Up Close and Personal

Bro was spending his morning sitting on the porch, watching the world go on. The mail wasn't supposed to arrive that day, though Bro watched in confusion as a suspicious black van dropped off a package near the mailbox. Curious, he went over to inspect it.

The package was strangely heavy given its size, but what was slightly stranger was a lack of a recipient address. When looking at where it was sent from, Bro's eyes widened.

He burst into the house with the package, catching the attention of Amelia.

"What's wrong, big bro? You look more concerned than usual," Amelia asked, taking note of his troubled face.

"There was a package by our mailbox," he replied, his face growing more serious. "It was sent from... Glitchview City."

Her face fell just as serious as Bro's when she heard that name.

"What's in the package?" she asked, her tone growing dark.

Bro only shrugged. To him, anything could be in there and it could be an unexpected surprise or something absolutely disastrous.

The tension faded slightly as the other three walked into the living room. Lily was the first to point out the box.

"Hey guys!" Lily greeted. "Hey Bro, what's in the box?"

To him, there was no way to dodge the question. With a nod from Amelia and a sigh, Bro began to answer.. by explaining where the package came from.

"Are any of you familiar with the city of Glitchview?" He asked.

Lily and Zaire looked at each other while Porter let out a shrug.

"It sorta sounds familiar to me. Is it another city on another part of the island?" Zaire asked.

Amelia shook her head. "It's another island. It's also where Bro and I were born."

The reply leaves the three surprised.

"To add on to that, that island is the farthest island from anything and one of the most dangerous," Bro added. "The only way to get to or from the island is by plane, and even then, there's no guarantee it'll leave or arrive on the island in one piece."

"Why's that?" Lily asked.

Bro and Amelia looked at each other again.

"The island sits under a storm of energy. Anything hit by the beams of energy from the storm can turn sentient, no matter what it is," he explained. "Simply put, the island is unpredictable and how anyone can still stay on it is beyond us."

"Well, what caused the energy storm in the first place?" Porter asked.

"And why do you two seem so uncomfortable talking about where you used to live?" Zaire added.

At this point, neither Amelia nor Bro were interested in talking about Glitchview City anymore and decided to change the subject.

"That's enough questions for today. Let's get this suffering over with and open the box," Bro suggested, putting the box on the couch.

The other four looked at each other as he opened the box.

His fear went to confusion as he looked inside and saw nothing but a small plastic ball. If anything, it looked like one of those expanding ball toys from the store.

"That's it?" Zaire asked.

"That's it?!" Bro repeated, expecting something else.

"Guess that's it?" Amelia also entreated.

"Amelia, a word?" Bro requested, motioning to the kitchen.

Porter, Zaire, and Lily watched the two disappear into the hall, both of them arguing if this was a joke or if this was some elaborate prank set up by someone who knew them.

Lily picked up the ball and tossed it into the air.

"Doesn't seem that bad..." Lily said. "I was expecting it to be some sort of doomsday device, or worse, a bunch of bills in a box! So, no harm done, right?"

After saying that, the ball began to expand.

"Lily, watch out!" Porter warned.

"Eek! Take it!" Lily squealed, passing the ball to him. He passed the ball to Zaire, who passed the ball back to Lily, and so on.

By the time the ball looked like it'd explode, Porter passed the ball to Lily a final time and took cover behind the couch, much like Zaire. With nowhere to throw, she held the ball away from her, bracing herself for the full force of whatever was about to happen next.

"...Tell me then, if I don't know who sent this, and you don't know who sent this, and the package never actually came from Glitchview City, where did it come from?" Bro asked Amelia.

Their debate was interrupted when they heard an explosion from the other room. The two ran back to the living room while Zaire and Porter crept from behind the couch to see the aftermath.

Lily was still there, but limp on the floor and opaque, almost lifeless. In front of her were five copies of her, each a different color; yellow, purple, orange, gray, and red. Surprisingly, despite the explosion of energy, nothing else in the room turned sentient.

"Oh, word. I don't need to deal with this again..." Bro muttered, moving away and trying to sneak off to another room.

"No way, big bro!" Amelia disagreed, tugging on his shirt. "We're going to figure out what happened and how we can solve this!"

"No, it's fine..." the gray Lily blubbered. "It's no surprise he doesn't care about us..."

"Aw, don't be like that!" the yellow Lily hugged the gray copy to try and comfort her. "Of course Bro cares about you! Don't let stuff like that affect how you actually feel, 'kay?"

"...You know who we are?" Zaire asked.

"Are you stupid?!" the red Lily yelled, kicking Zaire in the knee. "Of course we know who you all are! What, you think we have amnesia or something?!"

"Girl, you could find more productive ways to use that rage... Whaddaya say we play a quick game of basketball?" the orange Lily proposed.

"I will happily take you up on that offer!" Zaire replied, shaking off his bruise.

"Alright guys, group up..." Bro ordered.

The four huddled away from the copies.

"Fellas, we're dealing with another sentient personality crisis," he announced.

"Another?" Porter asked. "This type of thing has happened more than once?"

Bro nodded. "If you lived in Glitchview, you'd quickly learn anything can become sentient. But enough of that, we need to figure out how to make Lily herself again."

The four turned back around to face the colored copies again and immediately realized one of them was missing.

"Wait a minute. Where'd the purple one go?" Bro asked.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, he received a pie to the face.

"Gotcha!" the purple Lily giggled before running off.

"...Right," he grumbled, wiping the foodstuff off of his face. "From pickpocketing me to pies in my face, somehow, I'm the only one she plays tricks on."

"That's it!" Porter announced.

"..What's it?"

"Until we figure how to get Lily back together, we can give them names to help keep track of them. I wanna call the purple one Prankster."

"You can call them whatever you want, just don't expect them to be outside her body for too long," Bro warned, before heading out to the backyard. Zaire and the orange and red personalities followed him out preparing for their basketball game.

Meanwhile, Porter and Amelia walked over the couch, where the yellow and gray copies decided to sit.

"Don't worry girls, we'll get you back to normal soon," Amelia assured.

"What even is normal anymore?" the gray Lily sighed. "One of my brothers is a mouse, we have a toy seal for a pet, and we fight a bunch of cartoon character rejects on a regular basis! Nothing's normal anymore!"

After saying that, she started sobbing.

"I'll name you Gloomy," Porter announced, patting her head. "I think it fits for you."

"Well, I for one am looking forward to getting back to normal!" the yellow Lily squealed. "Hey, how do we get back to normal?"

"We're not sure, but when we figure it out, you, Gloomy, and the others will turn back into the Lily we all know and love," Amelia explained. "Not that we don't love you guys, of course."

"And just 'cause I think it also fits, I'll call you Cheery," Porter added.

"Ooh, goody!" Cheery squealed louder. "I can't wait to meet this Lily girl! I wonder if she'll look just like us? Well, while we wait, wanna fill in some coloring books?"

"..Yep, Cheery. Definitely fitting," Porter nodded.

Some Time Later

Hours have passed since Lily's personality traits have taken form, and no progress into fixing it has been made, mostly due to Zaire still playing basketball with her red and orange copies.

The four came back into the house around sunset. Although three of the four actually played, only Zaire was sweating and exhausted.

"Whew! Haven't had a game like that in ages!" the orange Lily chuckled to herself. "Those had to be the best six hours I've ever spent!"

"Quick, she said," Bro muttered under his breath.

"Weird," Porter said, "six hours and these girls aren't even a bit tired."

"Like duh, don't you get it? We're not real!" the red Lily shouted. "We're just parts of this Lily girl's personality, and we only feel what we're supposed to be! It doesn't take a scientist to get that figured out!"

"Wait... We're not... real?" Gloomy stammered.

Hearing this only made her sob again. Her sobbing was only made louder with the red Lily smacking her and telling her to "quiet down".

"I think I'll call that one Fury," Porter told the others.

"Hey, instead of just watching something happen, why don't we do something instead? Anyone up for a game of hide-and-seek?" the orange Lily suggested.

"Let me guess," Zaire panted. "You're naming that one Sporty, aren't you?"

"Actually, I was going to name that one Restless, but I like that name better," Porter replied.

"Again, name her whatever you want, we're getting Lily back by tomorrow," Bro cautioned.

"So, that's a no on hide and seek?" Sporty asked. "How about some indoor golf? Got any fake grass around here?"

"That's it, I'm going to bed. See you guys in the morning," Bro managed to say after a moment of confused silence.

The other siblings agreed to turn in for the night, locking their doors and leaving Sporty wondering who would play with her.

The Next Day

It hasn't even been noon and Bro has taken several more practical jokes from Prankster. Meanwhile, Porter, Amelia, and Cheery were trying to brighten Gloomy's mood, and Zaire was taking a small beating from Fury while Sporty was challenging him to a parkour race. Seemed like the only good thing out of the morning was...

"I think I've figured out a way to get Lily back together!" Bro announced. "Meet me outside in five."

The other three met him in the backyard a few minutes later.

"Well, hurry up and spill it so my shins don't take another beatdown!" Zaire begged.

"It all has to do with energy," Bro explained. "They only reason Lily's traits have a physical form is because they're infused with energy from Glitchview. We need to get the energy out of them, and we can do it with the ball from the package."

He pulled out a familiar looking ball out of his pocket, though it was glowing less faintly than before.

"That reminds me," Porter said. "If you've dealt with these sort of things before, couldn't you have solved this a long time ago?"

"In Glitchview, yes, but Seal Island doesn't have the technology for this sort of thing. All we do have to fix this is this ball," Bro replied.

The four looked into the living room, where four of the traits were minding their own business.

"Now, which one are we going for first?" Bro asked.

He received a tap on the shoulder and saw Prankster holding a flower.

"Oh, right! Almost forgot about that one..." Porter chuckled.

When Bro leaned over to sniff it, he was sprayed by the petals of the flower.

"Oh, that scratches it!" Bro growled, grabbing Prankster's arm before she could run off. He pressed the ball against her face, and she was immediately sucked inside.

"There, one down, four to go," he sighed.

The four walked into the living room and announced the news to the other emotions.

"So, we've got great news! Turns out we'll be meeting Lily sooner than we expected!" Amelia cheered.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Cheery exclaimed. "I can't wait to meet her! I bet she's a nice girl!"

"Eh, more or less," the boys said in unison.

"So, what's the bad news?" Gloomy asked. "There has to be a catch to this. There always is."

"Well, it's not exactly BAD news, but to meet her, we have to cram you four into this ball here." Bro continued, showing the ball that would be used to catch them.

"Like heaven I'm going in there!" Fury scoffed.

After saying that, she shoved everyone aside and made a break for the door.

"After her!" Bro yelled, chasing her with Porter by his side.

"What do you expect will happen when they catch her? Be honest. They'll be one step closer to getting everything back to normal again, but really, is it all worth it in the end?" Gloomy questioned.

"Wait, are you really not going to try and run?" Zaire asked.

"Why would I? I'm just gonna get caught anyway, so it's all meaningless." she sighed.

"Well, I'm not gonna give up that easily!" Sporty stepped up to face Zaire and Amelia.

"How about this: we play one game of your choosing. If you win, I'll help you get things back to normal, but if I win, we all get to run free. Sound fair?"

The two siblings looked at each other and shook on it. They were determined to win, but what would they play?

Meanwhile, the other two siblings chased Fury into the forest behind their backyard. The distance between them and her was growing by the second.

"How are we going to catch up with her now? Ugh, why are you stronger when you're angry?" Porter huffed.

"You go after her. You're faster than I am. I have an idea," Bro advised before passing the ball to him and going another direction.

With a sigh and a shrug, Porter got back to chasing. He barely kept up with Fury, who could only be seen by the occasional streaks of red.

In time, she stopped near a clearing, still irritated about Porter chasing her.

"Ugh, are you serious?!" she shouted, turning to face him. "Why don't you ever give up? I'm not getting in there, so why don't you back off and back away?"

"Look," Porter started, looking rather irritated himself. "I don't agree with my sister on a lot of things, but I know if was in danger, she'd be there to help me! I'm not going to leave her hanging where she needs help the most! Now be a good girl, and give yourself up!"

"How's this for good?" Fury replied, running up to strike him. Her arms were grabbed from behind by Bro, with just enough distance for him to not get attacked.

"Oh yeah, real good," he retorted, sarcasm in his voice. "Alright Porter, cram her in and let's head back."

Fury struggled as much as she could, even using profane insults, but eventually she was stuffed into the ball alongside Prankster.

"Wow, am I glad the real Lily doesn't say those things, no matter how badly she might want to!" Porter sighed.

"If the real Lily said that to my face, she'd get the fury smacked out of her," Bro added.

The two made it back to the house to find Zaire, Amelia, and Sporty in the kitchen. Upon seeing Bro and Porter, Sporty approached the two and stuck out her arms as if she was being arrested.

"Aren't you going to try to run?" Porter asked.

"I made a bet, and these two won fair and square," she sighed. "Out of every game they could've chosen, it just had to be chess..."

She pulled the ball from Porter's pocket and bumped her head against it, sucking herself inside. Zaire caught the ball before it could hit the floor.

"Guess we got the most active ones, but what about the other two?" Amelia asked.

"Might as well add us to the mix," Gloomy replied, dragging Cheery along with her. "I hope you're happy, getting your sister back and all, and I hope you think of the impact she makes when she comes back, whenever that is."

"Oh, don't worry, we will!" Porter nodded.

"And we'll definitely think of you anytime she tries to get philosophical," Zaire added.

"...I don't even know why I open my mouth..." she groaned.

"Wait, we're going to meet Lily now?" Cheery asked.

"Yes, you're going to meet Lily," Bro replied.

"Oh, joy!" she squealed. "After all this time, we finally get to met her! I'm so excited I could just pop!"

"She's in this little ball here. Everyone else has already joined in, they're just waiting for you," he implied, pointing at the ball.

"Ooh, shiny! Come on, let's go meet Lily!" she said, grabbing onto the ball. In an instant, she was also sucked inside, her new form being a tiny yellow ball bouncing inside.

"Do me a favor; when you see your sister again, don't bother trying to explain this to her. She wouldn't understand," Gloomy requested before touching the ball as well.

"Well, that's all five personality traits!" Zaire chuckled, dusting off his hands. "All we have to do now is return them to Lily."

"Yeah, how do we do that, exactly?" Porter questioned.

"I think I know how, but you're not gonna like it..." Bro warned.

"Hey, whatever it is, it's worth a try, right?" Amelia reasoned.

With a shrug, Bro threw the ball straight at Lily's body with full force.

"Ack! Except for that! Why would you do that?!" she shouted, picking up the ball.

"You just said this was worth a try!" Bro complained.

"If I knew this was your idea, I would've kept my mouth shut!"

While she was patting the ball and checking for damages, it began to expand just like the first time.

"Yikes, take it!" she shouted, passing the ball to Bro, who passed it to Zaire, who passed it to Porter, who passed it back to Amelia, and so on.

"This feels familiar..." Zaire pointed out.

By the time it was passed to Bro again, he told everyone to take cover before tossing the ball near Lily. The four barely got behind the couch before it exploded.

When they peeked out from behind, they saw Lily, looking like she just woke up from a nap.

"What... happened? What did I miss?" she yawned.

"A lot happened! We saw your personality traits, and we-"

Zaire nudged Porter and instead replied, "We went to the store to pick up some things. Nothing to worry your little head about."

"And you didn't bother to wake me up?"

"You were sleeping so peacefully, we didn't want to wake you!" Amelia smiled.

When Lily got up and tried to stretch, she ended up screaming in pain.

"My back! My back! It feels like my back was struck with a baseball!" she whined.

The room went silent, save for Bro's silent cough.

"Well, now that that's settled, what do we do about this thing?" Porter asked, picking up the ball.

"Well, first..." Bro started, taking the ball from him and stuffing it back into the package it was taken out from and sealing the box shut. "And then..." he continued, going straight outside and dunking the box right into the garbage bin. "All we need to do now is wait for the truck to arrive."

Soon enough, the garbage truck arrived while the siblings watched from the window.

"Bro, aren't you worried that the garbage truck might turn sentient or something?" Porter asked.

"Not in the slightest. Packages sent around and from Glitchview are made of a material that's resistant to energy like that. Unless that box breaks open, we've got nothing to worry about," he explained.

"So, what did you do while I was asleep?" Lily asked the four.

"Related some personal experiences," Zaire joked. "Now's Bro's turn."

"Wha? Fine..." Bro replied, completely off guard. "Guess I don't have a choice now. Sit on the couch, and I'll tell you a story."

All four hopped on the couch and leaned in, eager to listen.

"Several years ago, while me and Amelia lived on Glitchview, I had a particularly bad day. On that day, I told myself I'd get back at the world somehow- with an army, with machines, and a change for myself. I thought of an alter ego with a heartless demeanor, and I thought of ways he would get back at it all... Of course, right after that daydream, I got struck by an energy beam."

The other four looked at Bro, shock and wonder on their face.

"Wait, why are you shocked, Amelia? He said you also lived in Glitchview, right?" Zaire pointed out.

"This is the first time he's ever told this to me!" she replied.

"Anyway, I think that was a rather weak beam, considering I was still conscious. I did see someone running away from me. He looked a lot like me, but he had a red glass monocle bolted to his face," Bro paused with a sigh. "It was at that moment I realized that 'someone' was my daydream of revenge..."

"Wait, you mean?" Porter questioned, slowly connecting the dots in his brain.

"Yes, I created Zetal," Bro admitted. "It was unintentional, but those events leading up to his creation and the things I have to do to stop him are my punishment to bear. Good thing his henchmen aren't that strong or smart, or we'd all be in big trouble," he joked.

"Well hey, that's you got us for!" Lily smiled.

"Thanks, guys. I'm glad I have you four to fight alongside with," Bro said, hugging his siblings. "Or, I could just grab that thing from the trash and fix it now instead."

"You might want to hurry, then..." Amelia warned, pointing outside of the window. The garbage truck had dumped out the last of the bins on that street.

With a yelp, Bro burst through the front door and chased the departing truck, the other four siblings watching him from the porch. A storm was brewing in the city, where the truck was headed last.

"You think he'll be able to retrieve that thing before the trash compactor gets it?" Lily asked.

"If he doesn't, I'm just hoping he doesn't get struck by lightning!" Zaire chuckled.

The four let out a giggle as they watched their brother and the truck disappear into the city.