Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kel closed his nose with his left index finger and thumb as he opens the trash lid and tosses Hector’s poop bag in the can, then lets out a sigh of relief. “Whew, Hector, what am I feeding you?” Hector wagged his tail and barked, and then proceeded to play with Kel for a few minutes until he noticed a sign in front of Sunny’s house.

“For Sale? Sunny’s moving?” Kel couldn’t believe it. His longtime friend was… leaving town. He never even imagined something like this happening, but he supposed it made sense, with Mari… dying. 

Kel, not letting himself get lost in sorrow, thought to knock on Sunny’s door. Might as well try to catch up and tie some loose ends before he leaves, maybe even show him the maze game. He snickered, happily bouncing towards Sunny’s house and raised his fist to knock. “Sunny! You in there?” Kel knocked on the door. 

Suddenly, a wave of terror washed over him. His knees felt heavy and his ears started to ring. His vision grew dark as he felt himself shrink, his eyes watering up. He wanted to scream, but all that came up from his drought-stricken mouth was a coarse whimper. He tried to turn around, to run into his home and hide in the closet, but his feet were glued to the ground, and the pressure he felt wouldn’t let him move a finger. One thought ran through his mind, like a car was piercing through his skull.

YOU HAVE RELEASED A GREAT TERROR.

The door opened. Kel gasped.

He looked up to see a bulldozer of a man, if you could even call what he saw a human. It wore a large black tank top and shorts, both stained with sweat and… some sort of metallic liquid. The figure was incredibly defined, impossibly so. It was beyond anything he ever saw. And then, he met the thing’s eyes. 

He couldn’t believe it. Up until then, Kel guessed that it could be Sunny’s dad or uncle, but… that look couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. 

“S-Sunny?”

Sunny was barely recognizable, his hair a lot messier and his jawline more defined. His gaze felt as if it was staring right through Kel, who could've sworn his eyes had muscles. 

“Hello, Kel.”

The voice was gruff, but at the same time smooth as butter. Each word engraved itself in Kel’s mind, which was panicking. At a loss for words, Sunny continued the conversation.

“It’s good to see you again.”

“G-good to see you too.” Jesus Christ, puberty hit him like a fucking nuke.

“How is Hector? And Hero? But more importantly, how are you? ” 

Kel wanted to wake up. “Y-yeah I’m- I’m great! Uhh, you look… good…?”

Sunny blushed. “Oh, I’ve been working out. I’m impressed with myself, being able to grow so much in half a year.”

It’s been 4 years.

“U-uh, yeah. I s-saw that “For Sale” sign by your lawn, a-and I wanted… I wanted to hang out with you.”

Sunny lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh! Of course! Wanna go get some pizza? I’ve been meaning to put a cheat day in my weekly routine.” Kel nodded. “Great, I’ll go put some clothes on.”

As Sunny closed the door, Kel fell to his knees.

What has he done?

Chapter Text

Kel, eventually, recovered from the initial shock. He felt like he sat there for 138 days, even if it’s only been a couple of minutes. Glancing over to where Sunny moved in that timeframe, he saw Sunny sitting on the sidewalk, petting Hector. 

“Alright, Kel…”

KEL gives some encouragement!

“...you got this.”

Kel slowly walks towards Sunny, who was laughing and rubbing Hector’s cheeks. Every step felt heavier, every breath fell shorter. Even with his back turned and playing with his dog, Sunny’s aura was sickening. 

As Kel steps near Sunny, he whips around. Kel hiccups as his heart literally skips a beat. “Oh, Kel! Hector hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still so cute, aren’t you~?” Sunny coos as Hector jumps up, licking Sunny’s face. Eventually, he stands up. “So… how’ve you been, Kel?” 

Sunny wore the same exact clothes as when he last left the house, except now his sweater has been stretched to the absolute limit. It looked like it could snap at the slightest sudden movement. 

Kel felt his cheeks burn up. 

“Guh… I, um… I wasn’t expecting you to come out this time…” Kel fiddles with his fingers at his sides, trying his best to stay cool. “D-don’t really have a game plan…” Sunny nods understandingly. “...Oh, I know! How about we go to Hobeez!” Sunny suggests.

No. NO. TERRIBLE IDEA!

Kel desperately nods. “YEAHSUREGREATIDEABRO!”

God. Damn it.

Sunny smiled. “Alright, let’s go!” He trots off. 

Kel stared at Sunny’s over defined back, comparing him to a superhero or manga protagonist. Like, Fist of the North Star protagonist. He considers following Sunny… but realizes he’s completely distracted. Now his chance!

Kel runs across the street, hoping to take refuge in the trees. Perhaps he can start a new life there, one free from all his worries, from the trials and tribulations of the real world. 

HONK HONNNK!

Oh. Guess he’ll die then.

Kel braces himself for impact as the car rushes toward his body. 

…

Kel only felt a warm sensation on his back. What happened? Was he dead? Well, if he was… at least he didn’t have to deal with Sunny.

Kel opened his eyes, expecting the eternal relief he deserved, only to see Sunny smiling down on him.

“Woah, Kel, you should know better than to walk into incoming traffic! You might get hurt!”

Kel only nodded. 

* * *

Sunny carried Kel into Hobeez, placing him down gently once Sunny was able to squeeze his way through the door. Kel glanced towards the Cashier, whose jaw dropped upon laying eyes on the pure muscle mass that stumbled in.

“Holy shit,” the man behind the counter muttered. “Wh- what is that?! ”

Kel trudged to the counter. “That’s… Sunny. Uh, remember him?”

“The small one? Hung around Basil a lot, right? How did he-”

Kel shrugged. “I dunno, man! I went to his house and now he’s fucking jacked!” His voice was in a hushed whisper, but it did nothing to soothe either of their nerves. 

KKXXZZZZRAAASHKK!

Kel yelped at the sudden loud noise, and the cashier’s head snapped toward the noise. At the source of it stood Sunny, his arm stuck inside a hole in the wall he created when he punched the poster in front of him. Realizing what he’s done, Sunny quickly pulls his hand back. “Uh, sorry. I zoned out.” He holds up a small keychain. "Got a keychain out of it, though."

* * *

Sunny led Kel out of Hobeez after he bought a cookbook for Hero when he came back. Sunny offered to pay for it, but Kel insisted that he should pay. As they started to walk home, Kel noticed Basil was pleading with Kim. 

“Hey!” Sunny says. “It’s Basil!” With a smile on his face, Sunny trots over to the (much smaller) flower boy. He instantly notices the distraught look on his friend’s face, not noticing his large stature.

Kim glances towards the large man towering over her, looking back to Basil, then double-taking, jaw dropping with shock. “H-HOLY SHIT!”

A group of similar-aged teenagers walked over, wanting to see what the commotion was about.

Vance was the first to aid Kim, although not being very urgent about it. “What’s wrong, Kim?”

Kim points up.

Vance follows her finger to Sunny, the sunlight behind him doing nothing to diminish his menacing aura.

“Oh. Oh. ” 

Vance, although intimidated, can’t help but admire Sunny’s physique in his own, soft-spoken way.

“Damn,” he mutters with a grin. 

Everyone else looks up at Sunny, who carefully puts Kel down.

Aubrey, coming in from behind, walks to the front of the group to see what everyone was gawking at.

Kel cheerfully greets Aubrey.

“H-hey, Aubrey.”

About as cheerfully as he can be in this situation.

“Hey… Kel… uh, whose this? Your uncle?”

“No, this… uh, this is Sunny.”

Aubrey nervously laughs, attempting to cover up the fear that filled her soul.

“H-heh, yeah, right. Is this a joke? D-did you hire someone?”

Kel shakes his head. “No… this is him.”

Sunny waves, smiling. “Hi.”

Aubrey awkwardly waves back.

“S-so, um… nice to see you?”

Sunny nods. “Nice to see you too. I love what you did to your hair. And you grew so much in just half a year!”

Aubrey looks back at Kel, who shrugs.

“Uhm… Sunny… I don’t know how to explain this to you, but…”

Sunny listens with open ears.

“...Don’t get mad at me… but… It’s been a little more than half a year.”

Sunny raises an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“It’s been, like, 4 years.”

Sunny’s face falls. “Oh…”

But, as quickly as it drops, Sunny’s mood rises again. “Well, that just means we have a lot of catching up to do! How about we all go to my place. My mom just bought a new grill, and I’ve been preparing a life-changing brisket!”

Kel lost his appetite the moment he opened Sunny’s door, something he didn’t even know was possible, but what else was he supposed to do? Try to run again? Besides, it wasn’t like him to turn down some good BBQ.

Aubrey, on the other hand, tried to rack her brain for an excuse. She wasn’t too keen on talking to Sunny, who is almost twice her height, and telling him that she’s been bullying his best friend for years with an entire gang. 

Oh, Basil, how is he doing?

Aubrey glances back at Basil, who looked like he was about to piss himself crying. 

…

Yeah, he’s fine.

Sunny glanced over to the other teenagers, all gawking at the undisputable unit that he is. While he didn’t know them, it would be rude to not invite them. 

“Would you guys like to join as well?”

He was met with excuses layering over each other, everyone making something up so they could leave.

“Actually I have to-”

“I need to train a little more!”

“Yeah, I have to go with Master!”

“...no thank you.”

“Actually, yeah, I’d love t-”

“VANCEWEARE LEAVING”

The Hooligans evacuated the park immediately. 

“...Well, I guess it’s just us.”

Sunny scoops up Aubrey, Basil, and Kel, turning around to leave the park.

“It’ll be great! I can’t wait to catch up with all of you!”

Aubrey screamed in protest. 

Chapter Text

“Make yourselves at home!”

Sunny plops everyone down on a couch, the only piece of furniture in the house that wasn’t gym related. 

The house was littered with weight benches, racks of weights, dumbbells, barbells, smart bells, punching bags, pull-up bars, and other equipment that the 3 couldn’t name.

Aubrey looked to the corner of the room, filled with cobwebs and dust. In the corner rested a treadmill and an exercise bike.

All in all, Sunny’s house looked like LA Fitness.

Speaking of which, Sunny came back to his guests, bringing them a table with 3 glasses of chocolate milk for each of them. “Sorry, I don’t have anything else other than water, protein shakes, pre-workout and chocolate milk.” Sunny notices Aubrey staring at the corner of the room, where his cardio equipment lies to collect dust. “Oh, yeah. My mom bought me those,” he grimaced. 

“Anyways!” Sunny clasped his hands together. “I have a couple of things you guys can use in case you don’t want to get some reps in right now.” Sunny pulls out a remote for the TV in front of them. “We do have cable, but we also have some VHS tapes of some movies my mom liked. I got some too–I stole some DBZ movies and episodes from an abandoned Blockbuster.” Kel perked up at the mention of Dragon Ball, earning a snicker from Aubrey.

Finally, Basil spoke up. “U-Uh, Sunny…?”

Sunny turned his head to Basil. “Yeah?”

“Uh… what have you been doing all this time…?”

Sunny gestures to the equipment that suffocated the living room, barely making enough space for a path to get around the house. “Well, I’ve been working out! For the past half- uh, four years, wow.” Basil nodded. “Yeah… you’re okay, right?” This time, Sunny nodded. “Never been better, my friend.” He pats the flower boy’s back, earning a soft yelp. Sunny pulls back his hand, not wanting to make his friend uncomfortable. “My bad.” Clearing his throat, Sunny stands straight up. “Well, if you guys ever need a spotter, or just want to use my gym, you’re free to do so! I know how expensive gym memberships can get–it’s the reason I’ve stayed home all this time.” Sunny walks back into the kitchen.

…

“...So…”

Aubrey sinks into the couch. “What the fuck… ”

Kel puts his hand on his forehead. “You said it. This is weird… how does someone even get that big?”

Basil shrunk into himself, opting to stay silent. 

…

After what felt like forever, Kel caved in and went to the TV, grabbing a VHS tape labeled “DBZ GOKU VS VEGETA,” and inserting it into the player that sat directly below the television. 

Aubrey groaned. “Jesus, Kel, why are we watching this? You’re in high school, not 1st grade.”

“What’s that gotta do with Dragon Ball?”

“Well, for one, High schoolers don’t watch cartoons. ”

Kel rolled his eyes. “This isn’t for babies.”

Aubrey snickered. “Yeah, you’re more mature than a kindergartener, I'm so proud of you.”

Kel turned around, brows furrowed. “Hey! I’ll have you know that this show is the most life-changing piece of media known to man! This is the kind of thing to be revered for generations, before some random company shits all over its legacy with an awful continuation that makes everyone hate the show!”

“GT?” Basil asks. 

Kel nods. “GT.”

(DBS wasn’t released yet.)

Aubrey rolls her eyes again. “Of course you two hate GT.”

Kel raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Aubrey shut up, realizing she’s said too much. 

“Aubrey…” Kel made a fake disappointed face, frowning. “You’re a GT fan…? Do you know how much that hurts my feelings?” He swoons dramatically. Aubrey rolled her eyes. “He’s, uhm… right, though,” Basil mutters. “The first 10 episodes are a slog… I could barely get through them.”

Aubrey tried to think of a counter-point, but he was right. The first episodes were a bit ass. “I mean, you could just skip them.” Basil nods. “Yeah, but no one told me to, so I had to watch through all of them to make sure I didn’t miss anything, uhm, good. And I just, uh, don’t like skipping things. It’s why I don’t like One Piece.” 

This time, Kel butted in. “Hey! Don’t diss One Piece!”

Aubrey squinted. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah!” Kel retorted. “It gets good af-”

Aubrey got up and wrapped her hands around Kel’s head, pulling him close. “Kel! Kel? Kel. Look me DEAD. IN THE EYES. And tell me with a straight face that One Piece gets good after the first 200 episodes. Tell me.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, it gets good 250 episodes in.”

Aubrey lowers her hands, her breath shaky. Flustered beyond belief, she can only stare at Kel’s face, oblivious to how stupid the sentence he muttered is. He wasn’t serious. No, he was smiling. A genuine smile, as if saying that One Piece gets good after a quarter of a thousand 20-minute episodes would convince her to watch it.

Sunny walks into the room with an apron tied onto his body, the words “KISS THE CHEF (pretty please)” etched onto it. “Hey, just want- oh, am I walking in on something?”

Sunny saw Aubrey standing on her tip-toes, seemingly reaching toward’s Kel’s cheeks to pull him close. Kel stared at the pink-haired punk with a smile, a warm, gentle one, while she stared back with a flustered face. She whips around to meet Sunny’s gaze, eyes wide. “Sunny. Sunny, help,” she pleaded. 

“W-what’s wrong?” Sunny walked over to the 2. 

“Please, please say I’m not crazy. Please say that the sentence ‘One Piece gets good after 250 episodes’ is an absolutely insane statement. Please, I need this, Sunny.” 

Sunny only shrugged. “I dunno, I’ve only read it.”

“B-but it’s insane, right?!”

Sunny looks up to Kel, who actually looked a little worried. “Aubrey, calm down, it’s alright.” 

Aubrey turns around to Kel, exasperated. “N-no, it’s not okay, you- HOW! HOW DO YOU SIT THROUGH 250 EPISODES?! AND JUST- ONLY THINK IT’S GOOD HALFWAY THROUGH?! ARE YOU INSANE?! HOW MUCH FREE TIME DO YOU HAVE?!”

Kel pats her shoulder, which Aubrey slaps off. “Aubrey, Aubrey, chill out. I skipped all the episodes up to 250. Mikhael told me to.”

Aubrey calmed down a little. “Hmph… of course, he’s watched through the entire catalog… he’s willing to sit through the dumbest stuff…”

Sunny’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if a lightbulb appeared over his head. “Hey, why don’t we have a watch party tonight? We can watch through all the episodes after 250! It’ll be great!” 

Basil, who has been admiring Sunny’s physique ever since he walked in and hasn’t been paying attention, suddenly snaps back to reality. “Uh- Sure! Yeah, I’d love to… watch One Piece.”

“But, Basil…” Kel tilts his head. “I thought you didn’t like skipping episodes.” Basil shakes his head. “I- You can catch me up to speed on what’s happening! I’ll be fine.” Basil tries his best to smile, which is convincing enough for Kel. “Alright!” 

Sunny looks at Aubrey. “Well?”

Aubrey scoffs. “You couldn’t pay me.”

Sunny frowns. “Aw. Well, can’t force you! You’re staying over for dinner, though. Right?”

“Wait, Aubrey’s not staying?!” Kel walks out from behind Sunny. “Awww, I was getting excited… finally being able to reconnect with my friends…!” Kel makes puppy dog eyes, much to Aubrey’s dismay. “No! Don’t make that face at me,” Aubrey demanded. Well, it was more like a beg. Nevertheless, Aubrey stood her ground. 

“Basil! Help me out here!” Kel whispered. 

Basil nodded, standing beside Kel and getting on his knees. “Please, Aubrey? Pleeaaasseee?”

Aubrey shut her eyes and turned, lip trembling. She wouldn’t change her mind, not for them.

“If you stay for dinner, you have to stay for the sleepover,” Sunny said flatly.

“Wh- That’s playing dirty!” Aubrey complained.

“It’s the rules~” Sunny sang.

Aubrey facepalmed. “A-alright, fine. I’ll stay.”

Kel cheered, grabbing Basil’s hands and spinning him around. Basil yelped, trying not to slam into the exercise equipment filling the room. 

“Okay, it’s a deal. Also, my mom is dropping off my dog from the vet. You guys aren’t allergic to dogs, right?”

Kel gasped, eyes alight with excitement. “You have a dog? What’s its breed? Whats its name?!”

Sunny smiled. “She’s a pit bull. Her name is Missle Launcher, Devourer of Gods.”

Kel’s eyes dulled. Then they were filled with panic. “Huh?”

Before he could react, the doorbell rang. “Oh, that must be her!” Sunny walked over to the door, and wrapped his fingers around the handle.