We are 𝐒𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 to welcome you to TODAY'S SHOW! Sit back, relax, and enjoy our wonderful segments, with 𝓕𝓪𝓷𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓐𝓷𝓽 at 6!
Even a network like ours has rules... Find them below!
We are 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓, but we aren't 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒!
𝐍𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝, our stars and audience are very dear to us! We will not tolerate discrimination against any of them.
𝐁𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞! This is not an After Dark show, after all. Compliments (to Ant especially) are welcome, but anything too scandalous will get us a call from our Censors, which we are trying to avoid!
𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐌 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃. Mister Ant's direct orders.
𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝! We have a firm grasp on EVERYONE's identities and whereabouts at all times. We can tell you are not them.
Reaching through the multiverse to watch us? WE ARE SO FLATTERED! Please, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 from other versions of you that may have interacted with us.
Visiting the studio? Taking part in our shows? Spending time with any of us one on one? 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐫░𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐲░░ 𝐛𝐲 ░░▒▒░ ░▒░er░░ ░▒hat is░░▒ ░░░terfer░░ ░▒▒░░▒em ░▒░░░ ░ike! MIK░░░▒ ▒░░ ░▒░ ░▒░░▒ ▒▒░ [… 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝙿 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 :) ]
...Ahem. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳. They're our 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳, they're your 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳! And they do take questions from those curious about the behind the scenes. [𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘. ]
Our network reserves the right to ignore and delete Fanmail at the discretion of the FSD (Fanmail Sorting Department) even if it does not breach any rule mentioned above directly! 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙲𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝!
It's almost the end of the year! And what a year it was! To celebrate this... 𝓐 𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓨𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝓔𝓿𝓮 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂, obviously!
You are invited, not only to attend, but to help Mister Ant find suitable clothes for both the party in his studio, and the one Mister Ten invited him to!
𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖑?
⇒ Create an outfit for Mister Ant based on the one Mister Ten will be wearing!
⇒ The submission phase ends on the 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, after which we will post a week long poll to let our viewers pick their favorite one.
⇒ Submit your designs by sending them to our blog's inbox! You're allowed to design and submit up to two different outfits.
⇒ There will be 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, one picked by the audience, and one picked by the PR Team. If the PR Team happens to pick an outfit that wins the viewer poll or was created by the person who won the viewer poll, they will go with their second favorite to allow for multiple winners.
⇒ Winners will get a full body rendered drawing of up to two characters of their choosing from our wonderful sponsor, @emperoryumemomo.
⇒ 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬:
⇒ No jewelry
⇒ No skin showing
⇒ Socks and gloves have to stay on (Changing their color is fine)
⇒ No skirts, dresses or high heels
🇦🇳🇾 🇪🇳🇹🇷🇾 🇩🇮🇸🇷🇪🇬🇦🇷🇩🇮🇳🇬 🇹🇭🇴🇸🇪 🇬🇺🇮🇩🇪🇱🇮🇳🇪🇸 🇼🇮🇱🇱 🇧🇪 🇦🇺🇹🇴🇲🇦🇹🇮🇨🇦🇱🇱🇾 🇩🇮🇸🇶🇺🇦🇱🇮🇫🇮🇪🇩.
[ To clarify... ]
[ While you are designing the outfit based on The King of Happy's, ]
[ In truth, and in canon, The King is basing his outfit on what The Lord of The Screens is wearing. ]
[ Since we are on hiatus... ]
[ We will not be ending this on the 24th. ]
[ But, look at the upside. ]
[ That means you have time until we come back and announce the new end date. :) ]
[ Hmmm... ]
[ A lot of garbage signal on the airwaves lately. ]
[ How Annoying. ]
[ Well, we can't do anything about this, unfortunately. ]
[ Consider this the start of a... ]
[ Hiatus. ]
[ Goodbye, dear viewers. ]
[ We'll see you again another time. ]
[ And when we do, ]
[ we'll pick right back up where we left off. ]
[ Won't that be fun? :) ]
"An-" He hesitates... "..Mister? Ant?" He doesn't seem too sure about how to address his buddy while on TV. "Well, he's my BΣƧƬ FЯIΣПD! In the world! And in the other ones too!" He seems excited. "He found me in a trashcan one day and that's how we became friends! He seems 丂匚卂尺ㄚ at first, but he's very nice once you get to know him!"
"And, MIƧƬΣЯ ƬΣП...?" He thinks. "He's friend shaped, so, we are friends, I think? Very nice, very pettable, very dog, but also very 匚ЯΣΣPY. Λ𝙻ЩΛYƧ happy, Λ𝙻ЩΛYƧ, Λ𝙻ЩΛYƧ, so Λ𝙻ЩΛYƧ that it's... it's not normal to be so happy, is it? But Ten likes Ant and Ant likes Ten so... if Ant is happy I'm happy!" After thinking out loud he nods to himself with a smile. "I like Mister Ten!
Since you used to teach, what subject you typically teach in class?
"ӨΉ!" He brightens up. "卂ㄥㄥ 丂ㄩ乃J乇匚ㄒ丂 and MӨЯΣ! I particularly liked 丂匚丨乇几匚乇 and ΣПGㄥIƧΉ, There were always a lot of cool shows explaining complicated concept in very easy to understand ways!"
He presents a VHS to the camera. "This one is a show called Ƨ匚IΣП匚Σ ЯЦㄥΣƧ, It's a play on words! Because it's about the ЯЦㄥΣƧ of Ƨ匚IΣП匚Σ!" He starts giggling before his sentence even ends. He shakes his hand slightly, and three VHSes slide out of under the one he was already holding. "Here's English, French and..." He leans forwards to take a better look at the third one. "Spanish...? I didn't know I had that..."
Hi, Mister Info! I spy your figure by Ant. How did you make it?
"Oh, I just got done making this!" He giggles. "Just some 匚ㄥΛY and ƧIㄥVΣЯ PΛIПƬ! Really easy crafts, everything is 乇卂丂丨ㄥㄚ ЩΛƧΉΣD ӨFF and ПӨП ƬӨXI匚 if ingested!" He giggles again before breaking out into a giggle. He seems really happy with those facts!
"I have some more in my-" He puts his hand in his jacket, but then realizes that he's not wearing his usual clothes. "Uh..." He takes his hand out. "Maybe I can see you after the show and sell you some... for a Ꮆㄖㄖᗪ 卩尺丨匚乇!"
Fancy seeing you show up here, but it's neat seeing different faces here. How are you feeling about hosting this segment in place of Ant? /v\
Info waves with both hands. "卄丨 ㄒ卄乇尺乇!" He puts both hands together on the desk. "It feels..." Seems he needs a little while to think of an answer, leaving an uncomfortably long blank. "I haven't been in front of a crowd for ӨVΣЯ Λ DΣ匚ΛDΣ. And even when I was, It was just 20 KIDƧ ΛƬ MӨƧƬ... I..." He suddenly seems nervous again, looking left and right for support. "I'll be fine. I think?"
As the stage lights turn on, the audience cheers. A cheer that quickly becomes hesitant, confused even, but it picks up in excitement as instructed by the teleprompter.
Info sits in the seat usually reserved for Ant. He seems awkward, fidgeting with his jacket sleeve, looking down at it, entirely distracted. Seems he hears something from off stage, cause after glancing to his right, he turns his head to look for the camera.
Eventually he finds it, and gives it his best smile.
"Hi everyone, welcome to..." He hesitates. "MIƧƬΣЯ IПFӨ'Ƨ ƬV ƬIMΣ!" He laughs. "I almost said 匚ㄥΛƧƧ!" The audience laughs. "Old habits!" Seems he's already a little more relaxed. "Well, I'm sure everyone here was expecting Ant, but he's skipping the program today due to... things. But 丨'爪 here instead!"
Info tinkers with his little sculpture. He's been making his own statuette to match Ant's, and, he's actually been doing a great job at it! He's currently applying a top coat to protect the silver paint.
"𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 ?"
Info turns his head to look at Ant, who's getting over his jetlag by attempting (keyword: attempting) to catch up on some sleep, turned away from everything, facing the backrest.
"Do YӨЦ have to do it inside?" Info throws the question back in his face (in his back?)
Ant stays silent for a few seconds, then sits up. "𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝…"
"it's gonna be 𝟏𝟎 in five hours!"
"It's 5... Gosh..." Ant forces himself to sit properly on the sofa and rubs his face. "I'm late to the set, everyone is probably wondering where I am."
"You're gonna host 丨几 ㄒ卄卂ㄒ 丂ㄒ卂ㄒ乇? ƬΉΣ ΛПGΣㄥƧ and I thought you were gonna skip school today."
"I can't skip a 𝓯𝓪𝓷𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓼𝓮𝓰𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 with 𝕟𝕠 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘." He stands up, walking over to the front door of his apartment. "Can you take care of my suitcase? And tell Noelle to get her laundry going. An
𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆
.......ouch
ᦓꪻꪖ᥅ᦓ, ᦓꪻꪖ᥅ᦓ, ꪶ꠸ꪻꪻꪶꫀ ᥇꠸᥅ᦔᦓ, ᦓꪻꪖ᥅ᦓ…
Info leans over Ant. "Got all your teeth?"
Hearing his friend's voice, Ant comes to. He shakes his head, helped in sitting up, still a little dazed. "Uh.. I..... I don't have teeth."
Info pokes Ant in the face, tapping a crack in his screen frame. "You should get that checked out."
"The teeth?"
"...What?"
Hearing Info of all people be confused about something grounds Ant instantly. "𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸'𝚖… 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍…" He yawns.
"ƧƬΛY ΉӨMΣ, then! I'll figure something out for you!" Info gets excited. "I can go ask around to see if anyone's free to replace you!"
Ant thinks about this, but the more he thinks, the more his head hurts. He lays back down on the floor. "Yeah, go ahead. Find 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 first."
"He's sick?"
"He's seeing ㄥIƬƬㄥΣ BIЯDƧ and ƧƬΛЯƧ because of the door. Japan got him in that state. So, he can't be here."
Battat furrows an eyebrow. That doesn't really explain much, at least not very clearly. It confuses him more than anything actually, but at least he got the important part. "We're gonna have to find a replacement for the fanmail hours."
"Should I ask around?"
"Uhm. No, no, we got this, thanks." Battat turns around, starting to walk away. "Jongler, call Ten, ask him if he's free. Pluey, send a text to everyone who hosts a show here asking if they can be on in 24."
"I fear it's useless to ask Mister Ten, boss."
"What? Why?"
"He's got his own show goin' on, y'know? We can't keep askin' 'im ta replace the big boss."
Battat stops in his tracks, putting his hand over his mouth in thought. "Yeah... Yeah, that's true..."
"🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵🎵🎶🎵🎶"
"EVERYONE??? What are they doing!?"
"🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶"
Battat stays silent as he thinks, but his face sours. Then, he gets an idea. He turns around, seeing Info still loitering around in the same spot he left him, trying to get a lazy water cooler to work. Battat waves to get his attention. "Hey, Infomercial!"
[ Ah, what a wonderful birthday event. :) ]
[ Don't you agree? ]
[ Well... I believe it's fair for Mister Ant to take a week off. ]
[ I heard he wanted to go to Japan. ]
[ He deserves it. ]
[ As for me... ]
[ I could be convinced to answer a few questions here or there during that break. ]
[ But, I am of an elusive and... slightly lazy nature. ]
[ I tend to do things at my leisure... ]
[ So not everything may be answered. :) ]
It's almost the end of the year! And what a year it was! To celebrate this... 𝓐 𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓨𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝓔𝓿𝓮 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂, obviously!
You are invited, not only to attend, but to help Mister Ant find suitable clothes for both the party in his studio, and the one Mister Ten invited him to!
𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖑?
⇒ Create an outfit for Mister Ant based on the one Mister Ten will be wearing!
⇒ The submission phase ends on the 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, after which we will post a week long poll to let our viewers pick their favorite one.
⇒ Submit your designs by sending them to our blog's inbox! You're allowed to design and submit up to two different outfits.
⇒ There will be 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, one picked by the audience, and one picked by the PR Team. If the PR Team happens to pick an outfit that wins the viewer poll or was created by the person who won the viewer poll, they will go with their second favorite to allow for multiple winners.
⇒ Winners will get a full body rendered drawing of up to two characters of their choosing from our wonderful sponsor, @emperoryumemomo.
⇒ 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬:
⇒ No jewelry
⇒ No skin showing
⇒ Socks and gloves have to stay on (Changing their color is fine)
⇒ No skirts, dresses or high heels
🇦🇳🇾 🇪🇳🇹🇷🇾 🇩🇮🇸🇷🇪🇬🇦🇷🇩🇮🇳🇬 🇹🇭🇴🇸🇪 🇬🇺🇮🇩🇪🇱🇮🇳🇪🇸 🇼🇮🇱🇱 🇧🇪 🇦🇺🇹🇴🇲🇦🇹🇮🇨🇦🇱🇱🇾 🇩🇮🇸🇶🇺🇦🇱🇮🇫🇮🇪🇩.
[ To clarify... ]
[ While you are designing the outfit based on The King of Happy's, ]
[ In truth, and in canon, The King is basing his outfit on what The Lord of The Screens is wearing. ]
The stage is back to its normal TV Time set, though it is only dimly lit. Ant is standing to the left side, barely visible, coated in shadows and backlit by the limited light bouncing from the stage.
A spotlight turns on, shining onto Tim who’s on the opposite side of the stage. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.” He waves at the camera. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.” He looks at Ant, prompting the camera to turn towards him as the spotlights point at him. “𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐀𝐧𝐭?”
“Sort of? I’m also scared cause I get the feeling you’re gonna pull a fast one on me.” Ant fidgets with his gloves. His getup looks like a costume, and, I guess it is? His chestplate, small pink cape, and boots are an outfit that hasn’t been seen in almost a decade.
Ant glances around the stage, wondering what the boss is going to be, but his gaze is quickly drawn back to Tim, who tosses him his cane, followed by his hat that lands perfectly on Ant’s head.
“𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.”
“Need it?”
“𝐘𝐞𝐬.”
“...Alright.” Ant decides to play along and brandish the cane like a sword. “I’m ready for.. whatever the boss is.”
Tim smiles. His form seems to darken by the second, somehow making his previous void of light look like a light gray. His feet break contact with the ground as he slowly rises in the air, now floating a few feet above the stage. He grabs the knot of his tie, loosening it until he can entirely take it off. Extending his arm in front of him, the tie stands straight, before morphing into the shape of a sword.
Ant’s expression shifts as he shows an uncomfortable smile, hoping that this is some kind of tasteless joke.
Tim grabs his weapon, and, with a clean slice, cuts reality in half. Both sides of the image fall down, exploding on impact – impact with what? Your guess is as good as mine – revealing the oh-so familiar battleground behind them as the boss music kicks in.
Ant feels an uncomfortable pinch in his chest, before the soul jumps out, immediately encased into the soul arena. It is also holding a little cane, how dapper!
“𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭!” Tim turns his back to the audience and snaps his fingers. Three items dash past the heart arena, trying to hit the soul, but it’s much faster than them, parrying the attacks it can’t dodge.
Ant takes a deep breath. Focus… Focus… He moves his cane into a parry stance.
Mirroring the attack used on the soul, the three PR team employees surround Ant, before dashing at him, brandishing office supplies. Ant manages to dodge the shadowgal and the pippins, but the zapper nearly lands a blow on him which would have no doubt hit if Ant wasn’t able to counter it with the cane.
3…
Tim holds his forehead. Seems whatever the soul is doing is distracting him from the fight. He doesn’t seem too pleased about it, as his smile is entirely gone once he looks back at Ant. The manager lifts his sword, and brings it down with a strength greater than what started the fight. The soul arena is split in half and shards fly in all directions.
Almost skipping the beat, Ant ducks just in time not to be hit by the follow-up slice messing with the fabric of reality. With each new slice, Ant and the soul dodge being the ones split down the middle, but with the interval getting smaller and smaller… Soul is hit by the last attack.
Ant feels his body freeze outside of his control, and pain overwhelms him as Tim cuts him in half… but not really. It only feels like it. Not pleasant either way. He catches a glimpse of the damage numbers, seeing a 1, surprised that an attack this painful could do so poorly, even with a defensive stance. Is Tim holding back?
2…
Tim puts his swords behind him, pointing the finger of his other hand at the soul and Ant. A beam of purple light shines from it, and suddenly, what looks like paper contracts shoot out, flying right at the two in the spotlight.
Seeing that the projectiles are paper, Ant feels confident in just swatting them away with his cane, but one of the papers just slices its end clean off, making Ant squeak in surprise. Okay plan B, we keep dodging.
The flying papers eventually slow down, then scatter along with the light.
1…
Ant sighs and falls on one knee, out of breath. The adrenaline is slowly wearing off, and he’s feeling exhaustion hit all at once.
Tim lifts his sword, and Ant, despite his state, gets ready to dodge. However, the slice is not directed at him, but at the battleground itself, and apparently at the music too, as it stops playing. Just as it did when they were brought here, the image falls off screen, ending its trajectory with an explosion and revealing… the TV Time stage?
Ant dares to hope. “Did I… win?”
“𝗠𝗨𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗛𝗔.”
A laugh shakes the stage. Ant looks at Tim, but he isn’t the one that’s coming from. He does, however, bow, before fading out of view.
Ant and the soul are confused. But not for long.
𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗗
The stage is shaken even harder. In place of the PR manager stands… Ant?
“𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄.” Hunched over, Ant’s body seems to find the situation hilarious. TV Time kicks in, and while Ant doesn’t register it due to… everything going on at the moment, the rendition seems to be slightly… different?
The CRT’s grin is wide and filled with a dangerous aura, which makes Ant shiver. Is this what he looks like to others???
“𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓀𝓈!” The TV chuckles. “𝔸 𝕋𝕎𝕀𝕊𝕋! A 🆂🅴🅲🆁🅴🆃 🅱🅾🆂🆂. Isn’t that so much 𝖋𝖚𝖓?” The audience cheers at the reveal. The boss notices Ant’s dumbfounded expression. “Surprised? Wasn’t it you who said that an old CRT can learn new tricks?” He laughs. “Well, how do you like this one?”
Ant gets back on both feet, a whole new dose of adrenaline rushing through his veins. The stage falls apart, and Ant finds himself standing on the cooking minigame set. “...Again..?”
“𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 and you 𝕎𝕀ℕ! Simple, yes?”
With no warning, fire blasts from every direction, nearly frying Ant alive. His dodging isn’t very controlled, it’s led by instincts he didn’t even know he had. Fire touches his skin in a few places, which makes it sting, it even chars his cape, but apparently that doesn’t count as a hit.
It’s easy to tell when the attack is about to end, as the amount and size of flames winds down, and Ant allows himself to fall to his knees to catch his breath.
+ 𝟮𝟰 🇵🇴🇮🇳🇹🇸
The different parts of the set slide away, revealing the stage underneath.
But then, he has a realization. One of his skills is
“Another go!” His own mocking voice announces.
“That’s cheating!” The words escape his mouth before he can even think about them properly.
The stage makes room for… another stage. The darkners live one specifically. A set of drums falls and lands in front of Ant.
“Yes.” The CRT chuckles. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”
Ant’s hands are shaking from both exhaustion and stress, adrenaline isn’t enough… There's no way he can play like this.
“𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞.”
The soul takes over just in time to not miss the first falling note. It plays every note with rehearsed precision, unimpeded by how tired the body is, since it can’t feel it from where it is.
However, as soon as the notes stop and the stage reverts to the other one, it’s ripped out of Ant’s body once more.
+ 𝟯𝟳 🇵🇴🇮🇳🇹🇸
Ant looks at the ground. He’s gaining so little points with each attempt… Something’s not right. That fight would take way too long if it was meant to be played fair. Which means… He’s not meant to win. He’s meant to fail for entertainment. This realization is frustrating… no, enraging.
Forcing himself up and looks at the laughing CRT towering over him, he finds it in himself to ignore the intimidation factor. After all, he knows the guy, and that guy ain’t shit.
An idea pops into his mind, and he grins, which seems to unnerve the CRT no matter how well he hides it. Ant lifts his cane in a parrying stance, ready to deflect the gunfire.
And deflect the gunfire he goes! Once the set is turned into the wild west, Ant masterfully stops every single bullet meant for him, only breaking a sweat when the assault stops. Before everything slides away, he sneaks one of the rubber bullets into his pocket.
Ant mumbles. “I’m gonna need your help.”
“𝙰𝚜 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝙰𝚗𝚝. 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞.”
“Well, dear contestant.” The CRT leans forwards. “How does it feel to be part of an 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙?”
The stage darkens, and soon after, a shower of stars comes down on the battlefield. Ant and the soul both do their best to dodge everything, and while not everything is avoided, his health is not yet down to zero. And that’s all that matters.
As the stars fade, Ant grabs his hat, spins to grab momentum, and sends it flying at the TV way above him. That is… jarringly easily dodged.
The CRT looks at the hat fly past him, turning around to see it hit the wall behind him, then laughs. “Was that supposed to do anythin—
His voice cuts out and his face turns to static. The reflex of reaching for his head doesn’t even get the time to fully start, and the robot falls back and flat on the ground.
Despite the boss music still playing, the silence both on stage and in the audience is deafening. And then, allowing the tension to be released, the music stops.
The audience roars with applause and spotlights focus on Ant, who… uhm. Who’s passed out on the floor due to exhaustion.
Tim steps in front of the camera. “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”
Cameras cut and we get a better view of the last moments of the fight.
As the stars fade, Ant grabs his hat, spins to grab momentum, and sends it flying at the TV way above him. That is… jarringly easily dodged.
The CRT looks at the hat fly past him, turning around to see it hit the wall behind him, then laughs.
Ant puts his hand in his pocket, taking the rubber bullet out and throwing it up. The soul takes over control of the body, and with every ounce of energy this vessel has left, the cane hits the rubber bullet, sending it right at the CRT, and more specifically, at his full power off switch.
“Was that supposed to do anythin—
The image cuts back to Tim, who leans in closer to the camera. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧.” He steps back, then turns around halfway to look at Ant. “𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐑𝐓 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧.”
A few employees hop on stage, making their way to Ant, while one of them stays near the CRT, messing with its channel dial. Ant is woken up with a bucket of ice water, a very classy solution, and he’s clearly pissed off by that, but doesn’t have any energy left to even yell at the perpetrators.
The pippins turning the dial finally gets it in position, and as the screen of the CRT flickers back to life, its body starts slowly moving along, getting up with some difficulty. When up, it turns its head towards Ant, then leans forwards, as its screen flashes interferences. And then, his face appears.
“𝓐𝓷𝓽𝔂!” He giggles. “You did such a ᧁ᥅ꫀꪖꪻ ꠹ꪮ᥇, I really didn’t expect that trick!”
Ant is, to say the least, dumbfounded. He begins furrowing his eyebrows, but can’t muster anything past a slightly annoyed expression. “𝚂𝚘, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞.”
“It was 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓮𝓮~!”
“𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢?”
“Oh, 𝓐𝓷𝓽𝔂, this isn’t your body, I would never do that without your permission. I had this custom made for today!”
“.....................................................................𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎.” He lets out something halfway between a sigh and a chuckle.
We would like to thank all our dear viewers for participating in Mister Ant's birthday event with as much enthusiasm as you did! We sincerely hope that you all had as much fun as we did, and we hope to see you again for future events!
We would also take a second to apologize for the multiple technical difficulties that caused the different parts of the event to be delayed several times, while nearly all of that was beyond our control, we also should have been better prepared. This has been a valuable learning experience, and we will do better next time!
Ant looks into the mirror of the dressing room, taking his tie off. While he no longer feels the exhaustion and pain of exertion of a human body, his mind is feeling quite tired. He decides to pause and sit still for a second, trying to recoup at least a little energy.
𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸!
“Come in.”
“What’s up BIЯƬΉDΛY BӨY?” Info laughs. “ㄒ丨尺乇ᗪ?”
“Like hell. What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I check how my friend is doing?” Info walks up to the mirror. “That was one gяєαт ѕнσω! I’m glad I got the angels to stay silent long enough to not spoil the surprise for myself.”
“𝕷𝖚𝖈𝓴𝖞 𝖞𝖔𝖚. While you’re here, are you free later?”
“I am, why?”
“Come over to my place, I have a gingerbread house I want to build and I don’t want to do it on my own.”
“Oh? Can’t you ask 几ㄖ乇ㄥㄥ乇?”
“It’s a surprise for her, so no, not really.”
“Then consider me already there!”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, last thing.” Info reaches into his jacket, rummaging around, and eventually pulling out a birthday card. “This isn’t for you!”
“..Then why are you giving it to me?”
“This is for Ten!”
“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎?!”
“You’re gonna give it to 卄丨爪 when he appears to congratulate you about the show.”
“Can’t you give it to him directly?”
Info puts his free hand on Ant’s shoulder as he hands him the card. “Ant, I’m ωιηgмαηηιηg for you.” He almost immediately steps back, perfectly dodging Ant’s attempt at grabbing him by the shirt, before blipping out of existence.
Ant looks at the card in his hand, and crushes it as he tightens his grip on it in anger.
𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸!
The CRT looks up at the door as he lowers the hand holding the card. “Who is it?” He already knows.
The door opens slightly, and Ten peeks into the room with a big goofy smile. Seems he’s back in his own body. “𝓗𝓲 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮!”
“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘.”
“Oh, come on, I just got here!” Ten slides into the room. “How are you feeling?”
“𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙.”
“You know, I was 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖞 𝖎𝖒𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖉 with the strategy you used back there!” He hands Ant a bouquet.
Ant’s gaze lands on the flower bouquet. Cherry blossom.
“I didn’t even notice you pocketing that rubber bullet, I only saw it later when watching back the footage. Though, I didn’t expect 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 from you! When you’re putting people through this kind of 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞, you’ve got to have the skills to 𝖔𝖚𝖙𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖊 them in a similar situation, right?”
Ant glances in his direction, then looks back at his own reflection in the mirror.
Ten leans forwards, getting closer to Ant to make sure his whispering is heard. “𝕴 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝓴 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖊 𝖆 𝓑𝓲𝓰 𝓟𝓻𝓲𝔃𝓮 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞~”
“𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎.”
Ten steps back, his smile widening. “𝓞𝓴𝓪𝔂!”
The unwanted guest turns around to leave, but Ant remembers something. “...Hold on.”
“Hm?”
Ant extends his fist, still crushing the birthday card, towards Ten. “This is yours.”
“Ohh! A…” He takes a good look at the crumpled paper in Ant’s hand. “...birthday card(???)!”
“Yeah.”
“From you?” He grabs it, and after a few tugs, Ant lets go, letting Ten see the card in all its destroyed glory.
“𝓗𝓮𝓱𝓮! See you around!” As he goes to leave, Ten tries to save the poor birthday card enough to read it.
Ant looks at the mirror again. Back on stage, Ten mentioned having that fake body custom built for today. He also was in the audience during the whole show… What's that guy’s deal? Doesn’t he have his own birthday to worry about? Why is he wasting so much time taking part in Ant’s birthday activities? Not to mention that he sent a birthday card too, no matter how well staff tried to cover it up with other ones.
Whatever. Validation is validation. It doesn’t matter if this specific one feels warm or fuzzy...
Hearing this, everyone knows what this means, and everyone locks in.
[ The last dice roll... ]
[ Oh? ]
[ What a way to wrap this up. ]
Kris lifts their gun, shooting at Ant, who jumps back to dodge each attempt. As the Darkner is backed up against the edge of the stage, he jumps to the side to not fall off, then dashes forwards, raising his hand to open fire.
The warriors are, however, fast enough to close the windows and switch positions, and as Ant stays focused to immediately fire where they reappear, he fails to notice one of the windows open, though only slightly.
Luckily, the shot misses. Ant takes aim at the window, but misses too. He furrows his eyebrows, and then he's surprised to hear a loud thud coming from the wagon, then Ralsei saying "I'm fine!"
Ant pinpoints where the voice comes from. Aims, and shoots.
The window opens, and the rubber bullets hit Ralsei square in the face.... poor girl.
𝙰𝚗𝚝
💚💚🖤🖤🖤🖤
𝙲𝚘𝚠𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬… 𝐀𝐍𝐓!" Tim smiles, pointing his cane at the contestant. "𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐞."
"That was no 𝓵𝓾𝓬𝓴, just 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝!" Ant allows himself to get cocky given he can't lose anymore.
Truth: if you were haunted by a ghost, who do you want it to be?
Dare: shoot in a diagonal before shooting the cowboys that are left.
"A 𝕘𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥?" Ant takes his time thinking about it.
[ The dice rolls... ]
[ Oh, how impressive. ]
"Probably... Ramb." He nods to himself. "He would be the least annoying."
As he goes, Susie seems to have an idea. She grabs one of her bullets, then... throws it! It comes flying at Ant, though he whips around, shooting the bullet and not only deflecting it this way, but sending it right back at Susie.
