Chicken nuggets.

Drumsticks.

Chicken breasts.

Kedamono was practically drooling all over himself as he thought about food, lingering just outside of his tent.

Then, he saw white and red stripes out of the corner of his eye.

'Popee,' Keda thought.

Whenever that boy was around, there was sure to be trouble. And this time was no different, as Popee approached him, looking bored.

Popee just stared at him for a while, before pulling out a bomb with a sharp grin.

Keda gasped, and he began to run while Popee chased him in a murderous rampage. This would happen all the time, and Popee would usually catch him.

His heart pounded inside of his chest. He was determined to not be beaten by Popee again. He ran and ran and ran, but it seemed like Popee had limitless energy when it came to stalking his prey.

Keda panted, running out of breath. And still, he kept running.

Suddenly, the bomb exploded.

Popee had been chasing him for so long that the bomb had exploded.

The force of the blast was enough to send Keda flying forward and throw Popee to the ground. Kedamono screamed as he flew through the air, bracing himself for impact with the unforgiving sand below.

Suddenly, he felt himself...go through something.

Keda gasped, and looked around at his surroundings.

This wasn't Wolf Zircus. It was some other kind of circus. He looked behind him. He had gone through the old mirror that just sat there taking up space at his circus, and somehow gotten transported here.

The mirror was glowing, and then that glow slowly faded.

He continued to look around, until, he saw someone. A girl.

She was just like Popee, but...different. She had the bunny hat, but it had stars on it, just like Kedamono's shorts. And her costume was purple. No stripes.

She seemed to catch him staring, and widened her eyes in surprise.

Kedamono approached her carefully. They stared at each other warily for a few moments. "Hi." Keda spoke. She stared for a moment, most likely still nervous.

"H-Hi..."

She accompanied this with a small, timid wave.

They seemed to examine one another more closely, and soon determined that they posed no threat to each other.

"Uh, I'm Kedamono, but you can just call me Keda." He said. "It's nice to meet you."

"I-I'm...Eepop..." She replied in a meek tone, seemingly still nervous. "It's nice to meet you too..."

They awkwardly stood there for a few moments, not really doing anything. This girl seemed to share the same nervous tendencies that he did. He wondered if they had anything else in common, too.

"...Do you like UFO Girls?"

Her head perked up, and she looked surprised, before giving a wide smile and nodding her head frantically. "Y-Yes! I do!"

"Who's your favorite character?!" Keda asked excitedly.

"Oh, definitely Jaraela! She's an inspiration to all those who don't have the courage to speak what's on their mind!" Eepop cheered. "And you?"

"Personally, I lean more towards Jurlflen. She's got some funny moments, and if you really take a look at all her layers, she's a really fleshed-out character, and really relatable." Kedamono replied.

"Yes, of course, but I think we both know the characters that really take the spotlight!" Eepop enthused.

"Our main stars!" They cried happily in unison, then laughing.

"Wow! I've never met anyone else who's even heard of UFO Girls, much less liked it!" She admitted with a wide grin. "I wonder what else we have in common!"

"Haha, yeah!"

And so, they spent the whole day talking and laughing with each other, soon bonding over not only their love for UFO Girls, but their shared shyness, and the fact that they both had striped maniacs terrorizing them every second of every day.

He told her about Popee, and she told him about Onomadek.

At the end of the day, they'd agreed to help each other out, and be friends. Keda was very pleased to be able to be friends with her. She seemed nice, and they both struggled in similar areas.

It certainly seemed like they'd get along just fine.