LNH: The Hungry, Hungry Sabertooths Christmas in Quarantine Special: "Motivationquest: Gaiden"

[Drew Nilium]

HUNGRY, HUNGRY SABERTOOTHS!
The Christmas in Quarantine Special: "Motivationquest: Gaiden"
A holiday special, kind of, sort of, by Drew Nilium

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The day before yesterday, but like, real-time yesterday, not April:

"Hmmmmm," said Kid Enthusiastic, flying thru the air via the power of the Ring
of Enthusiasm. "I'm filled to the tip-top with my favorite emotions, but I
can't think of anything to do with them! Something is wrong in the cosmosphere!"

He waved his hand, and a pair of binoculars appeared that allowed him to look
thru the structure of Hypertext Time! "Aha! My Writer's motivation has been
drained due to winter depression, and they've been worn down by trying to change
their working conditions for the better! How powerfully parallel!"

Kid Enthusiastic hmmmm'd hmmmfully! "I'll need even more enthusiasm to break
thru!" He opened his mouth and stuck the whole ring into it! Suddenly, he blazed
with incredibly astounding amazing coolness explosion rainbows guitar riff
sparkling sunbeams awesome!

In a fountain of enthusiasm, Kid Enthusiastic plowed thru a whole bunch of
levels of reality and ended up in a bedroom full of bed, desk, dresser,
computer, and Drew!

"bwaaaaaaargh" They were head down on their desk, face smooshed j 8m njuuuuu
the keyboard.

"Drew!" Kid Enthusiastic grabbed and shook them. "Snap out of it! You can do
it! That Christmas tree is really gay!"

"thanks, s'was amanda's idea," Drew said, head wobbling back and forth. With
difficulty, they managed to sit up, slumped in place, head rolled forward,
shoulders drooped, arms hanging at their sides. "i just can' do it. 's too
hard. there's too much. i gotta. review stuff. do the raccies. finish the
thingy."

"Of course!" said Kid Enthusiastic. "When you lost your momentum, tasks started
piling up, and you've become so overwhelmed that you can't start *any* of them!
But you've been doing so well over the last few months - there's more going on
here!"

"yeah probably... feels bad... really bad..."

Kid Enthusiastic hrmmmed. Concentrating, he took a lick of the ring... and in a
flash, it came to him! "Right!" He cracked his knuckles! "Time for an all-out
finishing move!"

"huh?" Drew squinted at him.

Kid Enthusiastic raised the Ring of Enthusiasm, and the candy gem started
glowing with that sort of shimmery '90s anime effect. "This hand of mine... is
burning red!" He made a fist, and his whole hand shimmered! "Its delightful
melody tells me to cheer you up!"

"Uh," said Drew, blinking, fully awake now, scooting back a bit in their purple
office chair. "Is this a good id--"

Kid Enthusiastic spread his fingers and thrust his hand forward, palm pressing
into Drew's chest. "ENTHUSIASTIC FINGERRRR!"

"Ohboy--"

--was all Drew had time to say before a blaze of light erupted from their body,
streaming from their mouth, eyes, and ears. Kid Enthusiastic held his palm in
place, grimacing as shimmering energy flowed around it. The candy gem shuddered,
then cracked, then burst to pieces--

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--t's okay," said Kid Enthusiastic, "but-- what *was* that?"

Drew rubbed the middle of their chest, the hole healed now, their heart back in
place. "Something I'm not quite ready to present to the world, but... thank
you. I feel *so* much better now - more in tune with myself, all my selves."

"I fixed it!" Kid Enthusiastic hopped up and down and clapped, grinning!

"You did! But, man." Drew rubbed their chin. "The Ring of Enthusiasm was
definitely part of our plans for the climax..."

Kid Enthusiastic looked at the bare plastic nub left behind and shrugged! "I'm
sure you'll come up with something even better! You're *my* Writer, after all~"

"Oh shoosh, you." They cracked their knuckles. "Well, lemme at least put you
back where you belong." They held out their hands. "Trg onpx va gur fgbel
nyernql! ...why did spellcheck only tag 'nyernql'?"

"Wheeeeeee!" The bottom dropped out under Kid Enthusiastic, and he slid down
thru layers of reality!

He fell thru the ceiling and into Token Girl's room!

"Dah!" She leapt up on the bed. "Kid E? What are you doing here!?"

"oh hey Tara, the plot started... haha, birdies..."

"It has? Dangit..." She grabbed a mask and ran out into LNHQ!

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Author's Note: This was the fourth draft of this story, and it's the one that
works for me. <3

Drew "inspired to get some feelings out" Nilium