Darkness.
Suddenly, a park can be seen, with a beautiful sun set painting the sky orange.
A crowded area can be seen, with spectators upon spectators viewing the ceremony.
What ceremony, you ask?
The wedding of the century.
Standing in front of each other, in the best suits they could find, Vinnie Dakota and Balthazar Cavendish hold hands and gaze into each others eyes.
Their friends and family happily occupy their seats, overjoyed for the couple.
Despite all the adventures, all the death defying missions, all the bumps...
They made it.
They got here.
To this day.
To this moment.
Together.
Vinnie Dakota beamed at his husband to be, a smile like no one had ever seen on his face.
Balthazar Cavendish looked lovingly at his partner, a feeling of peace and tranquility in his heart.
He was safe.
They both thought the same thing:
They couldn't be happier.
The priest cleared his throat, and said the words they had waited so long to hear.
"Do you, Balthazar Cavendish, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?"
Cavendish laughed.
"Oh, I do! I most definitely do!"
The priest, a soft smile on his weathered face, turned to Dakota.
"And do you, Vinnie Dakota, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?"
Dakota didn't even hesitate.
"I do. A thousand time, I do."
"Then by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and husband."
This was it.
The moment.
Finally, they would be joined together forever.
And NOTHING could pull them apart.
NOTHING.
"You may now kiss the groom."
Dakota and Cavendish smiled at each other.
"I must warn you... I have a severe case of halitosis.", Cavendish joked.
Dakota shrugged.
"You're Cavendish; what are you gonna do?"
They closed their eyes.
They held their breaths.
And they leaned in and kiss...
BOOM!
An earth shattering explosion shook the park, nearly wiping out all the inhabitants.
Dust rose into the air, trees were uprooted, and the attendants of the party were flung backwards.
Dakota, coughing up blood and grime from his throat, his body screaming with pain, slowly forced himself up from the crater he was now in.
Panic and fear displayed on his face, and he surveyed the area, trying to understand what in the world happened.
His eyes were nearly blinded by the dust, and his head was spinning, but he managed to get a good look.
And he saw it.
And his eyes widened and his heart stopped.
His friends...
His family...
His world...
They were...
Dead.
Some were still moving, true, but they were all broken on the ground, their faces displaying absolute horror.
Dakota, despite the intense pain he felt, got right up and rushed to the first body he saw: Zack Underwood.
"Zack! Zack, little man, get up!", he said, trying, pleading for him to wake up.
Zack seemed nearly dead, when he suddenly grabbed Dakota's hand, startling Dakota.
"What... What have you done?"
Dakota moved away, alarmed.
"What did I do? Who cares?! Are you ok?"
Zack pressed on, his voice sounding distant.
"You... You were supposed to guard us."
Dakota stared at him, lost for words, nearly at tears.
"...Why... Why did this happen?"
Zack collapsed.
Dakota got up, and saw the rest.
And he burst into tears.
Sara, Amanda, Martin, Brigette, Savannah, Brick, Mr. Block, a few people he didn't know, but who somehow felt familiar, Diogee, Melissa...
Milo...
They were all lying on the ground, their bodies and spirits broken, covered in blood and tears.
Their faces contorted with horror and fear.
Their hope lost completely.
Dakota rushed to each one, but they didn't respond, with the exception of Melissa, who was crying her soul out, and Milo, who seemed almost dead.
Dakota held him to his heart.
"It's ok. It's ok. Your Dadkota is here. Milo. Milo. I'm here."
Milo looked at Dakota, with the saddest, most hopeless face Milo had ever had in all his life.
"My curse... It's me... I hurt us all..."
Dakota, tears running down his face, hugged Milo.
"Don't say that! This isn't you! Milo! This isn't your fault!"
"I beg to differ..."
A voice, terrifying, cold, all encompassing echoed across the area.
It almost sounded sad.
Yet...
It also sounded determined.
"Justice has finally been delivered, Vinnie Dakota. I saw to that. The universe... Is now fair."
Dakota had no idea who this was.
But right now, with a dying Milo in his hands, he didn't care.
He lunged at the figure, towering in his might and his size.
Dakota tried to exact some sort of pain on this man, but all the figure had to do was pick him up by the throat, and smile menacingly.
"WHO. ARE. YOU?!", Dakota screamed, rage consuming him as he gasped for air.
"I... Am The Master."
The Master presented at a figure Dakota missed.
"And this... Is my final judgement."
He dropped Dakota to the ground, cracking his ribs.
But Dakota couldn't even begin to notice the pain.
He saw something much worse.
The limp, frail body of Cavendish laid on the ground, beaten, bruised, pail.
Bleeding from every area.
His face, once emitting joy, seemed hollow and empty.
He was dying.
And Dakota's heart shattered at the sight.
The Master opened up a portal and left, his final words not even heard by Dakota, who was running over to Cavendish.
"All... Is right with the world."
Dakota arrived near Cavendish, and frantically called for him to come back.
"Cavendish... Cavendish... Come back! Stay with me!"
Cavendish's eyes opened ever so slightly.
For the faintest moment, hope returned to Dakota's eyes, the prospect of Cavendish living giving him enough strength to carry on.
"CAVENDISH! Please... Stay with me a bit more... I'll get a doctor, maybe just maybe you'll..."
Cavendish, his face beaten nearly beyond recognition, stroked Dakota's face.
"Dakota..."
Dakota paused, his breath held back as he listened to Cavendish.
"...I'm... I'm sorry."
And, just like that...
Balthazar Cavendish's eyes closed.
His breath stopped.
His body went limp.
And his hand fell down on the ground with a silent thud that boomed in Dakota's ears.
"No... No..."
Dakota wouldn't accept it.
Dakota shook Cavendish violently, tears streaming down his face as he begged for his love to come back.
"Cavendish... Cavendish, no..."
He put his ear to Cavendish's chest.
Not a single sound.
Dakota looked at Cavendish.
At the man he failed.
He looked at the rest of his world.
All gone.
He looked up to the sky.
And screamed...
"No!"
Where there was battered ground now laid a barren floor.
Well, a dirty laundry filled floor.
Where there was Cavendish's body was now replaced with a blanket, creased and crumb filled.
And in that bed, in a darkened room, at 3 in the morning...
Was Dakota.
He had sprung up from bed, his body covered in sweat, his whole self visibly shaking, his eyes still reeling from the horrors he'd seen.
"...Just... A dream... Just... A dream...", he kept saying to calm himself down as he got out of bed and put his slippers on.
He went to the bathroom, his breath still heavy and agitated as he washed his face from the gut wrenching dream.
He looked in the mirror.
"...Check on Cavendish."
He went to Cavendish's part of the room, fully expecting his friend to be gone, but instead he found the peaceful body of his partner, sleeping like a baby.
Dakota couldn't help but smile in relief as he saw the man he loved (secretly) doze without a care in the world.
Until the morning, when he'd inevitably find something to complain about.
Dakota chuckled, and then sighed.
He had saved Cavendish from death multiple times.
How could he be afraid?
As long as he had enough time juice and a vehicle, Cavendish would always be safe.
But...
What if one day he didn't?
Cannisters can be filled, cars can be fixed, but...
What if...
One day, Mr. Block will find out.
One day, someone will find out.
Report him.
And get him and Cavendish fired.
And without that...
How could he ever save his friend?
Cavendish would be gone forever, and it would be all because Dakota wasn't careful enough.
Dakota thought of the inevitable conversation.
Of the anger in Block's eyes.
He began to wonder...
Was this even ok?
Yes, it was Cavendish.
But there was a law against this.
A law against saving a dead partner.
They said that time paradoxes would occur (though Dakota reasoned that if saving pistachios and stopping wars was ok, how come saving people was wrong?), and they said that it was forbidden.
Maybe...
Maybe Dakota was wrong.
Perhaps he should have let things take their course...
Dakota looked at Cavendish.
He looked at a man who wanted to help, despite all the trouble he encountered.
A good man with good intentions.
If it was wrong to save lives...
Then Dakota didn't want to be right.
No.
He was doing the right thing.
So he'd lose a job.
So what?
He would have done this for anyone.
Not just Cavendish.
Dakota remembered the dream and shook in fear.
No.
He couldn't give up.
No matter what happened, no matter what, he would save those he loves.
Not because it was what he wanted.
But because it was RIGHT.
He clenched his fist and looked to the sky.
He had promised to be a hero.
And he would do that.
He would protect them all.
He would keep them all safe.
He would guard them.
Forever.
Post Credits Scene:
2 Years and a bit later...
Balthazar Cavendish thought.
He thought of all that Dakota had done to protect him.
And how he wished he could repay that debt.
"Maybe..."
"Maybe one day... I can be his knight."
Coming soon...
"I Will Be His Knight!"
This story (Guard) is set the night before "Fungus Among Us".
Next Week: Holding Hands!
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