Chapter Text
Tenna was nervous.
He hadn’t been in TV Town for a while, his life had literally revolved entirely around work. All that mattered was his show and the studio, only full-filling his obligation as ruler if he had to. There used to be something else that mattered but that lay in the past.
He never saw himself as a monarch or president or any other form of authority. He didn’t even enjoy running the studio when it came to bureaucracy and punishing employees. All he wanted to do was to entertain and have order. He did crave control but this was something he showed in more subtle ways most of the time like subconsciously making everything in the studio just a bit too large to be convenient for his employees.
Despite all of that, there wasn’t much crime or dissatisfaction compared to other worlds. The controlled environment that he had created allowed for less freedom than Cyber City but more security instead. It was a trade off in the end and some Darkners could handle the limited freedom while others couldn’t.
Tenna’s ability to create anything seen on TV, was rather useful when it came to creating his utopia. Everything was brighter and more colourful than the real world; a complete opposite to any other Dark Worlds that were lacking light other than the stars and minor light sources outside buildings.
TV World used to be different as well, it had its beginnings as a snowy wasteland.
There was nothing but an icy landscape, frozen lakes and a starry sky as wide as an ocean. The world was quiet, deadly. There was nothing connecting to any other Dark Worlds at that point. They simply got thrown into this place one day and had to see how to get by.
There was no food, no water; only cold winds that froze your lungs and limbs. Luckily, Darkners functioned different from Lightners and they could survive even if they were trapped in hell.
However, it didn’t take long before he appeared.
One day, when hope had almost abandoned them, a giant rectangle appeared at the sky like a sun.
The space behind it remained dark as the night but within the unnatural shine, things became warmer. The pain in their limbs subsided as they huddled together in the limited warmth. Fragile blades of grass fighting for survival under the melting snow.
“Poor things.” A feminine voice spoke.
“Indeed, darling. Maybe we should introduce ourselves.’ Another, more masculine, voice joined.
“What do you say, Tenna?” The feminine voice asked carefully.
Tenna stared down at the group of small Darkners while his two companions sat on his shoulders.
“T—e—n—na?” The voice glitched, indecipherable as any gender, a warbled mess of both and neither.
He stared down, only to see Battat standing there by himself. Alone and scared. Afraid of the beast, the mad god, the Lord of Screens.
“Tenna?”
‘That voice.’ Anthony though as he glanced at the seat besides him, only the familiar outline of a Pippins became visible initially.
“Are you alright? You’ve been staring out of the window for a while.” Battat smiled a bit concerned for him.
The CRT looked around to see that he was in a train - his train - the one that connected TV Town with the studio and brought everyone home who didn’t live in its apartments.
He shook his head and turned his screen on again after he noticed that it had turned black, whenever that happened his vision got affected and he saw more like an insect in ultraviolet or even ultrasound thanks to his antennae. They could get used as regular antennas as well though; that was how he usually used them.
Seeing everything in a warm colour again soothed his mind, contrasting the cool tones from the other side of the freezing glass. It helped that his Mikes were with him. “I was just daydreaming about the time before the town existed. It’s been so long… I was a different TV back then and sometimes I wonder whether I changed for the worse.”
“Mhm…” Jongler pondered and looked out of the window as well. ‘We all change with time, nothing lasts forever and that includes who we are. Sometimes it is for the better and sometimes we internalise unhealthy coping mechanisms to keep ourselves safe from past experiences. These make us neither good nor bad as long as we work on ourselves and unlearn behaviours that cause harm to ourselves or others.”
The other three stared at Jongler after they spoke without an accent for the entirety of three sentences.
“What are yous guys lookin’ at me for? Dat’s what my book says, I was summarising the chapter I just read.” They held it up before continuing to read. “Ever thought of going to anger management?”
Tenna sighed and let his antennas hang.
Battat perked up. “I-I think what Jongler wants to say is that you might have learned some behaviour that isn’t beneficial to you anymore but… you want to become a better person and you are still a good person at heart even if you are struggling at the moment. That’s why we’re doing this, staying all cooped up is no good for you. You need some positive experiences and great company! Right, Pluey?”
Pluey agreed with a cheerful cooing sound.
Tenna smiled softly. “I really don’t understand why you’re doing this for me…”
Pluey looked at him confused and tilted his head. “♫ ♪…” (Because we’re friends and care about you…)
Tenna smiled softly at them before the waterworks started and he began to cry, small sobs escaping him while his screen turned staticky.
“Are you alright?” Battat asked and reached for his hand. He was only a bit taller than a regular Zapper at the moment, so he could fit comfortably into the train.
“Yeah…” Tenna pulled the green Pippins into a hug. “I’m just so grateful to have you…” He sniffed and pulled the other two into their embrace as well, holding all three close. “Thank you…”
Pluey purred at the affection and leaned happily into the touch, rubbing its head against Tenna like a content cat.
-
They entered the dome.
It wasn’t visible from afar but as the train passed through one of the stations, the curved glass that covered their city became visible.
A protective membrane that acted as a cold-resistant bell jar, the border that separated their colourful capital from the harsh environment of their world.
Thanks to green screen technology and Tenna’s powers, they had a blue sky for most of the day. They were able to simulate some weather like rain as well by using the same machines that they used for TV.
At night they simply shut the system off to either watch the stars or snowfall through their glass dome. Because of this the transition between night and day was instantaneous. Tenna had even made sure to create an outer area that was safe for children, so they could play in the snow under parental guidance.
Most of Tenna’s city was made to provide a safe and happy environment for families because of which many parents from Cyber World moved to TV Town. But even as a single or for retirement it offered many perks.
However, many teens and young adults dreamt of the night life in Cyber City and left to experience the scenes and excitement of the internet instead.
TV World had bars and discos as well but it couldn’t quite compare, the atmosphere and experience was very different. It also lacked certain technologies and instead of cars and subways, TV Town’s infrastructure was entirely based on mostly outdated public transportation with only very few older cars.
The economy and politics were also quite different, offering little room for technological advancements.
Cyber World was rather capitalistic and only had basic laws in place, mostly to keep everyone from killing each other for profits and keep scams a minimum even if that hardly worked. The black market business was booming in the Dark Web district and the Deep Web district wasn’t close behind.
But Queen cared more about freedom and her own fun than ruling with an iron fist, so she just made sure that everyone stayed generally safe and punished those that overstepped her kingdom’s loose boundaries by inflicting direct harm to another.
Progress and the freedom to create your own profit-driven business were the priority.
Besides the two aforementioned districts it worked quite well, even if there were scams and extreme differences between the poor and rich of that world.
Such was the nature of a free market where everything got controlled by money, some thrived in it and others got fed on leftovers from the one percent.
Queen was too far away to really notice the full extent of her system even if she wasn’t a cruel leader like some other Boss Darkners.
It still came as a surprise that her and the Lord of Screens decided to work together just because of how different their realms were. But it worked out in the end, providing more security to both sides.
No one knew that there was one third party responsible for arranging this partnership.
Tenna’s approach was more socialist. He controlled the market and made sure that everything stayed community owned and regulated.
Some people from Cyber World considered it a communist dictatorship where he controlled everything but unlike Light World counterparts he had no reason to manipulate votes and control the people’s thoughts.
He was in control.
And everyone knew that if Mr. (Ant) Tenna wanted he could turn everything around and destroy the dome or enforce any law he wanted just like Queen could easily put an end to matters with her mech.
There was still private property, the wealth simply got distributed among all of society. Every work that got done wasn’t for money but the functionality of society.
The points they received were like a bonus to finance personal wishes and go out on their free days or in case they wanted to take a vacation to Cyber City.
But despite all of this, it didn’t change the fact that they were entirely dependent on Tenna’s demeanour because his intense mood swings affected the entirety of TV World’s stability.
That had been one of the reasons why Battat took Mike’s role to keep Tenna under control and part of the CRT had to wonder whether the three of them only entertained him in fear of his wrath and the way his sorrow affected everyone around him.
“Tenna, you’re drifting off again.” Battat’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Huh?” Tenna stared at the place besides him, noticing that were were sitting on a bench outside of the train station. “When did we…” He couldn’t remember when they got off the train, a crawling feeling moved along his spine like a shot of anxiety.
What was going on with him?
“Are you sure that you’re alright?” The small die looked up at him in worry. “If you’re not feeling well, maybe we should—“
“I’m fine.” The tall Darkner cut him off before sighing as his tense muscles relaxed marginally. “There’s just… there’s a lot going through my head…”
“Well, I’m here to listen.” He offered.
He smiled at his friend shortly before biting his lip and letting his antennas hanging. “I’m just…” He fidgeted nervously with his hands. “I’m just still worried you only do this because you’re scared of me… scared that I’ll do something bad… and I’m worried that maybe you’d be right and that I am not a good person… that I would do evil. I mean… I clearly didn’t have myself under control when… I…”
He his lips trembled and he held back tears. “I’m just so scared of losing you…” He sobbed quietly. “…but maybe forcing you to stay my friends is even more evil… I know you reassured me before but I can’t help thinking about it.”
Battat sighed. “Oh dear.” He leaned back nonchalantly. “You’re really overthinking this… and that’s coming from me!”
“Huh?” Anthony looked at his friend in confusion.
“You give me too much credit… if I really had that fear and only stayed around because of that, I would have already brought Pluey and Jongler to Cyber World.” He pointed at Tenna. “I wouldn’t risk their safety if I really thought that you’re a bad person, get that into your thick skull.”
Tenna blushed embarrassed and shrunk a bit.
Battat crossed his arms. “I already told you that we won’t stay if you’re hurting us. But we don’t want to leave you and I trust you even though I am overthinking all of this as well.”
“I understand…” The CRT looked down at his feet.
“But I also said we genuinely care about you. I also still wonder whether you just use me as a replacement, I lay awake all night because I was worried how today would go and I am still thinking about what happened between us… but….” He put his hand to the side of Tenna’s screen now that he was small enough. “…to reassure you again…” He moved closer to whisper. “…I love TV.”
Tenna immediately shot to his regular size and had a flower bloom on his nose that he quickly tried to hide alongside his pink screen.
Battat laughed, smiling brightly with a cute grin. “Quit doubting me or I’ll have to get out the board~” He winked. “And I assume that you want to get something done while we’re here.”
Tenna stared at him, taken aback to hear Battat genuinely laugh and smile cutely like that. His screen turned into a colourful fuzz.
Battat stared at him a bit surprised but still absolutely adorable thanks to his big eyes and adorable freckles. “Anthony?”
“C-cute…” The CRT mumbled.
Now it was Battat’s turn to blush across his whole face, followed by him freaking out. “Ah-“ He stared at him, completely dumbfounded while his brain tried to process this and froze until Tenna looked around confused again.
“Where are Pluey and Jongler?” He asked eventually.
“Huh?” Battat eyed him suspiciously. “Tenna… they left a few minutes ago and told us to go ahead because they have to take care of something.
“Really?” Tenna asked.
“Yeah… you even acknowledged it.” Battat grew a bit wary.
“Huh… weird…” Tenna appeared a bit distressed but tried to hide it. “Seems I was a bit distracted.” The CRT forced a smile.
“Yeah…” He nodded in thought as well. “That must be it.”
-
“Where should we go first?” Tenna asked, wanting to distract from how much of a mess his head seemed to be.
Battat walked after him, past some store windows and ads while he pondered the question and Tenna’s behaviour. “How about a coffee shop? I didn’t have any yet and ice cream sounds nice, the weather is quite warm today.” He suggested.
“Ooh! Splendid idea!” The CRT agreed excitedly. “I would love that… Jongler and Pluey can join us there, the bill’s on me of course. Everything today is.”
Battat put his arm to his hips. “Are you sure? I have money as well—“
“I am!” Tenna said and ran ahead which was regular speed for him but forced his companion to hurry. “Oh, I know a great place where we can wait for them!”
“Tenna, my legs aren’t as long as yours!” The green die reminded him with a pout.
“Ah… I always forget when I’m excited. I’m sorry, Batsy!” The CRT chuckled before picking the shorter man up, ignoring the struggle to place him on his shoulder. “How’s that?”
The Pippins blushed. “Won’t people stare?”
“Let them.” Tenna grinned. “I don’t mind showing off that you belong to me~” The tall Darkner flashed his fangs before laughing heartily. “Come on, makes talking easier as well!”
“You got me…” The shorter man relaxed and hung over the shoulder with a content expression while they passed a bridge that connected the train station with the mall. “…alright but only because Jongler and Pluey aren’t here.”
They got themselves a cone and bowl of ice cream each while they waited; Battat got himself some matcha green tea and stracciatella flavours while Tenna chose a colourful combination with everything from cherry to lemon and even kiwi while adding actual fruit to the mix. Battat ordered a black coffee with his significantly smaller cone as well.
Tenna’s face lit up when he received his order, smiling at every bite.
“I’m still wondering why you enjoy this so much…” Battat admitted out loud but mostly intending to talk to himself.
“Huh? Who doesn’t like ice cream on a warm day?” The CRT asked confused before his antennas dropped. “Don’t you like it?”
“No, I like ice cream. It’s just… you could create something bigger and better yourself if you really wanted. Heck… you could create an entire ice cream stand just for yourself if you really wanted.”
“But what would I do with ice cream by myself?” He asked. “No one who serves it, no warm welcome and no mundane but pleasant conversation either. It wouldn’t be the same… just like it isn’t the same when you don’t bring me tea and I sit alone instead. Sharing these things is what makes them special, it’s about the time and memories.” He poked his ice cream. “It gives everyone a purpose… hope… some resemblance of freedom.”
‘I never really thought about it.’ Battat considered with his inner voice. ‘The one thing Tenna can’t create is companionship. He can create sets with props, costumes, cities, food, light, warmth,… everything a person could need but not the people themselves.’ The die watched him with pity. ‘That might be why he doesn’t call himself a lord or a king even if others would. He is like a god that’s unable to create life or a machine that wishes to love.’ Battat stared at his ice cream when he felt a subtle weight forming by the edge of his eyes, followed by something akin to warm raindrops on his cheeks.
“Tenna…” Battat held his cone closer to distract himself with the cold. “Is that why the show is so important to you?” The die asked. “Because…” He grit his teeth. “…you want to give everyone hope and more control over their situation?”
Tenna smiled gently. “Well… that’s part of it.” He looked down with a more melancholic expression. “But I must admit that I have some ulterior motives… I also wouldn’t want to miss anyone… even the Pippins… or Ramb… we might not always get along but that’s normal for a family, isn’t it?”
He asked before flashing a soft grin that lacked his on-stage confidence. “Maybe not everyone feels that way… but I do. I want everyone to have fun and keep them safe. I don’t want them to get bored and depressed… or lose anyone else because I didn’t do enough.”
Battat’s eyes widened. He had complained about Tenna a lot, especially since that scammer had entered their life and even more so after Spamton had left. His shifts were long, the days as Battat torturous and Tenna’s demands endless.
On some days he wondered why he put up with all of it. Why he’d put on the costume while cursing, why he’d sit with Tenna even after work instead of leaving like everyone else. He told himself that it would help getting closer to Mike but that was a lie. At least by the time it became a routine, his obsession transformed from finding out who Mike was to becoming the perfect Mike for Tenna.
He couldn’t explain it to himself nor decipher whether he did this for Mike, Tenna or the good of the studio. But one thing became clear to him in that moment, he wanted to support Tenna and see him smile. He wanted Tenna to look at him the way he had looked at his little mailman, wanted to be talked about and talked to just as Tenna did when it came to that leech.
He didn’t just want to become Mike.
He wanted Mr. (Ant) Tenna to be just as obsessed about him as he had been. He wanted his screen on him, his love, his hands, his lips. He wanted to claim everything that traitor had touched. He wanted to be better than Mike or that rat, both had been snakes in Tenna’s garden. They had poisoned him and broken him.
Everything Tenna did in his rage wasn’t his fault, it was theirs. They weren’t self-sacrificing enough or loyal enough, they weren’t like him. Tenna was right. Mike didn’t take care of him, Battat did. He did.
Being with Tenna was making him feel wanted. He wasn’t a nobody anymore, he wasn’t a defect. He was needed.
The Lord of Screens needed him. Him.
Battat froze at that thought, feeling something walk over his shadow and making him quickly turn around in a panic. He frowned at that, wondering where those thoughts came from.
Anthony wasn’t some prize to win, he was more than just the lord of this realm, they were friends and he was opening up to him. How could he even think that? His hand wandered to his throat as if something was around it, but the feeling left before his fingers brushed against skin.
“Now it’s my turn to ask whether you’re alright…” Tenna smiled softly but clearly concerned, something about his screen seemed off, a strange discolouration that reminded him of Pluey’s costume.
He sighed and mustered a smile. “It’s nothing.” He took a bite from his ice cream before blushing. “I just hope that I can continue to support you with that just as I have as… you know.”
“You already do.” Tenna took a happy bite from his own enormous ice cream bowl before offering his friend some. “Want to try? Cherry is my favourite… eh, but you probably already know that.” He laughed, his screen a clear white glow with a hint of pink; it had been just a blush and a trick of the light.