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He knew, deep down he knew it was a bad idea. To go against the Knight’s wishes. To have autonomy. To be in the right.
There, at the cold bottom of a snowy pit, lay Tenna. What a dramatic ending to such a dramatic act. To be given hope just before being… “forced into obsoleteness”, is what Tenna pushed into his mind instead of “left to die”. The slash clean through his arms should have been a worse pain than that slimmer of light that his contestants shone on his future just before it was engulfed into darkness, right? It might have been. He can't think straight anymore. Hell, he can't turn his head anymore.
A fall from such height did a mighty blow to his TV, and not without consequence. He’s never received hard damage, aside from banging his head on the somehow-never-tall-enough doorframes, temporarily throwing his antennas off balance; he’s never bled before… but if he had to guess, this was it. A good third of his vision was gone, replaced instead with a numbing static that shot jolts of pain through his body at every attempt to move around. Something hot, something that was quickly cooling and pooling around the edge of his frame was leaving through an apparent crack on his screen. His antennas twitched in a familiar way, trying to reach out in a radio wave. He should call out to Mike to get the cameras on this action – this was probably heart-wrenching, dramatic. Pathetic. And he would, if Mike hadn’t left; if everyone hadn’t left.
If Susie, with her helping hand outstretched, hadn’t left. But of course it was a lie. Everyone proved, time and time again, that that’s all he was good for – staying in the distant past. And the gang getting rid of him was probably the punchline to their story, just one less problem to deal with. What joy. He should really laugh. He should really cry.
Can he cry? Has he ever cried? He can mope, he can shrink, he can look pitiful from every angle, but can he cry? What Tenna hadn’t realized, is that he’s been trying to this whole time. Trying to let the salt seep into the crack and burn him harder from the inside, to wallow in self-pity one last time, but to no avail. All that was streaming down his face was the never-stopping blood. Or not blood? Tenna reached to check with his hand, hot agony stopping him before he even started (see “lack of body parts” for the reason). Oh, drama with no tears, like a TV host with no arms… Another self-deprecating joke at his own expense to pass the time. He should really get a counter going, except he lost count already.
His screen flickered, rendering him blind for a split second. Good sign. For the better anyways. He couldn’t look anywhere but up, at the stars. It was… beautiful. More beautiful than when he was up there, running frantically, doting over his own stars, stars of the show. But maybe everything bright is beautiful before the darkness. Something bubbled in his chest, something painful and unnatural; a laugh. A loud, desperate laugh tore through, before Tenna could stop it. Fangs pierced into his lips to try to stifle it – each new inhale more breathless, each new sound amplified, he managed to drown out the pain for just a minute. Maybe that’s his way of crying. Maybe he has been crying in front of millions.
Another blackout, a fraction longer this time. The fall ought to have killed him, then he wouldn’t have to think these thoughts. A flicker. The snow is so cold. He hated to admit that he's been holding out hope, but it seems no one is coming after all. A flicker, a flicker. He also wished he had his arms. A flicker, a flicker. To hug himself, maybe.
A flicker and a Darkness.
“There!” Susie slid across the snow, pointing vaguely in the direction where Tenna fell, “That’s where we were.”
Ralsei hurried along, reluctant both to let Susie go by herself and to follow her.
“Are you sure we should do this? We might… see what we don’t want to see.”
“Like hell we’re leaving him! He should have fallen… Over there!” she fell to her knees over a seemingly bottomless pit, “Someone is there, can you see it?!”
“Susie…” but Ralsei was grabbed before being given a chance to reason. “Susie!”
“Come on!”
They (well, mostly Susie) had spent the last 10 minutes frantically running around, talking to every Darkner who used to work under Tenna, squeezing out every bit of info on how he could be fixed. But like blood from a stone, all they got was many we’re not sure’s and we wouldn’t know’s. Ralsei’s mistake here was to suggest not to worry too much, which only poured more metaphorical oil (stubbornness) into a metaphorical fire (Susie, naturally). She mumbled something about managing on their own before turning on her heel.
Before Ralsei could catch on, Susie was already veering down across the ice and mud, to the bottom.
“It’s him! Tenna! Tenn…a.” she halted. Ralsei froze in horror just behind.
There, mixed with dark snow, the cheerful glow of his screen gone, still lay Tenna. Torn limb from limb, his head bathing in unidentifiable inky liquid, he looked pitiful. It was harrowing. Susie stepped closer.
“Tenna? Tenna,” she paced forward with intent this time.
“Susie, he’s… I don’t… Think we can help…” Ralsei reached out to grab Susie’s shoulder, but she slipped away once more without noticing.
“No, come on,” an inappropriate chuckle seeped into her speech, “there’s nothing we can’t fix! He’s a– he’s a TV, right? There must be like a… An ‘on’ button or something…” She slumped next to Tenna. “Look, like right here… Or- or here…”
She palmed around his head in a rush, looking for any button, or dial, or switch, smearing snow and the dark liquid anywhere, but to no avail.
“Come on… Come on!” she was hyperventilating now.
“Susie.” She turned around. “It’s no use.”
“No, it can't be! Maybe- maybe use your healing magic! Come on, Ralsei, you’re good with it!” With shaking hands, Susie stained Ralsei’s clothes, quickly pulling herself up and shaking him a couple times.
“It’s not going to help. Susie, please…” Ralsei couldn’t look anymore.
“Then I’ll do it. I’ll do it!” she dropped back down, crawling on her knees towards the body, trying to focus enough energy between her palms for anything to appear.
Ralsei carefully lowered himself beside her. This was set up for failure and now Susie is just drawing out the grief. He didn’t know what to do, what to say.
A tiny ball of green energy formed between Susie’s hands, growing reluctantly. It didn’t expand past a tennis ball, but the grunts coming from Susie signaled that it might not get to. Ralsei looked at her face, sweat on her forehead and a hint of tears now visible in her eyes, reflecting with a sparkle, and he looked away immediately.
Looking at the TV head, Ralsei grimaced involuntarily. The soft green light now illuminated all the damage, a massive crack splitting the screen down the third, caked around with inky liquid. It was almost glittery… no, static-y? It trailed down, over the frame and towards the neck, where…
Ralsei grabbed onto Susie.
“Wait! Look!” he pointed towards the underside of Tenna’s head.
There, flush against the exterior and now visible in the gentle light, was a simple switch mechanism, inscribed ‘RESET’ below.
“That’s– that’s it! Ralsei, that’s it!!” in a rush, Susie juggled the ball of light into her other palm and reached out towards it, trembling slightly. She felt Ralsei grab onto her forearm tighter as she drew closer.
With a click to the right, Tenna’s face instantly lit up, deafening them both with a long beeping sound.
“Ow, what the..!” and then it stopped. “Tenna? Tenna, are you okay?!” Without need for light, Susie snuffed out her magic by closing her fist and carefully shook Tenna by the shoulders.
“…!’ Ralsei was stunned into silence. Now the screen showed colorful bars, accompanied by a distant noise of static. “This… this is out of my knowledge…”
“The lines… Those are, umm… It’s like a test thing, when there’s no signal, or… Or something is broken!” Susie whirled toward him, almost yelling now. “Broken! We need to try healing him, we need to! It could work now, come on!”
“O-okay! Okay, get ready!” In a fraction of the time it took Susie, Ralsei produced a similar spell, holding it confidently in the air. They looked at each other and Susie nodded.
With a quick exhale, Ralsei glided his hands over all damaged areas. Like time was reversed, the massive crack grew smaller, slimmer, until it stitched itself back together. He moved slowly, over the screen, over the chipped and scratched side of the TV, over the… arms. Or where they need to be, at least.
“I don’t think I ca–“
“AGGHH–!”
With a pained scream, Tenna’s screen flashed an unfamiliar expression – one of agony.
“Shit!” Susie jumped, rushing to his side. “Tenna! Tenna, you’re alive!” She grabbed his shoulders before quickly letting go, realizing her mistake.
“Ow-! Ugh, m-my…”
“Mr. Tenna! It’s okay, stay still!” Ralsei still attempted to hover his palms over Tenna’s shoulders, despite knowing very well it’s futile.
“Ralsei, he’s alive!” Suzie beamed brighter than any healing spell magic could produce.
“I-I know! We need to… The arms, they–”
“On it!”
Tenna’s head was spinning. Any sounds around him slipped past his comprehension, blinding pain taking up all the free room in his body. One of the first things that he should have noticed was the miraculous return of the missing part of his vision, but alas, seems that lack of the initial adrenalin (and hands) took his attention instead.
“Found it! Oh, this is not going to be pretty…” Susie has seen her fair share of blood, but handling a dismembered arm? “There’s a first for everything, I guess…”
“Susie? Susie! You don’t have to look, just–!”
“Woah!” She bolted towards Ralsei, hands in… her hands, pointed right at his face.
“Ahh! Susie, don’t show me!”
“Wires!”
And indeed, instead of whatever horror both of them imagined, the hand, like the rest of Tenna’s body parts, seemed to be full of wires. Susie dropped down beside Tenna, hugging his arms like they were toys.
“A helping hand?” She waved at Tenna with Tenna’s wrist.
“Ha! That’s– hnngh… an old one.” The two towered over him like nobody ever before. Come to think of it, his saviors were suspiciously large for his…
Ah. His stature and towering presence. Not that one needs that at the cold bottom of a pit.
“You’ve grown. Have I been down here so long?” He chuckled achingly.
“Nah, you shrunk, old man.” Susie was breathing heavily, her heart beating fast enough to share between all three of them. She put the arms down on appropriate sides.
“So… You did return.” Tenna mumbled just under his breath, before Ralsei spoke over him.
“Mr. Tenna, do you know how we… fix you?” he leaned over, careful as to not even brush against anything.
Bad question. No idea.
“Ahh- Good question!” He paused. “Still no idea.”
“Well… After you got thrown down here…”
“Uh-uh! That’s ‘forced into retirement’ for you.” He’d really like to wag his finger at Susie here. Hopefully those days are ahead.
“Rrright. Forced into retirement. We met some fellas along the way, and most of them said they didn’t know…”
“…” Tenna held back the comment on how he’s glad he’s fired them. Because he isn’t.
“So maybe we should try to… Use some magic maybe. And jam any parts missing in there.”
“Wait!” Ralsei showed immediate concern. “Are you sure?”
“Nope!” She covered her face briefly. “Look, I'm sorry. This… This could hurt.”
“Never doubted you.” Tenna was out of ideas from the moment he tumbled down here. It was strange not being in control, but stranger being at a whim of his vaguely violent purple contestant.
“Ralsei, get ready with it.”
She stepped over, positioning herself just beside a very stressed Ralsei at the right arm, lifting it and gripping it tightly. A soft green glow lit up Tenna’s insides, all the wires now on display. All braced themselves.
“Okay! Phooh, alright. Okay. Here goes. Okay, three… Two…”
Static grew in Tenna’s ears.
“Two… I can't, I can't do–”
Fangs. “Grrgh, just do it!”
Smash!
A chilling scream echoed in the pit. The arm awkwardly jammed into the socket, sending an electrical shock that felt like it was breaking any metal bones in half. He sensed sparks flying and landing on his torso, burning tiny holes through his suit. The pounding ache in his head crash landed back into his skull as he dug his heels into the mud. It was truly, truly worse than having it cut off in the first place. A green glow blinded him.
Twist!
“FFFUCK!” Tenna coughed out.
“Tenna!” A mix of terror and offence met in Ralsei’s voice and he spoke before thinking.
“SORRY! I put it in the wrong way!”
“Susie!?” Now only terror was left.
Another manic laughing fit threatened to escape. “H-ha-ha! Should have quizzed you on anatom– GHHN!” The arm finally popped back in its place.
Ringing, only ringing was around. He felt Susie’s hand on his chest, grounding him, as gentle fluffy palms hugged his shoulder, radiating pleasant warmth, and slowly, very slowly, taking some of the pain away.
None of them have moved too much, but all were severely out of breath.
“Oh, Tenna, I'm sorry, man…” Susie carefully patted his chest.
“Are we… sure I need the second arm?” Tenna giggled awkwardly, poorly masking the agony and fear at what’s to come again.
Susie mirrored the laugh. “Hah! You’re alright, you’re alright,” she removed her hand off his chest, suddenly very conscious of her movement and positioning, “how are you feeling?”
“Lonely,” ding! The counter just went up. Tenna attempted to wiggle his fingers, still cautious. It felt like his arm was healing from a devastating fracture; hurting, asleep and numb. Defeated, he looked back up at the stars with a shaky exhale. “Better than without it.”
“Phew. That’s all I can do.” Ralsei lifted his palms, taking away the comforting warm sensation, and it was immediately replaced by a cold wind.
“Okay. Onto the second one?” Susie jumped over on the other side, while Ralsei got up and walked around normally.
“Susie, let’s… Be careful this time, okay?” Tenna recognized Ralsei’s signature ‘you messed up but I'm trying to be polite’ smile.
The second try thankfully lacked any twisting. Tenna was grateful for Ralsei’s guidance on how hands are meant to look. But still,
Bump!
He drew in a sharp breath through his teeth, trying to bite down on a yelp. His good hand was now seeing use, because Tenna was grabbing at the dirt below him like his life depended on it.
“Okay, now push it in gently,” Ralsei’s hands sparkled green in anticipation.
“I'm being gentle!”
Shove!
“AGH, shhhi—ining stars above me, that’s very unpleasant.” The gnawing pain was dulled by warm magic.
“We’re stars alright,” Susie grinned victoriously at her job well done. At a job done, actually.
Ralsei finally let out a long breath he was apparently holding.
At second thought, this wasn’t worse than plummeting down a chasm, because that he had to do alone. At least this helpful torture had his contestants involved. No, friends. After what they went through for him, absolutely positively friends. The snow below them melted a while ago from the healing spells, making the speedy recovery almost comfortable, and admittedly, his contestants were starting to look slightly smaller than before.
They did return. They did return for him, and they kept their promise.
“I thought you weren’t coming back.” A confession slipped out before Tenna realized it.
“Heh, we do love TV after all.” Susie patted Ralsei on the back as they both smiled.
Oh… Tenna couldn’t help but smile back.
“Woah! You cryin’?” Susie leaned forward with alarm.
“What–?” With his now-good hand, Tenna reached for his face, where something warm was accumulating.
Tears.
He laughed. Oh, how he laughed.
He sprung up just as Ralsei was removing his palms and bounced up on his feet. The view from up here was finally familiar, as he towered above Susie and Ralsei’s bright expressions. Tenna quickly wiped his face with a soggy sleeve of his suit and embraced the two of them, putting on his TV host voice that he longed for oh so much.
“Oh, my heroes! How grateful I am for your return! I will never-ever forget what you’ve done for me!”
Susie chuckled and shoved Ralsei in his shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah. We don’t leave friends behind, right, Ralsei?”
* It’s your TV.
* Scratched and bruised, it seems to still be holding on.
* It’s taped in multiple places, its right antenna carefully held together by a colorful band-aid.
* You recognize it as the one Toriel gifted Susie a while ago, when she scratched her knee, and she’s been reluctant to waste any ever since.
* You conclude that Tenna will be alright.