October 4, 2022

Isaac walks into the kitchen, heads to the fridge, and gets out some food. He looks slightly confused how there is fresh food in there despite emptying the fridge the other day.

Sparrow is still passed out at the table.

Oleander had followed him and scans the room, tilting their head at Sparrow before looking back to Isaac.

"That witch at the table is Sparrow. Don't mind her." Isaac gets out two pans and starts cooking.

"Okay. Is she really a witch?" Oleander asks curiously.

"More of a bitch if you ask me.”

"Hm. I see." They lean on the wall. Casually.

Isaac looks like he really knows his way around the kitchen as he's even seasoning the eggs while they cook. "Has your hair always been that color?"

Oleander shakes their head. "Its naturally brown. Started dying it before the apocalypse because Ava said it’d help me get more 'aquainted with the youth of the day.'" They say in air quotes.

"Now I don't know all that much about humans, but is that a normal hair color for younger humans? Does it just turn brown the older they get?" Isaac asks.

"Brown is normal, yeah. Natural hair colors for humans are black, shades of brown, blondes, sometimes even white. Anything super colorful is almost always because it was dyed." Oleander explains.

"Well that's drab." Isaac plates a grilled cheese next to a good helping of scrambled eggs and holds out the plate to him. "And eat anywhere, no one cares."

He takes it. "Thank you,," They take a seat at the table, posture as rigid as before, and dig in.

Isaac leans on the counter and folds his arms as he watches.

Oleander eats very politely. When they’re done they stand up. "Is it okay if I wash my dishes? I don’t know what its like here.”

"I mean if you want to have at it.”

"Okay." Oleander starts cleaning dishes.

Isaac is watching with an eyebrow slightly raised and not saying anything.

They finish and put them in the dishwasher. "Thank you for the meal, it was amazing."

"You get hungry again don't be afraid to ask...and uhh...maybe try out loosening up some,” Isaac says.

Oleander tilts their head. "I’ve loosened up a lot. Am I not acting normal?"

"I’m just saying you look like you could enjoy life a bit more than you are right now. But hey, if doing things like that, like perfect posture, or keeping up manners in a relaxed place makes you happy, so be it. I can't stop you." Isaac shrugs.

"Well, I just..." They pause. "It’s just what I’ve always done. Got drilled into me as a kid." They explain. "I’m unsure how else I'd act I guess."

"I get that. Just know you can try out something else whenever you want." Isaac gets a water out from the fridge.

Oleander nods. "Okay, thank you. So I’m allowed to just... take food whenever?"

"Yup." Isaac nods.

"Alright, thank you again." They go to the fridge and get some water. "This place is amazing... i can’t believe you have water and electricity and food-"

Isaac is quiet for a moment before he responds. "Yeah. We're really lucky.”

"Reminds me of home in a way." He says, looking outside.

"And what was that like for you?" Isaac asks.

"Branch House was pleasant. The Church was... less so."

Kade enters and makes an beeline for the fridge and just starts DEVOURING raw meat.

Harmonia steps in, in demon form, and looks around "Hi.”

Oleander waves. "Hello.”

Isaac blinks some at seeing Kade run in.

"Whats your name?" Harmonia asks.

"Oleander, what's yours?"

"Harmonia, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

Kade is completely oblivious to anyone else in the room, just eating.

Oleander watches impressed.

Sparrow stirs and sits up.

Isaac looks over at Sparrow with a glare.

After a while, Kade stops and huffs, turning around. "Afternoon."

Harmonia zones in. "So uh... hows everyone"

"I’m ok," Isaac says.

"Of course you are." Sparrow mumbles.

Spider appears, she sits on the table pulling out her phone.

Isaac and Sparrow glare at eachother

Spider notices and sighs, shaking her head.

"Uh oh.” Says Oleander.

"Dog kisser." Sparrow mumbles.

"THATS IT COME HERE-" Isaac storms over to Sparrow.

Cole walks in with his eyes glowing pink as he glares at Sparrow and grabs Isaac by the back of the shirt. He drags him out while flipping Sparrow off.

Kade begins to drink a carton of orange juice

Isaac flails as he’s dragged. "LET ME AT HER-"

“For crying out loud-” Spider mutters.

"SHUT-” Cole says as he drags Isaac.

Max teleports into the room, a goofy-ass smile visible on his face. "Hey how's it goin? What's happenin'? What's... What's uhhh... What's crackalackin?"

"Who the fuck?” Kade asks.

"The clown got dragged out." Sparrow smiles.

Oleander leaves the room.

Harmonia’s eyes light up "Max!!"

“Screw this.” Spider sighs and leaves the room.

Max pauses for a second, staring at Harmonia. He didn't clock that it was her for at least twenty seconds but after his core processor kicked into overdrive, the smile returned. "Harmonia! Hey- Hey, real talk here for a moment, mkay?"

"Alright, whats up? Oh also sorry for looking different. Died and stuff." Harmonia says, shrugging.

"Again,” Sparrow says.

"It's all good, death happens- don't worry about it." Max's expression was washed over with- wait a fucking second- actual real life fear? His face flushed of all color. He began to pick at his already scabbed-over, bloody cuticles yet again. "Uh.. Knowingness... is sending me into a place to handle some... erm... business? I have to traverse through a maze to find his domain. I uh.. I could like, not make it out of there alive n' stuff. And just in case this isn't a see-you-later type thing, I wanted to say goodbye."

"Nice knowin ya dear,” Sparrow says.

Harmonias eyes widen. "That... you shouldn’t go- its not worth it. Knowingness doesn’t seem like someone you should dedicate yourself to." She says, looking over Max with concern.

Cole walks in with pink eyes and grabs Sparrow by the ear and starts dragging her to the hallway.

"OW OW OW OW OW-" Sparrow is dragged away.

Kade watches then slowly goes back to drinking orange juice.

Max pulls out a chair, and sits down. "He said I could become something close to a god if his plan works out. He said I could exist outside of what's considered a normal reality. I have already dedicated my being to him." He laughs softly, reaching up and twirling the lip piercing in his face. Max watched Cole enter alone, and leave with someone by the ear. He was going to say goodbye to him too- He would eventually make his rounds. "I don't want to do this, but it's not like I have a choice."

"But you do. You have a choice. You can leave Knowingness, I can protect you! You don’t have to keep going down this path Max-" Harmonia reassures.

Max's brows furrowed as he stared at the floor, his left leg beginning to bounce. "You have no idea what kind of commitment I made there, man.. I... I caused... All of this...? Like, It is all my fault. I'd explain it all, but the truth will come in... in it's own time.." That night in the woods. The Cabin. Shrooms. Adam was there. Adam thought it was all a trip. But it wasn't. Max found god and Adam became marked. He knew he was meant for great things, and He knew it would all pay off in the end. Max let out a quivering breath. He couldn't tell if his face was wet from tears or sweat. Truth be told, it was both. Hair stuck to his forehead from the sweat, but he was indeed crying a little bit too. Regardless, he then wipes his face and stands up. He couldn't stay any more. "Well, I need to get going..." He turns and faces Harmonia, sticking out a hand for a handshake. A lump in his throat was pulled back down into his chest. He wanted to yell and cry about how much he didn't want to go, but again. There wasn't anything he could do about it. "I uh.. I'll see you later..."

Harmonia brings him into a hug instead. "Don’t die... please..." She whispers, hugging him tightly. She's really fluffy and naturally warm, a good hug.

Max can't remember the last time he was hugged. His brain empties, kind of just going idle. He hugs back briefly as he begins to break down juuuust a little bit. "I.. I'll try not to.." He doesn't really care about refraining from crying at this point, allowing himself to make sniffles and soft sobs for a whopping 30 seconds, before regaining the numb and cynical level of personality he had before. Max pulled away, wiping his face. "I gotta... go say goodbye to Roxy and Cole. Have a good one if I don't come back to make it a living hell, okay?" He does a lil stupid fucking chuckle as if he didn't just show vulnerability.

Harmonia nods, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can’t make my life worse then it is kid. You’re not a burden to me. Just remember that there are people who care about you, okay?"

Max nods. He repositioned his glasses on his face. He took another deep breath. "I know.. Speaking of those people, any idea of where they might be? I saw Cole grabbing someone up earlier, but I haven't seen Roxy in a minute."

"Unsure. I can text Cole and see if he can come out here? Roxy’s at Claire's house. I can text her and see if she can teleport us there after you say bye to Cole?"

"Yeah, that'd be cool and much appreciated," Max says.

Harmonia takes out her phone and a couple of minutes later, Cole walks in with his hands in his pockets.

"Soo I heard my favorite piss distortion man wanted to say goodbye.”

Harmonia backs away to allow them space.

Max laughs, his face red from holding his breath and crying at the same fucking time. "Yeah.. I'm headed into a scary murder maze and might die, so I just wanted to say goodbye just incase I don't make it you know?" He finally looks over at Cole. "Take your hands out of your pockets real quick for me."

Cole takes his hands out of his pockets. “Why? Are you gonna preform some weird magic on them?"

Max smiles as he dug into his pocket. When he pulled his hand out, between his fingers was a small leather string. Once fully removed, on the string was a little pink crystal. And it was glowing. He held it up. "It sings, you know. Can you hear it's voice?" There was indeed a soft singing. A little humming here, and a little melody there. It was then placed in Cole's hand.

Cole tilts his head slightly as he holds up the crystal to his ear. “Yeah? I guess?"

Max just grins, laughing a little bit. "Hold onto this for me. Okay?" He lowers his voice to a whisper. "And if anyone ever comes looking for it, I need you to hold a meeting of some sort with Jesse, Harmonia, and Roxy- But you cannot tell any of them about it before that happens, okay? And if it doesn't, Then don't say anything ever... got it?"

Cole nods as he puts it in his pocket and whispers. “I won't say a word.”

Max straightens his posture. He grabbed Cole's other hand and shook it. With the crystal protected, he felt a little better about wandering into the yellow rooms- wandering into a possible end. "I knew I could count on you, Cole Genesone. Thank you."

Cole nods as he shakes Max's hand. “Not a problem Maxamillian."

Harmonia is eating food and staring at her phone as she waits for Max.

Kade sits at the table.

Max lets out another breath. "Alright. I'm ready. Man- What a fucking lifetime. It all essentially was like a cage to me."

“Good luck with whatever you're doing.” Cole chuckles

"Roxy said shed teleport us. Also she said to show you this.” Harmonia says and shows hin her phone.

Cole stares at the image.

Max lightly bops Cole in the shoulder. "Thanks- Good luck with uhh... death or whatever el oh el."

“Goddamn it why do you all say lol with such-" Cole is cut off suddenly as in a flash of purple, Max and Harmonia vanish.

They appear in Claire's cottage in front of Roxy who's sitting on the sofa and watching Better Call Saul.

Harmonia sits on the couch.

Max stands with his eyes closed for like ten seconds before resuming being alive. He started to hate teleporting around after he did all that murdering. "Yoooo- Roxy, Hey guess what I get to do."

"Hmmmmm let's see..." Roxy's eyes go blank a moment before she says, "You get to do some weird funky something idk man I don't pay attention anymore honestly.”

"Yeah, you're right. I get to do this funky wizard maze-" He whips out a polaroid picture from an envelope in his back pocket.

"Oh my god, Kane Pixels moment..." Roxy sits up straight. "You sure you'll be safe in there?"

"The fuck is a Kane Pixel? But I don't know, I hope so. That's why I'm here- To say goodbye if I don't come back." Max pauses for like two seconds before continuing. "And to say thanks for letting me live in your house for the last few months."

"Hey, asshat," Roxy gets up and puts her hands on Max's shoulders. "You're gonna come back and if you don't I'm gonna go in there lookin for you." She pulls him into a hug. "If you die I'm gonna fucking kill you.”

Max stares at Roxy. As she spoke, he knew something wasn't registering. These people cared about him. Why could he not see it like they did? How can he only expect death from himself..? Once again, as he was pulled into a hug, he only hugged back just a bit. Most of his energy was being poured into keeping himself from weeping. Last time, he didn't do too well, but maybe it was okay to cry. Still though, he didn't want what might possibly be their last memory of him to be a sniffling little baby- He needed to look the lethal unknown in the eyes. He needed to be strong. "Double dead? Man... I'll try not to die... alright? My saddlebag is packed- I'm as prepared as I can be."

Roxy pulls back for a second and looks Max dead in the eyes. "Maxwell Williams the seventeenth and a half you did Not just utter the phrase 'my saddlebag is packed' in my presence that is the funniest shit ever." She pats him on the head, before reaching into her pocket. She pulls out a 2 liter of Cotton Candy Faygo, three water bottles, and a couple of bags of beef jerky. No idea how all that could fit in there, but, whatever. She hands them to Max. "To remember me while keeping your body alive."

Max chuckles, lifting the flap of his Mary Poppins ass fuckin bag. They fit in there easy peasy, and he lets the flap fall after he got them situated. Then he does another stupid little chuckle. "Of course- I will cherish the nourishment that these will give me. Thank you, Roxy."

"Anything you wanna do before you head out? I've got money. The world is over so we don't need any of it to do anything I'm just flexing.”

"Uh... I've never tried go-karts before. Any of that still operational around here?"

"Actually, I might know a place nearby," Roxy says, smiling slightly.

"Oh hell fucking yes! My sorrows have faded, knowing that if I die, i will have died knowing what Go Karts are like EL EM EHFF AYE OH!" Max threw his fists in the air, excitement peaked.

"YEAHHH LETS GO" They vanish in a flash of purple distortion.

---

The Main Lobby of the Cosmic Candy Entertainment Complex is open but very empty, only the receptionist is here. Bored out of their mind. Roxy, Max, and Harmonia appear in a burst of purple distortion.

"Woah- Radical. Its looking like this is the place of ultimate funtimes." Max crosses his arms, looking around the lobby.

It’s a brightly colored room covered in squiggles and stars. Besides the desk are two hallways. The receptionist disappears in a poof of glitter and in their place sits Astro. “What can I do for you today?”

"I own one of you." Roxy stares Astro dead in the eyes.

“Oh no not you-” Astro mumbles. “What do you mean?“ He then realizes who Roxy is talking about. “Oh! So you’re the one who has Astro (Derogatory). I always wondered where he went.” Max is in the corner, messing with a little plastic bag or something.

"Sping tap." Roxy looks to Harmonia and Max. "Three tickets please!"

“Look, if you promise not to do what you did last time you can just go in alright? Free of charge. “Go Karts are to the left.”

"I honest to god don't remember what I did last time." Roxy turns to Max. "Go Karts are to the left let's go!!!"

“Just look for Moon Buggy Madness, and please don’t cough up any mini yous. I really do not want to go through that again.”

"RIIIGHT I REMEMBER THAT NOW..." Roxy takes Max by the scruff. "Let's a go!"

Harmonia is glaring at Astro like a scary dog. "Woof" The group heads to Moon Buggy Madness.

“Thank Goodness they are gone. Now, Time to troll a intern on Twitter.” Astro just takes out his phone and starts to do what he said.

---

The Go Karts are dressed up like Moon Rovers and are already up and going. Harmonia takes a deep breath and her form changes to that of her human form. "Time to kill!"

Max's eyes widen just before he makes a mad dash towards one of the karts, getting in immediately. He never had driven one before. Chaos will ensue. Roxy gets in one too. She has no idea how to use them. Harmonia gets in one and grins, starting it up and GOIN. Max stares at the controls for a solid 30 seconds before starting to drive. He had never been behind the wheel of anything before, so this was really exciting. At first he drives like the elderly, but soon switches up to something akin to speed racer. Just so much more reckless.