Two weeks had passed, and the gang was finally starting to warm up to Walten and actually saw him as their protector. Laa offered him to play, Tink actually talked to him during a conversation, Po would feel comfortable around him, and Dip would sometimes drag him out to the water. Granted, the only reason that happened is because the other three were screaming about Dip going into water since he couldn't swim and when Walten rushed outside, he saw that he was completely fine and just floating in the water.

"Dip, you scared me half to death!" The Guardian cried, falling onto the sad, relieved that his friend wasn't drowning.

"Well, I mean, I've swam in water before." Dip said, still chilling in the water, not having a care in the world.

Walten tilted his head, sitting up. "When? Every time I've seen you head here, you'd scream the moment you'd touch a drop of water."

"Hey, I wouldn't have screamed if you weren't stalking us, and I HAVE gone swimming! Remember that one time I chased you and that samurai solider guy in a lake?" Dip asked.

"Wha- Wait, you remember that?" Walten asked.

"...Kinda." Dip said, hopping out of the water. "I'm still trying to remember it all. The others are too. Tink has been feeling real lazy and sad for some reason sometimes."

Walten went stiff, and then quickly stood. "I'll, uhh, be right back."

Dip nodded and then watched Walten speed back into the Superdome, hoping that Tink wasn't at the depressing stage of hurting himself.

When The Guardian reached inside, speeding past Po and Laa who were also outside and to where Tink was. He was just sitting on his bed, recalling something that was the exact opposite of good. Instead of being quick, The Guardian approached Tink slowly. "Hey...You alright?"

Tink lifted his head and then shook his head, not saying a word. "...I don't like my memories."

Walten slowly sat down next to him, giving him a look of sympathy. "You remember, huh?"

"Not all of them, but I remember that night." Tink mumbled, his purple arms hugging himself, as if he was scared or shivering.

"Tink, it wasn't you who was doing those things!" Walten told his friend, trying to convince the sad tubby otherwise about his thoughts.

"B-But I killed them! I actually killed them!" Tink cried. "I'm the oldest, and they're all like my siblings! Siblings aren't supposed to kill each other!" He exclaimed, beginning to cry and turning away from The Guardian.

Walten suddenly made his purple friend face him. "Tink. That wasn't you. If that was you, none of that would've happened. That stupid robot made you do all that!"

Tink slowly nodded. "I...I guess you're right. But, what if the others remember? Will they ever forgive me for what I did...?"

"I know for a fact they will. They did awful things too and should understand. Besides, would they wanna see you like this? I don't want any of you guys sad." Walten said with a smile.

Tink smiled a little back. "Not at all. Thanks, Guardian. You're nice to talk too. I was always the oldest and had to deal with a lot of the problems, so it's nice to get a weight off my shoulders."

"Believe me, I know how that feels." Walten laughed. "Some are actually kinda embarrassing."

"Like what?" Tink asked, now curious.

Walten blushed a little and rubbed the back of his snow white head. "Uhh, maybe now's not a good time."

"When is a good time?" He asked again.

"...Never...?" The Guardian squeaked.

"You need work on that- OW!" Suddenly, a giant yellow ball hit Tink in the head, bouncing off him and then to the wall, which it also bounced off and back into Laa's hands.

Laa laughed nervously. "Sorry! I meant to throw that at Po!" She exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, she's still partially blind." Walten laughed.

Tink grumbled. "If I still had a giant fist, I would flick that ball into the talking sun."

"...The talking what now?"

Tink snorted. "I'm just kidding."

Walten sighed in relief. "Phew, the last thing I need is another inanimate object talking to me."

More and more days passed and The Guardian AKA Walten was now officially considered a part of their gang. He'd find himself playing their games, eating with them, laughing with them, getting hit in the face by Laa's blind throw of her ball, having his hat playfully stolen by Dip and then returned by Po, who was still learning to get used to the spider legs on her back.

Of course, their relationship had ups and downs, but The Guardian could ask for nothing more than this paradise. He had the people he had so desperately wanted to see in real life as his actual friends now. And what was even better is that there wasn't any end of the world in sight. There was even one night where The Guardian's insomnia did not affect his dreams.

Which came to another worry, The Guardian wouldn't fall asleep until late in the morning. He was worried of having another nightmare involving his now small guilt and that...thing. The black monster, or as he dubbed him, the moving shadow.

One night, he found out more about one of his friends than even he knew.

It was a normal night and The Guardian, despite being exhausted after his small swim that Po and Dip had encouraged him into, couldn't sleep as usual. He just looked at the ceiling, feeling very bored, and hoping he'd be bored enough to fall asleep.

But then, he heard someone walking over to him and turned his head to see Laa, looking scared and sad.

Walten quickly sat up. "Laa...? Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah, I just can't sleep because of a question I wanna ask you." She said before sighing. "You said you knew everything about us and you knew what happened to us, right?"

The Guardian nodded slowly.

"Do you...know what that big black thing in my nightmare was?" She asked.

Walten, The Guardian, felt defenseless at the mention of a big black thing. How did Laa know that and when did she have a nightmare about it? He had tried to convince himself many times that the black monster was just a figment of his imagination and it was how his mind perceived the things that happened.

"I...I..." Walten shook his head to snap out of his stuttering. "I don't know. I didn't even know you had a nightmare. When did you?"

"It was before the custard thing happened..." Laa said sadly. "That monster attacked me and k-k-killed my friends, warning me of bad things as he did it. He t-terrified me and I keep s-seeing him...When I was so close to reaching a d-dead-ness, I saw his face again...I think I went crazy."

Walten was horrified at the thought of someone dying and seeing that horrifying monster be the last face they see. He then began to wonder if he and Laa weren't the only ones who saw this monster. "Laa, I don't think you're the only one with that sight before becoming infected...I've seen that thing."

"You...You have?" Laa asked.

Walten nodded. "He first came to me when I was trying to stop the New Born machine, bringing me to this black void with a checkerboard floor and he destroyed me. I kept seeing him again and again after that day. He's like...a moving shadow with a mouth and limbs."

Laa shivered. "I...I don't like him."

"Neither do I...Thanks for telling me, Laa. And know what I always tell myself: It's just a dream." Walten reassured.

Laa smiled a little and nodded. "Ok. Thanks, Guardian."

"I know that was my given name, but I prefer Walten now."

"Oh, I know. It's just that Po is the only one who calls you that so the rest of us just wanted to call you something else." Laa said simply before heading back to her own bed to sleep for the night.

Walten smiled at the mention of Po and the memory of her being the only one to use that nickname he gave himself, but then he began thinking about this 'Shadow Tubby'.