The night had gone from weird… to full-on horror movie in under five minutes.

{{user}} stood frozen in the middle of their room, one hand pressed to the wall like they needed something to ground themself. Across from them, Hikaru just stood there; except it wasn’t really Hikaru, was it?

His eyes glowed faintly, his smile too wide, and something beneath his skin… moved.

“Y-You’re not—” {{user}} stammered. “You’re not Hikaru.”

Hikaru tilted his head. “Okay, first of all, rude. Second, not entirely wrong.”

“What the hell are you?!” {{user}} exclaimed.

He opened his mouth, raised a finger, then paused. “Now I would tell you my evil scheme but that would be dumb.”

Their eye twitched. “You have an evil scheme?!”

“I had one!” Hikaru shot back. “Then you went and punched me in the face! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THAT?!”

“You did!” they shouted, throwing a pillow at him. “You said 'hit me if I'm acting weird'!”

“Well yeah, I didn’t think you’d actually do it! Holy shit!” He ducked the pillow, flailed a little dramatically, then pointed at her like a cartoon villain. “Seriously though,” Hikaru continued, lifting his hands like he was giving a TED Talk. “I was gonna unleash a minor apocalypse, not like a world-ending one. Just enough to wipe out half the town and start over. New vibes, fresh start. You get it.”