Split Souls (an OK K.O. fanfiction)

Chapter 4

As he took off his helmet, K.O. found himself being pulled into a hug. "K.O.!" Enid was hugging K.O. She was close to tears. K.O. hugged her back. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

K.O. turned away from Enid and over to Rad. "Me, too," Rad said, giving K.O. a hug as well.

Suddenly K.O. heard a groan behind him. "Dendy?" K.O. walked over to Dendy and took off her helmet. She was sweating and her hair looked kind of messy. "Dendy? You okay?"

"That..." she puffed, "was very exhausting."

Smiling, K.O. gave her a big hug.

"So, what happened in there?" Rad asked.

"Yeah, how'd you beat T.K.O.?" Enid added.

"Well, we didn't exactly beat him," K.O. started awkwardly.

K.O. and Dendy filled Rad and Enid in on what happened inside K.O.'s mind.

"...and then we decided to try and get T.K.O. out of my subconscious and—"

"What?!" K.O. was interrupted by Rad and Enid.

"Um, are you sure that's a good idea?" Enid asked.

"Yeah, what if he destroys stuff again?" Rad added. K.O. glanced at Dendy. They hadn't thought of that. However, as K.O. looked at Dendy, he noticed she looked exhausted. She was close to falling asleep right then. So was he, even though he'd just taken a nap. He yawned.

"Can we worry about that later?" K.O. asked. "I'm exhausted. Do you think Mr. Gar would be mad if I left work early?" K.O. asked.

"You don't have to," Enid assured him. "Your mom's gonna be here in about five minutes."

"I've been asleep all day?!" K.O. asked in disbelief.

"Yup. I told you, you were really tired," Enid said.

Five minutes later, Carol arrived at the bodega like Enid said. She walked into the employee room. "Hey, y'all. Ready to go, K.O.?"

"Mm-hm." K.O. stood up and sleepily walked over to his mom. He sleepily leaned on his mother's leg with his eyes closed. Carol stroked his hair.

"Anyone care to explain?" Carol asked.

Enid exchanged a glance with Rad. Not wanting to worry Carol, Rad said, "Eh, he was just really tired."

"Okay," Carol replied. She looked at Dendy. "Hi, Dendy. You look tired, too. Want me to call your parents?"

"Yes, please," Dendy replied. Carol left the room to call Dendy's parents. A few minutes later, Carol walked back into the employee room. "Hey, Dendy, your parents said you can stay over at our house for the night."

"Yay, sleepover," K.O. murmured. Dendy only yawned.

"Alright, come on, sleepyheads." Carol led Dendy and K.O. to the car. Almost as soon as K.O. buckled his seatbelt, he was fast asleep.

K.O. found himself in that same desolate purple landscape again. In the distance, he could see T.K.O.'s cage. He walked toward it. K.O. wanted to have a little discussion with his alter-ego.

T.K.O. was sitting down with his face in his palm and staring at the cage floor when K.O. approached. "Hey, K.O. That sure didn't take long." T.K.O. dropped his slight smile. "What do you want?" he asked seriously.

"I want your word," K.O. replied. "If I let you out, you have to promise me three things."

"What?" T.K.O. asked, looking intrigued.

"One: You can't hurt my friends. Two: You can't hurt my Mom. Three: You can't harm the plaza," K.O. said.

T.K.O. stared at him for a moment, then he smirked. "Heh, you're smarter than you look, K.O.," T.K.O. chuckled. "Okay, I promise."

"Really?" K.O. was taken aback. T.K.O. had agreed to his terms surprisingly easily. Too easily. "What do you want in return?" he asked suspiciously.

T.K.O. rolled his eyes. "What I want is to get out of this stupid cage and out of your happy-go-lucky mind."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yep. That's it."

"What'll you do after that?" K.O. asked. "Where'll you go?"

T.K.O. paused. "I...hadn't thought of that," he admitted. "I just want to get out of here."

"Mm, okay. Oh, one more thing!" K.O. said before turning away.

"What now?" T.K.O. groaned.

"Can you let me sleep tonight?" K.O. asked. "If I don't get any more sleep, my mom's gonna kill me!"

"Okay," T.K.O. replied.

"Thanks," K.O. said. Then he woke up.

K.O. was in the car. It was parked in front of his house. Dendy was asleep next to him, leaning on his shoulder. K.O. stiffened, blushing. He shook her gently. "Hey, Dendy. Wake up. We're here," he whispered. Dendy woke up and yawned as Carol opened the car door. "Come on, you two. Let's get you in bed."

Carol pulled out a spare mattress for Dendy to sleep on and put it up in K.O.'s room. K.O. and Dendy fell asleep almost as soon as they lay on their beds.