A/N: So, a lot of things happened in these few days, and I can't help but want to address this to everyone.
So, I have seen a lot of crazy things that happened on the internet recently, and it's all because of a gacha game. What happened is really concerning.
As you may or may not know, Cookie Run: Kingdom has released a new update that concludes the final arc on the Dark Enchantress Saga, and I understand the story and writing decision were disappointing for some fans, but I would never understand your reactions towards it.
On Twitter, someone had made a post about how the story is so bad that the guy's cousin commits suicide (Idk if it's a joke or not, but based on the emojis they used, I have a feeling it was a joke, but I'm still unsure), and things have escalated like crazy.
I've seen unhinged people, but by gods, these Twitter users are deranged! They used someone's death to blame a game company for their terrible writing, accusing the story of having a terrible message (like how do those idiots instantly conclude character self-sacrifice = character is suicidal/characters commit suicide!?! Like, huh!?! Are you saying every story before this with the self-sacrifice trope is just a hidden suicide message!?!), even bringing unrelated things like how the company's past behaviour of being racist and such. These crazy motherfuckers used someone's death to justify their terrible behaviours! I've seen villains in media, but only the worst of the worst would ever stoop to their levels.
So, I'll tell you guys this. If you guys are not mentally okay, please seek help and don't hide this from everyone. You guys deserve help, and don't let it consume you to the point you end up making a mistake you'll regret for the rest of your life. Talk to someone about it, your friends, family, or just anyone.
Also, another note for everyone, you guys could disagree or dislike stuff. That's fine because you're just being human, but don't let those feelings turn you into something terrible. You guys are far better than that, and I saw it myself from the comments you left on my story.
Once again, thank you for all of your support, and I wish you guys for the best.
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"AAAAHHH!!!" Phil screams as he falls into the ground in horror, his face turns pale as he feels his stomach twist upon seeing the grotesque scene. The smell of rotting flesh and blood enters his nose like a thousand needles stabbing inside, and his body shakes like a tree inside a tornado.
Unable to handle what he had just seen, he could only do one thing: throw up. Caelus could only watch grimly as he took a shaky step into the basement before flinching at the disgusting smell.
As he slowly enters, he summons the drone to light up the place, and he instantly regrets it because he can see rotting corpses in every corner of the room. He shivers at the amount of red covering the floor and walls.
As he slowly walks, he activates his eyes of Nous, and he detects something in the hall of flesh. A bunch of notes and even documents are piling up on a table. Caelus grimly picks it up and takes a glimpse.
It was a bad idea, especially when he still activates the eyes of Nous, as every piece of information provided in the notes is instantly uploaded into his brain. This makes him almost drop his notes as he grits his teeth.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked out of the basement with the notes in his hands. Trigger, who has been keeping an eye on the Legworks, notices him and was about to call him before she realizes something is wrong.
"Caelus?" Seed asks in concern as she slowly approaches him, while Alice slowly approaches Phil. At first, Caelus didn't say a word as he gently pats Phil's back to soothe him before noticing that Zhao is still near the ruins.
Caelus really wants to go there and kicks Zhao's cotton butt to display the true gender equality as he did to Mrs. Legwork, but with everything going on, he decided that the main focus is to help Phil in any way he can. Unfortunately, he is unsure how to help the poor bunny.
Hell, he doesn't even know how to help himself, especially when dealing with his terrible mental states.
As Caelus tries to think of a way to help Phil, the bunny Thiren hugged him unconsciously while tears started falling from his eyes, slowly screams his heart out while clinging tightly to Caelus.
After a while, the Defense Force units had arrived under Trigger's call and took both Legworks away from the ruins, with Trigger and Seed telling the soldiers not to take Phil away, as he is innocent (which took quite a lot of time, as these soldiers are a bunch of fools who can't differentiate between culprits and victims). Phil is now sitting beside Alice as she comforts her cousin.
Caelus, meanwhile, is facing Zhao with a glare. If Caelus manages to gain heat visions, he would be incinerating Zhao to nothing but dust. Too bad he didn't have one.
But fortunately for him, he has his drones, which are a good alternative. He made sure to command several of them surrounding Zhao and aimed the cannon at her. He is also somewhat curious about what the Quantum energy could do to Thirens.
"Give me one good reason for me not to incinerate you to the ground for what you did," Caelus says with a snarl, which makes Zhao slightly nervous.
"I-if you try anything, you would get into trouble, especially with the higher-ups." Zhao tries to bluff her way out, but her stammering doesn't do a convincing job.
"Do I look like I give a single fuck to your higher-ups, especially after you saw me dealing with the Legfuckers?" Caelus growls as he mentally commands the drone to get closer to Zhao. "You saw what I could do with the mansion. Fun fact, I haven't used the full strength of my weapon because my friend is inside the building. If you're curious about how powerful it could be, let's just say New Eridu would turn into a giant crater in seconds."
Of course, Caelus is referring to his Destruction energy and what could happen if he uses the Stellaron, or worse, simply detonates it. He knows it'll wipe out more than just the New Eridu if he did, but Zhao didn't need to know that.
"Y-you're lying..." Zhao can't help but grow even more fearful, especially with how Caelus' cold tone constantly triggers her primal fear. She used to be calculated and make sure everything is on her way, but Caelus casually makes things impossible for her.
"..." Caelus simply summons his bat and taps the tree beside him. Zhao's eyes widen in horror as the tree shatters into millions of splinters right before her eyes. As she tries to process what just happened, Caelus casually charges Destruction into the bat, causing it to glow blue for a moment before it switches to gold. He raises his hand and uses only two fingers to hold the bat. "Do you want to test that?"
"L-look, I am just doing my business-!" Zhao's words were cut by her own panicked shriek as Caelus lowered the bat into the ground. "I-I was sent by the higher-ups to gather information about Exaltists, and the Legworks contacted me, telling me they have the information and are willing to exchange it if I could get their son back!"
"Well, too bad they played you like a fiddle because those two are part of the Exaltists, and the information they provided will only lead you to a wild goose chase," Caelus says dismissively, causing Zhao to freeze as Caelus pulls out the folders. "How do I know about this? Well, they were dumb enough to write everything down here, even some vital information about their other hideouts."
"H-huh..? But, wha...?" Zhao had never felt so humiliated in her life. Here it was, almost got scammed by a bunch of rich folks, being held at gunpoint by a supposed nobody who got famous overnight, and said nobody is taunting her with a 'Oh, you got scammed, too bad, haha lol'.
"...if these are all the things you want, we could do a trade..." Caelus suggests, and Zhao instantly found an opportunity.
"I-I'll do anything, just name the price!" Zhao exclaims, not even noticing the glint in Caelus's eyes.
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Later
"..." Zhao looks like she regrets her life decision as she drives Caelus, Phil, and Alice back to Lumina Square. If it wasn't for the depressing situation, both Phil and Alice would be asking Caelus what he did to her.
Trigger and Seed had chosen to stay to deal with the aftermath, including several PubSecs coming to investigate. So, the three of them had to leave first with Zhao's help, and the entire trip was pure awkward silence.
Zhao was supposed to be the person Phil saved, but she ended up kidnapping him. Caelus had just held her at gunpoint and made a deal with her earlier, something that neither Zhao nor Caelus had brought up since Zhao suddenly 'offered' Phil and Alice a ride back, which weirded Phil out.
Speaking of Alice, she can't help but feel out of place. She didn't know how to explain it, but the accurate description of how she feels is like she's third-wheeling on a date that had gone very wrong, like 'a boyfriend got caught cheating by their girlfriend and forced to be together in the same room' type of wrong.
It didn't take long before they arrived at Lumina Square as Zhao dropped them off and drove away.
"...That was something..." Alice mutters before looking at Phil. "Phil..."
"..." Phil looks away, trying to hide his expression from his cousin.
"...I'm sorry that I was never there for you, when you were alone dealing with your...parents...I should have seen the signs..." Alice mutters.
"...don't be, I was trying to hide that fact from you...." Phil mutters. "You already had issues involving the Thymefield family; you don't need me to add more to the piles."
"You're my cousin, Phil. You're my family," Alice says gently.
"...it's exactly why I didn't tell you. You're too nice..." Phil mutters. "...like him."
"..." Alice glances at Caelus with a questioning look while Caelus responds with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" Caelus asks as Alice shakes her head.
"...nothing, just...thanks for staying by Phil's side...he deserves a friend like you," Alice responds.
"Someone needs to keep an eye on him," Caelus simply said.
"I suppose..." Alice mutters before pulling out her phone. "May I have your number?"
"...for what?" Caelus asks suspiciously. There's no way he was getting a girl's number just for her to ask for a date, especially when they had just met and what had happened earlier.
"I need to add you to a group chat," Caelus blinks at the unexpected answer before telling her. A few seconds later, he receives a notification of him being added to a new group.
"With this, we could talk more with each other, especially after what happened," Alice says before hearing a car horn. She turned around and saw a butler driving a car. "Oh, my butler's here to pick me up. I should go now, sorry Phil, I couldn't stay."
"Tell granduncle I say hi," Alice nods before she enters the car, and the butler drives away. They stood in silence before they quietly walked back to the apartment and stopped right at the front of their rooms.
"...I should go back to bed," Phil mutters as he slowly opens his door.
"Phil..." Caelus calls him, stopping the bunny on track. "...if you want to talk, just call me..."
"...yeah," Phil responds before closing the door. Caelus lets out a sigh before entering his room. With frustration, he slams his fist into the wall, creating a huge crack.
"All these powers...yet I couldn't even help them..." The Eyes of Nous may help a lot, but it comes with serious drawbacks, especially with what happened earlier. The revelations of the monsters being the Legwork children, the zero solution to help, and the names of each child from the notes carved into his head.
He had tried to offer solutions mentally when using Eyes of Nous, but it always came with a response of 'power insufficient', 'lack of experience', and other things. Caelus can't stop thinking about it as he leans on the wall, covering his face, and slowly slides to the ground.
Mem emerges from hiding before glancing at Caelus in concern, trying to get his attention.
"...those kids...nothing I could do..." Caelus mutters as he lowers his head, trying to hide the tears coming from his eyes. Mem gets even more concerned before she summons the 'As I've Written' as the book starts to glow pink.
To be continued