Stuck In Paradise

Ridding of the Masks as a melody plays.

Hero’s masked self was really easy to deal with when Hero was told he had to accept himself by Aubrey and Kel. Looking at his masked self he let out a sigh.

“What you said before...about me only doing things for others. You were right. I really can’t remember the last time I did something without thinking it was for one of the others or my parents.”

Masked Hero stared at Hero with soft eyes, “So you accept me and how we need to change?”

“Yeah. I’ll...I’ll do my best for myself.” Hero smiled.

The masked Hero smiled as well and with that he disappeared, leaving Masked Basil all by himself.

Speaking of the masked Basil, he was on the floor with Basil towering over him. Both of their gardening shears were covered in blood. It seemed like out of the four, Basil was the one who was taking the fighting seriously.

“Admit it...you’re still scared. You say you’re not but….”

“So? What if I am still scared? I need to protect Sunny, even if it kills me.” Basil spat out.

“You’re...heh, alright. We’re both really stubborn when we put our mind on something, huh?”

Masked Basil looked at the approaching group.

“This won’t be the last time we clash. I’ll always be here...watching you.”

Masked Basil disappeared and Basil fell to the floor.

“Basil! Are you okay?” Kel ran up to him and asked.

“...tired….” Basil muttered.

“Yeah, I feel that.” Hero nodded.

Aubrey suddenly put her hand on Basil’s back, “Soooo mind explaining what happened at the Hideout?”

“Um...okay, stupid question. What happened at the Hideout?” Basil asked nervously.

“...Are you fucking serious right now?” Aubrey glared at him.

“I-I swear! I have no idea what is going on! I was fighting my masked self, lost, blacked out, woke up back here, and had to fight him again!” Basil stated truthfully.

“Wait, so you weren’t in control of your body? Holy shit, it is a good thing we made it there on time,” Aubrey looked shocked.

“Can...Can you tell me what happened?” Basil asked again.

“Long story short, you tried to kill Sunny then yourself.” Kel sighed.

“Oh, god! Is Sunny okay?! Please tell me he is okay!” Basil looked at them with worry in his eyes.

“Um…” The trio nervously looked at each other before looking back at Basil, “He’s alive.”

“....And? Did I hurt him?” Basil was waiting for more info, bouncing his foot anxiously.

“That’s the only good part.” Kel nervously laughed.

Basil let out a sigh that sounded like a mix of a groan, “At least he is alive….” he tried to cheer himself up.

“Yeah, that’s a good thing.” Aubrey nodded in agreement.

The group of four looked at each other in silence for a while. No one knew what to say or to bring up.

Basil took a deep breath and with resolve looked at the others, “I...um...I need to tell you guys something important.”

“...If it is what I think it is, then we know. We found out thanks to Sunny.” Hero sighed.

“H-Huh!? Sunny told you?!” Basil jumped back in surprise.

The others nodded, clearly not feeling up to talk about it yet.

“O-Oh….” Basil turned away.

It may not look like it but he was badly panicking. A million thoughts racing through his head.

Do they hate him? Are they planning revenge? Oh god, oh fuck this had to be the worse thing to happen to him. Why couldn’t Sunny have told them the truth when he was around? At least that way he could know by now if they hate them.

Maybe he should ask Sunny how they feel...that is if Sunny isn’t angry at him for attempted murder.

As if thinking about him summoned it, a door appeared in the void.

“Oh, nice to finally have an exit,” Aubrey muttered.

“Sweet! Let’s go! I hate this place!” Kel grinned.

“Same, I would like to leave as well.” Hero nodded.

With that, Kel moved forward and grabbed the door handle. Twisting it, and opening it to be greeted with darkness on the other side.

“I don’t...think there is anything back there.” Aubrey peaked in. If she squinted hard enough she could see the outlines of chairs all facing towards a stage, “Huh, never mind.”

They all walked in and used the chairs to their advantage in the dark. Eventually, after a bit of walking, they made their way to the front row where they decided to sit down. The rustling of paper was heard backstage before the curtains opened. Basil felt his breath hitch in his throat as he waited for anything to happen.

A stage light turned on and they all gasped.

Sunny stood proudly in the light, his violin raised to his chin, ready to play at any moment. His eyes were focused on the sheet music in front of him, steeled with determination to play.

Then he did.

The melody he played was the one he and Mari were practicing together before her demise. The music would fill their home as Mari and Sunny practiced for their recital. The sound that normally was accompanied by Kel yelling encouragement as Hero shushed him to hear the music. Aubrey and Basil would dance all the time to the melody as Sunny would sometimes watch with amusement.

The music stopped as Sunny’s body stilled. He was breathing heavily and tears had begun rolling down his face. He put the violin away before collapsing on the ground.

In a blink of an eye, the group was up there with him, wrapping their arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. He looked up to see Basil staring at him with concern laced in his eyes.

He sniffled before closing his eyes and a bright light filled the room.

They were no longer in the theater but now in a white void-like area. It had a long black line coming from the ceiling and a carpet on the ground.

Sunny was in front of the carpet, not even knowing the others were there. Omori stood behind the carpet and stared at Sunny with unfiltered rage in his eyes. His knife was by his side and he was twirling it around his fingers as if it was nothing but a coin. Basil suddenly had the feeling that he shouldn’t be here and judging by the others' faces they felt the same.

Walking forward slowly, Sunny approached Omori with the same determined aura he had on stage.

He felt his stomach twist as Omori stared down at Sunny as he approached. The black line and the carpet disappeared.

Omori closed his eyes and moved the knife quickly, putting himself in a battle position as Sunny pulled out his violin.

The others tried to rush forward to join Sunny but they were grabbed by the hands that were in Black Space. They covered their mouths so they couldn’t scream and their grip became stronger as they struggled. Basil tried to make a sound so Sunny could know that he was there but he couldn’t use anything around to help.

Basil wanted to scream. He wanted to help Sunny! He needed to protect Sunny!

Why can’t he help?

Was he really that useless?

GOD DAMN IT! WHY CAN’T HE HELP!?

Basil watched as the others kept struggling despite knowing it was no use.

He watched as Sunny readied his violin to use it as a weapon.

Basil watched it all with tears in his eyes.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Trust me.”