Venom's pitch-black symbiotic substance, like the most meticulous surgeon, tightly wrapped around the "heart" in Vic's chest—a contraption cobbled together from lab waste that had stopped beating.
He frantically pumped energy into it, trying to reignite that faint spark of life.
Once, twice... ten times...
No response.
"For a literary masterpiece aimed at exploring the nihilism of life and the futility of love, an ending full of regret, even destruction, is the most perfect conclusion."
She opened her desk drawer and swept the manuscript inside.
"Also, Enid," Wednesday turned her head, looking at Enid who was still clinging to Vic like a koala. "You should let go of Vic now. He has already 'resurrected'."
"I won't!" Enid shook her head stubbornly, hugging him tighter, nuzzling her cheek into the crook of Vic's neck.
"I'm scared if I let go, he'll disappear again! You don't know, when I saw his heart stopped, I... I was so desperate I wanted to go with him!"
Feeling Enid's dependence, Vic's heart melted into a puddle. He patted Enid's blonde hair and chuckled, "To be honest, I'm still a bit dazed myself. I thought I was totally done for back then. If I have to say... it was basically a miracle."
His thoughts drifted back to five hours ago, to that boundary line filled with despair and hope.
...
Five hours ago, Academy Boundary.
In the dead silence of despair, Enid's supernatural hearing, granted by her werewolf bloodline, was the first to catch an extremely faint, yet distinctly different sound.
Thump... thump...
A slow, heavy, but unmistakably real heartbeat!
"Venom! Vic's heart!"
Enid jerked her head up. Tears still stained her face, but her eyes exploded with incredulous light as she let out a scream so sharp it cracked!
"I hear it!"
Venom's reaction was faster than lightning. The black symbiotic substance instantly merged completely into Vic's body.
His "gaze" locked dead onto that scrap-metal heart that should have been defunct—it was beating!
Although slow and weak, as if it could stop again at any moment, it was undoubtedly the pulse of life!
"Hahahaha!" Venom burst into maniacal laughter in Vic's consciousness, incoherent with excitement.
"Brother! I knew your time wasn't up! You really are a scourge! Scourges live a thousand years! Hahaha!"
The pitch-black symbiotic substance once again gently and firmly wrapped around the re-beating heart, carefully pumping energy into it, acting as the most reliable external pump.
"Uh..." Vic's long eyelashes fluttered a few times before he slowly opened his eyes.
The real sensation of pulsing in his chest left him dazed, followed immediately by immense ecstasy.
"I... I don't think I died?"
"Oh, damn it! Everything I said just now was nonsense!"
Vic bolted upright, speaking as fast as a machine gun.
"What kind of bullshit 'best ending' was that? It sucked! I haven't lived enough yet! I still have to marry Enid and Wednesday!"
"I still have to raise a bunch of little crazies! I still need Big Sis Mavis to help me babysit! Venom! Good brother! Come on! Steady! Oh god! Lord! Whichever deity is passing by! I pray to you! Let me live! I promise to do fewer bad things in the future... try to, at least!"
He rambled incoherently, but his face was lit up with that brilliantly manic smile signature to Victor Black.
Venom poked his head out again, white eyes curving into slits, his voice carrying the pleasure of relief: "It's done! Heartbeat stabilized! Welcome back, brother!"
"Hahaha! Yes!"
Vic punched the air excitedly, then looked up and shouted at the sky, "FUCK YOU! GOD! Looks like today isn't the day! My time isn't up!"
He turned to look at the faces around him, which transformed instantly from extreme grief to shock and ecstasy. He grinned widely, though his face was still pale:
"Hey! Guys! I'm back!"
Before his words landed, Enid had already launched herself like a cannonball into his arms. Cupping his face with both hands, with tears and the overwhelming joy of regaining what was lost, she kissed him hard.
This kiss was passionate, domineering, full of the werewolf girl's undisguised love and lingering fear.
Vic could clearly taste the salty tears mixed with the sweetness.
"Whoa..." Vic was a bit dizzy from the kiss, just managing to make a sound.
Just then, Wednesday took a step forward.
She didn't pounce like Enid. Instead, calmly, and even with a hint of her usual dominance, she grabbed Vic by his shirt collar, yanked him down forcefully, and precisely sealed his lips.
This kiss wasn't as fiery and unbridled as Enid's, but it was longer, deeper, carrying a gothic, cold possessiveness and an undeniable confirmation.
As if through this method, she was personally verifying his existence and branding him as hers.
Vic was thoroughly stunned, his eyes wide as saucers.
"Ooh~~~"
Nearby, Dennis and Winnie let out long, drawn-out exclamations of awe, their big eyes blinking, watching unblinkingly.
Mavis immediately wore a gratified yet teasing "Auntie smile." At the same time, she reached out and elegantly covered the two little ones' eyes, her voice full of laughter:
"Rated R, little ones. You're too young to see these scenes."
Under the sunlight, the boy who survived catastrophe was tightly surrounded by his girls, circled by family and friends. Although the future was still full of unknown madness, at least in this moment, the heartbeat was real, and the embrace was warm.
A raven stood quietly on a branch watching this scene, streams of data flickering in its eyes.
...
The crude heart that had sustained Vic's life for over a decade, like an old clockwork toy running out of its last bit of spring, fell completely silent.
"Move! Damn it! Move!"
Venom let out a silent roar deep in Vic's consciousness, a scream mixed with extreme terror, unwillingness, and profound powerlessness.
Over a decade ago, when Vic's heart was blown out by Dr. 062 and he was on the verge of death, Venom had cobbled this heart together relying on instinct and a sliver of luck.
He never thought it would truly succeed, let alone last this long.
This in itself was a miracle, a miracle he and Vic had stolen together, one that could end at any moment.
Outside, Vic's body went limp and collapsed into Enid and Wednesday's arms.
"Vic!"
Enid's cry was heart-wrenching. Her blonde hair was messy, tears falling like broken beads onto Vic's face as it gradually lost its warmth.
She shook him hard, as if that would wake him up.
Wednesday pressed her pale lips tight. Those eyes, usually cold deep pools, now rippled violently, the rims red.
She tightly held Vic's cold hand, nails digging into her own palm, but felt no pain.
An unprecedented cold fear named "loss" was crawling up her spine.
Mavis stood a bit further away. As a non-human entity, her perception of life was sharper.
She clearly "heard" the life force inside Vic dissipating. A sorrow so thick it couldn't be dissolved spread across her face.
She closed her eyes gently.
"Venom..."
Mavis spoke with a raspy voice, holding onto a last shred of hope.
Venom slowly poked a small part out of Vic's chest, forming a tiny, dejected black head. Those massive white eyes had lost all their luster. His voice was hoarse and low, announcing the final verdict:
"Say... your final goodbyes to him."
"What did you say?!"
Enid jerked her head up, her azure eyes wide and round, filled with disbelief and instantly collapsing despair.
"What final goodbye! Didn't Vic... didn't he cross the boundary?! Is it not enough? I can take him further away!"
"I... cannot restart that junk heart again."
Venom's voice was filled with defeat and deep exhaustion.
"Honestly, when I replaced Vic's... thing... over a decade ago, it was a Hail Mary. I never expected it to work. Lasting until today was already stolen time."
At this moment, Vic's eyes slowly opened a slit again, but the pupils had lost all their spirit, leaving only a dead grey.
His voice was as thin as a thread, as if it would snap at any moment:
"Sorry... everyone... this time, maybe really... have to say goodbye..."
He moved his eyes with extreme slowness, trying to take in every sad face around him.
"It's okay... like this... dying surrounded by family... for me... might be the best ending..."
His voice got lower and lower, finally returning to silence. His eyes closed completely, his chest no longer rising or falling.
That crude "heart" that had stolen over a decade of time finally completed its last mission.
"No... No! Vic! Please! Please wake up! Don't!"
Enid threw herself onto Vic, her wails turning into desperate whimpers, her shoulders trembling violently.
Wednesday closed her eyes, two lines of clear tears finally sliding down silently.
She tilted her head back slightly, as if suppressing some immense pain, but her tight jawline betrayed her internal collapse.
Mavis pulled the sobbing Winnie and Dennis into her arms, her own face streaming with tears.
Johnny pounded the ground in frustration. Principal Weems, the Addams couple, the Sinclair couple, all lowered their heads. The air was thick with suffocating sorrow.
Everyone was immersed in the immense grief of losing Vic, observing a moment of silence for him.
...
END
Wednesday expressionlessly typed the last letter on the final line of the manuscript paper.
Clack.
The crisp return sound of the typewriter seemed exceptionally abrupt in the quiet dorm room.
Slurp... slurp...
An untimely sound rang out.
Vic was holding a massive cup of extra-thick chocolate milkshake, sucking on it with relish, while protesting indistinctly:
"Uh, honey, so that's a wrap for me? Aren't I the male lead? It's bad enough my screen time is low, but why did I have to die? This ending is too suffocating!"
"Maybe the author thinks you, the male lead, are too embarrassing," Venom poked his head out from Vic's shoulder, rolling his white eyes, habitually mocking. "Die early, reincarnate early."
Wednesday organized the manuscript, skillfully tying it with a black ribbon, her voice flat and waveless: