Chapter 3 - Reality (G&G)

As earlier stated, the loss of control to oneself due to the embracing of darkness can lead to the worst of consequences. Some of the most notable tolls are taken on the victim’s personality. Egocentricity, for example, can blind one from being able to see simple solutions and possible interactions that one may foolishly think to be above of. It can end up creating new enemies for one to the point that he is all alone in his own world. It was too bad for Xavier that nobody was more affected by this than him.

“S-stupid Skelloetta,” Xavier muttered through chattering teeth. “W-why can’t she just s-stay out of my way?”  After a half hour of attempting to dig upward through the heavy snow, the bandit finally reached the top. To his surprise, all the battlers were sitting right on the edge of the island, singing carols-- well, he guessed that they were singing, though it sounded more like sound effects from a horror movie. Holding back the vomit that had built up from the sight of their sickening merriment, Xavier turned towards the shop. There was the teal tail, and there was nobody standing in his way!

Wasting no time, Xavier began sprinting through the snow. That lasted about three seconds, because it’s impossible to sprint in snow. He proceeded to waddle at a moderate pace through the snow until he finally reached the store. While standing outside, he began to think up a plan. Chubba probably wouldn’t follow him, since he was such a well-known professional killer. Instead, he would have to knock him out first. Taking a deep breath, Xavier took hold of his hammer and charged inside. Letting out a furious war cry, he lept up on the teal clubba and began bashing him with the tool. After landing about five blows, Xavier grabbed him by the tail and waddled furiously over to the island’s edge.

“FINALLY! AT LONG LAST, VICTORY IS MINE!” Xavier screamed, and flung him off. All the battlers turned and gave him an odd look.

“Looks like he’s finally gone off the deep end,” Gonzales said, shaking his head. Xavier looked around, confused. Yoshi, who had followed Xavier outside, walked up behind him.

“You seem to have something against cardboard cutouts, huh?” he mused. Xavier looked back off the edge, and sure enough, there was a life-sized cutout of everyone’s least favorite host plummeting to the ground. “Yeah, I appreciate it, though. He’s putting those things up all over the place, and now I don’t have to take the heat for getting it out of the shop. You’re still going to have to pay for it, though, so this should cover it.”  With that, Yoshi took Xavier’s wallet and left, followed by all of the battlers. They all passed by, giving the bandit dirty looks, until only Meloetta and Skelloetta remained. They glared at him for what seemed like an eternity before shaking their heads (which, again, were their whole bodies, so they were really doing a little shimmy) and going inside. That’s when it really hit him--Xavier had nobody left, and for the first time in his life, it mattered to him.

No amount of darkness could help Xavier shake this feeling of loneliness. Knowing he needed to do some property damage in order to make himself feel better, he trudged into the juice shop and grabbed Tubba’s laptop. He let out a ferocious cry and was about to chuck it at the wall when, all of a sudden, something caught his eye. A large pop-up ad covering the entire screen had appeared, and it was quite a peculiar one. Xavier set down the computer and took a seat to analyze the advertisement. Oddly enough, it was nothing more than a large, white square with some small text.

"Psychiatric Help - 5 cents - Go to storage room at midnight (COME ALONE)”

“Pffft, psychiatric help?” Xavier said to nobody in particular. “Who am I kidding? I’m the most mentally sound guy I know!”  A few moments later, he threw himself out the back window because a blender was looking at him funny.

“...dishonest, stingy, inconsiderate, vain…”

“Hey, Tubba,” muttered Xavier. He proceeded to pick himself up and trudge back into the Glitz Pit. Knowing that everyone went to the red major league room, he decided to avoid the heat and head to the blue one. Feeling as down as ever, he walked into the bathroom and splashed water on his mask, which did absolutely nothing. Upon looking up into the mirror, however, he noticed something that made him freeze up: the crack in his mask.

“What have I become…” he muttered, looking deep into the soulless reflection of his soulless self. How he had changed from how he used to be…  At that moment, his attention was directed to the clock hanging on the wall.

11:59 PM.

One minute later, Xavier found himself standing at the door of the storage room.