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Foolish… hated dying. It seemed like an obvious thing, of course, but it had been so long since he’d truly done it that he… Well, he forgot .
It was only once in a very blue moon that Foolish would actually die , and even for him, that wasn’t permanent. But still, it was one of the most unpleasant experiences in the world. This time was no different, an explosion sending him shattering, then drifting off into the inky darkness he feared and hated oh so very much.
It was strange, he was almost relieved this time.
That had never been the case before, but the weeks leading up to this were some of the most painful he'd ever experienced, and in the darkness of death it was quiet and peaceful and so free of any pains.
Usually in death, though, he was stuck with echoes of what had killed him. A decapitated head, a stab through the heart, things like that. Maybe he had been so completely obliterated by that nuke that there was no pin to echo at all.
That was… nice. He’d stay here as long as it kept him, this time. Usually, he’d fight his way back to life, too early sometimes and then he had to keep healing while conscious and that was always annoying.
So he stayed, he drifted in the darkness and he let the pain and worries and devastating loss stay out of his focus as much as possible. Not completely, no, he thought about the loss more often than he’d like to, but ignoring it completely would be disrespectful to her.
What he’d do when he finally did wake, Foolish wasn't sure. There was nothing left in this life for him, maybe the goddess would see fit to move him on to some other realm so he could start over again.
Then again, the universe was always cruel to beings such as himself.
The universe had never cared much about Foolish at all, in fact, it seemed to enjoy his pain. Revenge, he supposed, for the fact that he wasn’t supposed to exist in the first place.
That's why he did wake up, gasping and scrambling, in the bed of a lover who had abandoned him months ago. Why his spawn was there, Foolish couldn’t remember. But it was cruelty, surely, manufactured under the hands of some god or another to drive pain into his heart the moment he opened his eyes.
He had nothing.
He didn’t even have his own death anymore.
Hundreds of pings on his communicator showed that at least some had survived the blast, and had been home for over a week. Foolish ignored those and ignored the rooms around him that stood in cheerful colors covered in a layer of dust, a monument to the family he’d lost. The family he’d failed to save.
The reflection in that purple glass seemed warped and shattered and dull, but Foolish paid it no mind as he searched through backpacks full of what was meant to be supplies for the purgatory that had sent him back here, reeling with phantom pains and loss and emptiness. A warpstone brought him away from the home that he’d once truly believed would be shared, himself and another and a child.
And now, just himself.
As it always happened, Foolish was alone .
Someone was there, at spawn, bumbling around and talking to themselves only to stumble back when he appeared.
“Foolish! Oh my god, you’re alive ,” Fit scrambled to his side after a moment. “You look awful, Foolish, where’ve you been? We all… we thought…”
Something in his chest said he knew that person, yes he did of course he did, but the cracks in his torso ran oh so very deep .
Even his time in death had not repaired that, it seems.
“Foolish?”
“What do you want me to say?” It came out a snarl, a voice reminiscent of some old life, some dark past he’d been running from for centuries, and Fit stepped back in surprise. “You want me to say I’m fine, so you can laugh it off and go about your day? Well I- I’m…”
What was he? Foolish didn’t even know, to be honest, he was some freak of nature that was being punished for even existing by the universe which had created him. A hypocrite, the entire world was a hypocrite in and of itself.
“Hold- just hold on now, Foolish, did you just get back? How did you get back? Where… There's so much to tell you, it’s-“
“I. Don’t. Care .” How could he care about anything anymore, in this damned world that hated him? The warpstone needed to recharge or he’d already have left, and now he stalked off toward his home with Fit trailing behind him.
“Okay… well uh, I like the new look?” Fit tried, and Foolish paused in surprise as they passed another pane of glass, clearer than the one in the tower he ran from.
Oh.
No wonder Fit seemed intimidated, it had been a long time since Foolish took on the appearance of death, rather than life.
It did explain why he was so irritable, why even smelling the blood that ran through most of Fit’s body made him want to rip the man open and spill it across cobblestone. He’d built that cobblestone, though, it was meant to be something beautiful… so the urge was pushed away, and he just scoffed at the reflection he saw.
Silvery gray and pitch black rather than gold, and ruby red rather than emeralds, it had been a very long time indeed, since Foolish looked like this. He didn’t care, either, to try and hide it away or change back. Killing… killing and death might be nice, might make him feel better about all of this.
But he… he would not kill anyone, not today.
Maybe tomorrow, if he saw someone who deserved it.
Well, maybe he would today if he happened to see someone who deserved to die, but the odds of that were pretty low. He wasn’t bored or hungry enough yet to kill someone. Just restless, and exhausted, and full of an annoyance that could only stem from unfelt grief.
He might get annoyed enough , if Fit didn’t take the hint and stop following him.
“What do you want?” Foolish snapped when they reached the base of the stairs leading into his propert - his empty, depressing, broken property. Desolate, just like everything else.
“There- Foolish, there’s stuff that’s happened I need to tell you,” Fit said. “And I- I’m kinda worried, you’re not… acting like yourself.”
Oh, and wasn’t that so rich . Fit hardly even knew him , how dare he claim to know when Foolish was ‘acting like himself’. Fit didn’t know the depths and the darkness of who and what Foolish could be, he was ignorant to it and yet claimed to understand anything .
“Yeah, fuck off .” Foolish stalked up the steps, cresting the hill only to see the last person he ever wanted to see in his damn house, on his damn property-
The one other person he knew that had given the universe a ‘fuck you’ without ever saying those words, like a coward. Of course, he’d survived.
“For fucks sake-” a sword found it's way into his hand in an instant, engraved with words from a lover he hadn’t seen in half a year .
“Oh, good,” Fit caught up beside him and put his hands around his mouth to yell. “Hey, Badboyhalo! Look who’s here!”
“I’ll- I’m gonna kill him, I’m actually gonna kill him this time.” it was just about perfect, Bad couldn't truly die either and Foolish could get his fill of bloodshed and he’d have a lovely revenge for whatever dumb prank would be awaiting him in his home.
Bad turned toward them, and following behind him…
Dapper
That was not fair . That wasn’t fair- his team hadn’t even won! It was a stupid, useless, pointless game, but Foolish scrapped by and died and killed himself for two weeks only to get Bad’s kid back instead.
“That’s it-”
Fit tried to grab his arm, but it was easy to slip out and send a blow toward Bad’s chest, earning a shriek of surprise from the bastard. He stumbled away, scrambling for potions, but Foolish rounded on the child instead just to scare the both of them.
Just to scare them.
He would- he would never… he wouldn’t hurt a child, not today. Not so soon after…
“You better leave real quick,” he snarled down toward the egg, looking only slightly worse for wear and frightened, as he shoved Bad back toward the water. “Or I’ll kill you too and I know that would stick.”
“Foolish- Foolish, wait , hold on-” he waited too often, he always let this fucker do whatever he wanted because he didn’t want to go that low.
Well look at him now, as low as he’d ever been like a dog that had been kicked too many times, and all that damn pain didn’t even get his daughter back. Even thinking about that seemed to widen the cracks in his chest and the familiar tint of blood-red to his vision made Foolish grin, pulling Bad back up only to hit him again.
Fit was yelling something - Dapper had seemingly left. Good.
If he killed a kid, Foolish would probably regret it later.
And if the boy stayed around… he wasn’t sure he could stop himself. It was a cruel want, to take away from Bad what had been taken from him, but he couldn't help it.
It was written into the very nature of his being, one he’d rejected oh so long ago that only Bad himself even knew about.
Yes, once he’d had time to breathe, Foolish knew he would regret it if he killed a child.
Killing Badboyhalo, on the other hand, he would never ever regret.
“Foolish, stop- I didn’t even do anything please!” Bad squirmed under his foot. Like the irritating bug he was.
“I don’t give a shit , why are you in my house?” Foolish snarled. “If you touched one damn thing, Badboyhalo- ”
“I didn’t, I didn’t- I was looking for you!”
“Liar.” Foolish laughed, driving the sword down into him just to enjoy the feeling before picking him back up. “No one ever looks for me , jackass.”
“I feel-” Fit hadn’t left. Foolish’s head snapped toward him, surprised when the guy stepped back. “I feel like there’s a misunderstanding here, Foolish, would you just let him up now?”
“Why? Why should I listen to either of you ?” Foolish laughed, stomping again on Bad’s chest just to feel it crack beneath him. Oh, just like the good old days… he could all but taste the blood in his mouth, though Bad’s blood always tasted a little too much like sulfur.
“Don’t- Fit, don’t try,” Bad wheezed from the ground. “When he’s like this, it's-”
“Oh, when I’m ‘like this’ what?” Foolish knew he was probably just being honest, seeing as Bad had seen him like this a good many times. Hell, Bad had driven him to this point, pulled him back, joined him in it… but he still turned to glare down at the demon. “What, Bad? I’m unreasonable? I’m- what, fucking dangerous? ”
They both knew that the last one was very true, and Fit seemed to sense it. Or maybe he recalled the fights in purgatory, where Foolish let this part of himself bleed through - and maybe that was why he’d woken up this way after death, after losing everything .
“You’re upset ,” Bad grabbed onto the blade in his stomach, even though it cut his hands. Oh, he was upset was he? Bad didn’t even understand the depth of whatever pit was open in his chest. Upset was not the word to use for what Foolish felt. “You- just remember, focus on what matters , Foolish-”
“What matters?” in the back of his mind, Foolish knew he was trying to help for once. With beings like them, having something to focus on is all that kept them from turning into monsters like he was now. Bad had coaxed him back to sanity a good many times, but that was… that was different. There was always something to be sane for , those times. “ Nothing fucking matters Bad! You’re lucky I waited till I saw your dumbass to start killing, you know how easy it would’ve been to catch Fit off guard?”
“Whoa- don’t bring me into this…”
“Shut up .” Foolish rolled his eyes, though Fit’s fear smelled delicious . “I should kill both of you for even talking to me right now, stay away from my fucking house and let me grieve in goddamn peace for once .”
“Grieve..? Foolish-”
“Shut up!” Fit was really pushing his limits here, Foolish would only stay focused on Bad for so long. The human had stepped just out of reach, though, which was probably a good thing for his sake.
Foolish would just have to hunt him down later, oh, now that would be fun .
“You- you don’t know , Foolish, please,” Bad pushed the blade out, blood spurting across the path. “Leo’s home .”
No.
What?
No .
He was lying.
Even Foolish had died in that explosion, he’d died and been put back together as a cruel joke of existence and now…
“She- she’s staying with Roier, we thought you were dead.” Bad coughed blood onto his hands. “They’re all back- they're okay, she’s okay !”
“You know I don’t die.” Foolish scoffed. “Stop lying to me, Bad, you sonofabitch , I’ll find a way to kill you that lasts for fucking decades.”
“He’s not lying, Foolish, they’re back.” Fit had the audacity to reach out and grab his elbow, and…
“I was looking for you because I knew-” Bad chugged a health potion and any other day Foolish would have killed him for that, but he refrained.
If… if they were being honest…
“I knew you’d be back eventually, Foolish- just… just come with us, let us show you. She’s okay .”
“If this is a fucked up joke, both of you and Dapper are dead . Anyone else I see, too, dead.” he put the sword away despite every cell in his body screaming to finish this, to bathe in bloodshed and destruction and give up on everything and anything all at once. He didn’t need a sword to kill, anyway, it was just easier.
But if Leo was alive…
“Everyone left on that island died .” Foolish hissed, stepping away from them both. “How long did it take me, Bad?”
“Only- only a couple weeks.” the demon stood shakily. “I honestly… I was worried it might take you a lot longer, but you’re here now.”
Fit looked between the both of them, confused, and Foolish was almost glad he didn’t know what was going on. Just out of stupid, stupid spite, he was glad someone else was confused and scrambling to keep up.
“You’re trying to tell me- tell me they’re alive?”
“Cucurucho found them, brought them home and patched them up.” Fit summarized. “We can show you literally any egg, Ramon is asleep but if you promise not to kill him we can-”
“ Leo .”
“Leo.” Bad agreed weakly. “You- you should probably leave, Fit, I can take it from here.”
“Are you sure? I-” Fit seemed to think better of his protest when Foolish bared his teeth, and a moment later purple particles had swallowed him, taking him to who knows where.
“Where is she, Bad?” Foolish demanded. “Don’t fucking stall , if you lied to get Fit safe just tell me and I’ll find him later.”
Later, once he’d gutted Bad’s corpse and strung the remains across a park bench somewhere near spawn. That would get some lovely screams…
“Language.”
Oh, this motherfucker…
“She’s at Roier’s house!” Bad held up his hands and stumbled back. “Just- lets just teleport, okay, let’s just go see her.”
“Fine.”
It had never been like this, fighting the darkest part of himself, it had always been such a gradual shift back to the light. But now two forces seemed to be warring inside of him - if Leo was alive… he didn’t want to scare her.
So he breathed deeply, taking in the remnants of Bad’s hellish blood before taking out his newly charged warpstone and following.
It was honestly a surprise to see that Bad had gone to the warp at Roier’s house. Foolish had expected him to run, and he couldn't say some deep part of him wasn’t disappointed that a chase was, at the very least, postponed.
“She’s just in here,” Bad whispered, stepping through a side door into a room not as lavish as he’d make for his daughter, not as spacious and bright and beautiful but-
“ Holy shit. ” for the first time since waking, Foolish heard his own voice shake the way his soul inside him had been.
She was there.
Asleep, curled up and bundled in blankets from home, Leo was asleep on a bed against the wall. A few odd pictures and paintings covered the walls nearest to her, but there weren’t as many as she should have- not as many as there were at home, and at Vegetta’s tower.
“H-holy shit…” knees hit brick, and never in this version of himself had Foolish cried. But there was a first time for everything, he supposed, as the salty, metallic liquid spilled over and seeped back into his skin.
“Something matters.” Bad leaned on the doorway behind him, one hand still holding his stomach. “She- she’s here , Foolish… you can’t…”
“Can’t what ?”
“You can’t let yourself go so far,” Bad whispered. “You have to remember what- what’s important. I’m… I’m sorry.”
An apology, huh? A rare thing indeed, from Bad to himself, but it had been well earned the past few months. Bad didn’t even elaborate what it was for exactly, so Foolish figured it was for everything.
Had seeing Foolish like this again really shaken him so badly?
Foolish had nothing to say, which was often the case but he usually said things anyway, meaningless things that would cloud the air around his truths. But this time he stayed silent, moving to rest his forehead against the bed his daughter slept in, careful not to stain anything with the bloody tears that spilled down his face.
She was alive.
She was alive and- and it hadn’t all been for nothing. He’d died for something, this time, and… and he wasn’t alone .
Strange, he’d never been so relieved to see life in his state of death like this, but a glance down showed silver and black scales, showed tears that matched the ruby of his eyes, and the bloodlust sat deep in his chest where it would have to be carefully controlled.
“You can talk to me.” Bad said then. “I- I mean, sometimes seeing you like this is fun, sure, but… not now, Foolish. I can help you, you know I can.”
“Go.” Foolish ground the knuckles of one hand into the bricks below him. “Go away , Bad. I… I’ll find you later.”
“To talk? Or…”
Or to kill him. What a question that was.
“We’ll see.”
“Give me a heads up, then, for Dapper.”
Hm.
“Fine.”
“Just… take care of yourself, Foolish. Okay? I’ll see you.” footsteps led away, but Foolish didn’t lift his head.
How could he?
His world had been utterly destroyed, he’d been left desolate and empty and torn apart from the inside out, only for that world to be put back in front of him, alive and well, as if all that pain had been for nothing .
But it was back, his world was back, and she was breathing softly in the bed he sat beside.
That was enough, for now.
That was enough to push the bloodlust away, to pull in his claws and keep his growling quiet - he didn’t want to wake her up, after all, Leo was always such a sleepy child.
He sat there… gods, Foolish didn’t know. Clocks didn’t matter, not with the thrum of his daughter’s heartbeat keeping him grounded into the peace he’d sworn himself to, though that oath had been broken weeks ago in a game to keep her safe.
At some point Roier woke, far too late in the day to be waking up, stumbling downstairs only to gasp in shock and step back when he saw Foolish.
“Holy fuck, holy shit, get away from her, I-” and then a pause, and Foolish still didn’t lift his head. “ Foolish ?”
“Yes.”
“You- are you alive, or is this- this a ghost…?” Roier moved forward slowly, and Foolish chuckled weakly, softly, not wanting to wake her up.
“I’m alive…” he muttered. “Sorry it- sorry I took so long.”
“Where- is Cellbit with you?”
Ah.
“No. I…” but the eggs had survived, hadn’t they? So perhaps not everyone on that island had met the fate Foolish did. “I don’t know where he is.”
“Okay.” Roier sat on the floor next to him. “You ah… you look like shit.”
“Sorry…” he didn’t really want most people to see him like this. But he supposed Fit would have gossipped already, and it wasn’t really fair to be upset about that when Foolish had threatened the man's life.
“No, no, don’t be sorry man! I’m just- I’m happy to see you, you know?” Roier propped his chin on one knee, glancing between Foolish and the sleeping child. “I uh… I’ve been trying to- to take care of her.”
“Thank you.” he was glad, if he couldn't be here, that Roier was able to be.
“Yeah, yeah, no problem.”
Silence, lovely silence in the home of his adopted son, with his daughter asleep and breathing and so very alive… minutes stretched by, and at some point another child tottered into the room and into a reluctant Roier’s lap, and Foolish was too tired to question that right now.
“Are you okay?” Roier asked, what might have been hours later.
“No.” Foolish sighed, closing his eyes, and finally sat up to stretch the ache in his neck and back from staying hunched the way he had. “But yes.”
“Oh.”
“I will be fine, sorry, yes, I’m alright.” Foolish huffed, rubbing his eyes and glancing down at the boy in a striped shirt, peering up at him curiously. “Who’s this?”
“They ah… gave me another son.” Roier said simply.
How cruel the world was, indeed.
But what a good person, Roier was, taking care of Leo and this other child when he’d lost Cellbit so recently. He was clearly not too happy, but who would be?
“So you’re my grandkid?” Foolish asked dully, holding out a hand only to earn a scowl from the boy. He huffed, not surprised, and let the hand fall.
In this form, in this shape, he’d expect most people to be afraid of him.
But Roier leaned forward, muttering a quick bit of Spanish that Foolish’s tired mind couldn't quite translate, and the boy reluctantly moved to sit next to Foolish, holding his hand with a small, shaky one.
“His name is Pepito,” Roier said simply. “Pepito, Foolish is your abuela. He’s Leonarda’s and mine papa, we told you about him.”
“Hey, kiddo,” Foolish sighed, ruffling his hair. “I-I’m not all this scary, usually… you’ll see.”
Hopefully.
Bad would help him, like he always did, and even if he couldn't undo this entirely Foolish was sure he could fix something, he could return to part of what he used to be.
A sign placed between them, and Foolish couldn't help but grin.
You don't scare Me.
“ Course I don't, sorry for assuming.” and with that the child settled more comfortably against his arm, and Foolish returned his gaze to the girl asleep in her bed.
Oh, he’d missed her…
He’d need to build some better base, something more secure, something hidden. Far off in a wasteland where nobody would ever think to look- and there he was again, old habits back on top.
Leo wouldn’t want a wasteland, anyway, she’d want something prettier.
He was sure they’d come to a compromise on it, but a hidden place far from spawn sounded safer than anything else at the moment.
“Time to go,” Roier sighed after another few minutes. He picked himself up and gestured to Pepito. “There’s a new- a new task thing, pa. I can explain it whenever she wakes up, when you’re ready.”
“Alright.” Foolish sighed, watching them go from his spot on the floor, and despite the bright sunlight from windows and doorways, the pings that continued to pile up on his communicator, he didn’t want to do anything but wait for her to wake. If that meant he sat here for days and days, that’s what he would do.
Leo would not leave his sight for a long time, not after everything…
Oh, gods, so much had happened.
Foolish settled himself against the wall and her bed, wedged so he didn’t have to hold himself upright as the hours dragged on.
He’d have to formulate some explanation for her, why he looked like this. Her and the rest of the island, aside from Bad.
Strange, he’d never had to explain this before. Usually he just killed people who got too annoying, but that… that wasn’t going to work this time.
He could always tell them the truth.
Hah. The truth. The people here never really believed the truth, even when he bared his soul to them. But that was the role he brought upon himself, in peace and laughter, and so he figured he’d have to rely on Bad’s word alongside his own to get them to understand.
It was a few more hours, still, until soft whining from beneath the blankets signaled she was awake.
“L-Leo…?” Why was he nervous, seeing his daughter for the first real time in weeks? Months, if you didn’t count the traumatizing moments before his death.
At his voice, she shot upright and scrambled to get the blankets off, eyes wide and tear-filled when they found him.
“Hey- hey, princess.” he was going to cry again, damnit. “I- god, I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sorry, I-I couldn't come back but…”
Small hands grabbed onto him, pulling him into an all-too familiar hug. It took her a few minutes to manage a sign, but when she did…
Ur not muerto?
“No, I- well…” Foolish swallowed thickly, gathering her up into his arms to stand. “Let’s uh- let’s go outside, I can tell you.”
She nodded against his shoulder, and he sighed as he stepped out into the light that, unlike earlier today, didn’t feel like a mockery to him at all.
“I d- I did die,” he whispered, running a hand through her hair as he walked down the path toward spawn. “But- hold on, no tears…” hypocritical, with his own still rolling down in streams of bloody red. “When- when I die, and when your tio Bad dies, we come back. I told you I’m immortal, didn’t I?”
Oh, this was too confusing.
“What matters, little one,” he sighed softly as she reached up, bloodying her hands in an attempt to dry his tears. “Is that I- I’ll never, ever leave you for very long if I can help it. I’m so sorry… It took me so long, before. But I’m here now and I won’t leave you again.”
She seemed thoughtful, scrambling for a book to type into that he waited patiently for, pacing along roads and ignoring the stares of people they passed by, ignoring the way Fit retreated and pulled Pac and Ramon inside with him when they passed.
Oh, he’d have to mend that bridge later.
Always Juntos?
“Yeah, kiddo,” Foolish kissed her forehead, pacing up the steps of their hill toward her pets and their home . “Always juntos, just like we promised.”