𝙸𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝙸𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚁𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃

— would you consider this worth it? —

— i convinced you, didn't i? —

well, guess this is the end!

first fic i've ever finished, first fic in this fandom, first fic i've been proud of :]

thanks for sticking around, see the bottom for more content if you enjoyed! 

Bad was walking home again, just like the night this had all started, when he was attacked by "villains" and when he met Skeppy again. It was quiet, as quiet as it had been, no couple slow-dancing in their living room, no gentle music floating through the air. That was okay. His thoughts were company enough.

Of course he wasn't okay.

A lot had happened. Eventful day. Eventful week. His old problems looked so minuscule now, in a good way. Messing up his order at some restaurant wasn't anything compared to almost dying, almost being killed by one of his friends, then almost killing one of his friends, then finding out his brother wanted them all dead from the start. He had been played. Fooled. Manipulated. 

He was angry at Good, angry at himself. He knew he shouldn't be too hard on himself— Good sold it all well, and he tricked a lot of smart people. Maia. Tubbo. George. Sapnap. They were all just good people trying to help, by whatever means necessary.

Bad supposed the heroes were doing the same. In the end, it turned out half the heroes were oblivious victims, half were corrupt, then one villain was actually bad, and the rest of them were following with good intentions. They had done the right thing in the end. Good was dead, and he wished it hadn't hurt when they found the body, hadn't ached when they had to leave it again for the police to find, hadn't stinged since they still didn't know who had done it.

At least the hero council was dealt with. The public was very angry about all of this, and he had seen multiple protests and some small riots, even arguing for safer systems and protection for the heroes. And, get this, justice for the villains. The people wanted him and the others to get paid, be idolized, work as heroes even. 

He guessed they already were heroes.

Being regarded as something, having the title of something, being told you are something... they're all not the same as being something, and that, he supposed, wrapped up every poopy thing that had happened. They'd been told they were good, so had the heroes, and in the end, everyone was bad.

Everyone was bad.

That wasn't true. He wasn't bad— well, he was, obviously, he was BadBoyHalo. But he wasn't a bad person. Morality was confusing, especially after he hadn't gotten any sleep in the past couple of days, and the longest day he hoped he'd ever have.

Strangely, he felt okay. He wasn't okay, obviously, almost every part of his body aches and his muscles screamed when he moved, back still stinging every second, even though Tubbo had healed it. It was the calm after the storm, the numb "wow, that just happened, and now we're here". He sucked in a breath. 

The night sky was dark, inky black suffocating him— yet, somehow, he welcomed it. The chill of cold was nice, even if it sent a shiver down his spine. He'd thrown out the jacket Good had given him. It had been a great jacket. He had loved it. Just like he had loved Good.

Tonight was not for a pity party, though, no matter how much he longed for one. They'd still won. He definitely would need therapy. They all would need therapy. He was sure he could convince all of them to get help with him, gently.

His mind floated back to the night he'd gone down this road, same destination in mind, same time of day, everything different. He'd been down that night, but romanticizing it. He had been playing with being incomplete with metaphors and fancy words. 

He was whole, he realized. He was complete now.

The thought brought him sanctuary, and he let himself smile, however small, however shy, even though there was no one around to see. That final puzzle piece had been found. Tubbo, Sapnap, Maia, all the friends he had made, and of course, Skeppy. That was why everything was worth it.

Friendship wasn't the way to solve everything, wasn't the answer to life, to strife, but it sure as heck was a reason to keep trying, to keep fighting, and that was reason enough to why it meant so much. Why Skeppy meant so much.

He'd been so glad to see him that night— no idea he'd become so attached, again. He loved Skeppy. Bad, himself, didn't know if it was just friendly now— he didn't care, to be honest with you. He was just happy to be with him. 

Honestly? He was a little bit shocked he had survived it all. All the split-second decisions, the mistakes, the havoc, everything that went wrong, which was almost everything, the emotions. It had been terrifying. There had been points where he was genuinely convinced he wasn't going to make it out alive, or that people he loved weren't. But they did. And here he was, almost home.

It was marvellous. Surviving everything.

And he was sure there'd only be more from here. 

yup! that's the end!

a bit anticlimactic, i think, but this was a very eventful book so i thought it'd be nice to end with something calm. no dialogue, no action, just thoughts, ammiright?

if you want oneshots, my ao3 has five up rn and im super proud of all of them! i have a bunch more in the works too :D (it's pecann)

i have a discord server (dm me for a link) that doesn't rlly talk abt my fics much but there's a lot of really nice people there :] /safe

again, idk about the sequel, there's plans but no motivation LMAO

as always, hope you enjoyed, hope to see you again in a different book <3