「LONELINESS」

**「LONELINESS」** is the 37th episode overall, and the 11th episode of season 3.

## Characters

* Popee
* Kedamono
* Papi

## Summary

Popee wakes up to find himself alone at Wolf Zirkus and creates an imaginary clone of himself to cope with the distress. When Kedamono and Papi return, Papi attempts to handle the situation by creating his own clone, but only succeeds in making things worse.

## Plot

The episode begins with an apple rolling into frame while a music box version of the theme plays in the background. The apple rolls up to the leg of a reclined chair where Popee lays, sleeping under an umbrella. Kedamono follows behind the apple and picks it up. He looks to Popee and his mask changes to a smile upon seeing his friend sleeping peacefully. He nods approvingly and walks away as Popee turns in his sleep.

The scene changes to show Papi performing an act with the apple. Kedamono watches from the other side of the small brown table the apple rests on. Papi conceals the apple behind a handheld black curtain which he swishes around for effect. He pulls back the curtain with a flourish, revealing that the apple has completely disappeared. Kedamono claps and nods at the trick. Papi nods sternly.

Next, we see Kedamono prepare to attempt the disappearing trick as Papi watches closely. Kedamono swishes the curtain around and pulls it back with a confident mask, which quickly falls into one of confusion when the apple still remains on the table. He looks to Papi for answers, but Papi quickly fades into disappearance himself, leaving Keda shocked and even more confused. He begins looking for Papi, even checking under the small table, before running off into the desert, presumably to continue his search.

Popee wakes up around sunset, rubbing his eyes and stretching. When he gets up from the chair and walks further out, he sees that he is alone in the desert.

At night, Popee sets the table for a seemingly extravagant dinner, which he has prepared for Papi, Kedamono, and himself. Their chairs are empty, as neither have returned yet. Popee begins eating alone.

As the night goes on, Popee plays a game of chess with a cutout of Kedamono, who he talks and laughs with as if his real friend is present. He walks back and forth around the table, playing both sides of the game for himself and the Kedamono cutout. As Popee laughs with his "friend," a cutout of Papi which was stood a little ways away from the table tips in the wind and falls over. Popee stops laughing and turns to see the fallen figure, then quickly turns away, biting his thumb in agitation and beginning to shake. "Kedamono" falls out of his chair as well. Popee looks between the fallen cutouts and mashes his palms against his ears in frustration.

The next day, Papi and Kedamono return with a large fish. As they approach the Zirkus, they are startled by the sight of Popee's cutout figures hanging from the archway with large hooks. Both figures appear tarnished and faded, with knives jutting out in various places. The cutout Kedamono appears to be missing its legs, and the cutout Papi's entire body breaks off, falling to the ground. Papi and Kedamono look at the fallen figure with disturbed, concerned expressions, then look to each other.

Popee sits in front of the staircase, at first appearing to be alone, but as Kedamono approaches him from behind, a second, imaginary Popee becomes visible across from the real one. Both Popees sit with their knees pulled up slightly, laughing. Kedamono appears very concerned at this sight, shaking his head frantically. He turns to look at Papi as he approaches the scene, at first appearing amused, then confused as the Popees get up and walk away from the staircase. They begin to hold hands and skip in a circle while the music box theme plays in the background once more.

Kedamono wears a very upset, tearful mask at the situation and looks to Papi for direction. Papi crosses his arms and bows his head in thought, quickly coming up with an idea. He summons his own imaginary clone and presents the situation to it. The clone nods understandingly and saunters up to the dancing Popees, placing a hand on imaginary Popee's shoulder. Imaginary Popee turns back to look at the Papi clone while the real Popee continues to skip in place briefly, lost in his cheery haze. Imaginary Papi takes a bite of an apple and offers it to the imaginary Popee. The real Popee is aware of the situation at this point and looks on with horror, shaking his head and reaching out to stop the imaginary Popee, who hesitates before accepting the offered apple and taking a bite. The Papi clone nods in accomplishment and the two imaginary figures begin to laugh before walking off together.

Popee is visibly distressed, following after the clones for a few steps before falling to his hands and knees. He begins to cry and shake as the two disappear before him. Deeply upset and feeling utterly alone, he begins pressing his palms to his ears again and hunches forward as several more imaginary Popees begin to emerge from the desert floor. Papi and Kedamono watch this development with shocked expressions. Kedamono once again turns to Papi for advice, to which Papi begins generating more of his own clones. Kedamono shakes his head as the Papi clones emerge. He reaches an arm out to Papi's shoulder but is pushed away dismissively before trying to handle the situation himself, running over to Popee.

Kedamono kneels beside Popee as he melts down and places a hand on his back. Popee, inconsolable, shoves Kedamono away. Kedamono looks around, horrified, as clones continue to pop out of the ground. The camera pans back to show that an impossible number of clones surround them, emerging all over the desert.

Kedamono throws a bag over his shoulder and looks back concernedly at the scene. He shakes his head as he walks out of frame, his own imaginary clone popping out of the ground behind him as he leaves.