Chapter Text
Harsh sunlight shone through the windows of the school classroom. It was nearing the end of the day. Almost time to go home for the weekend. Tristan couldn't wait! Sitting around and scribbling doodles in his notebook was getting boring. So was listening to the teacher and doing crummy meaningless worksheets.
"Yo, why have you been so quiet all day? What's going on?" Asked Garrett. He seemed concerned. "You can tell me. We're buddies!"
The tall, crystalline stickman was silent for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "I̸ ̵d̴o̵n̶'̴t̷ ̵w̶a̸n̸t̵ ̶t̸o̸ ̷t̷a̸l̵k̷ ̶a̷b̶o̶u̵t̶ ̶i̷t̴,̴ ̷G̷a̶r̸r̴e̸t̴t̵.̶"
Diamond Man held his head in his hands. It had been a month since Tristan last saw his attacker. In fact, this was his first day back. The two mostly avoided each other whenever possible, since apparently what ticked off Diamond Man the most was looking in his eyes. Even if for a moment. Tristan couldn't help but notice Diamond Man's voice changed. It sounded... crackly? Tristan didn't know how to describe it, but it did remind him of one time when Bandu tried to sing along with Dave and Bambi in a video chat. The catch was that Bandu had a bad mic, causing everyone on the chat to burst into laughter. And then that tall red Bambi joined the call and everyone screamed and left, Tristan remembered. Doesn't he have a name? Eh, maybe if I see him again I'll remember.
...but Diamond Man's new voice certainly brought Tristan's curiosity to light. He stole a glance at the stickman's shiny body, being sure to quickly advert his gaze to Garrett. Garrett reached a concerned arm over to Diamond Man's back, gently patting it. Then Garrett noticed Tristan staring.
"What?" The former grumbled. His brows furrowed in annoyance. "Don't you have someone else to send to a month of suspension?"
"H̴e̷'̶s̶ ̵s̵t̷a̷r̵i̵n̴g̶,̵ ̷i̵s̷n̴'̷t̴ ̸h̵e̸." Diamond Man mumbled in that glitchy voice of his.
Tristan quickly looked down at his worksheet, pencil in hand, pretending to be busy. "No I'm not!" He said. "And you did that to yourself." He added in a low whisper.
Diamond Man twitched upon hearing the little remark, growling and holding his head tighter. Suddenly, he stood up, and walked straight out of the classroom. Somehow no one else noticed this. Like he didn't even exist. Tristan and Garrett exchanged glances. Garrett sighed and hobbled after Diamond Man, muttering things under his breath.
Tristan slowly looked back down at his worksheet. "Okaaaaay..."
"What was that about?" Asked another student. A girl with pointed ears like an elf, wearing a pink blouse. Better known as Jacey.
Tristan managed a shrugged. "No idea. Probably a bad first day back. Say, do you know the answers?"
Jacey smirked. "Yeah I do. Gimme your worksheet."
Tristan complied and handed his over. The assignment at hand was looking at an article and answering dumb questions about it. Not his favorite thing to do. The article itself was something about a bunch of people all over the world sharing similar dreams. Dreams about waking up in a strange house with squiggly patterns, unending halls, and many doors. Doors with eyes on them. Tristan didn't bother to read the rest of the article because he lost interest half a paragraph in. Thankfully his mutual friend Jacey didn't.
After a few minutes, she handed the worksheet back to him. "No need to thank me!" She said happily. "This paper about a mass-shared nightmare really gets me thinking. I'm wondering why the victims are all linked to games. The casino one make sense because those lead to illegal stuff, I think. But the sport, video, and board games... not so much. And hacking. Wonder what's up with that. And the place that seems to be in every dream. And the cannibal."
Jacey continued mumbling to herself. Tristan looked over the worksheet a few times, before sticking it in his classroom folder. He turned his head behind himself. Garrett and Diamond Man were still gone. He wondered where they went.
Well, if you want to know something, find out yourself! Tristan thought.
The teacher was in the corner of the classroom helping someone else. Quietly, Tristan rose from his seat, and tip-toed off to the door. Conveniently, it had been left open due to the heat. Or maybe Garrett was too lazy to close it. Either way, Tristan easily snuck outside the classroom and came into the halls.
Fittingly, the halls were empty. But Tristan knew those two were around here somewhere. He turned left and went down the corridor. The other classroom doors were closed. If Tristan listened carefully, he could hear Mr. Music playing the piano somewhere in the school to his own students.
At the intersection, Tristan caught an unusual but familiar shine in the corner of his eye. His head whipped to where it came from. He saw Diamond Man and Garrett standing in front of a water fountain, quietly talking together. Garrett was holding Diamond Man's stump hands. The latter seemed to be vibrating. Tristan was confused, so he walked towards them to investigate.
"Are you ok?" Tristan asked.
Diamond Man flinched at the sudden question. He turned his head away. "L̴e̵a̴v̵e̷ ̷m̶e̵ ̸a̸l̵o̷n̵e̴!̸" He cried. "D̷o̴n̸'̸t̷ ̵y̷o̶u̶ ̶u̷n̴d̵e̵r̸s̸t̷a̶n̸d̸ A̸N̷Y̶T̴H̴I̸N̶G̵?̶!̶"
Tristan stopped. Garrett turned to face him. But instead of saying anything to defend Diamond Man, all that came out of Garrett was a screech. A loud, horrible, agonizing screech. Tristan covered his ears, but it did nothing. The walls around him suddenly shifted between bright, rainbow colors that made his head spin. He screamed and closed his eyes, tears brimming at the seams.
...and then a moment later, it all stopped.
Tristan slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with pink and orange swirling together all around him in a psychedelic mess. Abstract shapes resembling pastel shooting targets floated in the background, along with what looked like flower petals. There was no visible floor beneath, but Tristan was clearly standing on something. He was in awe.
That awe quickly turned into fear when he realized where he was. The 3D Realm.
"How did I get here?" He asked himself. "Hello? Anyone? Dad?"
Tristan quickly realized he was alone. Very alone. He had no way to contact his father, or anyone for that matter. Even less an idea where in the dimension he was. Nothing here was familiar. No homes or 3D residents to be seen, only color, shapes, and empty space. And flower petals floating in the alien wind.
Logically, Tristan decided there was one option. He couldn't sit around and do nothing. So he walked forward, jumping and hopping through the realm as he did so. Last time he was here, it was fun. But now that he was alone and in an unrecognizable plane of existence, he was scared. He wished for the comfort and safety of his father. Of Bambi. Of at least the friends he had in this strange place.
Tristan didn't know how long he trotted through the 3D Realm before he found something that wasn't the shapes and swirls of the background. He heard it before he saw it. In the distance were two people talking to each other. Naturally, Tristan ran in their direction.
As he drew closer to them, his previous hopelessness and fear got replaced by gratefulness. By sheer luck he found Dave and Bambi. Talking to each other in the middle of nowhere. Tristan beamed with excitement.
"Dad!" He shouted. "It's me, Tristan!"
His voice caught his father's attention. "Tris...tan?" He clarified.
"Yeah!"
Tristan came up to his father and Bambi. But something was a little off about them. Dave somehow floated midair without his wheelchair, and he had no expression on his face whatsoever. Bambi was a lot bigger than usual, and had a friendly smile. Bambi was also 3D. But it didn't matter, because Tristan was too happy to see them to question these little details.
He hugged Dave. Dave looked down, and slowly hugged back. "Hey there... you ok?" He asked in a monotone voice.
Tristan sighed. "No. I was just... in class, when suddenly I appeared here! I don't know how I got here! Why are you and Bambi here?" He asked. "Oooh, did you sense that I was lost? Is that why?"
Dave and Bambi exchanged glances. Bambi answered. "Suuuure. Yeah. That's why."
Relief on Tristan's behalf. He hugged Dave tighter, before letting go and standing in front of them both. "Good... what now? Can we go home?"
They exchanged glances again, this time a little longer. Dave managed a shrug. "I don't see why not." His head turned to his much taller friend. "Bambi... where did you say the house was?"
Bambi pointed behind himself with his thumb. "There. It not far from here. You'll recognize it because it's blue!" He mused.
Tristan blinked in confusion. Then his eyes lit up. "Oooh! Are we staying here in the realm?" He asked, excited. "How long?"
"Until your next school day, I suppose." Dave murmured.
Tristan squealed and jumped around like a jackrabbit. He had never stayed overnight in the 3D Realm. Never thought of it until now. Tristan let out his excitement by bounding in the direction Bambi pointed. This is gonna be so much fun! His thoughts beamed. I can't wait to do stuff here!
As Tristan continued off into the distance, Dave and Bambi faced each other. Dave's arms remained at his sides, his body unmoving. "He thinks I'm his father..." he pointed out. "What does that make you? What do we do?"
Bambi tapped his pointed finger to his chin. "I am your friend. Perhaps that's the way the kid sees his father's hypothetical companion. We should play along. Pretend to be his caretakers, until his real father comes along to pick him up." He proposed. "After all, you've been holed up in that room of yours for an entire month. Doing absolutely nothing, except for that one day you came out to say hello to Kirby Dave and my beloved. I think it's high time you got some action."
"True." RECOVERED_PROJECT agreed. It looked forward, to the speck of the child it had to now watch over. "What are we waiting for? Let's go then."
Expunged grimaced. "Oh, indeed, indeed."