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Susie had to admit, while the first board and the minigames were pretty fun, something had been… off with the TV world since they first arrived.
Tenna had been stressed out since the first board, constantly making excuses for why the sets or dialogue wasn’t up to his own standards.
Susie thought it all seemed fine. Sure, it was a bit awkward waiting for the shadowguys to wheel in the fun-o-meter, and kind of disappointing when half of the second board was still under construction, but the games were still fun!
Every so often, though, he’d start shouting for something, only to stop and change directions halfway through the word.
It was always the same thing, too. It almost sounded like-
“Mike.” Kris intoned, unknowingly echoing Susie’s thoughts, to the camera darkner standing at the edge of the Couch Cliffs.
“Oh? You want to know about them, do you, Kris? Well, I’m afraid I don’t know much. They were rather camera shy, back in the day.”
Shuttah takes a moment to pose in thought.
“However…”
The darkner turns back to the group.
“If you’re still looking to do a bit of investigative journalism, you may be able to find out more from their room.”
“Go back, find the screen showing a gold star. Knock on it four times, and it should open to a hall with two doors. The MIKE room does have a code… but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re quite the sharp shooter.”
“Now smile, darlings! I want to get one last shot of you before you go.”
-
After a ridiculous amount of backtracking, the Fun Gang finally found the right screen.
Kris stoically knocked on it four times, causing it to open up to a dark entryway, lighting up to reveal a hallway decorated in the same pale greenish-blue star pattern as the green room. Within the hallway were two doors:
The first had a gold star proclaiming it as Tenna’s Office. Susie tried the handle, but it was locked. They wouldn’t be getting in there unless they managed to get the keys somewhere.
“Bummer.” She muttered, Kris nodding in agreement.
The second door, however, was just as Shuttah described. MIKE was inscribed in all capitals on a slightly dusty silver star. It was positioned directly over three deep gouges in the wood that had been badly painted over.
Susie thought this looked kind of badass.
Next to the door was a number pad for inputting the door code.
Kris stared at it for a moment, before carefully pressing the numbers 6-4-5-3.
Apparently, Kris is great at guessing lock combinations, because the door beeped and unlocked.
The saviors crept inside, finding a room decorated with hushing statues, carved cat monuments, and hats scattered all over. At the far edge of the room was what looked like a group of darkners, all huddled together (or maybe just one darkner with a bunch of limbs).
However, before the group could get a better look, fast-paced, booming footsteps approached the door. They all dodged behind a conveniently positioned statue as the panicking host barged through the door.
“OH MIKE!” Tenna wailed, “IT’S ALL GONE SO WRONG! SET DESIGN DIDN’T FINISH THE SECOND BOARD IN TIME, LIGHTNER’S LIVE WAS BARELY PLAYABLE, AND SECURITY HASN’T BEEN ABLE TO FIND SO MUCH AS A HINT OF THE LIGHTNERS! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DOOOO!”
The host collapsed on the floor in front of the darkners on his hands and knees.
“...This was so much easier with you. You would’ve whipped the show into shape, finished the board, and had the fun-o-meter practically teleporting on and off the stage as needed. You were a miracle worker, Mike. All of you were miracle workers.”
A light flickered on above the dark alcove, finally revealing the terrified, frozen forms of three petrified darkners; a zapper, a pippins, and a shadowguy.
“What the hell-” Susie started to gasp, before Kris elbowed her to quiet down.
Tenna was too absorbed in his panic and grief to notice.
“You all would probably be working on a third board already, instead of running around after escaped contestants. Oh Pluey,” He lurched forward to clutch at the shadowguy’s sharp, spikey hair, “you would’ve made Lighter’s Live sound spectacular even on an F-rank.
Jongler,” The host’s other hand moved to caress the side of the zapper’s frozen form, “you would have had those sets prepped and ready before Kris even stepped foot in the studio.
And Battat,” his hands trail down to cup the pippins’ face, still staring up at a tilt in a panicked rage, “you would have had those costume designers working like a well oiled machine.”
Finally, the TV collapsed, his black screen facing the floor as he shrunk a size.
“Oh my sweet little Mikes, I’m so lost without you…”
There was a knock at the door, snapping Tenna out of his Moment.
“WHAT.” He barked, racing back to the door, back to his giant form.
There were some muffled voices from the other side.
“THE LIGHTNERS WERE SPOTTED WHERE!?” He shouted, hands clutching at the sides of his monitor. The apocalyptic TV Host raced out of the room in a frenzy, leaving a scattering of the hats to twirl in the remaining whirlwind.
As the Fun Gang crept out of their hiding spot, Susie turned to her friends.
“Guys… we aren’t just leaving them, right? Taking them to Castletown will fix them, yeah?” Susie’s questioned, fairly sure of the answer, but her confidence at war with her concern for the situation at hand.
Thankfully, Kris was quick to nod in agreement, while Ralsei reassured her, “Of course! Regardless of how long a darkner might have spent- er- in this state…” he cast cautious a glance at the statue, before shaking off his nerves, continuing on, “-They should be made hale and whole by the pure darkness of castle town!”
“I’ve never heard of darkners petrifying before a fountain forms, though…” The fluffy prince muttered nervously, unheard by his louder friend.
“YEAH!” Susie shouted, full of false overconfidence “THEY’LL BE FINE! We just need to get that fountain sealed. Then we can get them to the school and then Ralsei can bake them a recovery cake!”
“Yes- wait, why me!”
The two raced, bickering, out of the room. Kris, however, hung back and cast one last look at the statue. They walked with steady, even steps over to one of the many hats in the room.
It was a cowboy hat.
Kris reached out, snatching it up from its abandoned spot on the floor.
They walked slowly over to the Memorial.
They stare at it for a moment.
They wait for their thoughts to finish scrolling by.
They received two options.
The option YES is chosen.
They place the hat upon the Zappers head.
A sense of tranquility overtakes them, as if something wrong was corrected.
With their final task in the room complete, they exit, leaving the trio to wait in their makeshift mausoleum.
They won’t have to wait much longer.