Dark Thorns (A Deltarune fanfic)

Dwindling (Start of Act 2)

"YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN ME. I WAS [Zip Zap] ALL THROUGHOUT THE ROOM."
"You're that fast now, huh?"
Both Spamton and Pink were sitting close to each other. It had been an hour since they started their little date. They were happy to just be in each other's company.
"YOU BETCHA. NOBODY WILL STAND [Now's your chance] AGAINST ME."
"Just still be careful."
"OF COURSE. I WON'T GO [dying] ON YOU NOW. NOT WHEN WE JUST [signed contract]."
"I already told you, we'll talk more about that once this is over."
"I KNOW. CAN'T BLAME ME FOR BEING EXCITED." As he said that, Spamton rested his head on Pink's shoulder.
"Heha. No, I guess not." Pink wrapped his arm around Spamton, feeling at ease.
"[Btw] IT'LL BE RATHER LONELY WITHOUT YOU HERE. YOU KNOW, ONCE YOU GO BACK TO [home sweet home]."
"We can still be in touch."
"REALLY?"
"Well of course. I can try to come visit every so often or you could even visit me."
"CAN I [call the number on your screen]?"
"Call me? Yes. In fact, let me give you my number so I don't forget later." Pink looked around to find something to write with. Luckily there was an unsharpened pencil nearby. On a spare napkin, he wrote his number.
"WOW. [Digits] ON THE FIRST DATE? [You must] REALLY LIKE ME."
"Oh stop it."
They both continued to talk and laugh for the rest of the night.

—

...
Pick up.
...
Pick up.
...
Please pick up.
"Your call has been-"
He slammed it down before it could finish. Sitting on the ground, hunched over with a blank expression. How many times has he heard it? A hundred? A thousand? Spamton didn't know anymore. He lost count. And that was just today. The amount of times he's tried calling in the past three days might put the numbers up to a million.
Three days. It had been three days since Pink disappeared.
Disappeared...
He knew it wasn't just that. Pink didn't just disappear. He was taken.
I shouldn't have left him alone.
It's my fault.
Maybe I should try again?
So he did. Again and again. Still no answer. It was exhausting. Dialing the same number only to hear it go to voicemail. But he had to keep trying. He took the phone going to voicemail as a good thing. That meant it was still in service so that should mean that Pink was still alive. Of course he's still alive, Spamton thought to himself.
There's no way anything happened to him. Right?
Pink's face flashed through his mind. Smiling, annoyed, angry, sad, deep in thought. Spamton thought of every expression that he saw on him. The very idea of something happening to him...

"Excuse me? Sir?"
Sighing to himself, Spamton stood up. It was about that time. The Swatchlings were very punctual. Perhaps they had some news. They just had to. Even though he desperately wished for that, Spamton was slow as he was getting to the door.
What's the point?
They could have-
It's always the same.
I can't think like that.
Why shouldn't I?
I can't give up now.
It's not that I'm giving up. Just facing the facts.
He's not in the city anymore. If he was, he would have been found already.
Cyber city is big. He could still be anywhere.
He's not. He's not here anymore.
And it's my fault.
m̬̟̑͗ý̗̙̝̫̱͐̄̚͞ f̝͓͇̰̋͋̂͝á̘͉̉ụ̩̪̇͆͑́͜l͈̯̾̀t͙́
M̬̟̑͗Ý̗̙̝̫̱͐̄̚͞ F̝͓͇̰̋͋̂͝Á̘͉̉Ụ̩̪̇͆͑́͜L͈̯̾̀T͙́!

Creaking the door open, Spamton looked at the tall darkner.
"I'm here to give you our report." They seemed to wait for a response, but it never came. "Right. We still haven't gotten any leads."
What did I expect?
"However, we won't lose hope. We will continue to search every corner of the city."
Lose hope? Wasthereá̘͉̉n͕̰̳̏͝͡ý̗̙̝̫̱͐̄̚͞tobeginwith?
"MUCH APPRECIATED! NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME." He shot them an award losing smile as he pushed past them.
"May I ask where you're going?"
"I GOTTA DO MY PART TOO. YOU GUYS CAN'T LOOK IN THE SMALL CORNERS LIKE I CAN."
"Actually, I was told to tell you-"
"IS IT ABOUT PINK?"
"Well no, but-"
"THEN I'M OFF."
Spamton ran away before the Swatchling could say anything else. He didn't want to hear it. No more false hope. It was too painful. And yet, he really wanted to believe it. That maybe Pink is somehow still around. Maybe he'll be the one to find him. After that, he'll get rid of those dark web criminals and put all of this behind them. They can start all over again. They'll be happy. Be together. Then everything got blurry. Stopping for a moment, Spamton rubbed at his eyes, lifting up his glasses. He didn't notice that he had started crying.