooth onto her chaotic scrapbook. "He usually listens to me ramble."

The white haired girl pouted, pondering as she watched him stomp off. After a while she looked around with a mischievous grin. The park was about to close soon. Colette hid behind the gift shop's counter, watching all the park visitors and her beloved brawlers exit Starr Park's grand gates. It was almost time for her daily after hours routine.

"Nyehehe... It's time~." she whispered impishly.

Everyday after park hours, Colette has had a tradition of sneaking around the park to dig through all the trash cans. From the main park to the different zones, she'd scour as much as she can for any piece thrown by brawlers to add to her collection. After all, where else would she find such relics as Leon's lollipop stick, thrown away faces for Sprout, or whatever she managed to put on her three pages on Amber.

"Alright, I'm not repeating what happened yesterday." Colette whispered readying herself. "Time to start on a small scale."

After getting caught last time for intruding park grounds, she chose to start digging through the trash behind the gift shop. That dark and discrete alleyway, where she wouldn't be disturbed. There, two large dumpsters were hers to explore for any "gems."

Stepping outside, she could immediately smell the foul odor of the alley. A blend of smells from thrown away leftovers, wet tissues, and remnants of smoke wafted in the air. Colette was still a mess, so it wasn't an unusual picture to see her there. Her light steps made ripples on the puddles of muck. She crept around crouched as she inched towards the first large bin.

"Okie dokie, what do you have for ol Colette~"

Digging through the mass of waste, she managed to pick up a few noteworthy pieces. A bit of Bibi's gum, a feather from Crow, and an empty can of Max's energy drink, just to name a few. Suddenly, something caught her eye, a crumpled ball of graphing paper buried under all the trash.

"Oh? What's this?"

Having experience with digging through trash bins, Colette knew there was something odd about this particular piece of paper. The way it was crumpled was so violent, more so than anyone would do casually. It was buried under a pile of trash, but it showed no sign of being crushed, implying someone had actually buried it under all the garbage. And besides, who would bring graphing paper to a theme park? All these things meant one thing, it was something juicy for the invasive Colette.

"Ooh huhu, whatever could you be~?" she said with a sparkle of devilish curiosity in her eyes.

Unfurling the ball she was met with a wall of text. The penmanship was crass and messy, and it wasn't just because it was crumpled. It was chaotic, no order or consistency despite being written on graphing paper. Despite the paper's current state, Colette knew exactly who wrote this way. She was excited and giggled in a threatening way. However, just reading a few lines changed her expression entirely. She grew silent, no longer smiling but now wearing a straight and concerned face. She took a moment to pause and stare at the dim brick wall. She picked up what she found and brought it in. Her scavenge was going to end early tonight.