Welcome Home!

Part 31: Rush

Home began to rumble fiercely. Howdy grabbed me with one arm and Wally with another. He spun around on his heels to exit, but we found that Home had tore up the floorboards by the front door. We were trapped.

"Home, please. Don't-- don't harm anyone!" Wally pleaded frantically. Home growled and roared as it continued cracking floorboards and splitting walls.

"Urgh! I can't go anywhere--" Howdy shouted over the commotion. He looked around, tightening his grip on the both of us. He inhaled sharply, glaring at the front door.

"Hehe.. this part is usually such a drag, but you three have made it fun. Let's continue this for a little longer, okay? I don't usually get to play such a fun game," Home creaked with laughter. It was honestly such an annoying sound.

(Home continued rumbling and shaking angrily. Despite its deceptively calm and confident tone, it was absolutely livid. It had never predicted that its carefully crafted plans would be so easily interrupted. Never mind that, it could still dispatch these annoyances with ease if it was careful enough.

Still, Home couldn't shake off the feeling that it would fail miserably. It had never had such a sassy, imprudent Wally before. This was new. This was worrying.

There was still time, it thought. If it just managed to trap Howdy, it could cull the other two. Replacing Howdy was a painful thought, however. Home did not care about Howdy, but it was a terribly lazy and apathetic tyrant who would rather not go through the trouble. Wally knew this.

Wally actually knew a lot of things about Home. He had learned a lot from all the times he had been locked inside. He knew that Home would become easily jealous over the smallest things, and also that it needed someone to carry out its will. That scapegoat had been Wally for the longest time until Julie had come along and smacked some sense into Wally.

An idea began to form in Wally's usually thoughtless mind. It was a high risk plan, however. This plan would not work without some sacrifices, but he was willing to do it of it meant keeping you alive. After all, just as Home had said, he could be replaced. It wasn't ideal, but it was all he could come up with. He continued turning the thought around in his mind, dwelling on each facet. He only had one shot at such a plan...

Unfortunately for Wally, Howdy knew him as well. He knew that Wally was probably planning to sacrifice himself to save them.

That was one of Howdy's many talents. All those quiet days in his shop allowed him to observe his neighbors. He had no malicious intent; he just wanted to make sure he knew them very well, so if he got rhem a gift, they'd enjoy it.)

"Howdy, please drop me," Wally called out. (Home was still humming angrily as it thought of how to remove these imbeciles.)

"You better not do anything harmful!" Howdy yelled as he plopped Wally onto the floor. Wally instantly sprinted over to the damaged front door. I watched, fear occupying every space in my thoughts. I didn't want Wally to be hurt. That would make the day even worse without having to deal with such a pain as Home.

"Wally! Please be careful!" I shouted. That wobbly smile appeared on Wally's face again, although it wasn't one caused by being flustered. I knew then that his smile was one of uncertainty, implying that my warning was a goodbye, that it would be my parting words to such a dear neighbor.

I began coughing as dust and powdered drywall polluted the air. Howdy held me even closer in an attempt to help. I looked up.

"Howdy, please let me go, too! I'll be careful, I just need to stop Wally from doing whatever he's about to do. He's going to do something disagreeable, correct?" 

Howdy sighed and nodded. He lowered me to the ground, watching me with pained eyes. Whatever he was thinking, it was clear that he was not willing to share those thoughts with me.

(As you left his arms, Howdy felt a sense of unbearable dread wash over and soak him. Everyone trapped in Home knew that something bad was going to happen. Whatever it was, Howdy would try his best to protect you and Wally.

For a moment, he was glad that you were unaware of his thoughts. After all, he didn't know how he was going to explain the many thoughts of him burning Home until it was nothing but charred wood and charcoal.

He continued watching as you tried to make your way over to Wally. His fingers twitched in anticipation-- he resisted the urge to grab you and keep you safe. He knew better than that. You still deserved your own freedom, and he knew it... he just didn't want you to be hurt because of your plan. )

"Home! You can replace me!" Wally bayed. Instantly, I felt the ground beneath me stop shaking. Home was pleased again, unfortunately. Oh, how I wished it was a regular puppet. Then I could beat it until it was unrecognizable.

"Oh, my dearest Wally. I knew you'd realize it sooner or later. You have no choice in this. You may feel like you have plenty of options, but this is still my kingdom. You must play by my rules," Home laughed, squeaking a door hinge. I gagged at the horrid speech. I hated Home. I hated it for everything. I hated it for trapping and abusing Wally, and also for treating my neighbors like disposable tissues.

Most of all, I hated how I agreed with Home on one thing: my friends had flaws. Yes, it was true, and I was no exception, but I didn't care. Those flaws were a part of them. Without those flaws, they'd be empty husks of potential. Unlike Home, however, I was not interested in killing and replacing my friends. Friends did not kill each other, after all.

I was brought back to reality. Home was about to make a move. I instantly understood Wally's plan.

Wally was clinging to the front door. In order for Home to move Wally to the basement, it had to open the door for just a moment to move Wally out of the way. Then, it was going to slant its flooring so Wally would slide into the middle of the room. After that, Home was going to open the floorboards and end Wally.

Something went wrong, however. As Home opened its door and began slanting the floor, Howdy and I made a run for it. We almost made it outside, but Home quickly slammed the door in our faces.

"YOU. YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST TRY AND TRICK ME LIKE THAT?" Home roared with house-shaking laughter. It continued laughing. "Poppy tried that one on me... She saw the consequences. Of course, Wally destroyed my next one. It took a while to create the second one, so Poppy's name will now be irrelevant, anull, if you will. She is a thing of the past."

(Wally considered blinking at every corner of Home, but that would be unpleasant for him. As much as he wanted to, he could not bring himself to completely hate Home. After all, Home had given him good advice on occasion.

He lifted himself up from the shredded, splinter-filled floor, trying to figure out what his next move would be. His original plan had failed miserably, and he felt ashamed for being so confident.

As he paced around, something caught his eye in the rubble. He quickly swiped at the shiny object, not expecting anything good. As he turned the object over in his hand, he was bewildered to find a lighter.

If he made the correct move, Home would burn down. He would be without a house, but he didn't care. He was positive one of his neighbors would take him in, perhaps even you. He hoped that it would be you.

Wally quietly made his way over to the dusty curtains. He knew they were flammable, but he wasn't sure if they'd be flammable enough. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. If he threw the lighter into his beloved hair room, it would explode into flames. The only downside was that his death was guaranteed. He wished that he hadn't used extra hair products for his hair that morning.

Wally hesitantly looked over at you. He hated the idea of asking you to complete such a task, but you didn't use hair products excessively. He approached you from behind, as you were facing the front door.)

"My dearest neighbor, would you please light this lighter, then throw it into my hair room. You know, the one filled with my precious products," Wally whispered as he took my hand. I thought he had just wanted to hold my hand, but he was actually trying to discreetly pass the lighter over to me.

I tightened my grip on the lighter and snuck over to the door of Wally's most loved room. I cracked the door open and lit the lighter. I threw it in. I held my breath and sprinted away from the door.

(Wally and Howdy watched as you did that. They were both nearing the front door, terrified. A part of Howdy wanted to grab you, but you seemed to be fine.)