In Rita’s. The gang (except Tiff and Steve) are chilling, drinking coffee. They are watching the news. On the news it shows a reporter named Sharon speaking frantically, like the papers are running away.

‘’Good-evening, Cointropolis.’’ Sharon says nervously on the tv.

Shaun rolls his eyes, ‘’It’s 10 pm, chick!’’

‘’Media Morgul Static Stan has taken over the Enemies fraction. He is now a CEO. And Professor Abel was respawned…somewhere. Probably here.’’

Rita switches off the TV, slurping coffee. ‘’You know, the news is always depressing. Why don’t we get some enlightment?’’

‘’Yeah, you’re kinda right, Rita. And we can do that by checking up on Steve.’’ Bradley says, cleaning his hammer.

John yawns, ‘’Forget about that kid. He will never learn to respawn. He should just die.’’

Paul strikes a pose dramatically, ‘’Oh, Johnny Johnathan likes Battle for Dream Island. Don’t be so pessimistic. Have some optimism, like do you know I learnt how to not get a downvote on Reddit?’’

‘’I hate object shows.’’ John whispers bitterly.

Rita passes by, ‘’Says the guy who made a comic with a triangular pizza slice and a green swirl. And then when you had a comment saying that simple character designs weren’t bad, and that you should use composition because a user confused them for talking heads, you quit and just left it. Your webcomic had 12K views.’’

Shaun laughs, ‘’Excuse me. What did he do? This ‘’intellect’’ made a comic with a talking pizza slice and.’’

He bursts out laughing, ‘’Green swirl?!’’ Shaun drops on the ground, holding his belly, laughing out loud. Tears drop from his eyes.

John just stands angrily, he grabs a pencil and cracks it, ‘’I was 14 years old you idiot.’’

Tiffany bursts in the room, out of breath. She is sweating. Everyone looks at her, confused.

Shaun is smirking, ‘’I have a Big Hero 6 for her.’’ He says.

‘’What?’’ Paul asks.

‘’Oh, it’s just Shaun’s humor. No one can understand, except me.’’ He answers.

‘’Shaun. That’s a Pixar movie. There’s no joke in that.’’ Bradley shouts at Shaun.

Paul ties his cape, ‘’It’s a Disney animation movie. I’m a pop culture nerd.’’

‘’Didn’t know you were a cinephile’’ Rita responds.

‘’That’s why I wanted to not get downvoted on the subreddit r/okaybuddycinephile!’’ Paul shouts.

Tiffany clears her throat, ‘’Guys. Steve tried to respawn. And uh…. he hurt himself. He jumped from the balcony and hit the harsh ground.’’

Everyone is shocked. Rita drops her phone.

John gets angry and pulls out his katana cane.

‘’Oh, that idiot! Steve is such an utter idiot! He can’t respawn, he’s delusional, he’s naïve. That annoying piece of— ‘’

‘’I don’t know if he’s alive. I need your help.’’ Tiffany interrupts John.

Bradley walks to Tiffany, ‘’We will do, Tiff. Steve’s my bro. Nothing dangerous happens to him.’’

AT STEVE AND BRADLEY’S APARTMENT.

Steve is sitting on the bed weak and hurt. Lil Bot is putting bandages around his body.

‘’I hate my job. I wonder how my friends survive this.’’ Lil Bot says, his voice monotone.

He turns to ChatGPT.

‘’Hello, Chatgpt.’’

A ChatGPT bot just stands there, holding wine.

‘’Hello, how should we start? You can adjust my passive-aggressiveness in the settings.’’

Lil Bot rolls his eyes; he continues sorting out Steve. Wiping his sores, wrapping a bandage around his head. He is acting like a real doctor.

Later on, Steve is healed. He then wakes up slowly.

‘’What happened?’’ He asks, reality crushing him. He feels heavy, like a he took a monthly sleep. He feels dizzy and disoriented.

HUD: 87/100

WARNING: GET SOMETHING TO EAT!

TURN THE JOYSTICK TO STRETCH.

LU (Left up)

Steve stretches up.

LL (Left-Left)

He stretches left.

LD (Left down)

He stretches down.

RU (Right up)

Steve goes to the right and stretches his arms up.

RR (Right-Right)

He stretches to the right.

RD (RD)

He stretches right down.

STATUS: STRETCH COMPLETE!

6+ XP ADDED.

Steve feels relaxed and sighs, ‘’Hey Lil Bot.’’ He says as he looks at Lil Bot who waves.

‘’Great…Now my happiness is gone.’’

He answers monotone.

Suddenly Lil Bot gets pushed.

‘’OW. THAT DOESN’T HURT. I DON’T FEEL EMOTIONS. OW. MORE. MORE. RELEASE THE FRUSTRATION VALVE.’’

He shouts robotic and glitched as he gets shoved.

John and the crew look at the weak awake Steve.

‘’Steve. Give me 120 reasons why you fell down from the balcony.’’ John says angrily.

Steve looks sad, ‘’Because I wanted to see if I respawned.’’

‘’And did you respawn, you little brat?!’’

John asks, enraged.

‘’No.’’ He answers. He feels small and weak.

‘’Tiff got me up because my health was just 1 xp. Not 0. And then Lil Bot treated me.’’ He continues.

John looks at Steve, panting angrily.

‘’Relax, John. He made a mistake.’’ Bradley calms John down.

‘’No.’’ He answers his tone cold and dangerous.

He pulls out two swords and throws them on the wall.

CLANG!

One hits above Steve’s head. Everyone is shocked.

‘’John, don’t be violent!’’ Bradley pulls John away.

John lets go, remove’s Bradley’s hand and smacks Bradley.

‘’Ow.’’ He rubs his cheek.

John still looks at Bradley, unhinged. ‘’No way. I’m never gonna leave your younger bro alone. This kid always gets on my nerves! I hate when kids get on my nerves. I taught him everything, and he acts like trash to me?’’

‘’He’s not acting like trash, John! He’s just confused. He’s trying to figure himself out!’’ Bradley shouts, protective.

Steve yells weak, ‘’Yeah, if anything John. You are trash!’’

John’s eyes widen. Everyone (Except Steve) backs away. John’s eye twitches and he drops his swords down. Turning to Steve. He walks toward him slowly and scary.

He speaks in a low dangerous tone, ‘’Are you trying to piss me off, kid?’’ He asks.

Steve sweats, ‘’N-N-N-No J-John.’’

‘’You really are a frustrating person. You are really hard to root for. You really just stupid, pathetic, useless. You are just an NPC.’’

John responds.

‘’John. Just say it, you’re asking for forgiveness. Let’s not fight. I also understand. I’m so frustrating, I feel like I must get punched. And yeah, I understand. I don’t like myself either. If I did, then I wouldn’t believe the truth that I can’t respawn.’’ Steve says, his tone chocked.

John’s eyes turn violent and he snaps, ‘’Forgiveness? Do you know how many years I’ve been waiting for that? You think I’m the kind, honest, class clown, seen-it-all old man who can just be taken advantage of? I have emotions, Steve. You don’t even know what it’s like to not respawn. You don’t even know what It’s like to get the Diamonds of Egress. They are not easy to achieve!’’

John paces around the room, ‘’I’ve been waiting for 15 years, waiting for an apology from you. How many times have you never forgave me? 9 times. I’ve been walked and left in the dust. Like a chick waiting to be picked by a farmer.’’

John looks In Steve’s eye, ‘’Answer me, Steve. Who do you think in this world likes you? Who roots for you? Who wants to see you win? No one. Because you change your goals every second and your personality. And no one thinks it’s…it’s…you. You are the worst leader I’ve ever seen; you need more mentoring.’’

Silence. There’s heavy silence and tension in the room.

‘’I…understand, John.’’ Steve responds with tears in his eyes.

John still looks at Steve.

‘’I’m not done yet, kiddo.’’ John says angry.