Chapter Text
It was another calm day in Castle Town.
Despite the seemingly crowded environment, given how many darkners had been recruited over Kris and their friends' previous adventures through various dark worlds, the streets of Castle Town always did seem to have more tranquility compared to the flashiness of TV World, or bustling busyness of Cyber City.
Mr. Ant Tenna, of previous TV Time fame, seemed to be especially conflicted about this tranquility.
Yes, he enjoyed being able to unwind and walk around the various peculiar shops and alleyways inhabited by the other darkners, but he couldn't deny that he also missed the spotlight oh so much.
He couldn't help it! His entire purpose hung on putting on a show people wouldn't want to ever look away from! But it seemed his current circumstances proved otherwise.
Somehow, the scene had shifted, and he was now devoid of a crew, devoid of a stage, and, if he thought about it for a little too long, devoid of a purpose.
Every now and then, the tall TV darkner would find himself thinking back to the events of that faithful day, when the lightners came to the studio and turned his whole world upside down.
Everything that happened flashed through his mind at lightning speed, including a particularly embarrassing incident he could've definitely done without.
When looking for Kris, Susie and Ralsei, he stumbled across a familiar wardrobe he thought he'd kept hidden, and something special, though too thoroughly connected to hurtful memories not to keep secret, tumbled out of it.
In that moment, he was utterly mortified.
Didn't something else happen too, though?
He thought to himself.
Oh yeah... That's right.
At what he considered to be the lowest, most vulnerable moment of his life right at that point, something strange manifested itself in front of him.
Something small. Something repulsive. Something that... talked? At least it seemed like it was talking. It was certainly making noises. He was too startled to register anything beyond its appearance. He thought he'd taken care of that thing when he sprayed it with his emergency can of insulating foam, so until now, he left it at that.
But for some reason, the more Tenna replayed that unfortunate scene in his head, the more he couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. Something was... wrong.
Yes, now he was a little more sure than he was before of the fact that the creature did indeed talk. He hadn't registered the first few things it said, but the rest of it...
"DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE..."
What? What could it have possibly meant by that? Was Tenna supposed to be recognizing that unidentifiable thing? It certainly didn't look like anybody he knew.
And yet, he couldn't get its face out of his head.
This whole thing was stressing him out more than it had any right to. So, he decided to go for a walk to try and soothe his nerves.
About 15 minutes had passed, and Tenna was simply not forgetting what had made him go for a walk in the first place.
Just when he thought he was going to go mad because of his overacting mind, he stopped dead in his tracks after turning a corner into a closed off, narrow alleyway.
"Jeez, I must've been so distracted I didn't even see where I was going! Straight into a dump, it seems like." "...How ironic."
Tenna talked aloud to himself, and sounded bitterly disappointed. His antennae drooped down as he shrunk a little from the self inflicted remark.
He had, indeed, accidentally ended up in an alleyway lined with various trash cans. It did absolutely nothing to soothe his already overexerted nerves. It felt like a punch to the gut sent straight from the universe to him.
Just when he was about to turn around and go back on his steps, he was startled by a scuttling sound coming from the trash cans. For some reason, as much as he wanted to ignore it and walk away, Tenna was frozen in place.
He looked straight ahead into the alleyway, and that's when he saw it. The creature he had seen in the studio, was halfway bent over inside one of the trash cans, seemingly looking for something, whatever it could be.
Ah, so THAT'S where the smell came from...
Tenna thought to himself, averting his gaze.
It seemed as if the creature hadn't seen or heard him, because as soon as it wiggled itself out of the trash, it dashed down the alley, running from seemingly nothing, and bumped straight into Tenna's shins.
"OH. [trash heap]. YOU AGAIN."
Oh yeah. It definitely talked just now. Its voice was barely intelligible, covered up by what seemed like a layer of static, maybe some sort of distortion? Could voices be bitcrushed? And also that interruption. It was like a whole other voice came out of it in the middle of its main one, seamless but still obviously sticking out.
That's when he realized what it had just called him!! trash heap?! What a way to add insult to an already insurmountable amount of other insults AND injuries!!! Who the hell did this rat think it was?! Insulting him like that?! Didn't it say the same thing last time he saw it? Yes, now he remembered...
"[trash heap]!!!"
Tenna was starting to get pretty upset. but he still couldn't shake the feeling something was amiss, so instead of walking away, or, say, spraying it again in self defense, he stayed still and referred to the creature directly.
First, he felt the need to lightly swat it away from his legs though.
"Guh-- First of all, do NOT call me that please!!"
Tenna tried to throw on his signature grin as he spoke, but he was still visibly upset despite it, resulting in a twitchy, fang-bearing expression instead, accompanied by the fidgeting gesture of his hands adjusting his tie.
"Secondly... Who the hell do you think you are??? Do I even know you?????"
The creature seemed to attempt to let out a tired sigh, its eyes-- or were they glasses? Briefly turned to visual static snow instead of their previous dual colors.
This thing sure was weird.
Soon enough, though, it spoke again:
"I TOLD KRIS I DIDN'T WANT TO [clear inventory] BECAUSE I KN3W YOU WOULD [be there or be !]."
It was difficult to make out what it was saying. It knew Kris? Well, everyone here knew Kris, but still!
The creature kept talking.
"YOU KNO>W, FOR A [2nd place] I REALLY DID THINK YOU STILL [YOU REALLY DO CARE!!!]. BUT. YOU DON'T. EVEN. REMEMBER. WHO I AM."
On that last part, it seemed more tense. Shaking slightly, almost. Like it was trying really hard to squeeze out what it was trying to say. Those odd interruptions... Were they painful?
Wait, why did he CARE about this random - probably diseased- THING that was telling him off right now?!
The truth was, deep down, despite all his flaws and, to put it bluntly, mental issues, Tenna was nothing but a big sentimental lug. He was full of love and care, so full of it he didn't know where to store it all, so it overflowed. And caused... problems.
All the love and care he felt...
Care..?
"YOU REALLY DO CARE!!!"
Had the creature... quoted itself just now?
That's it... That's what it had said back then, what he failed to remember until now...
"[trash heap]!!! YOU KEPT IT!!! YOU REALLY DO CARE!!!"
'kept it'..? Was it talking about the..?
...No, no it couldn't be. The only other darkner who ever knew about his precious darling was...
It was impossible...
He had to be sure.
"If... If I'm really supposed to remember who you are, then please, go on. Tell me. Tell me who you are."
The thing stopped. Looked down. There was the static in its vision again.
Then it looked back up.
"IT'S ME!!! YOUR. YOUR. YOUR. YOUR. Y[Number1RatedSalesman1997]" "UGH." "[#@&!?]" "[need financial advice?]" "[partners in crime!]"
The creature repeatedly hit itself on the head.
Then it tried to speak again:
"I'M SP" "SPAMTON G. SPAMTON"
It looked like it was sweating. Out of breath. It looked like it was on the brink of death.
Did Tenna just hear that correctly?
It couldn't possibly be him.
It just couldn't!
It- He? He looked so different. Too different. Was he smaller, too? How was that possible?
No... He really had to make sure.
"What was the thing I kept back at the studio called."
"WHAT"
"Just answer me!! You said I kept it. What was it?!"
He briefly stopped again.
"IT'S A [pipis]."
Oh God.
There was no way.
It really was him.
Tears started welling at the sides of his screen, where the corners of his eyes would be, if he had any.
He really wanted to be upset. He wanted to be Angry. OUTRAGED. He wanted to pick him up and shake him and Hurt him and Scream at him for Answers WHERE HAD HE BEEN FOR SO LONG?!
...Where had he been for so long?
Something must've happened to make him look this way. Speak this way. Something must have happened to him.
"...Spamton..? Is... is that really you..?"
Despite the flurry of intense, nerve-wracking emotions he was feeling all at once deep in his core, that's all he could really muster to say.
His voice was slowly starting to be broken up by quiet sobs.
The tears wouldn't stop flowing down his screen.
He fell to his knees in front of Spamton.
"What happened to you...?!"
He instinctively reached out towards Spamton's face with both of his hands, trying to gently cup it between them.
His former partner flinched at the attempted contact.
But despite that, despite the fact that his body started to tremble and shake after the taller man put his hands on either side of his disfigured face, he didn't pull away.
Tenna felt it.
He felt him tremble. He felt the hard, artificial material his face was now made of.
Looking at him closer, he noticed he had changed all over.
His hands were segmented and jointed. He had grooves and crevices that divided the bottom of his neck from the very top of his chest, and he assumed it was the same with the rest of him that he couldn't see underneath his clothing.
Looking back at his face, his jaw and mouth seemed firmly locked in place, or at least limited in their range of motion.
It almost looked like he was turned into a doll.
Like he was turned into... a puppet.
At last, it seemed as if Tenna's anger had slowly subsided. Not fully dissipated, but he was willing to put a decade worth of heartbreak and, at this point, misunderstandings, aside for just a moment. Just enough for him to lean towards the smaller man further, and engulf him in his embrace.
Saying that the hug was unexpected and overwhelming for Spamton would be a severe understatement. And yet, he still didn't pull away. He trembled and shook, he felt like he was about to cry too, but he never once pulled away from the unrelenting grip Tenna's arms, and really his whole self, had on him.
Through the hug, slightly awkward as it may have been, Tenna was unable to stop sobbing and muttering short phrases filled with heartache.
Something about having missed him terribly, then repeating here and there the dreaded question of what happened to him, who'd done this to him, calling him his Spammy...
"[10]NA..."
That's all he could let out of his closed off throat in between the other man's sobs and mortified mutters.
He thought he wanted this.
He thought that after all these years, after seeing what a disheveled mess Tenna had become without him, after unintentionally eavesdropping on all the breakdowns, all the traumadumps, the pleas to have him back when his... no, THEIR shared creation was inadvertently discovered, he thought that he'd WANT reconciliation. Closure. Maybe a second chance.
And maybe, deep down, inside his ruined, cursed artificial core, he did.
But at the same time, right this moment, this incredibly vulnerable moment, all he wanted was to disappear.
Still. He didn't pull away. He didn't flee.
He thought to himself:
I'm not going to run away this time.
Not that he had a choice in the matter when he first did a decade ago, but now he did.
And he chose not to flee.
The hug went on for longer than any normal hug should.
And when Tenna was finally able to control his crying, he started asking questions again.
Spamton hated answering questions.
Especially when they had to do with what happened to him.
Because, cruel as it was, it seemed as if every time he tried to bring up the events that lead to him being turned into a puppet, his vocal interruptions would flare up like crazy. Yet another sick twist of fate set up by the ministrations of his old benefactor.
But he still felt like he owed Tenna some form of explanation.
So, he answered the best he could to everything that was thrown at him.
Despite his discomfort. Despite his immense difficulty with speaking.
Minutes turned to hours. They had been sitting next to each other on the pavement, catching up on spotty details of the past for God knows how long.
Tenna was slowly starting to grow accustomed to Spamton's new, uh... peculiar way of speaking. He was certainly trying to. Some things were still hard to decipher though.
During their long attempt at a conversation, all he managed to gather was that the calls he was always getting at the studio were what ultimately got him in trouble, and that somehow, he was forced to leave. There's a possibility that wasn't entirely accurate, but that's what he understood. Then something about burning..? He must've been disfigured really badly by something or someone, which had to do with him apparently losing everything, and living alone in a dumpster from then on. Until Kris came along and befriended him, that is.
Oh yeah. That's something he inquired about as well. Why the hell was he rummaging in the trash?!
He sputtered out something about old habits, and somehow that made Tenna feel bad.
All of this made Tenna feel incredibly bad.
He wanted to do something.
"So... Do you have someplace to live, now that you're in Castle Town?"
"I'M NOT USUALLY [the boys are back in town!]. KRIS ALWAYS KEPT M3 IN THEIR [Pocket Monsters] BUT THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD'VE BEEN A GOOD [eureka!] TO LET ME OUT FOR A [8-Bit Graphics]."
Tenna took a moment to process what Spamton had just said, trying his best to understand.
"Wait, how do you fit in Kris' pockets?"
"I CAN TURN INTO [High Quality Craftsmanship!] [One-of-a-kind Novelty Glasses]."
Spamton pointed to his own face while speaking.
"Oh! Well, I guess that explains a lot then."
Tenna sheepishly looked to the side for a brief moment, thinking back to how Spamton had manifested himself in front of him back at the studio, and piecing it together with this new revelation.
He returned to the topic of his previous question.
"So, you mean to tell me that you don't have a place to stay?"
Spamton looked down and shook his head.
This was it. His chance to do something for him.
Tenna took a breath before speaking again:
"...Would you like to... stay the night at my place? O-of course, you absolutely don't have to if you don't want to!! Hahaha!! No pressure!!!"
Tenna was frantically moving his hands around. Was he nervous?
"I... I do want that though. For you to stay, I mean. At least for tonight. That way you won't have to dig around the trash like you used to, hahah..!"
Oooh no. This was getting awkward. Tenna was sweating ever so slightly. He was coming off too desperate again, he thought to himself. He was going to lose him again, he didn't want to lose-
"SURE. WHY NOT."
"w-wait, really? You will??"
"GOT NOTHING LEFT TO [loose] I GUESS."
Tenna desperately tried to compose himself internally. After all, he didn't want a flower to bloom off the tip of his nose right now. Now was absolutely not the right time for that. It would be too much too fast, if nothing he'd previously said or done had pushed the little mailman away thus far, he was convinced that an awkwardly-timed happy flower would definitely do the trick.
So, after taking a long, deep breath, Tenna got up from the floor and waited for Spamton to do the same. As much as he wanted to help him up himself, he restrained himself as much as he could in that regard. He had a feeling Spamton still needed space.
They walked back to Tenna's room, side by side, in awkward, yet somehow at the same time comfortable silence.
They always were complicated, after all.
Tenna opened the door, led Spamton inside before him, and closed the door behind him once they had both walked in the room.
Now that they were inside what was, essentially, Tenna's new home, and they were together again, he had something important to show him.
Or rather, in Tenna's own terms, someone.