Moral Kombat

Chapter Two: Strikeout

Wil made it home long before Tobi, having enough time to set up a quick gaslight in case of the worst. He put Tobi's coat back where he found it, hid the necklace he stole, threw on his pajamas, and climbed into bed. He was very tired by this point, so when Tobi made it home Wil was already asleep.

Tobi knocked on Wil's door, but still entered without receiving a response. (Ah, brothers.)

"Wil, what were you doing out there? You almost broke my nose! At least tell me no one saw you... Wil?"

Wil was not listening. As I said before, he was asleep.

"Wil, you are not sleeping. You were just out on the street laughing like a little gremlin fucker, looking like ME. You have no right to lay there and act like you did nothing, so either get up and apologize or let me punch you."

Still no response. Wil was actually awake at this point, he's a very light sleeper, but hearing his brother call him a "gremlin fucker" was what fully got him up. Wil was determined to lay still, however. He wanted to let the night pass so he could address it in the morning, when both he and Tobi would be in a better mood. Neither of them were night people. But Tobi stayed ever persistent, poking and prodding Wil, trying his hardest to wake him up and get the truth.

"I know you can hear me, paper wakes you up! You were just scolding me for thinking about stealing, but it's fully ok for you to be a hypocrite and ACTUALLY STEAL from someone! I only went for a walk to calm down and clear my head, but instead I walk in on you and some walking Cupid having a rat-fight over a stolen necklace. Tell me what happened, say sorry for punching me, and we'll be fine. I won't punch you."

Tobi was beginning to grow weary, he'd given up threatening Wil and only wanted to go to bed. He wanted Wil to know he was pissed, but his exhaustion won him over very quickly. He shut the door in defeat and turned in for the night, trying to hold on to any shreds of anger he had, with no luck. They both slept well, as well as morning people can at least, and they both shot out of bed the following morning, yearning for either coffee or a small.. ugh, 'rat fight.'

"Morning, Tobi. Nab anything last night?"

"You would know, I told you."

"No you didn't, I haven't seen you since you left."

"Wh- No, you punched me last night! You stole some necklace from Cupid, you ran away snickering while looking like me! Are you ok, why don't you remember anything?"

"Oh yeah, yeah I remember that. I guess I haven't talked to you since last night. Haha! You're... not mad, are you? I only wanted to help you out, but I ended up in a scuffle of my own. It was either get beat up by you or... you know."

"Yeah, I'm not mad. Not too mad, at least. You didn't break anything, and I am mildly proud of you."

"Nyaw~"

"BUT, butbutbut... could you leave this as a one-time thing? I don't want you putting yourself in danger, you aren't exactly the toughest..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You break very easily, Wil. Your bones, your physical makeup, it leans on the fragile side. I don't want you losing any more body parts over some petty theft."

"I... fine, I'll keep this to a minimum. If it's what makes you happy."

See? Happy ending, no one's mad, the brothers made up. Everyone is Happy.

'But the chapter name?'

Yeah yeah, 'Strikeout,' I know. Let me finish. Everyone was happy. Wil and Tobi were happy for that day, but Red. Red was not happy at all. He had just been robbed, after all.

Even though he was only robbed a few hours ago, Red had refused to sleep. He wasn't fully alright in the head after that night, that necklace had meant a lot to him, and someone just took it?! Red was trying not to focus on the double vision, chalking it up to him hitting the sidewalk hard, but he couldn't shake the nagging discomfort. He had busted out the red string and corkboard, but he never used any of it for piecing things together. He slept on the corkboard crying into the yarn. Boo hoo. So. Sad.

Back to the brothers, they decided to take the day to chill. They had just fought twice, once emotionally, then the fucking RAT FIGHT, and they just wanted to spend regular time together, no fights or thieving. They spent all day walking around the city, checking out new and old hiking trails, just messing around like they used to.

Even small one-night fallouts warranted throwback adventures. To the brothers, fights like that are big deals, rare occurrences, scary. But that fight looks pathetic compared to what happened later... like way later, you'll know when.

As the day drew to a close, Wil and Tobi decided to stop at a nearby cafe for one final push to the finish, one last sugar spike before they both inevitably pass out.

From the moment they stepped into the cafe, they were greeted with overwhelming feelings of warmth and comfort, a stark contrast to the chilled Fall air outside. The place was filled with the smell of cinnamon and vanilla, but the air was heavy with feelings of unease. Everyone looked relaxed, almost too relaxed. Between the delicious cupcakes and latte's, small talk and romance, the twins could tell something wasn't quite right. They never brought it to the attention of the other, brushing it off in favor of a taste of that Pumpkin-without-spice.

They had their drinks and had fully left the cafe before one of the other customers caught notice. Finally looking up from their computer, Pink hair falling out of its loose bun, blending with the darker red strands framing their face. Within seconds they were trailing the boys, keeping a close yet subtle eye on them, stopping occasionally to appear slightly less suspicious.

They only stopped trailing once Wil and Tobi entered their apartment complex. Red has some decency, and besides, he'd gathered enough info for today. Red walked back to the cafe, picking up one of their cards and making his own fliers and coupons. All he wanted to do was drag either one of the twins back to the cafe, or anywhere he could talk to them. He would be happy to meet with just one, but no less.