Silhouette of a Wilted Flower

Never have I hated someone so much

This fiend.

This parasite.

This filthy swine!

That absolutely infuriating fluffy-haired shadow.

Grinding his teeth together violently, Omori tried to use Vertigo for the fifteenth time, but the result was the same.

Stranger fell through the portals for a moment, seemingly trapped, giving Omori a flicker of hope that he had done it. That he had finally trapped him again. But just as before, Stranger blinked out of the portal trap and reappeared next to him.

"I told you," Stranger said as Omori finally drained all his juice on Vertigo.

"I could have gotten out whenever I wanted to. I decided to stick it out in there for a little while. Give you some space to go about your shenanigans."

Shenanigans? This little...

Kel, Aubrey, and Hero's eyes stared laser beams at Omori. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Stranger smiled viciously and went on. "But, it's alright, Omori. This is your world to have fun in. Just remember, waking up requires almost no effort!"

Never has Omori ever hated someone so much in his life.

There had to be a way to salvage this situation. Omori was the ruler of everything, after all. He could do anything he wanted to in this world. Including this.

Omori whipped around to face his bewildered entourage of three.

"My liege?-"

Whatever Aubrey was about to say was cut off by a snap of his fingers.

He edited out the memory of his humiliating attempt at trapping Stranger and that stupid snarky comment he made. He was unable to do the same to Stranger. No surprise there, since the annoying shadow wasn't a part of Omori's creation, but having his friends forget that memory cooled the burning on his cheeks.

Aubrey, Kel, and Hero blinked blankly, then their eyes cleared.

"Are we gonna go back to the Vast Forest now that we found Captain Spaceboy?" Aubrey chirped.

There. If no one remembers, then it was just like it never happened.

"But it did happen, Omori."

Omori blinked and turned around.

Stranger scowled at him. His eyes had hardened into slits, and the playful light that glimmered in them before was gone.

"You can't undo the errors you made," Stranger hissed.

"Unfortunately." He dragged out the word and rolled his eyes. "The past doesn't change just because you want it to, and pretending- forgetting that you did something doesn't change the fact that you did it."

Stranger's eyes softened briefly, and a very unexpected tone crept up his voice. "Own up to your mistakes."

It was extremely subtle, but it was there nevertheless. It was a tone that Omori never thought he would ever hear from Stranger. Was that- was that desperation?

"What are you talking about?"

Stranger groaned, exasperated, and his palm struck his head. "I envy everyone you have never met."

Omori bristled. "Silence!"

Why was he even trying to understand what this shadow scum was going on about? Why did Omori even remotely care? No, Omori didn't care. Anything coming out of Stranger's mouth was worthless rubbish. It was less than rubbish. It was, it was-