AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Isabelle never answered Pierce's question about her family.

Pierce takes the note from Nook, holding it in his blood-soaked wings, reading it over and over until it became an unreadable red mess.

"So....she doesn't hold it against me after all."

Pierce let out a sad sigh.

"Of course it's fake. I know Amelia's handwriting, you idiot."

The eagle smirks and gives a mock bow.

"But......I feel I should still thank you. Seeing how things might have been somehow gives me.....hope. Just like you wanted, right?"

Pierce looks at the sky.

"I'll see Amelia again. One way or another."

His eyes return to Nook. He points at the raccoon, blood dripping from his wingtip.

"And THAT hope.....is something you can't take from me."

"Pierce, it's..." she says as she bites her lip. Tom looks at her with an eyebrow raised.

"You're right. It's fake..." she says, almost choking on her words.

"Well whatever the case, your false sense of hope will be shattered soon enough by your execution..."

He looks out the window as an explosion rocks Town Hall.

"... I'll be right back. You might as well get rid of any meaningless last words you have for eachother."

He leaves the room, a strained silence fills the air.

Pierce raises an eyebrow at Isabelle.

"So how about it, rookie? Got a family waiting for you somewhere?"

"You seem.....decent enough to warrant one."

"You asked earlier... about my family... All I have is my brother. He's part of the reason I'm here, fighting."

"But you're stronger than me Pierce. You can stand up to Nook where I can't."

"That's why... I couldn't believe you did it when I saw the feather and put everything together."

Joe looks at Pierce ashamedly for a while, hesitating to speak for a bit. Finally he says, "I apologize for my earlier statements. I had spoken too soon."

"Does this brother of yours have a name?"

"His name is Digby. He's older than me so he's been taking care of me my whole life."

"But Nook has him. He was working under Nook before..."

"I need to be stronger, to protect me brother like he alays protected me."

Pierce looks thoughtful.

"Digby...."

The eagle looks at Isabelle with a determined look.

"Listen to me, rookie. If your love for him is anything at all like my love for Amelia, don't make the same mistake I did."

"You say I was strong, but.....it's really the opposite."

"I was weak. I was weak and scared for my sister's life. And so I ended an innocent's life in exchange."

"If you want to help the others......if you want to help Digby....."

Pierce glares at the dog intensely.

"....Then ask yourself what he would do in your position, and you in his! Would he skulk in the shadows with....unsavory characters....."

"Or would he fight for you?!?!? Would he selfishly stoop down in the mud to keep you "safe", or would he do what was best for the both of you?!?"

"Think about Digby....your family.... What would he do? Draw strength from that thought."

Pierce crosses his arms.

"I've said what I need to. It's time I received my reward for my cowardice."

Pierce lets out a laugh.

"Oh, and Isabelle?"

"Don't let that brother of yours give you crap for filing errors. We boys can be a bit thick-headed at times."

"Pierce... I don't know what to think. You were trying to help your sister but you murdered Cranston. I understand you valued her life more but... Oh just ignore me. I'm no good at any of this."

Wait, so is his sister dead or still sick?


"It is not up to you to decide if yours and Cranston's deaths had meaning. It is up to us. We must survive, and destroy Tom Nook and his Hope Town. So long as I am alive, I will not let your deaths be trampled on and forgotten. You have my word on that."

Tears well up in Punchy's eyes.
"P-pierce... I'm so sorry...."
He starts to cry, but stops and stands tall.
"No... no more crying... I have to be strong. We all do if we want to survive..."

Tom Nook enters the Town Hall.

"Well, I think it's just about time we got to the next execution, shall we?"

Tom pulled a rope hanging down from the ceiling next to the chair and the TV popped out with another odd image.





The roof of the town hall opens up, revealing a stunning sunset.

"Life is a great treasure given to us."

A crane rotates around and lowers a chain with a metal loop that can be locked at the end. Timmy slides down the chain and locks the hoop around Pierce's feet.

"We cling to life and work towards making the best of it, since our time is short."

Pierce is lifted up in the air feet first as the crane rotates around to its destination.

"Friends... Family... cheddar... there's many ways to live a pop flyin' life."

Pierce is greeted to an majestic sunset from a new perspective. Upside down, the sky looks like a great ocean and the sun seems like it's being eaten by the land in the sky.

"As long as we have meaning in our life, we can continue living happily."

The breeze sways Pierce gently as the chain klinks and klanks softly above him as they readjust.

"But..."

Pierce is slowly lowered down, the sunset is swallowed by the treeline as he goes towards the ground. He also begins to feel incomfortably warm.

"Some people are consumed by the meaningfulness of their life. Their life doesn't matter unless they live it in the most meaningful way. They must have everything, material goods, cheddar, love. Everything their heart desires, even on a whim."

Pierce looks down to see a cauldron of molten gold below him.

"They fight for this meaningful life, neglecting or lessening their own happiness and fulfillment in the process."

The heat is becoming unbearable as Pierce approaches, sweat beads off of him and sizzles into the hellish pot of liquid fire below him.

"In the end, they never find true happiness, because they'll never be satisfied with how things are."

Pierce hits the liquid gold. A horrific sound erupts from him, but is silenced as the heat and molten liquid overwhelms him. He is lowered further still until even his feet are submerged.

"And so they die, living an unfulfilled life because their ambitions clouded their happiness and consumed their meaning."

After a few minutes, Pierce is lifted back up and placed gently on the ground, a perfect golden statue with a horrible look on his face. The other villagers don't get much time to look at the gruesome mug, because a few seconds later, Tom Nook runs up with Pierce's crowbar and lobs the head cleanly off.

*THUD*

If this were a pop flyin' story, Pierce would have lived happily ever after for his dedication to what he loved.

But fairy tales are an illusion in this world, and the good don't always live.