Dark Chica was excited to see Darkiplier so soon again.

As soon as Dark opened the shed, she had pounced on him giving him all the love in her soul.

And then he proceeded to do something he would have NEVER been able to do before.

He let her in the house.

Since it was only them there for now, no one else was in danger of her so he could do whatever the hell he wanted, really. He let her run around, lay on the furniture, clamber in the other's rooms and he even let her steal one of King's peanut butter sandwiches that he had left in the fridge.

He had a lot of time on his hands, after all, trying to gather everyone's things together that they'd definitely need.

What did everyone need that they didn't have in the real world, you ask?

Dr. Iplier had his special neck pillow he needed, King loved his wooden squirrel toy he made, Eric needed his special decorated handkerchiefs,  Wilford needed his afro, Bim wanted his mock microphone, the Jims forgot their script and they needed THAT one because they had written so many notes on it!

"Let's see. . ." Dark spoke to himself with Dark Chica to listen, "And Captain Magnum said he wanted his beard trimmer and special earrings . . . Google wanted his hammer and Yan wanted their machete. . . well those two aren't happening, are they?"

Dark Chica wagged her tail.

The man chuckled, "Bing forgot his skateboard and Host needs his quill for . . . well he didn't explain why. Yancy needs his  . . his Teddy bear? Hm. Didn't even know he had one" he was reading off the list that the group had given him, "And Illinois wants his whip that he forgot. I suppose. He never uses it for nefarious reasons. And I think that's it!"

"BARK!"

"Hm? What's wrong, girl?"

Suddenly Dark Chica ran off. Dark was confused but before he could run after her to follow, she came trotting back with a long stick in her mouth with a jewel on the end-

"Oh! The cane! Yes, I forgot! Thank you, girl" he reached down to take it from her and pet her head, her black eyes looking up at him so full of love.

"Love you, girl. You're too good for me. Now let's take off, shall we? Should be pretty late by now and everyone'll be in bed. Shouldn't have any problems getting you into the basement before you can attack anyone"

"BARK!" She protested and whined but Dark pointed his finger at her.

"Hey now, we both know what you're like."

She huffed indignantly at his words and left with him.

Dark woke up in the basement that morning. Before leaving for the house to get everyone's things, he had gotten help from Mark in dragging down a bed for him in the basement.

Everyone was sort of confused as to why he'd sleep down there of all places until they were reminded of Dark Chica.

And now he was waking up in the bed feeling just as tired as when he had gone to sleep with a giant fluffball sleeping on top of him, her head on his chest.

But Dark couldn't help but smile, knowing his best friend was there. He was grateful to Mark for this at least.

It was almost comfortable enough that he could go back to sleep.

Except. . . .

He started hearing clanging, banging and yelling upstairs.

He groaned and sighed to himself, "Sorry, girl. Looks like I have to get to work"

Dark Chica whined.

"I know but I'll be back later to give you some food. I'll sneak one of King's peanut butter sandwiches, too"

He felt the hard thumping of her tail wagging.

With a tired sigh, Dark got up and ready for the day.

Of course everything would be a mess but Dark tried his best to keep everything together until Mark arrived, which wouldn't be long.

Speaking of Mark, there was suddenly a knocking on the door!

"Damn it all!" Dark was wiping down Yancy's mess. The jailbird didn't know how to clean up after himself, apparently.

"I'm back, guys! Everyone ready to rehearse!?" Mark's hollering could be heard all throughout the house and of course, everyone all but RAN towards him.

Dark took his time but watched the scene unfold.

"Yo, dude, where's Ames at?" Bing dipped his sunglasses down a bit, "Afraid one of us'll steal her from ya?"

Mark rolled his eyes.

Magnum sighed sweetly, "Such a delicate flower she is, ay?"

Illinois nodded, wiggling his eyebrows.

Mark blinked, "Anyway! I got everyone's scripts" he pulled them out of a Cloak-brand shoulder-bag he had, sort of showing off as well to them a bit, "Please read them today and let me know if you guys have any questions about the scene or situations that happen. Dark!"

Dark raised his chin a bit at him, letting him continue.

"Did you get Dark Chica? How's she doing?"

Everyone turned to hear what Dark had to say about the beast but he answered simply, "Yes, I brought her over last night and she's doing fine. Eric, actually, if you could later, could you get her some lunch? I know she likes you."

"Sh-she does!?"

"Good" Mark cut them off, "I'll discuss the scene with her, too then with you so we can start training her in some actions or instances."

Dark narrowed his eyes, "I don't think that'll be necessary. She's very smart and will do anything I tell her to"

"Well just to be safe, you never know. We'll need to rehearse WITH her too"

"Understood" Dark was worried about how Dark Chica might react with Mark but didn't argue. They'd see what will happen later.

"Right, and as you guys probably know, Bob and Wade will be a part of the video but they won't get here until next week."

"Aw right!" Wilford shouted, "I LOVE those guys! I'll have to groom my mustache EXTRA special! Dark! Did you bring my glitter!?"

". . .No"

"Dang nabbit!"

"And also" Mark forced himself in the conversation again, "We'll be having some visitors from the UK coming out, too, but not until Bob and Wade's section is over"

"Yo, from da UK!?" Yancy butt in, "Youse not talking 'bout that Irish fellow is you?"

"SEAN'S COMING?!" Yandere shouted, "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME?!"

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose, "Because I knew you guys would all freak out. Look, I know you guys all like Sean but he's not going to be able to come, himself. He'll lend us some help through discord or text or whatever but I believe Chase is the one who's coming"

"CHASE?!" Bing smiled wide, "MY BRO!"

"Yeah, anyway-"

"But why aren't the other Septic egos coming along?" Dr. Iplier asked, "I'd really like to see Henrik again"

"The Host would also like to ask about the magician"

"Wh-what about J-Jackieboyman?" Eric asked.

"JAMESON?!" Wilford shouted angrily, "They HAVE to bring Jameson around!"

"Guys! Guys! Stop!" Mark shouted at them all, getting fed up already, "The others aren't coming. It's just Chase. That's it. And he'll be here in a couple weeks after Bob and Wade's section NEXT week! Stop freaking out about it!"

Everyone quieted down at Mark's shout but Bim snorted, "SOMEONE'S cranky today"

"That reminds me!" Ethan will be rehearsing along with Bob and Wade so you'll see him, too, next week"

"YAY!"

The Jims started chanting out of nowhere in the corner, "Unus Annus, Unus Annus!"

Magnum slapped one of them upside the head, "Hey now! Pay yer respects fer the dead!"

"Right. Dark, let's go chat, shall we?" Mark could see his amused little smirk but ignored it, leading him off up to the study room.

Dark sat at a chair in front of the desk in the study with one of his legs crossed over the other, twirling his cane in his one hand.

Mark was over by the window looking out at the front yard seeing Bing try to read his script and skateboard at the same time, "They're a handful, aren't they?"

"You made them. You would now" Dark retorted.

"Yeah but you spend every minute with them. I've only spent half a day around them all and I'm already losing my mind with all of their personalities. It's exhausting. You getting any sleep?"

"You learn to live without sleep"

Mark just snorted, "I guess . . . . Even still, I'm sorry you've ended up taking care of all of them. They're like a basket of wild children and you're the nanny"

For some reason that ticked Dark off, "I'm NOT their nanny"

"Of course not!" Mark laughed, "Sorry. . . forgot who I was talking to, I guess. Look it's just . .  I know everyone can be a handful usually in my head but I'm also really counting on you now more than ever to keep them under control when the other will be coming over. Bob, Wade and Ethan. Even Chase and Felix. If Wilford, Yancy, Yandere or Google snaps, I need you to subdue them. Even Dark Chica, too"

"I understand, Mark-"

"And if one of them kills someone . . I can't protect them. They'll be screwed under the law. It'll be either me or them and I'm not going to jail"

Something in Dark broke a bit and stood up intimidatingly, "What did you just say?"

Mark glanced at him and turned around, a bit nervously, "Dark, it's nothing personal. It's just-"

"What? You have more at stake that they do? How dare you! You can't just throw them under the bus! You're the creator, here! If it's anyone's fault, it's yours so YOU should be the one to take responsibility!!"

"Dark" Mark paled, standing subserviently to him.

It was then out of no where that Dark realized the room had gone pitch black and he had over-flowed his anger out onto Mark, himself"

He stepped back and cleared his throat, the room regaining light, "I. . . I apologize"

The color returned to Mark's face and he swallowed, "It's . . It's okay. I'm sorry, Dark. I shouldn't have said something like that to you"

"Shouldn't have said it at all"

"You're right. Honestly, though, I don't know what I would do if any of them were to kill someone. What if they accidentally killed someone I really care about? What if Wilford accidentally killed Amy or Ethan?"

"I . . . . .. I don't know"

Mark sighed, "Anyway . . . . We'll just have to keep an eye on everyone. Here" he handed Dark his script, "You can look over it and let me know later if-"

But Dark was able to scan over it quickly, "It's the same shit you always have me say. What's there to ask about?"

In his voice, you could tell he was irritated and Mark shrugged, "Sorry. It's just I don't have anything bit for you yet, Dark."

"No, just clues and ignorant hints that lead to nothing. But I see you've given Wilford more backstory"

"Dark, it's just-"

"Hell, you've even given Dark Chica a bigger role"

"Dark-"

"I think we're done here. I don't have any questions for you" Dark turned to leave, stomping towards the door.

"It's hard to think of anything for you to do after Damien and Celine's  . . . after the 'Damien' story." Mark went on, "Anything in the story beyond that would be for you to . . try and kill me. And-"

Dark promptly left, shutting the door behind him.

Those words hung on Dark as he left to retreat to the basement.

He even ignored the chaos around him as Google was trying to murder Bing again and Yancy was throwing toilet paper everywhere with the Jims and Wilford joining in, Illinois and Dr. Iplier trying to stop them.

Dark closed the basement door behind him, turning on the light at the top of the stairs.

'After all this time, he still views me as the villain.' he thought to himself, 'Those nightmares were right all along . . . that's all he'll ever see me as no matter what I do to try and prove it otherwise'

Dark walked down the stairs expecting to see Dark Chica waiting for him.

Only. . . .. 

She wasn't there.

Dark's heart nearly stopped in his sudden panic to see the basement window fucking SIX FEET UP THE WALL broken.

It appeared Dark Chica had broken out.

'FUCK!'

'FUCK!'