Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Things were a bit strange after their identity reveal. At first he seemed almost giddy and unable to feel glooby but after a while Tenna had been quite… composed; almost too much so.

It was strange to see the flamboyant and extroverted man become quiet and withdrawn. He did his job and disappeared again.

A lot had happened.

The Lightners had come and Tenna lost it again but Susie could luckily calm him down. They temporarily evacuated to Castle Town before they could return home.

Things were a bit different but it was still TV Town, even if the world was a bit more contained. Only a temporary solution.

Sometimes, he’d just stare at them as if he expected something that never came but brushed it off when they asked if he needed anything.

Surreal.

That was how Battat had described it in the beginning but now he considered it worrisome. Tenna wasn’t like this and as peaceful as life in the studio was, his subdued personality was not helping the show itself and they’d be heading for another financial crisis if this kept up.

The green Pippins pondered what to do and stood in front of the theory board. The most likely reason would be what had happened between them because it started at the same time but there was the question of why that would be the reason if they had solved the situation and even exchanged some very platonic affection.

He blushed.

Of course it had been platonic just like his relationship with Pluey and Jongler. A queer, platonic and poly relationship. That’s how Pluey called it and he could only wonder where he learned those words even if it described things well.

It was probably just about the Lightners, nothing else.

Mippins shook his head. ‘Stop that…’ He thought. ‘…you are not in a relationship with Tenna. ’ He reminded himself. That was a one time thing to make up for everything and Tenna only did it to keep Mike.

He wanted Mike. He didn’t want a Pippins.

He would only make things more complicated by reading into it unnecessarily. They had unanimously agreed to go back to the way things were before.

Mike continued to do his job and the three men behind the mask would stay out of Tenna’s business; he should be happy.

It bothered him that Tenna was very distant all of a sudden despite that. He hardly asked Mike for favours anymore and offered them polite greetings out of costume but never approached them otherwise either.

The green Pippins decided that it would be best to just bring him his tea as usual and try to get information that way.

As much as the show host loved to perform and could be a great actor or manipulator, he was also an open book who wore his emotions on his sleeve.

Especially Battat had developed quite the skill for reading and improving his boss’ mood swings but that was before the identity reveal, he appeared more guarded now and simply dismissed all of their attempts to address this issue.

Why couldn’t he just tell them? That way they could help him with whatever was on his mind. Or were they the problem? Did he decide that he didn’t want the fake Mikes after all?

The neurotic, little Pippins shook his head and slapped both of his cheeks to keep focused. “Stop overthinking this, Battat! Just bring Tenna his tea and talk to him about this!” He hyped himself up and got into costume when Jongler entered the room.

“Boss? Gettin’ ready to bring Tenna his cuppa tea?” They asked, appearing a bit nervous.

“As I do every evening… he’s been sending me off these past days but I am entering that room today!” The die scoffed.

“Be careful…” Jongler warned him. “…he’s got a bad mood dis afternoon. Already send off Pluey and I don’t want yous guys get hurt.”

“That bad?” Battat asked concerned. “I mean, he promised not to hurt us… Pluey isn’t injured, right?”

“No… I dunno. He just seems off, please be careful, boss.” The Zapper asked of him.

-

Mike was a bit wary after the warning but didn’t want to feel scared of Tenna, that would only make his care seem less genuine and the CRT would be able to tell.

And he was genuine, he did care but he would be lying if he said that Tenna’s outburst didn’t affect his trust in the taller Darkner.

The situation with Kris and the others didn’t help either but they agreed collectively to let bygones be bygones.

He wanted to just go back to being his assistant, his friend if possible. That would be enough. He didn’t need more even if part of him wanted more, especially after they shared a kiss, one Tenna seemed to refuse to acknowledge as if he didn’t like it.

He probably didn’t like it. He was much too small, even smaller than Spamton was when he still worked at the studio and he wasn’t very handsome either according to the other Pippins.

Would he look better if he was red like the rest of them? Was it his tired and off-putting face compared to the energetic and happy one of other die? He rarely smiled, not in the way other Pippins did; his own smile was more subtle and content than cheerful or excited.

Even if he got excited, he would seem more manic and weird than cute.

In the beginning his co-workers had told him to smile more but now they just avoided talking to him. At least the worst of them got fired, so he could focus on his work without interruptions.

A part of him was concerned about repercussions or some of the other employees getting suspicious but it seemed no one missed those guys.

In fact, a few Pippins became more friendly towards him but he had no interest in friends who only wanted to be with him when it was convenient. He preferred Pluey and Jongler as his closest and only friends.

He wouldn’t be opposed to adding a certain show host but that wouldn’t even happen in his wildest fantasies.

Battat’s thoughts were running rampant in his head and he didn’t even notice that he walked into the door. It was loud enough that it spared him to knock at least because he could hear Tenna jump out of his chair and move quickly towards the door.

“Mike?” He asked confused and scooped him up. “Everything alright?”

Mike nodded and shook his head to regain his bearings. “Yeah… yes, I’m deeply sorry, Mister Tenna. I wasn’t paying attention.” The costumed die sighed.

“Mhm…” Tenna eyed him before he nodded. “Yeah… what are you even doing here?” The CRT asked and shifted awkwardly in place. “Make it snappy, I’m busy.”

Mike stared at him blankly; even without eyes, the glare penetrated his mask’s fabric with ease. His confidence dropped when he realised that he forgot the tea. “I’m sorry, I wanted to bring your afternoon tea… I was in thoughts and forgot… I…” He never forgot his Mike routine. What was going on with him. “Let me get it.”

Tenna stopped the shorter one and seemed to think the same because his expression softened and became almost guilty. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“That should be my question.” Mike shot back and frowned.

“Huh?” He looked at him confused.

“You seem on edge and a bit moody lately, especially towards Mike.” The microphone crossed his arms.

“A-am I? I… it wasn’t on purpose.” He said and sounded almost afraid. “I’m sorry, please don’t leave me, I try to do better.” He got on his knees.

Mike was a bit confused. “Tenna…?” He asked. “What are you… we’re not leaving.” He reassured him and tried to figure out the cause of this strange behaviour. ‘I thought he was mad?’

“Oh… thank goodness.” He said with a relieved but awkward laugh. “I was worried.”

“Why…?” He asked confused.

“You… never come by anymore…” The CRT shrunk a bit.

“Tenna… what are you talking about. We come by every day.” Mike explained and wondered whether Tenna’s memory loss was getting worse. How old was Tenna? Could a TV get dementia?

“Mike comes by…” The man mumbled.

“Because that’s what Mike does, you wanted him… well, us… you know! You wanted Mike to continue his job.” It was weird to talk about the other two and himself in third person towards Tenna.

“Exactly… Mike comes by and does his job… and then he leaves until I need him again.” Anthony shifted awkwardly in place and shrunk some more, all his intimidation was out of the window.

“I don’t understand.” Mippins admitted.

Tenna turned red in embarrassment and seemed frustrated. “Dammit, why are you so… well, fine!” He grabbed Mike and ignored the indignant squeak from his second in command when he dropped him on the couch.

The large man snapped his fingers and made it look the same as when Mike brought him tea. There were two cups that filled themselves with each of their favourite flavours in an instant.

“There.” Tenna huffed and sat down to pout.

Mike was taken aback and awkwardly smiled up at Tenna. “Do you want to talk…?” He flinched when his boss clapped his hands together without warning.

“Yes! Oh, Mike. I thought you’d never ask.” His tone was overly friendly and Battat figured it might be best to play along.

“Lay it on me, boss.” He tried to nudge him in the usual Mike manner but couldn’t quite pull it off.

Tenna’s mood seemed to improve a bit and he nodded eagerly at that. “Well, you see… there is someone who is giving me a headache.”

Mike nodded, intrigued now that he might learn something new. “Go on?”

“They’ve been lying to me for a long time.” Tenna started and stared into the herbal liquid. “And when I found out… I got really… really angry.” The machine explained.

‘Uh-oh.’ Battat swallowed nervously. “Is that so?”

The CRT nodded. “I… hurt them a lot… physically… mentally… I ruined the remaining trust we still had because I couldn’t control my emotions…” The man explained and shrunk to the size of a regular adult man. “And I was scared that they might hate me after that…”

“Tenna…” Battat reached out but stopped when his superior shifted away to continue.

“They came to me and we spend an evening together. It felt… normal.” The man’s antennas hung low enough that they might as well fall off. “And I was happy.” His hands were shaking and barely held onto the cup. “I was very… very happy…” His screen began to leak as it turned black, the only expression a white frown. “… truly happy…for the first time since he left me.”

The green die felt a pit form in his stomach.

“But after that… they never came again. They never came together… only Mike came back and he was distant. He did his job and left… every time… and I just want to know…” He looked at his cohort with a wobbly smile that was clearly forced and poorly hid his sorrow. “…do they hate me? Wasn’t I good enough when they gave me a chance?”

Mike was dumbfounded and stared at the TV, he wanted to say something but his throat felt dry and made no sound.

“I was just hoping we could be friends…” Tenna quickly jumped off the couch and laughed, his screen returned to normal after quickly wiping away any remaining tears. “B-but that’s a stupid thing to lose my head over!” He laughed more, it sounded so forced that it was easy to forget how good of an actor he could be when his emotions didn’t make his thoughts and feelings blatant to anyone with a single working braincell.

“How could…” He shrunk more. “…anyone…” And more. “…want to be friends…” He became smaller than a Pippins. “…with someone as despicable as me.” Smaller. “Someone broken…” Ant-sized. “…worthless…” He dropped on his side, legs close to his chest and his antennas over his screen in an attempt to hide the tears. “…like me.”

Mippins frowned, unsure whether he should console him as Mike or himself. Did it even matter? Apparently it did make quite a difference to Tenna.

Battat stepped closer and watched the shrunken CRT, careful to avoid triggering him and get either of them hurt. “Boss…” He kneeled down and hesitantly scooped him up. “We don’t hate you… we actually like you a lot and that shows why we felt betrayed when you had your breakdown and wanted to hurt us… but you’re doing your best to make up for it and we understand that you need help to get better.” He smiled when Tenna grew to the size of a Pippins.

“I don’t want to keep hurting people.” He mumbled. “I don’t want get hurt anymore or watch people hurt each other.” He tugged on his antennas when Mike grabbed his hands to keep them in place.

“Stop.” The assistant ordered before pulling the CRT into a hug. “I don’t want to see you hurt either.”

Tenna flinched when the other man raised his voice at him and melted into the embrace. After a moment of hesitation, he grew again and looked down at Mike with a timid expression, his fingers coiled around the small body and seemed to prod at the seams of the costume.

Mippins tensed up, nervous at how close he was to those large claws that had tried to rip him apart only a week ago. “B-boss?” He asked meekly and watched the fingers halt suddenly.

The large Darkner didn’t hesitate for long before he continued, nudging the man gently to offer reassurance while offering a soft smile. “Call me Anthony.”

The Pippins nodded slowly. “Well… you can— woah.” He got raised dangerously close to the screen, staring directly at those deadly fangs. Tenna was clearly not in a good mood even if he tried to hide it.

“Take it off...” He said.

Battat blushed inside the costume while his heart accelerated into the stratosphere. “Alright…” He agreed to comply with Tenna’s wishes but the alarm bells in head were ringing. This was his last line of defence, a shield not only in the form of cushions but also his confidence.

The green die took off his mask, staring directly at the CRT before getting out of the rest of the costume.

Tenna tossed it out of sight and seemed to inspect him. “We see again… Batsy…” He smiled and tilted his head.

‘Oh god, why is this so…’ Battat interrupted his own line of thought and hid his face; he felt so naked and vulnerable. “W-why…?” He added out loud after a moment.

Tenna seemed confused and looked away in shame. “I want what you have as well…” His antennas dropped. “Seeing you three worry about each other was quite heartwarming and having your friends willing to start a fruitless fight. I was just hoping that… you know…” He laughed awkwardly.

He was a bit unnerved that he was aware of their power imbalance and spoke so nonchalantly about it but decided not to comment. It might actually be good that he was aware and willing to be more careful, so they wouldn’t get hurt accidentally.

That was the least concerning option.

“Do you want help with making friends?” Battat asked confused.

Tenna’s antennas dropped and his shoulders followed. “Oh… I mean… … I guess.”

“I’m not very good at that though. Jongler and Pluey are my only friends.” Battat admitted and was confused when Tenna seemed glooby, as if he was hurt. He made that injured puppy face that he wore when he heard something sad.

“Oh… I see.” He mumbled. “I got it.” His voice sounded different, seemingly trailing off. “I’m sorry that I even asked, that wasn’t appropriate.” His screen darkened and he shrunk again. “It would be better if you left now. I’m not feeling too great.”

“Alright…” The little die was confused and just nodded. “Well… you can call for Mike if you need anything.” He reassured him but it didn’t seem to improve his mood.

“Right… Mike.” He mumbled and picked up the costume before carelessly shoving it against the green Pippin’s chest, causing the shorter man to stumble back a bit. “Goodnight.” The still slightly taller man ushered him outside and Battat complied.

Mippins was between intimidated and annoyed, not sure why Tenna was acting this way with him but deciding it was best to just comply even though they didn’t even have any tea yet.

“Are you su—“ Battat tried again.

“Goodnight.” Tenna reiterated and grew, then showed off his fangs while he clenched his clawed fists.

Battat just nodded and quickly scurried towards the door. “G-Goodnight, Mr. Tenna.”

The door closed and the Lord of Screen was left alone again. Alone. Again. All alone. Again. Again. Again. He clawed at his head and whimpered. Why was he like that? Why was he unable to get close to anyone?

He just wanted to ask to hang out but he blew it. Battat clearly didn’t want him around. Could he even blame him? He was a terrible boss and an even worse partner. His last - and first - partner disappeared from the face of the earth just to escape him.

No one loved him.

He didn’t even love himself, how could he expect anyone else to bear his presence? Especially when he was old and useless.

Battat must think he’s a fool for trying to become part of their group. To be part of something good and healthy for once, something supportive.

But he’d only drag them down.

He’d be a glooby downer and ruin everything anyway, he would be better off if he was never plugged in and never experienced this pain.

He hadn’t even noticed that he was crying, his screen leaked and he wished to love him and hold him. He wanted a hug. He needed one do badly but no one would come, there was no comfort for him in the Dark World. Not in Cyber World with Spamton and not in his own with Mike.

Because Mike wasn’t real.

It was at most a job position now.

That meant his friendship with Mike wasn’t real either and everything had been a lie. He sobbed while his staticky screen leaked on the floor and he remembered Battat’s words.

Jongler and Pluey are my only friends.

He should have known.

It was clear from the way they avoided him, everything else was just manipulation.

But it still hurt.

It stung deep in his chest and the thought alone made something inside him break as he sunk to the floor and hugged his legs in a fetal position.

He was the worst.

He should just stay there on the ground and rust, corrode like scrap metal and disappear.

They hated him.

They only did it for the money.

Just like Spamton.

Oh, he missed him so much. He missed Mike too; when he believed that Mike was his friend, that he was real. That someone could care about him despite everything.

A dream. A wish. A lie.

All of this was futile and meaningless.

Everything life had for him was pain and disappointment and now here he was: crying alone, just like so many nights before.

Chapter Text

“He is acting strange.” Battat said and stood in front of his board, attaching a new string between a note about Tenna’s behaviour and him not knowing about the real Mike either.

Pluey approached his partner, wearing its costume as usual and probably spending more time inside it than out of it. “♫?” (What do you mean?) The cat-like Shadowguy asked.

“Tenna was behaving weird yesterday and today he won’t even look at me out of costume. He seems to hate me now… I’m not even sure he wants me as Mike anymore.” The Pippins admitted.

“♫…?” (Want to talk about it…?) The taller Darkner offered; it preferred to listen and since Battat was more of a rambler, that worked out perfectly for their relationship.

“Sure…” The Pippins nodded and climbed onto their couch before he patted the space besides him for his cat-like companion.

Pluey cuddled up to him and sighed from relaxation. They both wished that Jongler was here as well but he had the Mike shift and would be with them later. The feline Darkner made a little trill to let Battat know that he can start and leaned into the touch.

“So… Tenna is being a bit off since the Mike reveal. I mean… he’s very apologetic which is understandable and good but he also seems kinda glooby and emotional… more than usual.” Battat sighed. “I’m worried he’s uncomfortable with a Pippins being Mike.”

“♫?” (Did you talk about it?) Pluey asked. “♬…♫” (I just noticed that he’s been petting my head less since that... but he will do it if I ask for it.) The Shadowguy explained.

“Mhm… interesting. I tried talking about it but he just said that he admires our friendship and would like something like it.” Battat explained. “Though, I am not sure that he fully understands the relationship we have…”

“♩…♫? ♪!” (Oh… maybe he wants to be part of our trio? A quartet!) Pluey suggested.

“Huh?” The green Pippins paused.

“♬!” (Maybe he wants to be friends with us!) Pluey reiterated.

Mippins sat there dumbfounded. “Ha! There is no way. He complained that Mike does his job and that he is upset about us lying and then again that he feels bad for lashing out but happy when we joined you two. I just think he’s going through the motions while dealing with his grief over losing Mister Spamton and Mike. It’s obvious that he dislikes Pippins, there has to be a connection to that.”

Pluey let out an annoyed trill and would roll its eyes if it had any, then climbed up from the couch to approach Battat’s theory board and move a few things.

“Hey! Don’t just—“ He froze when he saw the new connection, like rebooting to process this information. “Wait…” It clicked all of a sudden and Battat began to panic, rushing out of the room as if something stung him.

Pluey made a honking sound out of surprise and then had to smile because their leader could be quite stupid for someone so smart in other ways.

The small die ran up to Tenna’s personal green room and tried to reach for the door when he was suddenly jerked back by a Zapper pulling him off the door. “Hey! What gives?!” The green one struggled.

“I’m asking the questions… what do you want? Mister Tenna isn’t seeing anyone.” The taller Darkner explained annoyed when a another slightly taller Zapper joined them; one that wore a cowboy hat and neckerchief, someone whom most recognised as Mike.

“What’s going on?” TV World’s second in command asked before they saw the familar face. “Oh, bo-Battat. Whatcha doing ‘ere?”

“You know this guy?” The slight shorter Zapper asked.

“Dere’s only one green Pippins.” Mike explained to evade suspicion.

“I need to talk to Mister Tenna.” Battat reminded them that he was part of the conversation too.

“You need to get lost—‘ The grumpy Zapper frowned when the door opened and Tenna peeked out to take a look at the commotion.

“Is there an issue?” The CRT asked unsure.

“No, of course not.” The wannabe bouncer replied and yanked Battat into the air, ignoring his struggles. ”I was about to teach this Pippins a lesson for trying to break into your room.”

The die rolled his eyes. “What?! I wanted to talk to Mister Tenna, you bozo!”

“Enough.” Tenna ordered before things escalated. “Mike… I’ll be talking to this Pippins on my own. Please stay by the door, so we don’t get bothered. And you…” He sighed. “…thank you for being attentive but he’s permitted.”

The Zapper just nodded and returned to his other work with a grumble in Mippins direction.

“Of course, sir.” The assistant agreed and and gave Battat a concerned look when the door closed behind him.

Tenna walked over to his desk and sat down. “How can I help you?” His smile seemed a bit forced and his words were without the usual energy.

“I wanted to talk to you about last evening.” The die said when he felt a tail coil around his waist and raise him to the desk.

“Yes?” The CRT asked, fidgeting with his hands and trying to stay focused.

“I—“ Battat tried to speak but got grabbed immediately by the large hands of his employer, feeling his heart skip a beat from instinctual fear. “T-Tenna!?” When he looked up from the claws that were poking through white fabric, he was met with black glass and teeth that formed an awkward and intimidating smile.

“Y-you don’t want to quit, right?” The Lord of Screens began. “You wouldn’t leave me as well, right? Is that why you came out of costume? You want to quit being Mike, right? I don’t appreciate you enough, don’t I? I wasn’t grateful enough… it was my fault for asking more of you. You only do this for the money then? Do you want more? I can fire someone else! I can make cuts to pay you more. Please don’t leave…” He rambled and held him tighter. “I won’t force you to stay though… nononono! I want you to stay but I want you to want it. You love TV, right? You wouldn’t leave me. No…”

The small Darkner was rather taken aback and frightened when he got reminded of Tenna’s prior breakdown and winced when the claws went from uncomfortable to painful. “Anthony—!” He gasped for air.

The large man froze and slowly loosened his grip. “I’m sorry…” His unhinged smile turned into a frown. “I-I’m so sorry…” He shrunk to half his size and whimpered while the edges of his screen began to leak at the rim to his head’s casing. “I hurt you again… you’ll leave now… all of you will leave me now…” His screen turned into static when he carefully placed the Pippins down while mumbling the apology over and over between sobs.

“Tenna…” Battat approached him and put his hand into his boss’. “I didn’t come here to quit.” He sighed.

“Eh…?” Tenna’s screen flickered. “You didn’t?”

The die shook his head.

“Oh…” His screen returned to normal before his face turned red from embarrassment. “Oh! No… that… I got it completely wrong… I’m so sorry, Batsy. I didn’t mean to overreact again…” He sniffed while Battat patted his back despite struggling to even reach it, so he patted his arm and leg instead.

“There, there…” Battat tried to comfort him. “I’m not injured.”

“I’m glad…” He paused, relief showing on his face. “…wait, why did you come here then?” He asked with the saddest expression as if he was a kicked puppy or an abandoned kitten in the rain.

Battat blushed at his cuteness and figured that he had to make a theory on how someone this cute could be this intimidating. “I thought about what you said and I feel like there was a misunderstanding.” The green die smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze. “You… were you asking whether we could be friends? I mean… not Mike and you but… us… Battat, Pluey and Jongler… and Tenna?” He blushed embarrassed and prepared for the rejection.

Tenna stared at him as if to process the question before he nodded reluctantly, offering a timid but hopeful smile while his tail tapped the ground nervously.

Battat blushed more. “Well… how would you feel about hanging out some time then?” Tenna’s screen turned brighter and it was as if his metaphorical eyes were widening in surprise, the plug tail coming to a sudden hold. “We—“ The short die cleared his throat. “—usually go out during the weekend and maybe you’d want to join us this Saturday?”

Tenna immediately grew back to his regular size and swooped his little employee up as if he was a cat. “Yes! Oh, yes, I would love to!” His tail was wagging like crazy. “You have no idea how happy that makes me!”

“Sorry…” His mood did a u-turn immediately. The tall man’s antennae dropped while he placed Battat back down, then let his index fingers touch awkwardly before shyly shifting in place. “Y-you do actually want me? I mean… the other two are okay with this? You’re not doing this out of pity…?”

“Tenna. Believe me.” Battat tried to keep it together. “I want you.”

Tenna blushed even more, letting out a small sound. “Meep-“

“There!” The die corrected himself in a panic. “I want you there! Hanging out with us! As friends! Platonic!” He gestured wildly to stop fumbling.

Tenna seemed happy, wearing the brightest smile. “I can’t wait! Oh, if only it was Saturday already…” He sighed wistfully. “I’ll be the best company! Y-you’ll see! Nothing but fun! No gloobiness!” He picked his employee up and kissed his little die head quickly as if it was a simple gesture and then ushered him out of the room. “See you later, Batsy! I got to prepare!”

“There’s still two days until then—“ He tried to remind him.

“Well, perfection takes time! I must prepare! Thank you so much, I will not make you regret this!” He slammed the door shut and left a very confused Battat on the other side.

“Are yous okay, boss?” Jongler asked while they approached him, only wearing their cowboy hat and neckerchief now but none of the remaining Mike costume.

Pluey was already on his shift and had taken on the Cat Mike persona, standing curiously besides the Zapper as their leader collected himself.

Both of them had waited for their teammate to come out.

“I… I need a larger theory board… again.” He mumbled and tried to get his heart under control. “W-we have a date with Tenna on Saturday… p-platonic. I invited him to our hangout. I hope that’s okay.”

“Oh, well, I dun mind. Dere’s enough room for Mister Tenna.” The tallest of the trio reassured him. “Did anything else happen?”

“N-no…” Battat looked away.

The cat-like Shadowguy smirked knowingly while letting out a little teasing whistle that could be read as ‘Yeah, sure thing, Bats.’ in the most sarcastic way.

“No one, asked you, Mike!” Battat reminded him annoyed while blushing intensely.

Jongler blushed more subtly while looking at the two banter, simply happy that their friend was in a better mood again and he had made up with Tenna.

-

“So… he’s still unstable.” Jongler mumbled after Battat had told them everything that had transpired. “Are yous sure dis is safe?”

“I’m not. That’s why I am telling you, I can make up an excuse and meet up with him on my own to see how it goes.” The Pippins offered.

“♫!” (I want to be friends with Mister Tenna!) Pluey said excitedly.

“I won’t let yous guys go on your own. Dere has to be someone who can help you escape at least.” The Zapper sighed.

“♩! ♫!” (We’re all going!) Pluey purred and pulled the other two into a hug while wearing that catty smile.

Battat felt reassured by his two fellow Mikes joining him. As much as he cared about Tenna, the big man himself was still unstable and seemingly crashed out whenever they were alone together.

He just hoped that the Lord of Screens would be able to keep himself in check while they were in public. He didn’t want his partners to get hurt.

“Alright, I’ll check on him for the night and bring him his tea.” The die smiled warmly at his companions.

“Want me to take de shift?” Jongler asked when the smaller man got into his costume.

“No, I’m fine. I can’t be scared of him.” He sighed. “I mean, I’m not but I need to be able to trust him. Mike certainly would.”

“Boss…” Jongler sighed. “Quit putting Mike on a pedestal. You ain’t him… dere’s so much you’ve done for Tenna when de real Mike left him to fend for himself.” They rubbed their neck. “Who cares what Mike would do. What would Battat do? What do you want because you’re still here.”

The green Pippins stared at his friend in shock, clearly thinking about those words and nodding while he was still processing them. “Thank you.” He smiled softly. “But Tenna needs Mike right now and not Battat.” He put on the mask and left while still thinking about those words.

-

“Jongler is just worried that my obsession with Mike is unhealthy.” The die sighed, sitting in a closet to collect his thoughts before he headed to Tenna’s Green Room. “It’s sweet but…” He leaned back, the head of his costume in his lap while mumbling to himself. “…if it wasn’t for Mike… I never would have even met you two. Tenna isn’t the only one who needs him… I do as well.”

‘Exactly. You shouldn’t forget what you are.’ The grin on the mask seemed to widened as it spoke.

Battat remembered the first time he heard Mike talk to him. He was confused and scared that his obsession was becoming unhealthy but now he just treated him as an imaginary friend or his conscience.

He should probably mention this to someone but why should he when it wasn’t harmful. It might even be Mike’s spirit that possessed him whenever he put on the costume to give him confidence to stay on track and focused.

“I know…” The Pippins glanced at a dusty, old mirror.

‘You need me. You need Mike.’ He explained. ‘I told you that the bullying would stop eventually and it did all because of the friends you made because of me.’

Battat nodded absentmindedly and stared at Mike’s wide smile. Sometimes there was a feeling that he saw it move but that must certainly be his imagination.

‘Don’t be glooby. As long as you have me, they’ll stay. Just imagine what would happen if you got rid of me. If you stopped looking for me?’ Mike asked. ‘They’d leave again. Why would a Shadowguy and Zapper stick around a Pippins? A faulty one at that.’

“They’re my friends, not yours… they would stay.” Battat replied unsure. “You’re just a costume I made.”

‘Really?’ The mask asked. ‘Would Tenna as well? I mean, he wanted Battat dead and only kept you because he can’t be without me.’

The die grabbed the mask tighter. “I could bring him the tea without you and he’d still be happy to see me… he told me that he wants to be friends.”

“Mister Tenna is just desperate. If Mister Spamton came back or the real Mike, he’d probably fire you… if you’re lucky.’ It laughed. ‘Not even the other Pippins like you, what makes you think that anyone could want Battat?’

“I can face Tenna without you.” The green die mumbled.

‘Because that went so well the last two times. How was it? First he tried to kill you and then he-‘

He threw the mask against the wall and hugged his legs while hiding his face in his knees, hearing a squeak from the impact and looking up after the head rolled in front of him.

After a while of staring, he sighed and tried to make up his mind.

-

Mike knocked on Tenna’s door but there was no reply. “Mister Tenna, I’m bringing your tea.” He knocked again but there was still no reply, so he tried to get in by climbing and jumping at the doorknob.

The door finally opened but the room was dark, only a faint light and the crackling of quiet static offering anything more than the void.

A light beam formed where the edge of the door began and cut through the darkness but despite opening the door further and creating a path into the nothingness, everything out of its immediately vicinity remained an unnatural pitch blackness.

Something was wrong and despite everything. Mippins wasn’t used to it.

The strangeness of Tenna’s abilities and his influence on this realm seemed to follow no rules known to the Light World or any of the other Dark Worlds. It was entirely at the CRT’s whims and while it stayed mostly stable, the seams at which it got held together were seemingly coming apart.

TV World could get swallowed by darkness once more and just like the Lightners, they needed balance.

Dark and Light weren’t exclusive, they needed each other to co-exist. Darkness was the state of the universe and Light created its life but light sources always created shadow and between them was the penumbra that connected both and separate them just enough to keep their respective worlds stable.

Because of this, too much darkness wasn’t good for the Darkners either. It would consume them and twist them into something unrecognisable and could pose a danger that not only affected other Dark Worlds but the Light World too by having it leak out of the fountains and suffocate the sun.

While they were at mercy to the whims of their Lightners during this balance and lived to serve them, they possessed magic that the Light World didn’t. So, breaching this border would bring chaos and destruction that humans and monsters couldn’t fight.

How would they if every tool they used to advance turned against them? If their TV could crush them like a bug, devilish creatures would come for their souls and reality itself began to crumble.

It wasn’t an outcome most Darkners wanted either and the strongest of each world had the responsibility to keep everything safe. Most of them found happiness in the small things and simply desired peace and protection.

Queen and Tenna were two of the most powerful Darkners, the former for her technology and influence and the latter for his reality-bending abilities and size.

They controlled Cyber World and TV World respectively and had even began working together since Spamton introduced them to each other. This friendship remained even after the little mailman disappeared, both of them wanting to protect their subjects and employees unlike King from Card Kingdom who had no interest in their agreement but wouldn’t dare to fight the other two rulers.

Mike was shocked to see the state Tenna’s room was in. Because of his role, he knew more than the average Darkner, acting as a counterpart to Queen’s butler Swatch.

He stepped inside carefully and frowned, trying to find Tenna and hoping he wasn’t too late.

“Boss?” Mike tried again. “Are you in here…?” The door closed by itself and the small Darkner tried his best to stay calm. He didn’t move as if he was prey that got stalked by a predator.

He looked ahead and saw a small frame that emitted a faint light: Mr. (Ant) Tenna. Emphasis on the ant part because he was tiny, easily fitting into even a Pippins’ hands.

“Hey… what’s wrong?” Mike placed down the tea and approached him to scoop the little man up.

“Oh… Mike.” He replied quietly. “I haven’t noticed you… do you need anything?”

The assistant laughed weakly. “That should be my question… are you alright?

The CRT sniffed. “No…”

“Want to talk about it?” Mike stroked gently over his head, massaging the antennas carefully between his thumb and index finger.

“I am just worried about our date…” He mumbled shyly.

Mike paused. “W-what…”

“Our friendship date.” He sniffed.

“Ah… our hangout…” He mumbled embarrassed that Tenna called it a platonic date too. “I don’t understand why that makes you… glooby…”

“Yeah…” Tenna smiled awkwardly and didn’t look at him. “…but… I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to see it as more… and I am just so nervous…”

Mike almost jumped out of his costume. “W-what?!”

“D-don’t you want me after all…?” Tenna apparently couldn’t shrink more because otherwise he clearly would. He couldn’t get smaller than an action figure.

“Tenna… I… do you mean Mike or Battat?” He asked eventually, his hold of the CRT tightening slightly.

The shrunken man appeared surprised and then confused at the question. “Does it matter?”

“It does to me.” He placed him down and turned away, hugging himself as his heart began to beat quickly.

“But… you are Mike.” Tenna tried to reason.

“But I’m not the real Mike!” The die countered. “I am not him… I wish I was… that I could be Mike for you but in the end, I’m just a Pippins playing pretend… you don’t even know me.” He turned back and saw Tenna stare at him with his screen leaking. “Tenna, I’m sorry. I— that’s now how Mike should behave, is it…?”

A manic smirk formed on his face under the mask, hidden by the plastered smile on his costume. “Mike isn’t emotional or overthinking… Mike always keeps it together… Mike isn’t emotional… or… is he? Was he emotional? Was he angry a lot? Maybe he cried himself to sleep? Who knows… I need to make a new theory… but that can’t be right. Mike was—“

Tenna seemed to have grown again and grabbed Battat, carefully taking off the mask to make eye contact and see tears running down Battat’s face. “Batsy… calm down…” He frowned.

“How can I calm down? I need to figure it out. I need to know… need to become him… because who even am I without him? I’m… I don’t know… I don’t remember—“ He hit his head twice before Tenna stopped him. “I’m… I… Mike… He…” The Pippins smiled crooked while holding his head.

Tenna wasn’t used to be the one comforting others, not anymore. It’s been a while, Anthony used to do it a lot with Kris when they were younger and Spamton when he had an episode and just like him, Battat didn’t make sense to the tall Darkner. That didn’t matter though, he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.

“I’m just a replacement…” Battat seemed to have calmed down a bit but his stare remained vacant. “I’m sorry that I can’t be him either.”

Tenna’s claws graced the small man’s body but he made sure not to hurt him by holding the reflex back in time. “…what?”

“No matter how hard I try… I can’t fill the void they left. Not Mike’s and definitely not his.” He smiled numbly at Tenna. “I’m sorry that I failed you. I can’t be who you want me to be. I tried to figure it out but I can’t crack this…’

Chapter Text

“Stop…” Tenna’s screen showed static. “That’s not true.”

“But it is-“

“Then where are they!?” He asked with bared teeth and held Battat more tightly.

The Pippins flinched. “I-I don’t know…”

“Exactly.” Tenna’s shoulders and antennas sunk lower as he inhaled and exhaled slowly to calm down, releasing his firm grip. “Sorry… but you are.” He smiled shakily. “You’re here… you stayed… you came back… you’ve done more for me than either the first Mike or he did… they left me when they didn’t need me anymore… and I made mistakes as well because… I chose the phone…” He laughed bitterly.

“I haven’t told you before but… I was there… I didn’t find him gone… I saw him leave and instead of running after him, I answered the phone and no one was there.” The CRT admitted. “I always blamed him but what if he needed my help and I wasn’t there for him? What if he ran because I didn’t treat him right? What if I never really knew him? What if he’s dead and I can never make up for my mistakes?”

Battat just listened.

“I don’t want to make the same mistake. I want to get to know you better. The real you: Battat.” Tenna smiled warmly. “I don’t want to lose you… not as some replacement but my best friend. I do want him back… of course, I do. But I still care about you as well… I still see you as someone very important to me whom I want to know better.”

The Pippins leaned into his touch but still kept up screen contact.

“I don’t want you to be someone else… I want you. I want to get to know you. Mike didn’t sit by my side to comfort me, Mike didn’t bring me tea, Mike didn’t massage my antennas… you did much more than what I paid you to do even outside work hours… you didn’t have to do that but you did anyway.” He carefully petted him while retracting his claws. “All three of you but especially you… so… I do want to get to know the one who stayed by my side through the good and bad times if you want that as well.”

Battat felt Tenna stroke his cheek and exhaled with a tremble. “Alright… how could I say no to that…” He smiled up at the CRT and noticed that the room looked normal again, the lights were off but he could see the outline of furniture. Was he just imagining the impenetrable darkness?

Tenna sighed relieved. “Thank you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish that I could be better at this… I really thought you don’t want me to see you and Mike as separate people anymore. But maybe I got that wrong? At first I did and wanted to get to know Battat instead but you were only talking about Mike and how we’re not actually friends. On the contrary, you seem upset that I want to treat you the same outside work…” He shrunk a bit again. “I’m really confused what you want from me… so… I am asking.” The Darkner smiled softly at his little companion. “What can I do for you?”

“You’re asking what you can do for me?” Battat tilted his head in confusion.

Tenna nodded eagerly. “I could massage your hands…”

Battat blushed. “Ah- that won’t be necessary, Mister Tenna.” He held them up quickly and waved in a panic. “You’d probably crush them…”

“Oh… right…” Tenna shrunk more, now needing both hands to hold the green die. “I’m sorry…”

“No… I didn’t mean— urgh… I’m so bad at this without Mike.” He sunk his head and sighed.

The CRT tilted his head. “But Mike is just a mask, is he not? You’re… well, you.”

“No… I mean, yes. Technically.” He sighed. “That’s how it should be…”

Tenna offered a sympathetic frown. “Maybe we’re both overthinking this…” He sighed and put his friend on the ground. “This seemed to be so easy in the past but maybe we’ll have to relearn. How about we just meet up tomorrow and do what you usually do. Let’s not call it anything special or make any plans, just a casual hangout and you can either come in costume or without. Whatever you three are comfortable with.”

Battat offered a smile. “Maybe you’re right… thank you. You’re more sensitive than you seem sometimes.”

The show host smiled crookedly. “Eh… what’s that supposed to mean?” He asked but Battat was already out of the room, his mood seemed to have improved at least or an idea might have come to him that he needed to follow like a compulsion.

“See you tomorrow, Tenna!” He grinned and ran off.

“W-wait! What did you mean by… that… and he’s gone…” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before smiling and letting out a small chuckle. “You really know how to choose them, don’t you…?” His smile turned into something sadder before he exhaled slowly. “I should finish my work for the day.”

—

“Ready for our totally casual thing we don’t put a name to!’ Tenna said almost too excited, appearing a bit off and insincere because of it.

“Are you okay…?” Battat asked, noticing that Tenna was incredibly tense the moment they had entered his room. Neither of them showed up in their costume to avoid suspicion about Mike’s identity but now Tenna was acting suspicious instead.

They also agreed to meet up at the studio since it was the most neutral place that was close to TV Town.

“Yes! Of course! Absolutely hunky-dory!” He gave the divers signal for okay while looking as if he was close to a nervous breakdown. “I’m on top of the world!”

Battat sighed. “Do you actually want this?”

“What…?” Tenna tensed up even more. “Of course, I do… I’m just… nervous…” He shrunk almost a head and let his head hang.

Jongler cleared their throat. “Well… the boss has been panicking about not having a plan all morning. I believe we’re all a bit nervous about this.’

Mippins glared at the traitor while Pluey just nodded. “♩! ♫.” (Yeah! Don’t worry, Mister Tenna!)

“Mhm…” Battat inspected him and sighed. “Alright, guys. Seems we need to get Tenna prepared for a day in the town.” The Pippins smirked mischievously. “Good thing I made a plan after all!”

“I thought we didn’t—“ Tenna and Jongler spoke in unison but got interrupted immediately.

Pluey whistled in agreement and nodded quickly while offering a thumbs up before pushing Tenna towards the walk-in closet inside the show host’s private Green Room.

Tenna just followed his lead and didn’t fight it despite clearly being lost. “What are we doing?”

“Well, the clothes you wear are not fit for a regular hangout. You look as if you’re ready for the stage.” The Pippins tapped his chin. “That suit is attached to your image! Your TV persona.”

“I am the TV.” Tenna clarified.

“Yes…” The die agreed a bit annoyed that he got interrupted. “But you’re not only Mr. (Ant) Tenna.” Battat tried to clarify while their boss sat down. “You’re also Anthony. You have a self out of the limelight that clothes can unlock.”

“Well… I suppose.” He seemed a bit unsure about this.

“So?” Battat got a clipboard from heaven knew where and pointed a pen at the much taller man. “Who is Anthony?”

“I… don’t really think I’m anyone…if I don’t perform.” Tenna shrunk a bit. “I stopped being him a long time ago… it’s just Mister Tenna now.”

Pluey let out a wrong buzzer sound effect.

“Thank you, Pluey. That’s incorrect.” His expression grew more stern. “Let me help you.” He cleared his throat and snapped his fingers when a board fell from the ceiling.

“How did you—“ Tenna looked at the ceiling in confusion because he knew for a fact that no one else could alter reality in this World.

“I hid these all around the studio.” Battat explained without really explaining anything about how he pulled this off before continuing on by drawing on the board. “We got to know you at work and afterwards. You might have forgotten but we haven’t. We’ve been working for you for a very long time.”

“I am not sure why we are talking about this.” Tenna smiled confused, a bit overwhelmed by the expansive list his Mikes have created.

“Simple.” The die shrugged. “Clothes make the man. As long as you wear this fit, everyone - including yourself - will see you as the Lord of Screens; the very face of TV World.”

“Oh my… not many call me that around here anymore.” He laughed flustered. “I am a bit embarrassed about that era…”

“Among the Dark Worlds we can reach - when it comes to us Darkners - your power is only matched by Queen and her Mech. That is why you decided to form an alliance after all.” Battat pointed at a different part of his chart.

“What does that have to do with any—“

The die tapped the board again. “She’s in a similar position to you and Queen has a life outside being the ruler of Cyber World; that’s what we need to do for you as well. You get into costumes for the show but I never see you wear casual clothes outside work anymore. You have become a total workaholic, it’s controlling your life.”

Jongler glanced at Pluey. “Pot calling the kettle black, huh?” They whispered.

The Shadowguy let out quiet honks as it held back a laugh.

“You see… every outfit is a role. All the costumes that you wear during your shows have a different purpose. We also act differently in the Mike costume and maybe if we dress you up for the occasion, you’ll feel more confident and have an easier time to let loose.” He pondered. “It’s only a theory but it might help you let go of the need to perform because in friendships, you need to build trust first and that happens if you are your authentic self.”

“Mhm…” Tenna held only his wrist, shaking slightly from nervousness. “It’s just… been a while…” He looked away, perking up when the three smaller men approached him.

“♬” (Don’t worry, we got your back.)

“Wes just want you to feel comfortable and a change of pace might do de trick.” Jongler suggested.

“Yeah, see it like that. This is the suit you wear when you’re with Mike, you know? When we’re in costume too.” Battat smirked. “You said that you wanted to be a part of us. Then how about we get you a costume that represents you off stage?”

Tenna smiled and chuckled softly. “That actually sounds nice. I’m in. I do miss dressing up just for fun…”

“Perfect!” Battat’s grin widened as he got stacks of paper out of nowhere and went through them at high speeds. “Ialreadygotyour measurements,conceptsketches,colourpalettes,fabricsamples,seasonalcollections,trendstatistics,accesso—“

“Boss, calm down.” Jongler stopped him. “I think yourse overwhleming de big boss.”

Tenna’s screen showed a large spiral as he swayed in place to process all of that, this was definitely faster than his frame rate. “H-how about you choo—“ He saw Jongler and Pluey gesture for him to stop and not finish that sentence as if it would trigger the currently still rather calm Pippins. The CRT just reached for a random sketch that got his attention. “Actually… how about that one? It’s colourful and looks comfortable. I love the suspenders.”

Battat looked at it and smiled. “Oooh can do! I think I actually have the pieces for it, just need to make some adjustments!”

“Great! Let’s get to work then, can I help?” The large Darkner asked cheerfully, starting to look forward to this.

-

Tenna stood with outstretched arms, allowing Battat to make adjustments on his clothes as if he was a professional tailor.

“I wasn’t aware that you are so skilled with the needle!” Tenna smiled while the shorter men finished his clothes off. “I knew you could fix things but you can create them from scratch too?”

“I worked in the costume department until the workload as Mike became too much and that became my main occupation.” He smiled. “I actually made all the costumes based on everyone’s preferences even if I was worried you’d get suspicious… they are quite different.”

Tenna laughed. “Well… I just thought that you just liked wearing different costumes… Mike actually never showed himself to me in person before you showed up. But he told me that he doesn’t only keep one form.”

The Pippins froze. ‘What?’ He wanted to ask more questions but it was not the time. Their employer might not know much but that was crucial information. He was a shapeshifter? Not a microphone then? A shapeshifting microphone?

“Everything okay?” Tenna asked carefully wearing a warm smile.

“…huh?” He noticed that he was daydreaming about Mike again even if it was only for a moment. “Ah- I apologise! I’m done. I do believe it would be more casual without the tie.” He climbed on his shoulder and smirked.

“You already made me wear loose pants and had me take off my jacket, at least leave me my tie!” Tenna begged playfully.

“Hey, you chose this one!” Battat teased back. “I was suggesting a hat too but you declined.”

“While I wear them sometimes, they limit my antennas.” The TV explained. “And I liked the suspenders of this one.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” The die smirked and glanced at the one that seemed to inspect him. “Can I help you?”

“Oh, nothing… you just smell nice, like lime… I never noticed before because of the costume. It’s very nice.”

Battat remained quiet when both looked away from each other with a blush. The Pippins cleared his throat and jumped off before offering a supportive smile. “Should we go then, Anthony?” He asked, still feeling a bit awkward about the name.

Tenna’s screen dimmed barely noticeable when he remembered how Spamton had looked at him like this before. He quickly tried to push the memory away and nodded, then went outside with the other three.

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.

Chapter Text

Tenna was angry in the past.

Always.

TV World was called Screen World during that time and living conditions were harsh. There wasn’t a dome, it was cold outside. The weather stormy and ruthless, as cold as their Lord’s soul seemed to be.

He had taken them in and attempted to make everyone comfortable at first but then Mike arrived and things changed, only to get worse again with his disappearance. The stranger corrupted him and isolated Tenna from the weather duo.

He didn’t save them out of the kindness of his heart anymore, he did it for control and made sure everyone knew that. They were dependent on him and if they couldn’t obey nor make themselves useful, he kicked them out and let them wander the cold until they begged for forgiveness and swore their loyalty.

He made them return voluntarily by showing them a worse alternative.

Elnina and Lanino were adamant about how Tenna hadn’t always been like this. His intentions had been good at first but Mike changed that; he was a manipulator who left when Tenna refused to sign anything, still trusting his other two friends enough to decline that deal.

The weather duo might have been the only reason why no heads were rolling but working conditions were still as harsh as the weather itself and the Lord of Screens ruled with fear.

Their boss would go on stage and ask for Mike to do things. Sometimes those things would just happen but other times they wouldn’t. And if they didn’t, Mister Tenna would raise hell.

Screen World had become a frozen purgatory because no one managed to control him anymore, his outbursts became more frequent and destructive. The entire world shook under his rage as if even the ground quivered in fear.

That was when Battat couldn’t take it anymore and devised a plan with everything he could find out about Mike. He got to work on a costume and practiced, bracing himself to face the one who ruled over their world.

He had gathered information about him and Mike before by listening to the CRT rant. The green die did this by hiding in vents that he only barely fitted in because he was shorter than the average dice.

It was the most thrilling gamble in his opinion and it wasn’t like he had anything better to do because he got excluded by the rest of the employees.

One of the Shadowguys had refused to obey an order about pointing his gun at a scared Pippins while Battat was in the middle of his practice. He heard something crash and rushed outside without changing his appearance when Tenna pointed a finger gun at the frozen shadow. A star formed at his fingertip, emitting heat and radiation.

The die didn’t think but stepped between the Shadowguy and Tenna instinctively. “Stop!” He yelled and closed his eyes when the heat and blinding light ceased.

Battat looked up at Tenna’s enraged face, a black mirror and sharp canines that formed into a snarl.

“Who do you think you are…?” Tenna asked and snatched the unfamiliar appearance up. “I should bite off your head for raising your voice at me.”

Battat focused to channel the perfect poker face and transfer that faked confidence to his voice. “Tenna…” He chuckled. “I haven’t been gone that long and you already don’t recognise your best friend?”

Tenna seemed confused. “What?”

“It’s me, Mike.” He explained and watched Tenna’s screen flicker. He couldn’t show fear, even the smallest mistake would mean that his little, white lie would be busted.

The tall man held onto him and turned away to head for his office without another word.

Battat assumed that Tenna would execute him; he managed to glance in the direction of the Shadowguy, catching a glimpse of pure terror and pity.

He accepted his fate. His work would have been in vain but at the same time he might have saved a life. That was one useful thing that happened in his life.

Heaven knew that it was the only thing.

The CRT placed him down on the couch and locked the door to his office before inspecting him. “So… you’re Mike?” He asked with a scoff. “Why should I believe you? You look… different.” The Lord of Screens was doubting himself, that might he his only opportunity. “Proof it… and after that…” His fangs showed. “…you give me a reason why I shouldn’t tear you apart.”

“Last time we saw each other, I offered you a contract.” The die began without a hint of hesitation. “It was about our business relationship.”

Tenna tensed up and if he could become pale, he certainly would. “How do you know…?” Besides Mike, only Elnina and Lanino knew; they wouldn’t tell anyone.

“…I told you, I’m Mike.” The Pippins replied nonchalantly and shrugged.

“Bullshit!” He hissed, claws poking his gloves while they barely held on. “You can’t be him…” Tenna stepped closer. “Because I killed Mike…” His voice was like venom.

Battat didn’t flinch. “Why are you lying to me about something that can’t be true. I left and now I am standing in front of you…” He explained calmly.

The man seemed taken aback and kept watching him but his expression softened marginally.

Battat decided to double down. “Tenna… I know you’re going through a lot, is that manufacturing issu—“

Tenna slammed the ground hard, almost causing Battat to break character. “DON’T MENTION IT, I DON’T HAVE A MANUFACTURING ISSUE. YOU KNOW I DON’T WANT YOU TO SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT, MIKE.”

Battat inhaled and exhaled to steady himself. “Tenna… hey, look at me.” He stepped closer.

“Stay away! I’ll crush you! I will tear you apart or have you executed by firing squad!” Tenna’s claws dug into the floor, his body was shaking.

“Look at me, Tenna.” Mike put his hand on Tenna’s, his hands barely wrapping around one finger to carefully stroke it with his thumb. “Breathe with me. In… and out…”

Tenna followed the lead, too confused to think and trembling with every exhale before retracting his claws after he had calmed down. He began to sob and held onto the other man when he shrunk to barely half of Mike’s size. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry for not becoming perfect as you wanted me to be… for not taking your deal… I missed you so much…” He laughed awkwardly. “This is the first time you’ve held me… you’re much softer than I imagined.”

Mike shushed him and held Tenna while he rubbed over his back. “You’re okay… everything will be okay… I’m glad you didn’t. I made many mistakes in the past and I’ve come to regret them.”

“What do you mean…?” The CRT asked confused.

“My biggest mistake is what I’ve done to you… I was wrong.” Mike explained. “The way you act… you’re destroying yourself, hurting everyone who wants to help you. That included Elnina and Lanino… they are worried for you and you keep pushing them away all because of me.”

“You just wanted to help me get rid of my flaw… you wanted to make me perfect.” The Darkner argued, his voice deepening once again. “If the Dreemurr’s find out that I’m broken, they’ll throw me out. You said that yourself…”

“No one is perfect but you can be better. I was misguided. Your little flaw doesn’t make you broken or worthless. The Dreemurr’s love you, you’re part of the family and Kris adores you just as much as their parents.” He explained. “I see how hard you work but the way you’re going, you’ll end up alone and burned out. Instead of trying to be big on your own, why not make the studio big and create something sustainable?”

“What are you suggesting?” He leaned against the other Darkner.

“If you want people to respect you, you have to take the first step and treat them with respect.” The microphone explained.

“Everyone respects me.” The man pouted

“They fear you.” The usually smaller Darkner sighed. “But you could make them love you and truly respect you.” Mike reassured him. “You just have to trust me and give it a try. If it doesn’t work out and you don’t like it, we can figure something else out… together.”

Tenna nodded and sniffed. “Can you hold me a bit longer?”

“Of course… I’ll never let you go again. Just promise me to stop destroying yourself and hurting everyone who is on your side… please.” Mike requested.

“I’ll try my best but I’ll need your help… don’t leave me again…” He begged and grew while holding his small friend to his chest.

“Never again.” The microphone reassured him.

Tenna looked at him, carefully holding Mike in his hands and looking away with a frown.

“What’s wrong, Tenna?” He smiled through the costume, the magic he put on the mask, mirroring every change of expression.

“Are you scared of me too?” He asked almost ashamed.

“No.” Mike looked up at him in determination. “I am just worried about you.”

The Lord of Screens was hardly recognisable when he managed a timid smile.

-

Battat was rather perplexed and nodded, allowing Tenna to offer him his large spoon. It was way too big for the little Pippins to wrap his mouth around it, so he hesitantly stuck out his tongue to give it a lick.

Tenna seemed to tense up a bit when he watched Battat’s little tongue similar to a cat drinking from a bowl of milk. Compared to him, Pippins were roughly cat or kitten-sized and it didn’t help with not making this specific die more endearing. Battat in general gave him cat vibes with how he wasn’t as touchy or social as other Pippins and his eyes reminding him of one too.

He couldn’t help it, tail twitching and eventually wagging slowly in a happy swaying motion. ‘Cute…’ He thought, simply watching his small companion taste the spoonful of fruity flavours. “Aw…” He let out eventually, it was an entirely involuntary sound that got a follow-up by a bright blush.

Most of Tenna’s screen would turn pink but there was a faint streak of colours around the same level as his nose that resembled a prism in direct light or SMPTE colour bars.

Battat froze, similar to a startled cat and moved away, hiding his lime-coloured tongue behind the thin line where his lips connected.

Tenna was almost disappointed and glanced at the spoonful before eating what was left and grinning. He stuck out his tongue in a playful manner afterwards to alleviate the sudden awkwardness but it only caused Battat to blush as well and both of them look away in shame of their own reactions.

‘Was that an indirect kiss?!’ The green die wondered while hiding his face behind his gloved claws.

The CRT was fidgeting awkwardly with his spoon but also remained quiet, thinking about his own actions and wondering why he even did that. It was so unprofessional. What if Battat left now? What if he accused him of harassment by using their power imbalance.

Wait. Did he do that? Was he abusing his power? Tenna tensed up at the memory of how he acted in the past, a faint static overtook his screen before it began to leak.

The green die stared at him in confusion. “T-Tenna? Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine…” He sniffed and wiped over his face when Battat walked over the table to dry his face with a napkin.

“You’re crying because you’re fine?” Battat raised a brow. “I have a hard time believing that…”

“I’m sorry for ruining the moment…” The CRT laughed awkwardly.

“Anthony…” The Pippins put his hands into his hips. “…I thought that I told you there’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to your emotions. You just need to let them out healthily.” He sighed.

“I know… I guess it just didn’t really hit me how much you’ve truly done for me and TV World until now and you never asked for anything in return.” Tenna smiled.

Battat seemed confused. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You prevented me from making a huge mistake… many huge mistakes that would have followed too… you kept your promise to stay by my side no matter how awful I’ve been. I just feel like I don’t deserve this… you’re so amazing. You turned my life around and… in a way all of this is your doing, I never would have thought about creating TV Town if it wasn’t for you. And you never took credit for anything either, you just did it to help people. That’s admirable.”

“Tenna…” Battat’s gaze seemed dull. “…you give me way too much credit.” He laughed emptily at the memory. “And it’s been so long, no need to think about the past.”

Tenna frowned. “Are you okay as well…?” He tried to put his hand around him but Battat flinched back.

“Sorry…” The die rubbed his arm.

“It’s okay… is anything on your mind?” He asked, trying to sound understanding when the rejection was tugging at his soul.

“I was being selfish as well… I told you no one is perfect… and you saved me just as much as you might think I have saved you.”

Tenna frowned. “You did save me.”

“I… meant it more literal in my case.” The die mumbled, staring at his feet. “Until I became Mike, I had no reason to exist. I helped because it gave me a purpose… Battat died to me that day, only a vessel to keep Mike alive.”

“…do you still feel that way?” Tenna asked sadly, letting his antennas hang low.

“No… thanks to Pluey and Jongler… they made me care. At first, I didn’t believe a lot of what I told you but I understood your pain of feeling faulty… and worthless.” He smiled a bit but didn’t look up. “I learned to genuinely care and being here with you now, it’s like a dream come true. It makes me happy to think we both made it and that things might just be okay after all. It’s funny… that one action of saving Pluey changed so much.” He looked up to look at a black screen and crude frown. “…Tenna?”

The large hand reached out, wrapping shakily around Battat and pressing him against Tenna’s chest. “Me too… it doesn’t matter why you did it at first, we’re here now and I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.” He loosened his grip. “I-I’m so sorry, I just grabbed you when—“

Battat pulled himself closer again. “It’s okay… I feel the same.”

Jongler watched the two from afar, hiding behind some decorative plants. “Do you think de’re doin’ well?”

Pluey was crouched besides them and let out a little trill of confirmation.

“Are ya sure?” The Zapper asked and glanced at the two. “Aight… let’s join dese hopeless guys.”

Pluey didn’t hesitate and ran up to Tenna, jumping him and nuzzling the big man’s neck while purring.

“Ack- Pluey!?” Both men exclaimed in surprise.

“♪!” (That’s me!) He grinned and nuzzled Tenna.

Tenna gasped and held back the waterworks at how cute he was.

“Don’t cry again.” Battat ordered and gasped himself when Pluey snatched his ice cream like the mischievous cat it was. “Hey!”

The feline Darkner cooed and ran off with the half-melted ice cream while the Pippins ran after him.

Tenna chuckled at their antics. “Come on, Pluey… you can have some of mine.” He smiled warmly and offered his own bowl from which Pluey ate like a cat.

Battat scoffed and stole back his bowl. “You’re an adult man… act like it…” He mumbled and took a spoonful from his bowl.

“Don’t you want anything?” Tenna asked the third member of the trio.

“I’m not big on sweets but thank you.” Jongler admitted.

“What? How can anyone not like sweets?” The CRT asked confused. “There has to be something you like…”

“I prefer salty snacks.” They stated with a shrug. “Don’t worry.”

“Oh! Well, they sell amazing fresh pretzels around here!” Tenna said excitedly.

“It’s really fine.” The Zapper reassured him.

“I won’t accept a no!” Tenna announced with a grin. “Today it is my turn to treat you. If you don’t want pretzels there has to be something else you enjoy.” He asked hopefully and put his hands together. “Please…?”

Pluey was acting like a little copycat and imitated their boss. “♩” (Please.)

Battat smirked. “Guess you can’t decline now.”

Jongler sighed in defeat. “Youse guys win...”

-

Jongler ate their XXL pretzel while the group walked through the mall, sharing with Pluey and Battat because it was too big even for the tall Zapper. “Do you also want some?” They asked.

Tenna looked at the trio. “Me?”

“Yes.” Jongler offered him a large piece. “Battat and Pluey already got their share.”

“But I bought it for you.” Tenna seemed unsure whether it was okay to accept.

“I insist. You’re part of dis group too.” The remote told him and held the piece up.

Tenna accepted and stared at his share in surprise before a warm smile replaced any hesitation. “Thank you… that means a lot.”

“It’s just a pretzel.” It was Jongler’s turn to be confused now. “And you paid for it.”

“I mean… that you see me as part of the group.” The CRT’s screen began to leak again. “I’m sorry… I was just really worried that I was intruding and you weren’t comfortable with it. So, I’m relieved to hear this from you.”

The Zapper stared at him and blushed before clearing his throat. “Yourse overthinking just as much as de boss..”

Pluey grinned and looked at Battat before it laughed quietly, ignoring how its friend was rolling his eyes.

“Ay! What’s so funny?” Jongler blushed even more when he looked at Tenna for help but only saw the tall Darkner blush as well.

Battat smiled at the three of them, putting a hand to his mouth when he noticed and blushing. He’s been smiling so much lately and it wasn’t faked either, it was starting to feel natural but still surprised him sometimes.

It felt nice and he hoped that things could stay like this.

Exclusive Bonus Art as a thank you for reading my silly, little fanfics :3

Chapter Text

Battat learned a lot about Mister Tenna while working for him, especially after taking Mike’s role.

There were things that he had observed before but being closer to him made it clear what symptoms his boss suffered from.

Mike had made a list with all the information he could gather: the most obvious observation were his mood swings and emotional instability. He could go from happy to angry or sad within minutes, sometimes even faster when he was especially unstable. The best way to handle those situations was to stay grounded and offer stability instead of engaging with anger or frustration. He just had to stay calm and comfort him when the outburst had passed.

His most intense emotion was his anger, something only barely kept under control by offering Tenna less destructive outlets but Mippins hadn’t quite gotten those under control.

Another obvious issue was his impulsiveness. Mister Tenna would quickly jump to conclusions and then decide on excessive punishment because of his volatile state, only to regret it later. He simply followed any compulsive thought that came to his mind. The only way to counter this was to ground him and offer him a moment to breathe and think. When he attacked that Shadowguy, it had been such an impulsive decision.

Whenever he wasn’t displaying intense emotions, the CRT just seemed depressed and empty. Mike had caught him by himself in a dark corner of his Green Room a few times now. He’d usually just sit with him in silence unless Tenna asked to hold his hand. Other times, the tall Darkner would cry bitterly as if he was a child that lost its parents or as if he was a lost soul in agony. It was painful to watch and listen to, making it clear that the CRT was suffering with the situation as well.

His self-image changed a lot as well, some days he would feel on top of the world and see himself as the most powerful and respected Darkner in all the Dark Worlds while on other days he would shrink and lose his self-esteem; during that time he seemed to realise how cruel his actions were and lamented that no one loved him. Mike could only reassure him then and offer to help him with receiving the love and respect he craved deep down.

Something else he only learned through getting closer to his boss, was his fear of abandonment and dissociation.

Those were hardest to deal with because no matter how much he tried, the fact remained that Mike had abandoned him before and Mister Tenna’s rage and paranoia could turn towards him.

The Lord of Screens would trap him, either emotionally by threatening to take all of Screen World down with him if Mike left again or physically by locking him up or holding onto him.

Nothing he said or did mattered, especially if he dissociated as well. It was bad enough if he cried and apologised after having an episode but it was even scarier if Tenna didn’t even seem to remember and just acted happy to see Mike.

He learned quickly not to bring it up because if he did, The Lord of Screens would go through a mental breakdown of catastrophic proportions that resulted in Tenna harming himself some way or another. It was best to just smile and nod his head as if he hadn’t been locked up for a day.

All of this resulted in Tenna having unstable relationships with everyone he tried to get closer to. Battat couldn’t even blame anyone for staying away from their dangerous employer but at the same time this isolation had made him worse in the first place.

Another important information he gained from the weather duo was that Tenna used to be very attached to both, especially Elnina. His entire emotional well-being depended on her and he did get better for a while until the two started dating and Mike showed up.

He appeared lost at first but then developed an unhealthy dependency on the stranger, who sadly didn’t have Tenna’s or Screen World’s best interest at heart like Elnina had.

Mike didn’t offer the stability and support that Anthony desperately needed, Mike was only interested in The Lord of Screens and would threaten to leave him when he questioned anything. He made him feel worse but Tenna still needed his approval, the thought of losing Mike alone turned him into an obedient puppet to that mystery man.

Elnina and Lanino didn’t know why Tenna didn’t sign the contract. They told him not to because Mike was hurting him and after trying to regain some agency, his favourite person left and Tenna broke down entirely.

He seemed to snap and went from acting like a mob boss on Mike’s leash to a wild animal.

In the end, Tenna was a victim too.

Someone with clear mental health issues getting attached to the wrong person. And now Battat had replaced that monster.

He couldn’t get any more information out of Tenna or the duo without seeming suspicious, so he made it his mission to find Mike himself and learn the truth.

-

The lord of Screen World walked crouched.

He always seemed prideful and confident when walking his halls but not on that day and it made for a weird atmosphere because Mister Tenna was surely planning something.

His behaviour had changed slightly since Mike had returned, it became more stable and calm.

The Dark World was wary of this perceived peace, anxiously walking past every screen that acted as their boss’ eyes.

“Elnina, Lanino?” The CRT approached them. “Into my office.” He ordered before lowering his voice and shrinking slightly. “Please.”

The two looked at each other in worry but followed without a complaint. The Green Room became as quiet as a funeral, being send to Mister Tenna’s office never meant anything good and his strange behaviour was unnerving.

“What do you need, dear?” Elnina asked while steadying herself as their boss closed the door.

“I needed to talk to you. This… has been a long time overdue.” Tenna admitted and shifted awkwardly in place when Mike appeared by his side.

“You got this.” He reassured him.

Lanino threw him a wary glare, not trusting the new Mike either.

Tenna nodded. “I wanted to apologise…” He shrunk to half his size. “…and I really miss hanging out with you guys. Even just talking to you… I…” He fidgeted with his tie while tears were welling up at the rim of his screen. “I just wanted to know whether we’re still friends. Despite everything I did… I just wish we could go back and—“

Before he could finish, Elnina already wrapped her arms around him to give him a tight hug. “Of course, silly… we were so worried to have lost you but if you are willing to reconcile, we’re here to support you.”

Lanino sighed relieved and patted his shoulder. “You’re like a brother to us, we told you that family sticks together. We missed having you around too, big guy.”

The CRT pulled both into a hug before crying and shrinking until he fit into Elnina’s hands. “I’m sorry… I don’t want to be bad… it’s been so lonely but I can’t control it… it’s scary…”

The cloud shushed him. “Hey… it’s not too late, we can make things right. We got you.” She nuzzled Tenna’s screen and smiled when he returned the gesture.

“What made you have a change of heart?” Lanino asked curiously.

“Oh, Mike and I have been talking about the changes we want to make to the studio and this Dark World… and we came to the conclusion that I really miss the early times when we build the studio and just all had fun.” The shrunken TV admitted. “He suggested that I apologise to my friends and… well… you’re the only friends I have left as well as my oldest…” He looked down.

“I see…” Elnina offered a wry smile to Mike. “Thank you.”

Lanino remained suspicious but nodded to support his girlfriend’s words.

Mike shook his head. “It was all Tenna’s idea, I am just here to support him.”

-

Tenna had locked himself in.

The situation at the studio was slowly improving and people weren’t constantly walking on broken glass anymore but Tenna’s complete personality change still made most Darkners suspicious of his true intentions. He seemed almost timid and scared now compared to before, as if the facade he used to protect himself had been broken down and left behind a helpless young man.

The CRT knew that today was a bad day. A sad day. The worst day.

He refused to leave, shrunken and hidden in his private quarters. He was twenty-four now, he couldn’t act like a child anymore but he felt like one. The TV was sad and wished he had someone to comfort him.

The door creaked open and in it stood Mike. “Tenna? Are you there?”

The CRT flinched at that voice. “How did you get in here?”

“You gave me a master key.” Mike reminded him.

“Oh… I forgot.” He held onto his tail.

Mike sat down besides him and rubbed gently over his back. “Want to talk, birthday boy?”

“Don’t remind me…” He hugged his legs.

“Why not?” The assistant asked confused.

“I don’t like my birthday…” Anthony admitted.

“Oh…” Mike sighed. “Me neither, I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated it.” He pondered.

“I used to… Elnina and Lanino made me little gifts and cakes. We didn’t have much but it was still nice.” Tenna pulled his legs closer.

“Why don’t I make you a cake as well then?” Mike got up and offered his hand.

“…no.” His tail tightened around him and he grit his teeth.

“Come on… it will be fun!” He suggested. “Don’t get all glooby on me!”

“I’m not glooby…” The TV-headed Darkner growled and grew a bit before looking away. “I’m not worth the trouble…” His voice softened again before breaking completely. “…I shouldn’t have been born to begin with.”

Mike frowned and grabbed him by the wrist with a stern expression. “Don’t say that.” He forced the slightly smaller man on his feet. “You made mistakes, you hurt people… me included…” He stared into his black screen. “…and that wasn’t okay…” He sighed and loosened his grip. “But you’re not some kind of irredeemable monster… you’re working hard to make things right. You brought light, warmth and homes to the Darkner’s of this world and you are making improvements to the living and working conditions. You can’t just fix everything over night but… I sure as hell won’t let you give up and wallow in your own self-pity. Got that?”

Tenna stared at him before a timid smile formed on his screen. “You’re right… sorry…” He nodded and allowed Mike to pick him up before nuzzling into him. “Cake sounds nice… you’re a good friend…”

Mike carried him to the door of the public Green Room and placed him back down.

“What are we doing here?” Tenna asked confused.

“We’re just getting something really quick.” Mike reassured him and pushed the door open.

“Why is the light off?” Tenna frowned and flipped the light switch on, barely reaching it at his current size.

“Happy Birthday!” A group of voices said loudly, causing the CRT to freeze with bright SMPTE colour bars displayed on his screen before his face returned with a shocked expression.

“Whoops… forgot about that!” Mike laughed. “Seems that I accidentally walked into a surprise celebration.” He placed a little party hat on Tenna’s and his own head.

“Huh…?” Tenna was still trying to grasp the situation. “I don’t understand…”

Elnina and Lanino brought a large cake. “What’s hard to understand?” The moon asked with a chuckle. “It’s your birthday.”

“N-no… I…” He was shaking. “I don’t understand why… you… why would…” He sobbed between his words. “I don’t… I don’t deserve… I…” He was barely managing a coherent sentence now when Elnina held his head to her chest and kissed his droopy antennas.

“There there… hey… everything is okay… just take a moment…” She reassured him in a motherly tone.

“Thank you…hic…” He sniffed. “Thank… you…” He noticed someone poking his side and looked at a Shadowguy with cat features. “O-oh… it’s you…” Tenna seemed uncomfortably ashamed.

It made a little chirp before offering Tenna cake like a peace offering.

The Darkner grew to his regular height and smiled while he took the plate. “Thank you… and I’m sorry about… you know…” He patted his head awkwardly but the smaller guy clearly liked it and made a little purring sound. “Hehe…” He chuckled and glanced at Mike, offering a genuinely happy smile.

The other man smiled back and offered a thumbs up.

Tenna blinked at colourful rays of light that broke through green leaves with a golden glow; the air smelled of summer, its warmth melted away the memories he hadn’t thought about in years.

He had truly come to love life; whether it was performing, his closest employees or his audience. In a way he had started to take it all for granted, until the fear of losing what he had returned. But for now he was content, his fingers rubbed gently against Pluey’s head and ruffled his hair with his finger while the smaller Darkner purred in his lap.

“Do you like that?” He asked with a smile that cracked shortly at the vision of its frightened face and a star-shaped fireball ready to terminate him. His hand flinched away and shook while his heart beat violently against its cage.

The feline man wasn’t happy and reached for Tenna’s hand before placing it back on his head. It nuzzled into the large palm and meowed as if to order him to continue.

Tenna relaxed and continued to pet him, finding the soft purring and fluffy fur grounding. “Sorry…” He chuckled. “…there you go.”

Pluey let out a satisfied trill.

“Hey, do you feel better?” Battat walked up to them and offered Tenna some juice. “Here, drink this.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and sipped at his little treat. “I don’t remember sitting down…” He admitted with a concerned frown.

“Wes made you, you seemed dizzy all of a sudden.” Jongler explained when they joined them.

Battat pondered. “Remember anything…?” He asked carefully.

“Uhm… I remembered a past event… that’s all.” He looked down. “It’s fuzzy though… like a static dream.”

Battat pondered, rubbing over his chin. “I see…”

“Any ideas, boss?” The Zapper asked.

“Well… you’ve been thinking about the past a lot lately and your memory seems off… like you’re starting to dissociate again. You didn’t even remember when you attacked me either.”

Pluey made a concerned cooing sound.

“I… you don’t think that I’m reverting back to that, do you?” He seemed genuinely scared now as his claws poked his juice.

“No! No… I mean… I don’t know but I doubt your entire progress of several years would just be gone because you have a bit of a mental health crisis. You have ways to help yourself and a support system now, we have no reason to believe you’d just turn evil suddenly.” He made air quotation marks at the word evil.

“I did attack you…” Tenna reminded him and frowned.

“Okay… but that was because you were in shock and an exception. We can’t immediately expect the worst.” The Pippins reassured him.

“Since when don’t you expect the worst?” Jongler seemed confused.

“Not helping…” The shortest of the group sighed. “I’ll think of something to fix this, don’t worry.”

Anthony thought about it for a moment. “No.”

“Huh?” Battat looked at him in surprise.

“You’ve done most of the work for years. I’ll manage this… don’t worry.” The CRT reassured him. “I’m happy to accept your help but I don’t want you to lose sleep over this and feel as if this is your responsibility. I’m a grown man, I can be responsible tor my own actions…”

Battat didn’t seem too happy about that. “Alright… but you talk to us if anything is troubling you… okay?”

“I promise.” Tenna smiled genuinely. “I just needed a bit of rest, want to move on? I want us to try some things out before lunch!” He seemed almost a bit too energetic when he carefully placed Pluey down and went ahead.

The three Mikes looked at each other and nodded subtly before following their friend.

-

Tenna walked down the hallway, appearing tired and sluggish in his movements.

He sprung to life on stage but dropped as soon as he left it, teleporting and hiding away in his private Green Room to nap.

Most people walked up to Mike if they needed something from Mister Tenna. Even if their boss has become less volatile and violent, they still preferred to leave talking to the new Mike. He seemed to know how to talk to the CRT.

His change of heart wasn’t seen as genuine by most people yet and he still showed many of his old habits even if he worked on them especially when it came to being frustrated.

One time when Tenna wanted to head home, Mike followed him to the exit. “Mister Tenna?”

The tall Darkner stopped in his tracks, hand already on the doorknob. “Yes?” He asked quietly, clearly tired as he forced a subtle smile.

“Are you alright?” Mike asked concerned.

“Yeah… just… tired.” He admitted.

“You’ve done a lot of work lately. Good work. It’s normal to feel tired.” He smiled. “Just remember to take breaks.”

“It’s not just that…” He frowned. “I can’t sleep.” The man admitted.

“Oh… well…” Mike pondered. “Maybe I can help with that if you let me.”

The TV perked up. “How?”

“We can try some things. Come on, let’s get you home and tucked into bed.” The shorter man grinned.

“A-alright…” Tenna seemed a bit embarrassed but shrunk enough to take Mike’s hand.

Battat blushed inside the costume and tried his best to stay focused.

They arrived at Tenna’s quarters, only for Tenna to immediately break down crying after Mike closed the door. He shrunk small enough to fit into his friend’s palm.

“What—“ His assistant was surprised at this, while he found Tenna in this state a few times before, it was rare for him to just suddenly break down like this. “Are you hurting?”

“I-I’m just so useless… everyone still hates me and I can’t even perform well because I’m so tired…” He sniffed. “I deserve to be thrown away…”

“Woah! Hey… where is that coming from… you’re probably just in need of a break. You’ve made so much progress and everyone can see it. I can see it and I am so proud of you.” He scooped the shrunken CRT up. “Come on… let’s get you into bed, you need a day off.”

“I-I can’t!” Tenna argued fearfully.

“Yes, you can. We’ll run some reruns or maybe Kris and Asriel will play outside instead… they are at work or kindergarten most of the day anyway.” Mike reassured him and tugged Tenna into bed before stroking over his head with his thumb. “There, there…”

Tenna held onto his hand. “Please don’t leave…”

“Huh? I won’t, don’t worry…” Mike wondered whether he meant now or in general.

“Okay… can you stay the night? Please…?” He seemed scared. “I… have nightmares and dream about waking up alone in darkness… I cry and scream but no one comes to save me… or you all tell me you hate me and I’m all small and you are so cruel to me… sometimes there’s even a bigger version of myself that hurts me…”

“But that’s not real, you have people who care about you. The others are still a bit timid around you but they’ll come around when they get to know you better.” The chubby microphone signed. “Can I do anything to make things better?”

“Uhm… well…” Tenna blushed embarrassed. “Can you tell me a happy story…?” The CRT asked embarrassed.

“A happy story?” The chubby Darkner seemed confused.

“That seems to help when Kris has nightmares.” The shrunken man mumbled.

“Uhm…” Battat wondered whether this went too far, it was quite the strange situation to be in especially because Tenna was slightly older than him.

The tiny Darkner’s antennas hung down. “Sorry, that was a weird.”

“No… not at all!” Mike reassured him and carefully massaged his antennas between his fingers, smiling when Tenna leaned into the touch. “Okay, fine… one story.”

“Thank you!” Tenna immediately grew and smiled, holding the blanket while his tail wagged eagerly under the fabric.

His assistant chuckled and thought about a story he had heard before, noticing that Tenna seemed to drift off in the middle of it with a content smile.

The small die relaxed inside his costume and leaned back to think about everything. How strange it was that this was the same person as the powerful Lord of Screens. He was just a guy right now, a Darkner looking to fulfil his purpose and forced into a role that he could either embrace or suffer in.

At least he had a meaningful purpose and unlike some Darkners, he lived for it but it still became too much at times. Everyone reached their limit eventually, especially if they had the fate of an entire Dark World on their shoulders.

Battat wondered whether that added to his pressure, knowing that not only his own life depended on his success but also the lives of all Darkners inside Screen World.

His burnout might have been the catalyst for his descent into madness at the original Mike’s hands

He should look into this some more.

The costumed faker just sat there and wondered what to do now that Tenna had fallen asleep. He looked so peaceful that he was scared to wake him but sitting on the edge of his bed felt awkward.

Battat waited a bit before he tried to get up and move to the couch but only then noticed the cord that was loosely draped around his waist. This was the equivalent of having a cat on your lap, moving was out of the question and even his most subtle movement would tighten the hold of his boss’ tail.

He got pulled under the blanked with a sudden tugging motion, dragging him into the soft warmth of the sheets. A soundless yelp formed in his lungs. His throat tightened when he felt claws dig into his costume to hold him in place, the plush material saving him from the otherwise painful trap.

His body became tense as if he was prey to a large cat and it would only take moments before sharp canines dug themselves into his neck.

But that attack never came and the claws retreated as Tenna’s grip loosened enough to let his catch breathe.

He nuzzled Mikes’s head while holding him in a warm embrace. It was still tight but not unpleasant and made him wonder whether anyone would ever want Battat the way Tenna wanted Mike.

Chapter Text

“I can’t wait to show you!” Tenna’s tail was wagging excitedly. “You’ll love it! I planned it all by myself but I wanted your opinion before we make it real.”

Mike followed his boss to down the hallway, into Tenna’s personal Green Room. He hadn’t been allowed to enter it for the past week and had grown a bit suspicious but seeing Tenna’s little mannerisms put him at ease.

The wagging of his tail like a happy puppy, the sounds from his chest that resembled the purr of a cat, the bright smile that could literally melt snow, the nervous fidgeting of his hands, the pep in his step. There was no malicious thought in that square head of his, only genuine excitement.

“Alright, boss… you’re making me very curious and nervous with all of this secrecy.” Mike laughed awkwardly.

“Oh… that wasn’t my intention…” He shrunk in shame.

“Nono… don’t worry! I just meant that I am excited! It must be something big and important if you’re so secretive about it.” Mike smiled, flinching slightly when the CRT picked him up.

“Ohh, it is…” His grin widened, it was still eery but Mike had gotten used to it and knew it was meant friendly and excited as well. “The biggest project that TV World has ever seen!”

He gestured ahead. “And I need your help with it! Well, I’d love your feedback and any additions you find important!”

“Don’t leave me in suspense…” Mike laughed at his boss’ energy, it was contagious.

“Yes, yes! You’re right!” He chuckled and kissed Mike’s head before placing his friend on the floor. “I’m just nervous whether you’ll like it…” Tenna admitted and headed into the room. “Here is is.”

“…uhm.” Mike scratched his head, looking at the underside of an enormous table. “New furniture?”

Tenna laughed and swept Mike off his feet again, being the tactile person he was. “No, it’s about what’s on the table.”

Battat’s eyes widened under the mask. “A miniature city?”

“A model!” He placed his assistant on a chair. “For TV Town!”

“Oh! A new set?” Mike replied curiously. That explained the excitement. As friendly as he acted nowadays, he was still vain but in an endearing way. Most of the time.

Mister Tenna shook his head slowly, his smile never leaving him. “A real city. Though we might use it as a set at times.” He pondered. “Good idea!”

“Wait… you mean a real genuine city for the inhabitants of this Dark World…?” Mike tried to get confirmation on this.

“Yes! Of course, who else would live in it? A proper home instead of just living in some small rooms in the studio like animals… right now their life is only work and sleep and eating but we could do more. They might get more motivated if they can actually use their points to get luxuries! For now they are only symbolic because they don’t need money but what if they could go to a museum or a park with actual plants instead of the fake ones at the studio? What if they could live in apartments and houses? If they could see the sun! Well… something similar at least.”

Mike was stunned, watching how intricate the model was, every detail being planned out from the infrastructure to the activities that ranged from a cinema to a large public pool. “Tenna… this is…”

“Don’t you like it? Is it a bad idea? Or does it need changes? I tried hard to add all the things seen on TV shows that people like to do then based it on how the Light World cities might look.” He lowered his head and shrunk a bit.

“No, this is brilliant. Everyone would be so excited to not live in tiny cabins or rooms at the studio anymore and have actual things to do other than play videogames, gamble or work.” He agreed. “But… how is this at all feasible? We can’t stop working on the show to build a city. That is much more complex than a set and our sets are already very complex.”

The CRT seemed confused. “I’ll build it.”

“You’re the host— you’re the last person who can be missing.” Mike reminded him.

Mister Tenna laughed. “Mike… you’re a riot!” He patted his back with a chuckle.

Mike laughed awkwardly. “Haha… yeah…”

“So, you like it?” The tall Darkner asked, his tail wagging in joy.

“Yes, I do.” Mike was still confused but he did like the idea.

Tenna snapped his fingers.

Mike jumped at the sudden cold of the snow against his costume. He hated being outside in it because the last time he got soaked and ended up with a cold, so he clung to his superior’s leg. “Tenna…?” Something pulled him away from his leg and on the CRT’s shoulder. ‘Did he grow?’

The TV-headed Darkner smirked and grew much more, to a point that he rarely did, making Mike a small mouse. “Tenna…!” He held onto the fabric. “What are you doing?!”

“Build the city.” He stated simply, leaving Mike even more confused. He might be faster at this size but it would still take a long time. His antennas nuzzled the smaller man.

Mike’s eyes widened when Tenna drew a huge circle on the ground, not far from the studio. The snow inside melted and left behind only grass.

He then took some snow and formed rough buildings and trees and other things that he had build in the model. They changed magically but everything still looked artificial like set pieces with no details behind them.

Tenna checked his model to make sure everything was in the right position and moved objects around that weren’t. “Mhm… what do you say?” He pondered.

“Looks like the model just bigger and without functionality.” Mike shrugged.

“Does it look good?” His boss asked for reassurance.

“I mean… it does but I don’t see how—“ He got interrupted when Tenna snapped his fingers and some kind of earthquake forced Mike to hold onto the taller Darkner. He stared in awe when the buildings turned into the real deal with an explosion of stars and glitter. Not a set but actual streets surrounded by trees and buildings and-

His train of thoughts got interrupted again when Tenna shrunk and walked inside, a glass dome closed above them and kept away any fresh snow.

Battat stood frozen, holding onto the chest of his costume at the realisation that Tenna just raised a whole city from some snow. Even for a Dark World this was not normal. He knew Tenna created the studio but that was one building; granted it was a huge and complex building but it still didn’t compare to building a city in 20 minutes.

The theorising dice looked up at Tenna who inspected the city proudly and clearly waited for Mike’s reaction but instead of feeling positively towards this, a cold horror crept into his bones. What else was Tenna capable of? And what the hell were the original Mike’s intentions? They couldn’t have been good.

Mister Tenna looked different now.

He took the role as lord of this world when he had still been very young but he had grown up to be a terrifying ruler thanks to Mike’s influence, becoming closer to a ruthless mob boss than a show host.

But now, watching him create a literal town with his powers alone, it was clear that he had changed into a true leader, a truly powerful Darkner.

Battat watched and shuddered at the thought that Mike had wanted to control him, make this power his own and turn The Lord of Screen’s against all of then.

He dreaded to learn the truth but couldn’t help his own curiosity regarding it. What would have happened if Tenna took the contract? And what the hell was the reason for Tenna declining it when he used to grovel at that man’s feet for everything else.

Whatever it said must have been so truly awful that Tenna couldn’t go through with it and considering how far gone he was by that time, there couldn’t be much that overstepped his boundaries.

Did Mike ask him to kill someone?

Or was he completely wrong and Tenna’s actions scared the original Mike off?

-

Tenna hummed happily while they walked through the mall. “Oh! How about the arcade? That’d probably be fun and a good distraction.” The CRT suggests and ran off to the machines like an excited child.

Battat watched him with concern that didn’t go unnoticed by his partners.

“What’s on ya mind, boss?” The tall Zapper asked quietly.

“I’m concerned about Tenna.” He admitted. “Something isn’t right and I can’t tell whether he’s not telling us something or there’s an underlying issue he isn’t aware of either.”

“Mhm… I don’ understand much o’ dat…” Jongler admitted. “But I know he trusts you. Wes should talk to ‘im.”

The Pippins nodded. “Let him enjoy this day before we jump him with that.” He sighed and put his arm behind his head. “And you two need a break as well, Pluey’s already ran off.” He pointed at the Shadowguy when it joined Tenna at one of the machines to play a fighting game.

The Zapper nodded. “Dese two act so childish.” They shook their head.

“Yeah. Maybe they do but part of me wishes these idiots could be this carefree forever.” Battat crossed his arms and put on a lopsided smirk.

Jongler stared at him for a moment and then returned their attention to their friends. “Me too.”

“Ha!” The CRT grinned. “Get a load of this… the little kitty thinks it can defeat me?” His screen’s aspect ratio changed as if he was squinting his eyes.

Pluey’s ears got pulled back as he let out a small growl.

“I’ll let you know that after I am done with you, they’ll be calling me Lord of Games.” His screen turned black and showed a mischievous grin.

Pluey scoffed and seemed to be unimpressed. “♩! ♫:♫…” (Ha! I think you mean: Lord of Losers…” It wore a catty grin.

“Gah!” Tenna gasped. “Fine… don’t expect any mercy…”

Battat walked up to them. “Hey, don’t bother the other people here. This isn’t the studio.” He scolded them. “Quiet down a bit.”

Tenna and Pluey looked at each other.

“♬…” (Your death with be silent…) Pluey hissed quietly.

The CRT’s screen turned staticky for a moment before it showed a ‘Game Over’.

Battat sighed. “You’re going to be the end of me…” He smiled. “At least we—“ He looked to his side to find his Zapper partner gone.

“Boss, wes need a fourth player!” The Zapper sat besides Pluey and called Battat over.

“Idiots… all of them…” He scoffed and had to smile when he walked over to them, sitting down besides Tenna.

Tenna smiled at him when the Pippins sat down. “Are you okay? Don’t you like games?”

“Mhm? No, I do.” Battat put on his winning face. “I just feel bad for Pluey and Jongler losing.” The green Pippins shrugged.

“♬!” (You’ll go down!) The Shadowguy let out a victorious trill.

Jongler just nodded and locked in.

Tenna flashed his partner a grin and shrunk to a size that made playing easier while revealing his fangs. “Let’s show them what we’re made of, Batsy…”

The green die nodded and looked away to hide his blush. He never really thought that he’d spend a day with all his favourite people at the same time.

In the past, they weren’t able to be together like this after all. He had to laugh to himself. ‘The past…’ He thought. ‘…as if this isn’t the first time we hang out like this. I can’t get too comfortable yet.”

-

Battat was getting frustrated.

While working for Tenna had become his purpose and he had transformed into a complete workaholic in the process, the lack of sleep had also become draining.

He was glad that Tenna was managing better and actually talked to his employees on a metaphorical eye level most of the time, as long as they didn’t break anything or hinder the show.

The tall man tried his best to become a fun boss and take care of his employees. He took in other Darkners that appeared by creating a home for them in TV Town. It grew slowly at first but as TV World grew in political and economic power even among the appearance of a new Dark World, it turned more into a larger city.

The additional workload was something he could do without though.

Tenna was demanding.

And when he became more than just Tenna’s psychologist, the stress became too much to handle. It had never been easy to deal with the unstable CRT but he was starting to see him as a friend. At least Mike and Tenna were, so he adapted to the role.

But using all his energy to keep up as Mike, meant that Battat had no energy left to finish his own tasks.

Even with Tenna becoming less cruel, that strained smile still gave him the creeps and he wondered whether the Lord of Screens would simply snap one day. That he’d grab him and squeeze the life out of him.

A pleasant thought while he got berated for doing a terrible job and sleeping on the clock.

Battat was close to snapping and revealing that he was Mike. That he was doing double shifts and five times the work he got paid for. That his neediness was the reason for everything.

The die’s smile cracked, pulled up by the corners through sheer determination and making him look almost insane with how forced it was.

Tenna didn’t react and continued ranting but his words weren’t arriving for a while now. Just a dull white noise while everything seemed to move further away.

-

Battat woke up in the infirmary. “What the-“ He sat up and held his head. “Where…?”

“♫!” (You’re awake!) A Shadowguy said relieved. “♪… ♫—” (I’m glad… I actually wanted to talk—)

The Pippins sped off without a word.

“♩…?” (Eh…?) The cat-like Darkner was stunned.

Battat was panicking and ran to the Mike room. ‘This is bad! This is really bad! I am late for Tenna’s dinner! Is he suspicious yet? How do I excuse the delay…?’ He almost stumbled into the costume when he reached it and thought of all the different scenarios TV World might end because he failed. ‘Get your head straight! Tenna is clearly not too upset yet, there are no signs…’

The phone rang and Battat froze in fear. He put on a weak grin and reached out for it with a shaky smile before he mustered his best Mike voice that hopefully wasn’t too close to a mental breakdown.

“Mike?” Tenna’s voice.

“Boss, I’m so sorry—“ The Pippins immediately tried to explain.

“Don’t worry, Mike. I got your message.” The CRT explained. “I understand you’re busy but I appreciate that you took care of everything anyway. I see you in the morning?”

Battat was stunned and almost dropped the phone.

“Mike. Is everything alright?” His boss asked with clear concern.

“Yes… I’ll see you in the morning, just taking care of some paperwork.” He glanced at his theory board.

“Always so diligent! Those Pippins could really learn something from you.” He sighed. “Anyway, thank you. I’ll see you in the morning and I hope you can make it tomorrow evening. Goodnight!”

“Yes, of course…” He cracked a smile. “Goodnight, Mister Tenna.”

The small die ended the call and frowned; his expression darkened. ‘Did Mike return?’ He wondered and locked in on the theory board. ‘Or is there another imposter?’

“Who are you…?” Battat stared at the different sketches he made of Mike’s potential appearance and flinched when he heard something behind him.

Battat spun around and stared at the intruder, worried that the gig was up and he’d get reported.

“♩!” (Hey!) That Shadowguy again.

Battat was frozen. ‘Him again… what does he want? Does he know?’

“♫. ♬, ♪!” (I took care of everything while you were knocked out. You were so cool when you saved me and I wanted to thank you because you’re cool and awesome, Mike!) The taller man’s tail stood up.

The Pippins froze.

“♪, ♪! ♫. ♩, ♫!” (Oh… right! You don’t want anyone to know. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone!) The stranger told him happily. “♬…” (Tenna is much nicer to me now and I am happy you helped me even though we don’t know each other…)

Battat just listened and frowned. “You’re welcome… but what do you want?”

“♪! ♫. ♫.” (Oh! I want to help you with being Mike. I’ve been watching you and you seem exhausted.) The younger man looked at the board. ”♫, ♫?” (And it seems you’re not the real Mike, so what difference do two fakes make?)

Battat thought about it. It would be a higher risk but also less work for him and if his co-worker already knew, it wouldn’t do any more harm to at least keep an eye on him. “Fine… but don’t call me Mike out of costume. My name is Battat.” The shorter man tried to offer a smile and held out his hand.

It nodded and shook the hand excitedly. “♩!” (Pluey!)

-

“We won!” Tenna cheered. “Oh, Batsy! We’re a dream team!” The grabbed him without a warning and held his friend out in front of him while they walked away from the arcade.

“Yeah…” Battat smiled awkwardly. “…I guess so…”

“Are you alright?” Tenna poked him with his antennas. “You can tell me. Don’t you like Space Evaders?”

“It’s not that.” Battat mumbled absentmindedly. “I just feel like this is going really fast all of a sudden. It’s all I thought I ever wanted but it feels wrong as if I’m not supposed to be here.” He stopped himself. “Wait… I don’t mean—“ The small Darkner tensed up when he looked at Tenna’s smile, it chilled him to the bone and crawled along his spine like the legs of a centipede.

Tenna’s smile was too straight. Too strained. Too unhinged.

It was somehow more scary than his sharp fangs and claws. It meant that the Lord of Screens was mad.

“Tenna…” Battat flinched when the claws poked his small body, face to face as the white turned staticky. “Anthony.” He said more sternly while his two friends looked at them in concern.

The CRT laughed.

It sounded slightly off, slightly forced.

“Sorry!” He switched up as if someone changed his channel. “What you said… it just sounded a lot like him.” He laughed a bit more exaggerated, too exaggerated.

Everything was just too much with him.

He stared at the lightless screen, watching his own terrified face look back at him when something seemed to move behind the black mirror; it seemed similar to Pluey’s costume just with that eerie grin Tenna put on when he was feeling intense nervousness or excitement.

Battat snapped back to reality, still in Tenna’s grip and thinking about everything he couldn’t say. ‘That’s how it would go. Tenna would have a breakdown. Pluey would be sad. Jongler would be left with his mess and have no orders to follow.’ He thought.

But he couldn’t deny that he still felt hurt; it wasn’t Pluey’s fault that Tenna liked it more because he was so sweet and caring. It wasn’t Jongler’s fault that they got dragged into all of this and were the perfect Zapper.

“Forget about it…” Battat mumbled. He didn’t say any of that. He didn’t escalate things. They could just go back to playing pretend.

His mind was such a mess; unreliable.

Tenna’s mind was unreliable but so was his own.

“Battat… are you sure that you’re okay?” Tenna’s strained smile turned more sad and instead sunk into a frown. “I did it again… didn’t I?” The CRT asked. “I compared you to… Spamton…”

Battat tensed up. “I’m fine.” He felt his face turn wet.

“No… you’re not.” Tenna pulled him into a hug. “And it’s my fault that you aren’t… isn’t it?”

The Pippin’s sight turned blurry when more tears formed at the corner of his eyes; he dug his face into Tenna’s shirt to sob. “I’m fine…” He repeated, this time telling it to himself. “…I’m fine… I have to be… I’m fine… I can’t… I…”

“It’s okay if you’re not fine…” Tenna told him. “I’m sorry… I know that an apology isn’t enough but I really care about you. So, cry as much as you need. I’m here… and so are Pluey and Jongler.” He smiled at him with so much warmth that it only strung more and Battat cried even stronger.

“It hurt.” The Pippins whimpered while Tenna cradled him like an injured kitten. “To always be the least favourite, to not be enough. To always be inferior to Mike and Mister Spamton…” His throat hurt from choking back sobs. “I’m sorry that I can’t fill that hole.”

“No matter how much I did… it wasn’t enough and until Pluey came to help me, I was close to quitting.” He explained. “You always liked Pluey more from the beginning… I could tell. Who wouldn’t love Pluey though? He’s so sweet and cute and handsome. Even in costume… you asked why I wouldn’t be more like it and to get anything enforced I always needed Jongler’s help…” He sobbed quietly but tried to calm down. “You wouldn’t even have noticed if I was gone… you didn’t even mind killing me because I’m so useless—“

Tenna stared at him when his screen showing static. “I see… that’s what this is about.” He tried to offer a shaky smile. “Battat… that’s not true… I… what I did is unacceptable… there’s nothing I can do to remedy that…” He shrunk and wrapped his arms fully around the smaller body. “You’ve been a better friend to me than Mike ever was… and…” He held him tighter. “Hurting you was the biggest mistake of my life… even bigger than making Spamton sign that contract.” He started shaking. “I made so many mistakes… I’ve treated my employees and especially you so terrible despite everything you did for me and I wish I could take it all back.”

Tenna let out a shaky exhale. “But I can’t…” He laughed bitterly. “I’m still working on this and it’s really hard…” He grit his teeth and held the die even tighter. “All I can do is try to do better but if you can’t forgive me… I only have myself to blame. There’d be a giant die-shaped hole in my heart without you and it might be selfish but please don’t leave me.”

“Tenna…” Battat hugged him back and closed his eyes.

“I’ll tell you every day.” The CRT whispered. “You saved me. You’re my best friend. I just ask that you give me this last chance to proof it to you. And if you don’t… I understand if you want… to… leave…” His screen turned to static. “I just really hope you won’t…”

Battat grit his teeth. “I just need to know… is it real? You hated me so much as Pippins before you knew who I am… how can I believe anything you say now?” He let go and turned away. “Maybe…” The die started shaking and turned away while he held himself. “…just maybe… it would be better if you had ki—“

“Stop!” Tenna interrupted and shrunk more. “Don’t say that. Please.” His heart was racing. “I never wanted you to think that. I didn’t have myself under control… I was only so hurt because it was you. Not because I hated you but because I cared about you so much that thinking you betrayed me was unbearable!”

Things went a bit different compared to his assumption but the outcome was the same. If he spoke his mind, everyone around him suffered. He was a burden. He had always been one.

Everything felt less real, less colourful. He wasn’t sure whether it was Tenna’s doing or only in his head but it didn’t matter at this point.

He went too far. He thought about this too long, let the thoughts linger and said too much. Everything was always too much.

He was spiralling so fast that his mind couldn’t keep up. He felt like he was going insane.

He couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

He wanted to go back.

He couldn’t ruin everything.

Battat couldn’t be a proper Pippins. He was weaker and smaller than the others, always sickish-looking and weird; wrong and green.

Battat didn’t belong with the other people in TV World. He wasn’t made for the stage, wasn’t born to be bright and flashy.

Battat could only catastrophize, only be in the way, only be a punching bag. Battat should have died the moment he took the Mike role.

Battat wasn’t good at anything.

He didn’t deserve to feel happy. He didn’t belong here, they were too good for him.

Only one thought made sense.

Something he had heard a lot.

Something that lingered in the back of his mind like an uncomfortable truth.

Battat should die.

He wore a blank expression, a faint smile formed on his lips. “I’m sorry for worrying you.” He sounded collected, too collected.

Battat should die.

The die’s expression was almost peaceful, his body and tongue on autopilot. “I’m grateful for this day but I should leave. There is something that I need to take care of.”

Battat should—

He got stopped in his thoughts when he felt Tenna, Pluey and Jongler hug him; they held onto him like a cuddle pile.

“No way… yous ain’t leaving like dis, boss.” Jongler argued while holding him firmly in place.

“♬…” (You really shouldn’t be alone right now….) Pluey nuzzled him and licked his tears while trying to soothe him with distressed purring. “♫” (We’re not angry.)

“You’re scaring me. Don’t say those things and walk away.” Tenna admitted while weakly clinging to his leg because he was so small. His screen was a storm of static, likely reminded of how he had pushed away Spamton in the past. “I can’t go through this again and lose you too.” He knew very well that the man he had loved so much might be dead because of him.

Battat just stayed in place and chuckled quietly while the three were holding onto him. ‘Is that what it feels like when people genuinely care about you? Then why do I feel so sick? Shouldn’t this feel good?’

-

“Are yous guys sure dis will be okay?” Jongler asked.

“Yeah. We should take turns watching him. I’ll start… just play reruns at the studio… ” The CRT looked back at the Darkner curled in his living room. His antennas hung behind his head. “…Battat is more important right now.”

“… just call if dere’s anything, ‘ight?” The Zapper glanced worriedly at their friend and left.

Tenna sighed and walked over to Battat after he closed the door, sitting down besides the couch and watching him with a dimmed screen.

“Why are you doing this?” The die asked weakly.

“Because we’re worried and care about you.” Tenna smiled softly and cupped his cheek. “You really need a break and I figured that if you’re so worried that I don’t care about the real you, I want to get to know you better. I want to say: I love you, Batsy.” He smiled sweetly. “And I want you to believe it.”

Battat blushed and held back tears while clinging to the blanket. “What if you find out that you don’t mean it…?”

Tenna seemed surprised at the question and smiled gently, then removed the tears with his thumb. “I thought that I told you before but I will just say it again: I already know that I do.”

Battat dug his face into one of the decorative pillows. “Shut up…”

Anthony chuckled and carefully stroked over his body, stopping when the smaller man flinched and continuing when his friend relaxed again. “Do you want to talk?”

“I think that I said enough.” Battat admitted.

“I think that you should talk more about those things. I know that I burdened you a lot with my issues but it is freeing to have someone you can confide in and now it is my turn to lend an open antenna to you.” He smiled and wiggled them for emphasis.

“I don’t feel like talking right now.” The die admitted.

Tenna’s smile had a sad undertone. “Alright. Do you feel pasta? Spaghetti? How about macaroni lasagna? I make a sick sauce either way!”

“I still can’t believe that you can cook and had me do it for you all these years.” The die sighed.

Tenna blushed and looked down while shrinking a little. “I… just wanted an excuse to have you stay with me… I didn’t want to seem weird and scare you away like—“ He bit his tongue. “I just enjoyed your company.”

Battat sat up and stared at him. He looked away after a moment to think and looked back again with a weak but genuine smile. “Macaroni lasagna sounds great…”

Tenna’s antennas stood up and his smile followed. “Yes! I will make you the best lasagna ever!”

Battat had to smile a bit and then thought about what he said. “Tenna…” He grit his teeth and looked away. “… about the things I said… I…”

Anthony shrunk and his screen turned off. “Battat… you don’t actually want to die because of me… do you?”

The die’s breath hitched before he gestured wildly with his hands. “No…! That’s what I wanted to say! I don’t want that! I don’t… think so…” He looked away awkwardly. “I just had a weird moment that reminded me of something! No reason to feel concerned!”

Tenna frowned. “Well… I’m going to give you hugs and delicious meals until you won’t have any weird moments anymore.” He kneeled down in front of him. “You’ll tell me if you don’t feel well, okay? It’s the least that I owe you after everything. I promise that I’ll do anything in my power to make you happy.” He carefully put Battat’s hands into his own.

“I’m sorry for not being useful to you anymore…” Battat whispered. “Seems like I am a mess too… hehe… heh…”

“Batsy… hey-“ He pushed his chin up. “You don’t have to be useful to me. Your worth isn’t determined by how useful you are. I took a while to realise that but you’re amazing. You, Pluey, Jongler and Susie made me realise that and now I will proof it to you.”

He paused. “You see… I haven’t told you yet because of everything going on but Kris and Susie are planning to give all of us to a new Lightner who will take better care of us.” Tenna explained.

“Things will finally improve and we won’t have to fight for our lives anymore, the show can be fun again and we won’t have to play pretend backstage. There will be new challenges and there’s no one I’d rather have by my side. No strings or contracts needed!”

“What? When did this happen?” The die asked confused.

“It’s something I’ve been taking care of behind the scenes.” Tenna rubbed his neck. “I thought that you might be proud of me for dealing with this by myself.”

Battat watched Tenna request praise by making himself small and attempting puppy eyes with his antennas. He would never fully change. “Oh… I mean, well done.”

Tenna grew immediately. “I am so happy!” He explained. “You see…” He shifted nervously in place. “With this change, maybe it would be best to drop the Mike costumes.”

Battat stopped breathing for a moment and stared at him. “What?”

“It’s clearly not helping you and I don’t care whether you wear it or not and even though I’ll miss it… it would be nice to see your face and have you be able to smile at me and make you blush… you know…?” He made his finger tips touch awkwardly while his tail got tucked away between his legs. “I want my Batsy by my side…”

The small die stared at him. “Are you serious?” He asked dumbfounded. “I thought you wanted Mike? You wanted him so bad that you almost took this whole place down with you.”

Tenna looked away in embarrassment. “That was before I met you…” He sighed. “With Mike I just really wanted him to make me big. To stay relevant, so I won’t get thrown away. I was so scared of dying that it drove me mad… I was so terrified… and alone too because I put all my hope in Mike.”

“But you still relied on our Mikes, didn’t you?” The die mumbled.

“Yes.” Anthony nodded. “I did! But…” He clenched his fists. “…then I found out you’re fake.” His tone became lower and made the small Darkner tense up again. “I was so… angry… so mortified. I completely lost my grip on reality.” He held himself. “But you stayed despite what I did to you. You’re the only one who stayed. I used to blame everyone else but… when everyone in your life keeps leaving, you eventually can’t ignore the fact that you might be the problem anymore.”

Battat just listened.

“Today… I was selfish as well.” Tenna sighed. “I thought that we could just pretend and act like everything is normal. That it’d make us real friends if we spend time together and had fun but you clearly can’t trust me. I don’t trust myself either if I’m being honest.” He dug his claws into his arms. “And worst of all… I completely neglected making sure that you’re okay… I didn’t properly check in. Only told you things that you can’t even trust coming from me.”

“You’ve been hurting all this time… all because I forced you to be around me. Because I forced my will on you… It’s all my fault… that Mike left, that Kris left, that Spamton left… and it will be my fault when you leave… along with everyone else.” He smiled crookedly. “I mean… you’d rather die than stay around me after all. It’s best to let you go before the past repeats.” He shook while he remembered the last moment he saw Spamton. The fear, the betrayal and the distain. Mike likely hated him, Spamton hated him if he was still alive, Kris had turned him off because because they didn’t care anymore.

He was only lucky that Susie had pitied him and will bring them to someone new who does care. Someone else he’ll likely hurt or who will abandon him but at least gave everyone more time.

Battat laughed.

Tenna looked at him confused and ashamed.

“You really feel guilty, don’t you?” Battat rubbed his neck and exhaled through his teeth.

Anthony nodded meekly; even though he tried not to shrink too much, he seemed so small like this. Tenna being quiet instead of crying for sympathy or shrinking exaggeratedly, meant that he was likely genuine.

“Tenna… you clearly feel terrible and you are changing your actions to be less harmful. That’s all I can ask for. I don’t want you to completely change who you are because despite your flaws, you’re still the man I like.” He stood on the couch to barely reach Tenna’s chin while the taller Darkner was on his knees. “So, what are you saying? We are friends.”

Tenna blushed and put his hand on the green Pippins’. “Batsy…” He smiled warmly. “…I want you.” He pulled him closer. “All of you. Your real you. No costumes, no playing pretend anymore. Just you.” He was so close that Battat could feel the static against his acrylic skin.

“May I?” He asked softly, his large hand surprisingly gentle and soft thanks to his gloves.

Battat swallowed and nodded when he felt Tenna’s lips on my own, they were so large at first but the CRT adjusted his size shortly afterwards. He still stayed significantly taller but he knew that Tenna liked being in control despite everything and Battat wanted to give up control for once.

He felt so light, his head felt hollow for a moment, only to be filled with a need for more. His limps felt absent, every other sensation didn’t matter, faded out by something so tender and yet all encompassing.

Was this what it felt like to be wanted?

Was this what it felt like to be desired? To be accepted in your entirety?

Nothing about it was forceful even though Anthony was clearly wanting to claim him.

But even if it was a mistake, it was the best mistake of his life. His thoughts began to wander again after his brain adjusted and he thought of Pluey and Jongler. How he wished they were here too. He wanted all three of them to hold him and tell him that he was wanted. That he was desirable and lovable.

He thought of all the subtle actions; every time that Pluey hugged and cuddled him, whether it be for a greeting or comfort. Every time that Jongler complimented him or asked him for guidance as if his word was the only one that mattered.

He thought of all the times Tenna had asked for Pluey to listen to his woes and hold him. All the times he asked for Jongler to take care of a matter. And then he remembered all the times that Tenna needed advice or someone to talk to, someone to drink tea with and read to him in the evening after a tough day.

Tenna needed all of them, Battat included. The weird, green Pippins was needed by all of them. And he needed his friends too.

Maybe he could depend on other people after all. Maybe it felt good to be wanted, to be needed. It clearly felt good to be loved.

Was this love?

“Anthony…” Battat ended their prolonged kiss. “…I love you.” He received a flower in the face as soon as he finished those three words. “Hmpf-!”

“Ah! I’m sorry! I blew it!” Tenna looked away and plucked it, his face showed a black screen and tears. “I love you too…” He whispered.

Battat sighed. “You’re an idiot, just like the other two.” The die rolled his eyes.

“Eh…?! Where is that coming from?” The TV asked with a pout and wagged his tail in irritation.

“Just an observation…” Battat groaned. “I’m sorry for ruining our date…”

“Hey…” Tenna stroked his head gently with his thumb. “Maybe we’re both a mess but I don’t mind as long as we’re a happy mess.” He grinned.

Battat blushed. “Do you think that’s possible?”

The CRT nodded. “I am.”

“I’m not just a replacement?” He allowed Tenna to hold him in his arms.

“Of course not… I would argue that this finally feels real.” He smiled and grew his extra arms to keep the die close while he went to the kitchen to prepare their dinner. “Should we invite the other two?”

“I would like that.” Battat huffed. “I’m realising that I’m just as bad as the things I’m worried about. I’ll try to just believe you if you say that you care about me and not Mike.” He crossed his arms.

“Well, I have the rest of our lives to remind you every day.” He grinned. “I’ll prepare the dinner while you sleep some more. This little hiccup isn’t going to ruin our date day.” He twitched with one of his antennas as if he winked at the die.

Battat smiled and nodded. “Good idea. My head will be clearer if I catch up on sleep.”

-

Crying.

Battat could hear it when he came to his senses, already sitting upright on the Green Room’s couch. “Tenna?” The die became anxious immediately. It was dark. All encompassing darkness besides that ajar door. The light that came from it felt almost blinding, threatening and unnatural.

He recognised the sobbing as Tenna’s; it sounded distant and distorted but familiar in the same manner as a faint TV signal.

A cat-like shadow seemed to move in the light, dancing like an unsteady flame.

The die approached the door and pushed it open to see what was going on, only to be faced with Tenna’s static screen staring down at him; illuminating the otherwise black surroundings.

His heart accelerated in panic when he saw Pluey’s and Jongler’s bodies lay on the floor. They were both in their costumes.

“You failed to protect them.” He heard his own voice from the other room but couldn’t bring himself to look away from his lifeless friends.

“You knew that The Lord of Screens was dangerous… and you still allowed them to join you. I know you don’t care much for your own life but you don’t seem to care much for their lives either and now it’s too late. Cat’s out of the bag.” Someone in his own Mike costume walked past him and stopped by the cold bodies.

“Tenna wouldn’t do that— he didn’t do that.” Battat spoke shakily, denying his own senses.

“Maybe… but The Lord of Screens would. Who do you think he is? Haven’t you considered that Mike was never real. No one ever saw him and only Tenna and Spamton ever talked to him. Now one of them is dead.” Motormouth Mike shrugged and nudged Pluey with his foot.

“Stay away from him!” Battat called out. “Spamton isn’t dead, he left! Tenna would have never hurt him, Pluey or Jongler!”

“Wrong… have you forgotten about the contract?” The imposter reminded him. “Do you even care? You don’t cry over them… aren’t you secretly glad that they are gone? Is that why you aren’t mourning?” Mike asked. “One less responsibility.”

“What?! Of course not! But I know this isn’t real! It can’t be!” He fought the tears in his eyes. “Tenna wouldn’t do this… he is stronger than your influence!”

“What are you talking about, Batsy?” Mike took off his mask to reveal a perfect doppelganger of himself. “I am you. If you say that I killed them, it was actually you. There is no Mike, it’s always been you who manipulated Tenna into becoming like this. But you can’t control him anymore.” The fake Battat grinned widely, the light’s reflection in his eyes both pink and yellow. “Battat can’t control him, only Mike can. I can.” He put the mask on again.

Tenna seemed to wake up from his trance, acting more like a mindless machine. His screen turned into an epilepsy-inducing flicker of pink and yellow while he twitched painfully before turning to static and then blackness. A void that seemed to drag the small die’s soul into an infinite abyss if he stared too long.

“Tenna…?” Battat stepped back. “Anthony! Don’t listen to him, you are free to make your own decision. You don’t need Mike! He’s not me! We can still safe them, we—“ He stared in horror when Tenna crushed Jongler into dust, followed by Pluey.

“Destroy the fake.” Mike ordered when his form changed to a strange amalgamation of all three of their costumes, a string of spheres formed the creature’s tail.

Battat slowly shook his head. “Anthony…?” He stepped backwards.

“Mike came back… the real Mike. I don’t need you anymore.” He crawled forward as the studio crumbled and they ended up in Cyber World instead. Reality cracked like glass and revealed endless walls and darkness, incomprehensible sources of colourful lights as reality warped.

Battat fell and crawled backwards, he wanted to speak but no sound came out. He tried to reach for his face to claw at it but it was gone.

The green Pippins tried to scream but it felt as if he lost control of his body, all he could do was watch the enormous Darkner as he moved closer like death itself.

The last thing he saw was a giant claw reaching for him.

Chapter Text

Battat struggled against the large hand that held onto him in a panic, screaming and kicking in vain.

“Hey! Hey hey! Woah- calm down.” Tenna tried to carefully restrain the smaller Darkner. “Everything is fine! You just had a nightmare!”

Battat stopped and glared up at the concerned screen, he wasn’t nearly as huge or scary anymore.

“I couldn’t wake you up.” The large Darkner frowned. “I got worried… glad you’re finally awake.”

Battat looked around wildly before he realised that he was still in Tenna’s apartment. “So, you tried to strangle me?!”

“No… I just shook you. Pippins like that, right?” Tenna tilted his head to the side and shrunk a bit.

‘Great… now I have three idiots to deal with.’ He frowned but relaxed into the mattress when it set in that he was safe and that meant his friends were as well. “How long was I asleep?”

“Mhm… maybe an hour?” He replied. “But you were suddenly starting to shiver and cry in your sleep and then you started hyperventilating.” The CRT sighed. “Are you sure that you’re okay? You were begging for me to stop doing… something.” He frowned and looked away while shrinking some more. “Did I hurt you in your dream?”

Battat looked at him guiltily. “No…!” He waved around with his arms, clearly nervous. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t you.” The die had a sudden realisation.

“Huh? What do you mean?” The TV asked even more confused than before.

“Could it be that someone might not want me to find out the truth about Mike and is messing with me?” He asked.

“Where is that coming from?” Tenna asked, not able to follow his partner’s thoughts.

“Could it be that whoever made Mister Spamton disappear is trying to target me next?” Battat asked more directly with a serious tone.

Tenna stared at him, mouth in a slim line.

Mippins tensed up and evaded his boss’ gaze. “I’m sorry…”

Anthony sighed. “…no. I’m sorry.” He put on a smile. “I appreciate that you want to protect my feelings but… I need to start taking accountability if I don’t want to lose you as well. I’ve avoided that for too long. It’s on me that you’re having nightmares like this now…” He scooped the little man up after making sure he was comfortable with it. “…but I’ll help you turn them into nicer dreams. It might help if you’re not alone when you’re sleeping…”

Battat took a moment to connect the dots and blushed. “Y-you’re probably right… but you really don’t have to go that far!”

“Oh…” Tenna pouted. “Don’t you want to cuddle?”

The Pippins was entirely flustered at how direct his superior was all of a sudden. “W-what?!” He pointed at him and laughed in a manic manner. “Are you messing with me?!” His entire face turned a light yellow-ish green. “This isn’t funny, boss!”

“I’m not joking…” He placed the green die back on his couch and shrunk enough to kneel by the furniture, hands on it like a begging puppy while his nose barely peeked over the edge. “I’m sorry if that went too far and was inappropriate. I just thought we were friends and I’d love for us to be… closer… partners too. You are my best friend and most loyal companion after all, even if you don’t feel the same.”

Battat stared at the sad CRT in surprise and sighed, putting on an awkward smile. “Te- Anthony…” He rubbed his neck. “Are you serious? I mean, I do like you a lot and of course we are friends…”

Tenna nodded timidly.

The die sighed. “I guess we can try—“

The taller Darkner grew to his usual size and pulled Battat into a hug. “Yay! I love you, Batsy…” He nuzzled him with this flower nose. “Jongler and Pluey can join! My bed is big enough for all of us!”

Battat hung in the tight grip. ‘Yep… three idiots…’ He reiterated in his head. ”Fine!” Battat threw his hands in the air and shrugged. “When are those two dummies arriving anyway?” He just wanted to see them and make sure they were really alright.

“They should be here any moment! The lasagna is already in the oven, want to help me with setting the table?” His tail wagged excitedly.

“You know what? Sure. Why not.” He smiled and allowed Tenna to hold him.

“You make me so happy, Batsy!” Tenna seemed overjoyed.

“Anthony…” Battat allowed the affection but couldn’t help thinking of his dream, he was still not used to addressing his superior with his first name either. It felt wrong but seemed to make the taller man happy. “…if Mike returned, would you replace us again?” The question wasn’t supposed to leave his head but it was too late now.

“No way!” Tenna didn’t even hesitate. “I’d love to have Mike back but you’re staying.” He grinned.

“But what if Mike wouldn’t want me to stay?” Battat asked, needing the reassurance.

Tenna’s smile dropped slowly. “What do you mean?”

“What if Mike told you to hurt us or get rid of us?” The Pippins asked hesitantly.

“Mike wouldn’t do that…” Tenna frowned. “He warned me about Spamton as well; he cares.”

“…and if Mike was the one who made Spamton disappear?” The die asked quietly. “What if it was a threat instead of a warning?”

Tenna tensed up visibly and laughed off his own nervousness when he released his companion. “What makes you think that?”

“Just a theory.” Battat hugged himself. “Just hypothetically… what if he wanted you to hurt us?”

“I wouldn’t.” Tenna frowned. “And if Mike was responsible for making Spamton leave, I would make him pay.” His screen flickered with static before he smiled again. “But I wouldn’t hurt you, not ever after everything you did for me.” The CRT returned to his happy demeanour. “But let’s not talk about such sad hypotheticals!” He laughed. “You wait here while I set the table, you clearly need to be pampered today and I am just the TV for that job!”

The small Darkner watched him leave to get everything ready while he felt unsure about everything. Tenna seemed genuine but in his dream he seemed almost mind-controlled. Could Tenna resist Mike’s influence? He was likely very manipulative.

Could he control Tenna beyond that?

“I’m sorry but can I ask one last question?” The die walked up to him.

“Sure thing, Batsy!” He replied almost too cheerfully, it made his joyful attitude sound forced.

“Do you have nightmares?” The Pippins asked and observed Tenna for any small non-verbal reactions.

He didn’t need to try hard because the CRT crashed out almost immediately. “Why can’t you let it go?” His voice was cold and distant as if he was in a different room. His grin stretched uncomfortably on the dark screen, any features besides grit teeth leaving the glass.

He didn’t shrink but instead leaned down to face Battat while looming over him.

“Of course, I have nightmares. I’ve been having nightmares ever since I made him sign that contract and it’s only getting worse since I learned about your secret.” The CRT frowned, his mouth fading into static with his voice following behind. “I want to move on and be a good friend to you, I can’t make it up to Spamton… I don’t even know whether he’s still alive but you’re still here.” He shrunk now after all. “I dream about how he left but now it is about you sometimes. And hearing you say these things and knowing you don’t trust me, it hurts and makes me feel so alone…” He held himself.

Battat felt bad now, carefully stepping closer to pick the now much smaller man up. “I’m sorry… I guess, I can’t help worrying either. But I care about you a lot and I have no intention to leave.” He held himself closer. “I love TV…”

“Oh Batsy… I love you too.” He smiled. “I love you so much.” He held onto him. “I’m sorry that I took so long to realise. I treated you so terribly and not knowing is no excuse. Just now I lost my temper again…” His antennas dropped.

“Do you still feel guilty about that? I already forgave you.” He rubbed his neck. “And it’s okay, no harm done…”

“But I haven’t forgiven myself… I’ve been treating Pippins pretty bad and that included you.” Tenna looked away.

“I mean, I get it. The others get on my nerves too…” He mumbled. “…and you’ve been treating all your employees pretty bad, especially after Mike left and when the Lightners were around—“ He looked away awkwardly. “But hey… unlike King or Queen, you never seriously hurt any of us. Most other bosses and royalty use violence or entrapment. You haven’t really done that in years and even before that it was mostly just property damage.”

He cracked a smile at the reassurance. “I also took you for granted as Mike though. Don’t worry, I’ll never take you for granted again…” He sniffed. “I do my best to become a fair and appreciative boss to all of my employees!”

“Always fearing that I’ll leave isn’t exactly a solution either.” Battat sighed. “I’ll leave it be if you say that there’s nothing to worry about.” It wouldn’t be easy but Tenna’s well-being was more important than his own curiosity or the voice in the back of his mind telling him that something was very wrong.

“You’re right… this mutual trust thing isn’t something I’m very good at but we’ll make it work. Let’s at least forget about this for today, okay?” Tenna requested and grew back after Battat placed him on the ground.

The small Darkner sighed. “You got it, boss.”

-

“Think de boss is doin’ alright?” Jongler asked while they walked towards Tenna’s building. “He seemed real outta it when we last saw ‘im.” The Zapper held their head. “Maybe wes should’ve stayed…”

“♪! ♫.” (Relax! Mr. Tenna is taking care of him.) The Shadowguy patted his friend’s shoulder; it shrugged with a smile. “♫~” (Bet they are kissing~) Pluey grinned mischievously, wagging its cat tail with twitching ears.

“Y-You think so, Plues?” The Zapper blushed. “Aw, man… wish de boss’d give us affection like dat.”

The feline Darker tittered and hugged Jongler to rub its head against his taller partner’s back. “♫!” (Then let’s give him some!)

“But he’ll be annoyed and push us off…” Jongler let their head hang when they entered the elevator. “I think he doesn’t like it.”

“♫!” (Naw, he loves it!) Pluey reassured them and joined his partner before pressing the right button. “♬…” (We just need to give him enough time to get comfortable, I know he wants it…) It looked up at the Zapper. “…♫.” (…he’s just not used to it.)

The two Darkners fell quiet for a bit.

“Maybe he’d want a hug.” The Zapper suggested.

Pluey smirked. “♫.” (Bet he’d love a hug.) He said and walked out of the elevator when it stopped, using his tail to stroke along Jongler’s neck. “♬!” (He needs to know that we love him soooo much!) The catty man made a big gesture with a wide grin.

Jongler nodded and blushed. “Mr. Tenna could join in de hug.”

Pluey pointed its finger at them and grinned. “♫!” (Now you got it!)

-

“Hey, Shadowguy.” Battat looked up from his paperwork. “How long do you want to keep this up?” The die asked confused.

“♫…” (I got a name, you know…) It replied while laying over Battat’s desk and covering his paperwork. “♬!” (And as long as it takes until you take a break!)

“…I meant all of this.” Battat grumbled frustrated before he pushed the younger man off the desk.

“♩! ♫.” (Oh! Well, I’m here to stay.) The Shadowguy tilted his head cutely and winked at the die with a silly blep.

“I was afraid you’d say that. And you’re an adult man, act like it.” He sorted his papers, letting one slip away because he was so tired, then watched it sail towards the floor. “Urgh…” He was about to get up when Pluey handed it to him. “…oh, thanks.” He took it suspiciously and continued his work.

“♬?” (Are you sure you don’t want to rest?) The taller Darkner asked.

“Pretty sure, I need to finish these.” He explained. “I have no time to rest.”

Pluey pouted and grabbed him, then pulled the struggling Pippin’s towards the couch.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He complained and found himself on the cushioned furniture, restrained by the blanket as if it was a straitjacket. “Release me!”

Pluey prepared him some tea and cooled it down while his co-worker was seething. “♫.” (Here you go.)

Battat accepted the drink and gave up but he clearly wasn’t pleased. He still fell asleep after some time because it was cozy and he was extremely tired, only to wake up a few hours later and finding himself still restrained on the couch.

“Cat guy!” He called out when the man appeared by his side. “Release me! I rested but I really need to finish the paperwork, it’s already morning.” He glared at the clock.

The cat-like Darkner obliged and freed him. “♫?” (But don’t you feel more rested?)

“I would feel even more rested if the work was done…” Battat grumbled. “Tenna will be so mad that I missed his antenna massage…”

“♬!” (Well, you’re in luck then because I finished everything while you were asleep.) The younger man announced proudly.

“You did?” The die asked confused.

“♪!” (Yeah!) It nodded its head proudly. “♫…” (Mister Tenna slept like a Mini TV…)

“Huh… wow.” Battat was quite surprised and impressed. “Thank you. But how did you do it? I usually have to read to him and… you know…”

“♬” (Oh, I just let him pet me and purred at a frequency that should help with reducing stress.) He shrugged. “♬” (I can’t cook but I brought him muesli this morning.)

“Careful or I might see you as competition.” He smiled, feeling a bit awkward and annoyed by the situation but having a partner in crime might not be so bad; the die couldn’t remember the last time he slept this long since he took the role of Mike. “What was your name again?”

“♪!” (Pluey!) The Shadowguy smiled sweetly.

Battat nodded and looked through the paperwork once he was free, his good mood soured almost immediately. ‘This is all nonsense.’ He stared at the numbers. “Pluey… do you have any clue about accounting?”

The Shadowguy huffed and lay back his ears as if it was insulted. “♫!” (Of course, I can count!)

Battat stared the other man dumbfounded. “Pluey…” He smiled, his mouth twitched at the corners when his strained expression became almost manic. “…never touch my paperwork again… understood?”

The new Mike tilted its head. “Why?”

Battat threw the papers at his face. “Because Tenna will fire us if he finds these!” He jumped to grab the taller Darkner by the collar and shook it.

-

Battat sighed at the memory. Pluey and Jongler were both idiots but they were his idiots, they were also incredibly supportive and loyal. It felt good to know that he had someone to rely on.

Even if they caused him more stress at times as well.

And part of him wished that Tenna could become someone like that one day but there was still something about the other Darkner that scared him. He couldn’t help it even if Tenna worked so hard on convincing him.

Ever since the situation with the Lightners, he felt wary of him again. It was only more proof that Tenna could revert back to his violent tendencies if the triggers were right but could he do anything about that?

Maybe things were different now.

He didn’t hurt his employees, only the Lightners but that was still bad. They were only kids after all.

Anyone would go insane if their life was constantly threatened by the whin of the Lightners though. As a Pippins it was unlikely that he would ever get thrown away but electric devices were different.

Tenna was safe now though.

This new Lightner adored him and treated him better than the Dreemurs had his entire life before. It was like escaping an abusive household and finally finding a real family.

Thanks to the kids, all of them were able to follow as well and this new Lightner didn’t even question a thing, simply took them in.

The Pippin’s heard a door open and looked up when he got pulled into a sudden embrace. Both of his partners rushed to each of his sides.

“Boss! Are yous guys doin’ better?” The Zapper asked with a blush. “You really worried us dere…”

Pluey gave an affirmative trill and nodded, nuzzling and cuddling Battat.

The die didn’t say anything but the affection and seeing them before him triggered something in him.

Relief.

He pulled the two Darkners closer and closed his eyes while tears formed in them. “I love you guys…” Battat mumbled while he stayed in the embrace. ‘I am so glad you’re alright.’ He thought.

“Aww… wes love ya too, boss.” Jongler held him tighter while Pluey gave an affirmative sound.

Anthony watched awkwardly, standing a few meters away and wanting to ask whether he can join but he didn’t feel like he deserved it and didn’t want to interrupt. He had made everything about himself for years and Battat needed the support.

Tenna put on a brace face while he watched the three hug it out and turned away to head for the kitchen.

He felt so lonely.

Even now when he was around them, he wasn’t truly part of it. He was the fifth wheel on a car that was functioning perfectly fine without him. They didn’t need him. No one needed him. The Dreemurrs didn’t, Mike didn’t, Spamton didn’t and they didn’t either.

Quite the opposite; he was in the way. Instead of finding happiness together, he was dragging them down. They feared him and simply appeased him for that reason. He wasn’t loved by anyone and it didn’t surprise him because he didn’t love himself. How could anyone love someone as despicable and selfish as himself.

He told himself not to cry, told himself that this wasn’t about him. He had hurt Battat and damaged their trust. He couldn’t fix it; he couldn’t fix anything, not even himself.

He didn’t want to spiral. He didn’t want to feel jealous of what they had because that was evil. He was evil, he wasn’t good. He was useless and dangerous and awful.

His screen turned off, so he could contain his emotions better. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe and it hurt deep inside of his chest but he just had to swallow the feeling down and keep it together.

Tenna took another step forward and looked back at the three, still holding onto each other. Complete; without him.

“I’ll get the food, you must be starving.” He put on the brightest smile he managed when the three looked at him confused.

‘I ruined it.’ He though, tensing up when Battat frowned in his direction. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ He held himself by the wrist to avoid trembling.

Battat and Jongler opened their little hug circle before the Pippin’s spoke up. “Don’t you want to join? You’re one of us after all…” He cleared his throat. “…only if you want to… of course.”

Tenna stared at them. “Eh?”

“♫!” (Yes, join us!) Pluey encouraged him while it wagged with its tail.

Tenna shrunk a bit when he took a hesitant step closer. “Are you sure that you want me…?”

“Geez, sir! Yous just as bad as de boss, get over ‘ere!” The Zapper added, causing their superior to blush in embarrassment but form a small smile.

The TV stepped closer to join, shrinking from how shy he felt all of a sudden. “Heh… I wonder whether this is what stage fright feels like…”

The three gave him a sympathetic smile and pulled him into the hug, “There we go, you big idiot box.” Battat teased when Tenna grabbed and squeezed them. “Now we’re complete.”

“I love you!” Thank you so much!” The CRT smiled and held onto them all. “I promise I won’t be in the way!”

Battat gently yanked his antenna. “You’re not in the way if you’re part of it, dummy.” The die smiled back, feeling a bit better and reassured now. Tenna was still his sweet self, insecure and a bit emotionally unstable but trying to be a good friend and partner.

He should have known that his nightmare was unwarranted and he couldn’t allow a dream to negatively affect the real Tenna. “So? How about that lasagna? I’m starving.”

-

Tenna hummed while he brought the meal to their table, the three Mikes were sitting at it already after the tall Darkner snapped his fingers to adjust the table and chairs to their size, then shrunk down himself.

“I hope you like it! I haven’t tried making macaroni lasagna before but it sounded great and I think it turned out well.” He explained and gave them all a portion, then placed the rest on the table for seconds.

“Thanks, Tenna.” Battat smiled and looked at his food but didn’t touch it, even after everyone was seated and had their own.

“Everything alright? Doesn’t it look appealing?” The TV asked sadly.

“No, no, no!” He quickly held up his hands. “It looks delicious. I was just thinking about how nice this is… even if I had a bit of a panic attack earlier, I really enjoy spending time together… I’m sorry for ruining things earlier but this is nice. Really nice.” He explained. “I appreciate that you work on becoming a better person… but you’ve already made a lot of progress, so please don’t put yourself down all the time. You’re one of us as long as you want that.”

“Well said, boss!” Jongler agreed.

“♫! ♫…” (Yeah, you don’t get out that easy! Bats couldn’t escape our love either…)

Battat blushed embarrassed. “Shut it…”

Tenna stared at them and had some tears run down his face. “Thank you…”

“Eh?” The die looked at him dumbfounded. “Wh-why are you crying?!”

“I love you guys…” Tenna sniffed. “Sorry for repeating myself so much but this is the first time I feel as if I am part of a family instead of just sitting at the side lines. I’ll make sure you don’t regret this, I’ll make myself useful.”

The three Mikes looked at him sadly.

“♬…” (Family isn’t about being useful, it’s about supporting each other in good and bad times.) Pluey told him.

“Yeah, sometimes wes need more help ‘n’ other times you do. Dere’s no need to fill a quota or sum’.” The Zapper agreed and nodded their head.

“Exactly, Pluey completely ruined my work in the beginning but I still kept him around.” Battat grinned.

“♫!” (That was one time!) Pluey argued embarrassed while Jongler laughed.

“Don’t act so innocent, you almost blew our cover on the first day!” The green die threw his hands in the air exasperatedly.

Pluey laughed as well now with Battat joining in, letting out a slight chuckle.

Tenna snickered softly at the display. “Maybe you’re right…” He remembered Susie’s words and nodded. “…I’ll do whatever I can to support you then. Just as you’ve always supported me.” His expression was gentle and warm.

There was a moment of silence and tranquility before Pluey started eating.

The other three stared at it flabbergasted when the munching interrupted the quiet moment.

“♪? ♫.” (What? I was hungry.) Pluey shrugged.

Battat reprimanded him while Jongler tried to mediate between them. Tenna was a bit surprised and watched them before he gave a full-hearted laugh. “I think Pluey got the right idea, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

Battat huffed and took a bite himself when Pluey stole a noodle from him. “You thieving cat burglar!”

The Shadowguy stuck out its tongue and ate the noodle.

Battat was about to pounce him when Jongler offering one of their own. “You can have one of mine, boss.” The Zapper offered.

Battat blushed. “Pluey just needs to stay on its plate. He can’t keep getting away with this!”

Tenna petted Pluey’s head. “Hey, don’t steal… there’s more than enough for everyone and if you behave, I pet you in your favourite spot.” He gently rubbed between his ears.

“Don’t reward him…” The Pippins sighed and kept eating.

“But he’s so cute!” Tenna hugged Pluey.

“Aww… they’re so cute.” Jongler agreed.

Battat rolled his eyes. “I guess it’s kinda cute.” He blushed when Jongler petted his head as well but didn’t fight it, only kept eating.

-

“Wes should probably go home.” Jongler yawned. “It’s getting late.” They rubbed their face after they all cleaned up together.

Battat looked at Tenna, unsure whether the CRT would protest but he didn’t have to wait long.

“Actually… Batsy and I were talking earlier…” He shifted in place. “How would you feel about staying the night?” The man asked while offering a shy smile.

Jongler looked at the other two for their opinion.

Pluey seemed immediately excited. “♪!” (Yes!)

Battat smiled. “What about you?” The die looked at his Zapper partner and smiled.

They blushed. “I’d like dat…”

Tenna clasped his hands together. “Splendid!” He snapped his fingers to teleport their pyjamas there. “Oh… seems I missed one.” He looked at two pieces of clothing, one for Battat and one for Jongler.

“Naw, that’s it.” Battat picked up his own. “Pluey likes sleeping nude, unlike other Shadowguys, his entire body is fluffy.

“Oh? Is that so?” Tenna asked surprised while two of them got changed.

Jongler nodded. “Cat ears are already rarer than rabbit ears but Plues also got a tail ‘n’ fur dat it used to hide.”

“I guess that Pluey and I got along because we’re different from the others.” The Pippins smiled awkwardly. “We’re both misfits.”

“I wouldn’t call it that… it’s part of you, you’re perfect the way you are. You’re a beautiful green and Pluey is fluffy.” The CRT smiled warmly. “What’s with you, Jongler?”

“Ah… nuthin’ much. I am just a regular Zapper.” They explained.

“Well, you’re my favourite. You’re Jongler and that makes you special.” He smiled. “You’re much softer than other Zappers, that’s endearing.”

“Daw… thank you, sir.” They blushed and looked away.

“And so polite…” Tenna chuckled and carried them to the bed. “Here you go. Make yourselves at home.”

He took off his own clothes and joined them, the smaller Darkners immediately swarmed him for cuddles, and went to sleep.

Battat lay down on his tummy with his head and looked at him, legs kneeling on the blanket. “Goodnight, Tenna.” He smiled when the CRT cupped him with his hand.

“Goodnight, my Mikes.” He smirked.

Battat chuckled and watched him until he fell asleep.

Headcanons (Doodle Page):

Chapter Text

Tenna disappeared.

Mike had been looking for his boss all day and couldn’t find him. According to Tenna, Kris was alone at home and would likely watch TV most of the day and night.

But instead of putting on a show for his favourite Dreemurr, Tenna had vanished as if the snow outside had swallowed him up and buried the TV in ice.

Battat was was pacing around their hideout while in costume and experienced an even greater amount of anxiety than usual.

He eventually decided to head for Tenna’s home and left his concerned teammate behind. Mike had never entered the apartment with his emergency key because he wanted to respect at least one part of Tenna’s privacy but this was an emergency and he might find a clue.

The lights were off and all curtains draw but he got in even though everything had been locked from the inside it seemed. Pluey had luckily shown him how to lock-pick a door.

“Tenna?” Mike entered carefully. “Are you in here, boss? Everyone is worried about you, they’re turning the studio on its head to-“ The faker froze when he was face to face with a child. “What…? Is that…” He tensed up. ‘…a human?!’ He suppressed the question by keeping it in his head. “Oh god…” That one slipped out.

He froze when he sensed something behind him, like prey that was aware of the presence of a predator. His body twisted to look up at whatever stood behind him, only to be face to face with The Lord of Screens. A dark glass, stared back with a bright frown lighting the room up and covering him in stripes like prison bars.

Each tooth emanated its own glow.

Mike’s inhale was flat and quick, immediately following by a strained exhale.

Both men stared at each other; the taller Darkner glanced at the child and then grabbed his associate, carrying him to another room.

Once the door shut behind them, the shorter man attempted to apologise; this only resulted in both of them speaking up at the same time.

“I can explain!” The two Darkners said in a panic; Mippins only realised at that moment that Tenna wasn’t angry, he was mortified.

‘Why is he scared?’ Mike wondered and tried to keep his composure. “Elaborate…” He said warily. The chubby, costumed man was clearly missing some important context.

“I know you’ve waited for this but… please don’t hurt them!” The TV shrunk to half his size and got on his knees. “I can’t give them to you… they’re just a child. They’re my kid… I can’t let you take their soul. Anyone but them.” He pleaded.

Battat stared at the CRT from behind his mask when his boss shrunk to half a Pippins in size. ‘What…? Mike wants a Lightner’s soul?”

Tenna looked at him expectantly.

‘Dammit… I have to say something…’ He stared at the door behind him. “Don’t worry…” Mike placed a hand on Tenna’s shoulder. “We’ll keep them safe.”

Battat blinked and looked up to see Tenna smile at him. “Oh… this dream again.” The Pippins mumbled half-awake. He found himself thinking about cuddling up in Tenna’s arms much too often.

The TV chuckled. “Not a dream… morning, Batsy.” His face looked so soft and caring, especially with the warm light that surrounded them.

The green die blushed, a faint colour spread on his face at the realisation that he had said this out loud. “M-Morning…”

Tenna giggled and grew a flower. “I’m happy to see that you didn’t have a nightmare this time, seems cuddling helped.” He pulled his favourite die closer

Battat blushed more intensely. “Tenna…” He looked at the large hand and cracked a smile. “It’s odd… you’re so tall and yet so gentle.” He smiled up at him ever so softly. “This really is like a dream…” Battat managed to relax and noticed that he held onto his hand. ‘It is strange… he is so different now…’ He looked up at that goofy smile. ‘…is it because he finally feels safe? No more threat from the Lightners, instead one that treats him well and like a person… no more need to play an act around Mike or his employees… genuine love?’ He closed his eyes and nuzzled into the palm. “…thank you.”

The CRT stared at him and blushed himself, laughing while he wiped away tears. “Thank you as well, Batsy…”

They both chuckled and held onto each other. The Pippins sighed and kissed his partner’s hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Tenna cupped his head. “I’m very grateful to be here with you right now… I appreciate how patient you are with me even though I keep messing up and have a lot of baggage.”

“Hey… just one more thing we got in common.” Battat laughed awkwardly. “We can get through this.” He actually believed this for once and managed to relax.

Tenna stared at him.

“Is something wrong?” The green die asked when Tenna poked his stomach and then began tickling him.

“A-Anthony… w-what?” The small Darkner started giggling, his face twisting into a smile that looked just like a regular Pippins.

Tenna kept going and watched the little guy writhe and laugh at the touch.

“S-stop… stop!” He had tears in his eyes by now and wheezed when the CRT released him. “W-what was that for?!” He asked between trying to regulate his breathing and getting the remaining giggles out of his system.

“You seemed almost like a normal dice boy for a moment.” Tenna smiled.

“What? When am I not normal?” The Pippins asked offended.

“I don’t know… you just seem more serious than other Pippins and usually I like that but it’s cute when you let loose and allow yourself to be happy.” Tenna admitted.

“Allow myself to be happy…” Battat thought about it and he realised that he spend years only caring for Tenna, Pluey, Jongler and the rest of the studio when he suddenly realised something was off. “Wait, where are Pluey and Jongler?” He sat up and realised they weren’t asleep on the bed anymore.

Tenna grinned mischievously.

Battat’s anxiety immediately returned. “Anthony? Where are they?”

“You really are nervous.” The TV teased. “How cute…” He poked Battat’s chest with one of his claws and watched the smaller Darkner tense up. “Sorry… I can’t help myself when you look like that… Pluey told me you’re into this.” He bared his fangs.

The Pippins frowned. “Not when I don’t know the whole deal…”

Tenna pouted. “You’re back to being serious. Come on, show that silly side again.” He retracted his claws. “They’re fine, I promise.” The CRT grinned and rolled on his back to act like an oversized kitten.

“Alright… you’re distracting me from something.” The die squinted.

“Whaaaat? No—!” The TV tried to act cute. “Don’t you want to cuddle?”

“This is too weird.” Battat got off the bed and got dressed, about to put on his poncho when a clawed hand grabbed him. “Hey-!”

“Not very nice of you to say…” Tenna kept him close on the bed and nuzzled him with his nose.

Battat smirked to himself. “You’re right.” He grabbed Tenna’s head to kiss him, immediately taking the CRT aback and feeling his grip loosen.

They smiled at each other before Battat pushed a pillow between them and ran off. “Ha!”

“You little—“ Tenna growled and hurried after him but this time he missed when he tried to catch him.

Battat froze when he entered the living room, eyes growing wide in shock.

-

“How did Kris even end up here?” He watched the child eat cornflakes while Tenna watched them happily.

“I might have brought them here.” The CRT admitted. “I’m not entirely sure how I did it though…” He pondered.

“What do you mean?” Battat asked confused. “Also why do you call Kris a them when—“

“They react best to it.” Tenna explained. “I tried both she and he but they seemed upset when the family uses those and when I did. I’d appreciate it if you use it too that.”

“Sure. I don’t care.” Mike shrugged. “But that doesn’t answer the more important question.” He crossed his arms.

“Right!” Mister Tenna laughed. “Well… Kris was touching my screen and I noticed that I could pull them in, through it.”

“You ate them in the Light World?!” Battat asked shocked, shortly losing character. ‘Oh god… what if they are wrapped up in his wires and got electrocuted…?’

Tenna stared at him shocked. “No! No, wait! Not like that!” He was a bit embarrassed about the misunderstanding. “It was more like reaching out my hand and pulling them closer. My claw seemed to cut some kind of… I don’t know… tear into reality with bright, white light coming from it.”

Battat stared at him. “Were you drunk? Are you sure that’s what happened? Didn’t you just see a reflection of your screen?”

“No! I’m serious.” He explained. “I just…” He frowned. “I felt so determined to make Kris stop crying after Toriel and Asgore fought again, it was as if my soul called out to them and they came closer and suddenly they were here. Kris wasn’t scared, they took my hand and smiled at me and I’ve been trying to keep them hidden, happy and entertained since.”

Mike thought about this. “I see… we need to find a way to get them back home though. We can’t keep a Lightner child in TV World.”

Tenna frowned, clearly not on board with this but he nodded sadly.

The shorter Darkner glanced at Kris suspiciously. ‘All of this just became more confusing.’

-

He stared at Tenna preparing breakfast with Pluey and Jongler. “What?” Battat turned around to find the bedroom empty. “Oh god… I’m going insane.”

The TV looked at him in concern. “Uhm… Battat?”

The Pippins held his head. “I am starting to hallucinate… or maybe it’s Mike…” He whispered, looking around frantically for something to write his theory down when a large hand picked him up.

“Batsy… relax. It was me.” The CRT reminded him.

“Huh?” The die looked at him confused. “But you…”

“I can be at two places at once, forgot? Well, more than two but at some point my heads gets a mess.” He laughs awkwardly.

“Oh, right… how could I forget…” He blushed embarrassed when Tenna placed him back down.

“I wanted you to be distracted until we finished preparing breakfast.” Tenna smiled. “This is the first time that the three of us shared a bed and if you want to move in, we could do this every free day.” He floated with a flower on his nose, making the goofiest and cutest smile.

Battat smiled timidly.

Jongler just stared at them and sniffed.

“Is something wrong?” Tenna asked confused.

“I’m so happy yous get along now. Yous both look much happier and so cute together.” The Zapper explained.

The tallest Darkner blushed while Battat immediately disagreed. “W-what? No! We’re just… we…” He fell quietly. “We really are… aren’t we?” He sounded almost solemn. “Happy, I mean…” The Pippins fell quiet before smiling more genuinely, much softer than usual. “Thank you.”

All three stared at him in confusion for a moment before smiling, Tenna reached out first. “I should be the one thanking you.” He pulled the little die closer with a gentle push of his hand. “You’ve always been there for me. Even before you took over Mike’s role, you’ve always worked so hard… but especially after he left and you jumped in, you’ve always accommodated me. You learned my schedules, organised the show, listened to me, gave me words of advice…”

The CRT paused, wearing a regretful expression. “I know that I already told you but I am so sorry for everything. That I yelled at you out of costume, that I wasn’t attentive enough to realise you got bullied, that I worked you to the bone until you collapsed at times,… I’ve been a terrible boss and an even worse friend.”

The Pippins looked down. “Anthony…”

“I can’t turn back time but I can make a promise.” He offered his hands with the palms up and raised them to his screen when Battat stepped onto them. “You’ll always have a home here. Not only because I invite you to move in with me but because want you in my life. As my best friend, an equal partner and more… if that is something you could imagine.”

Battat looked at him with big eyes and felt tears welling up in them before he started to sob. He didn’t even know why he cried. Tenna had expressed this a few times but this was the first time those words really sunk in. It could be that he finally had a safe space with Pluey, Jongler and Tenna. It could also be the acknowledgment of everything he sacrificed for the studio and especially Tenna but it could also be genuine connection, love and rest after years of exhaustion.

It felt good. Safe. Warm.

He felt Jongler and Pluey hug him, followed by Tenna after he shrunk a bit.

“Are yous alright, boss?” Jongler asked first.

“I think that I am…” The die smiled and closed his eyes. “I’m glad to have you in my life…” He quickly opened his eyes and pushed them off. “Anyway—“ He smiled awkwardly. ‘I am getting way too comfortable with this…’ He freed himself, back towards the group. “—it’s my job to serve you and make you happy.”

Tenna exchanged looks with the other two, who shrugged without a clue themselves. “But…” The TV smiled a bit. “…it would make me happy if my best friends are happy too. That includes you, Battat.”

Battat was shaking barely noticeable. “Really…? That’s how you see me?” He asked. “Despite everything… even if… I’m… not…” Each word was more quiet than the one before it.

“Would you prefer boyfriends?” The CRT asked confused.

“What?” The die blushed and waved around his arms. “When did things developed so fast?!”

“You’re okay with moving in and we shared a bed.” Tenna reminded him.

“…oh, right.” Battat had to process that. “So… huh… I guess we really are partners now…? I mean… you know?” He smirked. ‘Take that, mailman and Mike!’ He kept that part to himself.

“♪!” (Yes!) Pluey cheered. “♫!” (Mr. Tenna and The Mikes!)

The CRT laughed. “You’re really okay with that?”

“Can be our group name!” Jongler nodded.

Battat chuckled. “Sure… that sounds nice.” He smiled. “Why is Tenna in the center of attention though?” He teased.

“♬” (Because ‘Pluey, Tenna and the other two doesn’t roll off the tongue.’) It shrugged.

The die huffed. “Why would it be you? What about ‘Battat and the Idiots’!” He snapped back.

“I like ‘Tenna and The Mikes’…” Jongler admitted.

“Me too!” Tenna joined in.

“♫Of course, you would!♫” The two men replied simultaneously with a roll of their eyes.

Anthony laughed at the situation, when a few tears ran down his screen.

The three smaller Darkners looked at him in concern. “Are yous alright, Mr. Tenna?”

“I am…” He smiled sweetly at them. “For the first time in my life… I feel as if I can say that I am okay and mean it.” He grasped at his own chest. “It’s just… such a relief, you know? I don’t feel as tired… my body doesn’t hurt anymore… I have more time off without worrying that it means a loss of interest. My Lighter is so good to me…”

Battat smiled sadly. They might have more in common than he had expected at first.

“…but I also realised that isn’t all that matters. That the people here matter as well, you three, Susie and Mettaton… you gave be a second chance and more importantly, you gave me hope.” He smiled. “I forgot that this studio isn’t just to entertain the Lightners, it’s also a home to many Darkners and I like to think we’re all a family. We might be dysfunctional at times...” He smiled sadly. “… and I know there’s still a lot that I need to work on to become a better boss and be good partner to you but even if there’s ups and downs in life, I’m happy to have you three by my side.”

Battat smiled softly. “We’re happy to be here with you.” The other two agreed.

The tall Darkner was thinking of something before sighing. “Actually… if we want to make this official, I have to tell you something important.” He appeared hesitant.

“Whatever it is, wes accept you” Jongler promised while Pluey nuzzled Tenna’s leg.

“They’re right.” Battat nodded. “What is it?”

He braced himself, both scared and excited. “There’s something you didn’t know yet but I have a daughter.” He admitted.