(Btw this begins from last chapter (but a day afterwards) so chances are you might not understand it lol- It do be somewhat depressing tho so I fit the thingy yay)

Oh, there you are, Pandora. I was-
…
Pandora…?
…
Oh no… Not already.

Mirage woke up suddenly and exhaled, sitting up. It had been a little more than a whole day since Pandora's Infection had completely taken her over and she was unable to resist it any longer… And Mirage still hadn't been able to handle it any better. You knew it would happen someday. You knew she couldn't resist it forever. Pandora was already highly Infected when you met her. She thought, trying to convince herself that it wasn't actually that fast. And technically, it wasn't. Technically, it was already very bad when Pandora first spoke to her and Echo. She looked around the room. Only two other bugs were with her, Echo and Morel. She cringed, knowing Echo was the reckless type, and hoping she wouldn't get Infected as well. Mirage shook her head vigorously, attempting to stop thinking so negatively. She looked outside at the raindrops splashing against the ground and sighed.

The three were staying in a somewhat small shop in the City of Tears, since it was the only place they could find. Apparently the shopkeeper was away doing something, and another Vessel- whose name was Flaxen- was making sure everything was alright there. The fact another Vessel was there was greatly reassuring for Mirage, especially since he wasn't Infected. Mirage rubbed one eye a little and got up. She walked over to the front desk, where Flaxen was sleeping peacefully. “Uh… Flaxen? Are you awake?” Mirage asked quietly. Flaxen groaned a little and sat up, rubbing both eyes with his arm. "Well, I am now…“ He said annoyedly. Mirage sighed with relief. ”So what are you doing up this late?“ Flaxen continued.
”I couldn't sleep…“
”Happens to the best of us.“
”Heheh… Guess so…“
”Why d'ya think you couldn't sleep…?“
”Mostly I couldn't get my mind off of something that happened a little before yesterday…“
”Whaddya mean? If you're okay with telling me, of course.“
”Well, I had a friend who's Infected-“
”And it came out at the worst possible moment and they tried to destroy you and you had to defend yourself.“
”Yeah, that about sums it up.“
”Sounds rough…“
”Is rough."

Mirage blinked awkwardly, trying not to let herself cry, even a little bit. Mirage, stop it, you're better than this. Pandora couldn't resist it. You had to do something… She thought vigorously, trying stop thinking about Pandora, and start thinking about how to fix this madness. She heard a faint bump and looked over. Morel was about to go outside. “Morel, where are you going?” Mirage asked. Morel jumped a bit and looked over. “Oh, hey. Just… Getting some fresh air.” He said, before leaving and closing the door. Mirage blinked. “Alright, then…?” She said, confused. Echo sat up. “What's going on?” She said in a half-asleep voice. “Morel left to ‘get some fresh air’, which as far as I know, isn't like him… He generally has a good reason.” Mirage said. Echo blinked, trying to process what Mirage had just said, before her eyes widened. “Really? Yeah, I've known him for a while… Come on, you two.” She said, grabbed her nail, and opened the door. Mirage grabbed hers and quickly followed Echo. Flaxen yelped, grabbed his nail, and ran after Mirage.

The rain was especially bad that night. It may have been a slight shift in the rocks, it may have been something else. But either way, it was especially bad. Flaxen panted, struggling to keep up with Echo, who was running much faster than either of them. “Can you two… Slow down?” He asked, panting. Mirage skidded to a stop. "Sorry. Echo runs really fast.“ She said. Echo looked behind herself at them. ”Sorry, you two, but it's important!“ She said, before continuing, a little faster this time. Mirage groaned and ran as fast as she could, followed by Flaxen. Echo suddenly stopped and flared her wings. Mirage panted and ran up to her. ”What is it?“ She asked. Echo took a single step back, and Mirage looked forward. It was hard to make out from the shadows, but she faintly noticed Morel, seemingly talking to…

Mirage gasped and took a step forward, but Echo flared one wing in her face. ”What is it?“ Flaxen whispered, attempting to get closer. Suddenly Morel staggered, seemingly rubbing his shell. He looked up, looked like he gasped, and immediately fled. Mirage blinked, confused. ”Quick, follow me.“ Echo whispered harshly to Mirage and Flaxen, before flying back to the shop. The other two had a hard time keeping up, but managed. Echo opened the door long enough for Mirage and Flaxen to come in, before quickly closing it. Mirage hoped Morel would be able to find his way back, and more importantly, that Smokefall wouldn't be able to catch up. She also very much hoped it wasn't actually Smokefall, just a Vessel that strongly resembled her. ”Alright, guys.“ Echo said, catching the attention of Flaxen and snapping Mirage back to reality.

”It's time we figure out why Morel was there, and why he left in the middle of the night."
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. shakes the person reading this viciously . 859 WORDS (only including the actual story lol)! THAT'S THE LONGEST I'VE EVER WRITTEN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A N D 4922 characters . does a ded .

Fun fact! That took two hours to write, which is almost as long as it takes for me to make two Pokècomix pages :'D

THIS IS WHY I DON'T EVEN TRY THEM ANYMORE

hey! here are the results. https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/440599/?page=1#post-4430671