Chapter Text
Cellbit knew he was in trouble. He was deep within enemy territory, that made the statement obvious by default. But he didn’t just mean being within the Federation’s walls He meant outside of it too.
He’d committed terrible sins in his past, he knew that for a fact. But these ones…hurt more than the others ever did. The look on Forever’s face as he realized he was double crossed, as he took advantage of the fact that he knew more English than the blond. The distress he’d heard he’d put Bad through once enderchests were locked, and the memories within were trapped seemingly forever. The rage Maxo wanted to direct at him for locking away access to his AI, his child, behind a password he didn’t know.
If he ever made it out of this, he’d probably be alone. Felps would return to the other Brazilians with ease, but he wouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms. He’d be lucky if he wasn’t killed on sight. He’d never get to see his son again, his friends. He’d be alone, on an island that hated him, trapped just like all the others. But…it would be worth it.
Would it hurt, not being able to see them anymore? Of course. But as long as he could see their messages in chat, see in the distance what they were building, know that they were alive and safe…that would be enough. …It had to be enough.
He knew where Felps was likely being kept. There were a series of hallways he was not allowed to go near. The fact that he was restricted from them told him all he needed to know. But he couldn’t push his luck. Not yet. He couldn’t risk wasting all he’d done to get here. He had to wait. …He had to wait.
“I just…I don’t…” Forever curled over slightly, wrapping his arms around himself. He had been trying not to cry, but had quickly moved into pretending that he wasn’t crying instead. He was exhausted, rung out, and not handling any of it well. His hair was unkempt, starting to reach the brink of matting, and his eyes were red from lack of sleep and from tears.
“Forever…” Baghera had sat next to him, an arm and wing over his shoulders and back respectively. She was doing better, but she was an outsider to the situation. She cared, of course, which is why she wrapped her wing over her pseudo brother, but she hadn’t spent the time or energy trying to parse what was happening. She’d been busy looking out for Pomme and getting the other French members to some semblance of function. “I am so sorry. The fact that he betrayed you like this…”
“He betrayed all of us!” He rubbed at his eyes with one hand. “He told me he wanted to keep Richas safe. He said he’d help me use my illegal items to get Bobby back. And now he’s trying to take my son away from me, away from…all of us.” He took a shaky breath. “…I don’t understand…”
Bad looked away from the wall covered in images, notes, and strings, looking up at the ceiling instead. He let out a slow breath. “…I think I do.”
“Bebou?” She looked over at him, caution on her face. “What do you mean?”
“…I knew Cellbit. A long time ago. Well…A long time ago for you. Not exactly as long ago from my perspective…”
“Bad, please, you are getting, eh… cryptic again.” Forever took a sharp breath. “And this is not the time.”
Bad finally looked over at the two, from where he was leaned uncomfortably in his chair, his neck resting on the top of the chair. He was under too much stress to maintain a normal sized form, which left him much taller than usual, and struggling to sit in the chair at all. His legs were pulled up awkwardly, curled slightly over each other. His tail lashed behind him, and he sighed. His usually white eyes were a dull grey. “…How much do you trust me?”
“Absolutely.” Forever spoke with no hesitation. “Absolute trust. You have done some of the most to try to help the eggs, and help us as well.”
“I trust you as well. We are, uh, new to knowing each other. But I trust you.” Baghera nodded once, ear feathers twitching.
“…I think he’s trying for a gambit.”
“…A what? Sorry, translate is…”
Bad rubbed at his face. “A…like a plan. An attempt at solving something. You know how he spent so much time trying to solve the Enigma? Isn’t it weird that he suddenly pulled a heel face turn after that?”
“…He did what to someone’s face?”
“Fudge…” He groaned. “I really hope they fix the French translator soon. Sorry, Baghera.”
“Not your fault. Can you explain different?”
“He means a ‘heel turn’. To change your behavior in reverse.” Forever sat up slightly. “You think he changed because of the Enigma?”
“I think he learned something he didn’t like.” Bad looked back up at the ceiling again. “And I think he’s trying one last thing.”
“You think he’s a double agent?” Baghera’s wing twitched. “Trying to get into the Federation to help us?”
“Why wouldn’t he tell us?” Forever clenched his hands, his voice raising. “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”
“Because he is nothing if not committed. Forever,” He turned his head to look at the blond again. “He’s trying to sell that he’s entirely changed. He’s trying to show the Federation that they can trust him, even though he spoke of them with disgust and anger just recently. The only way he could sell a villain arc, is to genuinely burn every bridge he has.”
“So…” Baghera rested her free arm in her lap. “He is committing to this course, to hopefully help everyone, while knowing that he is losing everyone by doing so?”
“…Sounds like him. Self sacrificing idiot. When he gets back I’m locking him in his room and not letting him out for a week.” Forever huffed. “…So there is a chance we can still have Cellbo back? That he does not…hate us?”
“I’ve seen when Cellbit hates someone, Forever.” Bad smiled faintly. “He doesn’t hate you. …” The smile fell. “I wonder if he hoped we’d figure this out. Or if he genuinely thinks we don’t know.”
“Well, us two didn’t until just now.” Baghera shrugged. “So he’s not entirely wrong to think that.”
“Perhaps, Badboy, he’s putting his faith in you.”
“…Well, now he’s got three of us who have an idea. We’ll just…need to talk with him, next time he comes home. …Hopefully, that won’t be too long.”
Cellbit shouldn’t be doing this.
He knew snooping was dangerous, that trying to uncover any more information than he already has access to was an active threat to his mission. But he also can’t help it. He had to solve things, had to figure things out, and he wasn’t gonna let something like ‘his own health and safety’ prevent him from gathering more data. He wasn’t a coward.
But there’s a room along the hallway he’s allowed to walk that isn’t locked. He didn’t know if it was a trap, or if someone forgot to lock it, or what. But he saw the green light on the entry panel, and well…he couldn’t exactly pass that up.
As soon as he stepped into the room, though, he wished he’d passed it up. Within the middle of the room, was a device that looked uncomfortably like a computer he’d seen recently; the computer he’d been told belonged to someone named Luzu. But here something was that looked like it, but…modified. It had various other components wired into it, some kind of monitor attached to it as well. It gave him the creeps.
He shook his head, quickly turning around and moving back to the door. This was gonna get him in trouble-
A beep from the computer startled him, and he quickly moved over towards it’s screen. “What the hell is this thing?”
The computer beeped again, before text filled the screen. He glanced over it for a moment, before his eyes widened as he realized what it said. “Oh holy shit, my God.”
The data was was hard to parse, even without taking into consideration the language barrier, but there were pieces he could understand. And everything he did was just more and more horrifying. The data seemed to be talking about the binary entity, but it was also talking about the eggs? There was a lot also in Spanish, but most of it was some kind of…code. Not binary, but simple base code.
Cellbit wasn’t an Admin, but even he could tell this was the kind of code that one would deal with. And that was no good. “Shit…I need to get this info to someone…someone who understands code. …Maxo, maybe.” He glanced around, trying to find something he could try to copy the info down on, before the computer made a noise again, and he saw it eject some kind of disk. He took it slowly. “…I’ll get it to someone who can help.” He wasn’t sure if the code was directly connected to it or not, but he felt like he should say something.
He put the disk into his inventory, before quickly leaving the room. He heard the computer beep once more, but he didn't turn back, hurrying away from the room before he could risk getting caught.
Maximus rubbed at his temples, grumbling under his breath. He’d been trying to get Sofia to communicate with him, but even after all this time he still hadn’t been able to bypass the password swap.
He was exhausted. He’d done a silly little prank, a little recorded song from a past long gone, and in return his daughter was locked away from him. He’d already failed one kid, and now he felt like he’d failed the other.
“Please, Sofia. Let me talk to you. Please…”
“Access denied. Password required. …I’m sorry, Max.”
“God damnit!” He slammed his hand into the wall beside him. “When I see Cellbit next, I’m going to put him the ground,”
A small hand hit his leg, and he looked over at the egg, and the sign beside him.
[Please don’t hurt my dad.]
Max took a slow breath. “…Sorry, Richarlyson. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Richarlyson shifted from foot to prosthetic, a nervous look on his face. He was in his humanoid form, his wings and tail drooping towards the ground. His eggshell was tilted slightly on his head. He placed another sign.
[I wanted to try asking Sofia about my dad.]
Max sighed. “Sorry kid, but Sofia isn't able to talk right now, without the password.” He adjusted his sunglasses. “And your dad changed her password without telling anyone, so none of us can talk to her.”
Sofia made a sound, before she spoke. “Apologies, Richarlyson. I cannot speak to you without you being an added user on my databanks, or if you had an authorized user who knew the password approve our speaking. …Access is denied.”
Richarlyson stomped his uninjured leg, before he shoved his sign over and stormed out of the room.
“Richarlyson! Wait! You need to go to one of your parents!”
Cellbit really didn’t mean to stumble across more secrets, but apparently fate (and whatever was supposed to be making sure these doors were properly locked) expected otherwise from him.
He had been prepared to bypass the door, walk past it entirely, but a small sound caught his attention. It sounded…upset. He paused to listen, and heard a whimper follow it. He shook his head, feeling the metaphorical weight of the disk in his inventory as he moved over and walked through the door.
He almost fell to the floor, at the sight across the room from him. “Bobby??”
The cracked egg tilted backwards slightly, before the dragon shifted to his humanoid form. His eggshell pieces were smaller than the last time he’d been seen, and scattered over various pieces of his body not unlike his scales. He looked so small, underweight, unwell. There were deep shadows under his eyes, which were red from crying. His halo was broken into pieces in the corner of the room, now very obviously just a plastic prop. His overalls were stained with long dry blood. He raised his hand, slamming it into the invisible barrier in front of him with a cry.
“Bobby!” He bolted across the room, skidding on his knees as he got to the barrier. He quickly felt out the barrier, searching for any break in the indestructible block. “My God, they told us you were dead. That you went to Heaven. This is no Heaven. Fuck, they could have- could have given you back, the bastards.”
A set of chirps from Bobby caught his attention, and the kid quickly shoved a hand through a small piece of the wall, likely a feeding slot. His hand was shaking, but it wasn’t clear if it was from pain or fear.
Cellbit quickly took the boy’s hands in both of his, holding him tightly. “Bobby, you’re going to be okay. We’re going to get you home.”
Bobby nodded, before reaching into his inventory with his free hand. He took out a book and quil, handing it through the slot.
Cellbit reluctantly let go of one hand, taking the book and quickly putting it in his inventory. “I’ll get that to your parents, Bobby. And we’re going to get you out of here. I promise you, whatever it takes, we will not let them keep you.”
Bobby nodded, rubbing at his eyes. He squeezed Cellbit’s hand, before glancing around quickly. He gestured for the man to leave.
“Bobby, no, I don’t want to leave you-”
The dragon chirped with urgency, glancing around. He squeezed the hand one more time.
Cellbit slowly nodded, squeezing back before letting go. “Don’t you dare give up, you hear me? We’ll be back for you. I promise.”
Bobby gave a small smile, saluting, before he shifted back to his egg form and slumped against the floor.
Cellbit took one last look, regret in his eyes, before he sprinted out of the room.
To hell with this. He was gonna go find which room Felps was in, and he was gonna get the fuck out of here. He’d learned enough.
Richarlyson sulked as he wandered the outskirts of the Favella, arms crossed at his chest.
He was so tired of all of this. Of his dads fighting, of his dad Felps being missing, of everyone trying to pull him every which way. He just wanted his dads all together, and wanted to be happy. He was a kid. He just wanted his family back.
Instead, he was wandering from base to base, as the adults all tried to pretend everything was fine, while all of them were terrible liars. The only one who had been honest with him had been Foolish, but he’d not been convincing about his idea of ‘the Federation won’t hurt him, why would they hurt anyone?’
As if they weren’t the ones who stole his other dad. Foolish meant well, but sometimes he was just so oblivious it made the young dragon frustrated.
He sighed, finally picking a rock to sit on, before he dug through his inventory. He didn’t have any of his paints with him, but maybe he could draw something in his sketchbook. Yeah…that would make him feel better.
He lost himself in his work, sketching out himself in between Cellbit and Felps. He soon became satisfied with the lines, pulling out a box of crayons to color the picture. They weren’t his favorite medium, but they were much more portable. He filled in every color, from skin to hair, to the sunset he drew behind the three. The smiles on their faces. Ones that mirrored his own.
“RICHARLYSON!”
His smile immediately fell, and his head shot up to look at the source of the voice. Cellbit, sprinting across the sand as fast as his legs could carry him. He shot up to his own feet, sketchbook discarded, as he pulled out his signs from his inventory. He placed one quickly.
[Pai Cellbit? What’s going on??]
“Richarlyson I'‘m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.” His dad skid to a stop, panting from exertion. He rested a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I made a mistake. I made such a bad mistake. I’m so sorry.”
He turned quickly, placing another sign.
[What do you mean? What’s going on?]
“I don’t know how much time I have. Son, I need you to take this backpack.” He set the bag next to him, continuing on speaking as Richarlyson started placing another sign. “You need to get it to someone. Forever, Bad, hell even Philza, I don’t care. You need to get it to someone. Inside there is a disk, it needs to get to Maxo-”
[Pai, please, you’re talking too fast, wait-]
“There are two books. One of them is for you and the rest of our family. The other needs to get to Jaiden and Roier, you understand? One for family, one for Jaiden and Roier. I promised I’d get it to them and I can’t do it myself-”
[Pai, of course, I’ll get Forever, I’ll get Bad, it’s okay, just talk to me please-]
“The password is Regret. For SOFIA. I changed her password and I feel awful for it but I can’t fix it now. It’s Regret. Please tell them-”
[Okay, Regret, I understand, but Pai what-]
“Richarlyson, I love you so much. You’re the best son anyone could have ever asked for, and I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save Felps, and I’m so sorry I can’t save myself. You deserve the world, not this stupid fucking island. I love you so much. I’m so sorry-”
[PAI! STOP TALKING LIKE THIS IS GOODBYE! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME-]
Richarlyson froze in his writing when he felt the hand leave his shoulder, and he spun around sharply. The only thing remaining where Cellbit had been standing, besides the discarded backpack, were glimmers of purple teleportation magic.
He stared at the empty sand, where footprints remained, as the words sunk in. The Federation had Felps. And now…they had Cellbit too.
He couldn’t take this. He fell to his knees in the sand, uncaring about his prosthetic, as tears dripped down his face. He shook, claws digging into the dirt. His chest hurt. He wondered if this was heartbreak. Two of his fathers were gone. And he was alone, to handle that himself.
He didn’t know when he started screaming. It wasn’t words, just emotion, despair, the cries and shrieks of a child who had lost part of their entire world. He couldn’t stop screaming, couldn’t stop crying.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t breathe.
[GC: Richarlyson is bleeding. Richarlyson was slain by Suffocation.]
Philza wasn’t always good at keeping up with the chat and what everyone was doing. He had his own kid to take care of, plus he was taking care of Tallulah, all while Missa was out for work and Wilbur was off on tour. And taking care of two kids when the entire world seemed to fucking hate you and everyone who lived on it wasn’t exactly easy work.
He was enjoying a bit of the breeze on his feathers from his perch on the roof of their house, letting his wings rest limply against the glass. He’d put the kids to bed half an hour or so ago, and while he could hear the occasional movements of Chayanne pretending he totally wasn’t getting a bit of extra sparing in before bed, it was otherwise peaceful.
He didn’t know why he checked the chat on his comm. He had no reason to. Everything was entirely fine, entirely calm. …Maybe that was why, the anxiety lingering under his skin pushing him to check just in case.
He wasn’t expecting to see an egg’s down message.
“Fuck!” He lept to his feet, pulling up his map and scanning areas he could think that Richarlyson would be. He found his dot on the map quickly, ignoring further messages on his comm. He didn’t have time. “Chayanne! Stay the fuck here with Tallulah! Keep her safe!” He lept from the roof, roughly gliding to the ground. His wings were still clipped, but habits died hard.
He reached out to the warpstone, teleporting to the Favella as quickly as he could. His wings flapped as he launched himself down from the teleport platform, drawing his axe. “Richarlyson! Where-”
He skid to a halt, shoving his axe back in his inventory. “Shit. Shit-” He picked up the boy into his arms, staving off the impending death for at least the moment. “Hey mate, you gotta breathe. In, and out, come on. I know you can do it. Follow me.” He wrapped his wings around himself and the young dragon, hiding them both from the world. “Come on, in and out. Breathe for me, Richarlyson. Breathe for everyone, okay? Your dads are on the way, I’m sure-”
“RICHARLYSON!” Bad’s voice rang out from the waystone, one of Forever’s wordless yells following close behind.
“Over here! We’re over here!” He held the kid closer as he felt the crying start up again. At least he was breathing again, too. “Your uncle Bad’s on the way too. It’s uncle Philza, I’ve got you, you’re safe…”
He looked over the scene around him as he heard the other two arrive, and while he couldn’t understand the words on the signs, other than one, he could see the desperation in the handwriting. The discarded backpack, the crayon drawing half buried in the sand. Something bad happened.
“We’re here, we’re here- what happened?? Did he fall in the sand?” Bad still had his weapon drawn, eyes scanning the horizon. He was taller than Philza had last seen him, and that never meant anything good either.
“He was screaming, like…like a hurt animal. He ran out of breath and just kept trying to scream.” Philza adjusted the boy in his arms. “Something happened, but I can’t read the signs, so I don’t-”
“Fuck. Shit.” Forever’s hands ghosted over the signs, as he read them quickly. “Goddamnit. No!”
Richarlyson wailed again, before curling back up into sobs.
“No mate, he’s not yelling at you, hey, you’re okay. You’re okay…” His feathers puffed up slightly, unable to help the protectiveness he was feeling.
“Sorry. I…” Forever rubbed at his eyes. “…I think you were right, Badboy.”
“What do the signs say, Forever? I can’t read Portuguese.” Bad took a step forward, gently picking up the sketchbook and closing it.
“Cellbit was here. Said to get something to one of us, it seems. Something about Regret. And then…Richas begging him not to leave, not to make it sound like goodbye.” He took a sharp breath, moving to pick up the backpack.
“Regret? In English? Why would he say…unless-”
“It’s the password. For SOFIA.” Forever dug into the backpack, pulling out three items. “..A disk of some kind, and two books?”
“Wait.” Bad stepped forward. “That one has…blue paint on it.” He gently took it.
“So the Federation kidnapped Cellbit? Why the hell would they do that?” Philza gestured with a wing in front of them. “Because this sure doesn’t seem willing to me.”
“…Because he dug too deep again.” Forever looked over at the paint splattered book, before looking at the disk. “…He might have sacrificed his life to get us this information.”
Bad put the book back in the bag, before putting the other items back with it. He slowly took the backpack, before resting a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Tomorrow. We can start looking through it tomorrow. Right now, your son needs you, Forever.”
Forever looked over to the dragon in Philza’s arms, and his heart broke. Richarlyson was a mess. Dirty, sand even in his hair, yes. But his eyes were swollen from crying, his leg red from where he slammed his fists into it, his hands red where they slammed into the prosthetic. He hadn’t see the kid this distraught even when Bobby died.
Philza slowly stood up, the boy still in his arms. He walked over, before holding him out. “Here. I don’t think he’s physically wounded, other than soreness, but…” His feathers ruffled before he tucked his wings behind him. “…But that was too close for my comfort.”
Forever took him into his arms, holding his son close. “Oh Richas…let’s get you home. …Thank you, Philza.”
“Of course, mate. We’ve all got our eyes on all the eggs.” He nodded once. “Get on home.”
Bad moved up to stand next to Philza as they watched the two head back into the Favella. He adjusted the strap in his hands.
The blonde didn’t look up at him. “You’re not gonna sleep, are you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m…going to check on Dapper. And then see if there’s anything I can understand from these books.” His shoulders slumped, and his tail drooped down to the dirt. “It’s likely in Portuguese, but I have to try.”
“Don’t forget that you need rest yourself. If I wake up in the morning and you’re still awake, I’ll kick your ass.”
“Oh yeah? You and what army?” He quipped, mouth twitching slightly.
He grinned. “Tallulah. She’s got a mean puppy dog look, it’ll take you down in twenty seconds. Ten if you’re that exhausted.” His smile fell. “…Seriously, though. You’re running yourself ragged. You need to rest before your body forces you. Dapper will be terrified.”
“…Right.” Bad sighed. “…I’ll rest. But in the morning, I’m getting back to it.”
“Of course. If you need someone to look out for Dapper, or even if Richarlyson needs somewhere else to be, I can watch them for a while.”
“Thank you. …Goodnight, Philza.”
“Goodnight, Bad.” His feather ears twitched. “…We’ll get him back.”
Bad turned to look at him.
“Doesn’t matter if we have to burn it all down. We’ll get him back. And Felps. We’ll tear the Federation to the ground, if we have to.”
Bad finally smiled a bit again. “I’ll hold you to that, Angel of Death.”
Chapter 2
Summary:
Jaiden finds out about Bobby.
Philza chats with Slimecicle.
Bad has a breakdown.
Chapter Text
Jaiden couldn’t sleep.
It wasn’t exactly…unusual for her, these days. Sleep was…fleeting. A thing she liked to think about, but rarely experienced anymore. The night was too much for her, especially now that she was alone.
Roier needed space, still taking the guilt from the loss of Bobby hard. He wasn’t sleeping, was drinking constantly, and just wanted to be alone.
And as far as Jaiden was concerned, she was too much of a coward to chase him. What could she really offer to ease his pain? Platitudes that meant nothing? Tell him the truth, that she doesn’t blame him? Neither are enough. Bobby was the one holding the two together, and without him neither know how to interact with the other.
So she was sitting up again, alone, sipping at a mug of hot cocoa in her kitchen. It was raining outside, which was a bit calming to her, even as it makes her instincts feel a bit trapped. She’s already got her wings clipped, after all. Rain isn’t gonna make her be able to fly any less than she already can’t.
She sighed and set down her mug, before looking up quickly at a knocking from the front door. She blinked as she stood, trying to think over who could be up so late. And even more than that, who would want to talk to her? She hadn’t exactly been making much of a name for herself with anyone else on the island, after all.
“Coming!” She moved over to the door quickly, opening it and blinking again. “Oh! Hey Bad, uh, wasn’t expecting to see you this…” She glanced at her comm. “Morning?”
Bad was wearing his usual cowl, but that was the only thing shielding him from the rain, no umbrella or even a paraglider held up to try to block the water. His eyes looked tired, sad somehow in their shape, a deep grey instead of their usual white. He had to hunch over to even fit in the doorframe.
“You got…taller?” She stepped back to let him in. “You must be so cold, let me get you a cup of something warm, go over by the fire, okay? Whatever you’ve got to talk about, we can talk about once you’re dried off, okay?”
The demon said nothing, simply walking into the home, remaining hunched over as he approached the kitchen. He sat curled over himself by the furnace. He looked…haunted, almost.
Jaiden closed the door, mind racing as she tried to figure out what the cause of this issue was. She’d seen in chat earlier, of course, when Richarlyson went down, but everyone in chat had said that he was fine. So it couldn’t be that. No other eggs had gone down, according to her comm data. Maybe he had a fight with Dapper? No, those usually weren’t so serious, and if that were the case, there are far closer people he could go to than her.
She picked up her cup from the table as she made her way into the kitchen. “Hot chocolate, or tea? You can gesture one finger or two.”
He stared off for a few moments longer, before lifting one finger.
“Sounds good, I’ll make some more.” She set the kettle on the furnace, not having to worry about restocking the fuel since it was still burning. She grabbed another mug, and measured out the chocolate powder into each one. “Hope you don’t mind it’s the instant stuff. Bit…easier for me, recently. Hope your elevated tastes don’t mind.”
He raised an eyebrow, the first look on his face that hasn’t looked devastated since he arrived.
“I can have chocolate. Some avian hybrids can’t, depending on how strong their avian side is, but I’m fine. Wait here.” She left the room before he could respond, finding an old towel hidden in one of the closets, bringing it back to the kitchen. She wrapped it around Bad’’s shoulders, before returning to the mugs.
“…Thank you.” His voice sounded rough, not quite from disuse, more from…trying to hide crying, perhaps?
“You’re welcome anytime, Bad.” She poured the water into the mugs, mixing them up before moving to sit on the floor herself. She slid one of the mugs over to the demon, who slowly took it. "…So. What’s up? I can tell this isn’t exactly a social call.”
Bad stared down into the mug of chocolate, as if it would provide the solutions to whatever problem he’s having. She wished that it would, if only so it would get rid of that look on his face. It scared her, to see him so upset. “…I.” He cleared his throat. “…I looked at something I…wasn’t supposed to. And I’m…sorry. But I…”
Jaiden nodded slowly, not understanding, but wanting to encourage him. “Did you read something that was meant for me? Because that’s okay. And also a surprise, because I can’t imagine anyone really writing to me.”
“Yes.” He took a slow sip of the chocolate. He kept looking into the liquid. “…I didn’t mean to. I didn’t…know it was for you.”
“That’s okay then, just an accident, right?” Jaiden gestured with a wing. “Water under the bridge, and all that.” Her wing drooped back to the ground. “…But I’m guessing what you read was something bad, right?”
“…” He took a deep breath, finally looking over at Jaiden. “…What all have you heard about yesterday?”
“Well, I…I saw that Richarlyson went down. I saw you guys say that he was okay, but that the Brazilians needed some space. That’s really the extent of it.”
“…Cellbit was kidnapped by the Federation yesterday.”
“What??” Jaiden almost dropped her mug, quickly setting it on the floor. “I thought he was trying to work with them or something, why would they kidnap him?”
“Because he saw something he wasn’t supposed to. And…got some info out that he wasn’t supposed to.” Bad reached out to activate his inventory. “He got…some kind of digital disk, and two books. One is entirely in Portuguese, and in his handwriting. And one…” A book appeared in his hand. “One isn’t.”
She tilted her head, reaching out her hand. “And that’s the one for me? Why would he write a book to me of all people?”
“He didn’t. And it’s…it’s not just for you. It’s for you and Roier.” He handed her the book, the blue paint becoming visible on the cover as he removed his hand. “It’s from Bobby.”
“It’s-” She pulled the book closer, gently running her hand over the cover. “One last thing from him…” She smiled sadly. “One last gift. Thank-”
“It’s not-” Bad cut her off, shifting in his position slightly. “Jaiden. He’s alive.”
“…What?” Her stomach dropped. “No, that can’t…The Federation said he died for good. He…”
“They lied, Jaiden.” His voice strained in the sentence, and he clenched his fists. “They lied. They lied the whole time. He’s been alive, he’s- they’ve been running some kind of tests on him, he said he doesn’t know what. But he’s alive. He’s alive, and we know he’s in the Federation. We can get him back.”
Her eyes started to water, as she stared down at the book. “…No.”
“Yes, Jaiden. I read the English part myself, that’s Bobby’s handwriting, that’s how he writes on his signs and books. No one else could sound like him.”
“But…” Her wings curled closer to her. “Why…why would they lie like that? They want…they want the island to be perfect, right? This island isn’t perfect without my son.”
“I think their definition of perfection is messed up and cruel.” He sighed, reaching out a hand to rest on her shoulder. “He’s alive, Jaiden. And we’re going to get him back. Tomorrow, we can tell the Order, and we’ll…we’ll figure it out from there. We’ll bring him home.”
She shook faintly. “Roier’s been hurting, feeling so guilty, and they just…they just let him. They just let him. Gods…”
Bad let out a soft noise of pain, moving closer. “I know. We’ll make them pay for what they did. But first thing’s first, we need to get Bobby to safety. And we’re gonna do that as soon as possible. We’re gonna make this right. Okay?”
She nodded slowly, before slumping against him. “Oh Bobby…"
“It’s gonna be okay. You…you go ahead and read that, okay? I’ll be here with you. So you don’t…have to be alone with this anymore.” His voice strained again, as he closed his eyes.
She slowly looked back at the book, and opened it to read.
Philza took a deep breath, leaning back on his hands.
He was sitting up on one of the highest points he could find in the Favella, where he could still keep an eye on the kids as they played on the football field. They weren’t playing football, of course, they were too small for that. They were playing their own kind of game that they called football, which definitely still involved kicking a ball, but sometimes involved catching it too, or perhaps even throwing it.
Richarlyson was playing of course, as well as Dapper, Ramon, Pomme and Chayanne. Tallulah joined in from time to time, but whenever she started getting winded she would sit nearby in the grass and play music while the others ran around.
He wasn’t alone, technically. Etoiles was lingering nearby, out of sight but near enough to rush in in case of danger. Probably practicing his fighting, or sharpening his weapon or something, Philza had no idea. He hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with the French yet, but that would change. They’re all stuck there together, after all. Not really easy to avoid people on a single island.
He tensed up as he heard a step behind him, near the other edge of the roof. His ear feathers twitched, as he prepared to grab his axe.
“Woah, easy there Phil.” A familiar voice spoke. “It’s just me.”
“Fuck’s sake, Slime,” He let out a breath, turning to look at the man in question. “You can’t just sneak up on me like that, mate.”
Slimecicle lifted his hands, a sheepish look on his face. He was more man than slime today, the only visible slime sticking out of his hair. “Sorry, sorry. I just…” He let his hands fall, glancing over towards the kids as he walked forward. “Just kinda wanted to touch base? I saw what happened in chat, but only this morning, and I guess it just.” He sat down next to him. “I got worried, I guess. Was it the code again?”
“Ah. No, it…” He sighed. “…Richarlyson got upset, and screamed until he suffocated.”
His eyes widened. “Oh shit. What happened?”
“Cellbit got kidnapped by the Federation, apparently. Right in front of the kid, too. Or, right behind him? He was there when Cellbit got stolen is what I mean.”
Slime winced, closing his eyes for a moment. “That’s…his second parent that’s gone missing, right? Out of what, five total?”
“Yeah. He…he took it really badly.” His wings drooped against the roof. “Not that I can blame him, that fucking sucks.”
“I can only imagine…” He shook his head. “Poor kid. The, uh…The Federation really doesn’t pull punches, does it?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Philza glanced over. “…Why are you really here, Slime?”
“What? I just wanted to make sure the kids were okay! I don’t want any of the eggs to be dead, or something.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You literally tried to kill several of them.”
Slime threw up his hands. “Okay, yes, I know, I had a mental breakdown and snapped and did a bad thing.” He rubbed at his head. “In my defense, I forgot where I was for a bit.”
He blinked slowly. “…You weren’t that bloodthirsty back there, either.”
“I don’t mean there, Phil.” He sighed. “I meant before there.”
“Oh shit, you got some memories back?”
“Yeah. And fat lot of good that did me.” He gestured aimlessly with his hands. “Forgot where I was, and that consequences mean things here, and next thing I know I’m coming out of my violent craze to discover I actually almost hurt people that couldn’t get better and everyone hates me.” He sighed, letting his arms fall into his lap. “I know I screwed up, that’s why I keep to myself, especially after even Mariana can’t stand to be near me anymore. But call it pathetic or whatever, I just…I wanted to be around someone for a bit. See that the kids are okay.” His shoulders slumped. “That I didn’t ruin everything.”
“…Well, you didn’t ruin everything, despite your best efforts.” Philza looked back over to the kids. “And the kids who are left…are doing okay. As well as they can, with the circumstances.”
“That’s good.” He also looked over to the kids. “Why are you on babysitting duty, anyway?”
“Bad’s talking with some of the others about some lore or some shit, I don’t really know. He was vague this morning. I bet he didn’t sleep, just like I knew he wouldn’t.” He sighed. “Etoiles is somewhere too, just in case. He’s been really worried about Pomme lately.”
“Understandably.” Slime moved his legs to hang over the roof’s edge. “…Mind if I sit with you for a while?”
“…Nah. Go ahead. Could use the company anyways.” Philza smiled slightly.
He smiled back.
Bad sighed, rubbing at his temples. He was already exhausted.
To be fair, a large part of that was due to his inability to sleep the night before, especially one he’d opened the book he shouldn’t have, and went to comfort Jaiden. At least she’d been able to get some tearful sleep, after she’d finished reading her portion of the book.
It looked like Forever was just as worse for wear, his braid messy and tangled, bruises under his eyes. Max looked bad as well, but was still hiding behind his sunglasses to keep his eyes hidden away. Baghera seemed to be doing the best out of all of them, looking like she’d actually gotten sleep within the past few days, though her wings were unpreened, so she was struggling as well.
“Well?” Max started, arms crossed. “What do you have, Badboyhalo?”
“I have the backpack that Richarlyson was given yesterday, before Cellbit was kidnapped.” He pulled the bag from his inventory, resting it on the table. He stood next to it, hunched over. He couldn’t manage sitting in one of the chairs today, his form too unreliable to handle that. “One of the books within, I’ve already given to the person it was meant to get to: Jaiden. She’ll get it to Roier when he can next be found.”
“Yeah, I’ll…I’ll make sure it gets to him.” Jaiden sat up a bit more in her chair, trying to find a way for her wings to fit comfortably and failing.
“I’ve got another book, this one is for Forever first, before anyone else.” He pulled out the book, sliding it over to Forever. “It’s written by Cellbit, in Portuguese.”
“How do you know it was written by Cellbit?” Forever took the book into his hands, but didn’t open it yet.
“It’s his handwriting.” Bad shrugged. “I also have this disk.” He pulled out the disk, looking it over. “We don’t know what’s on this, but it was important enough that Cellbit was willing to smuggle it out of Federation custody. Max,” The man in question straightened up, “Do you think Sofia could give this an examination, try to parse what’s on it?”
Max was quiet, before moving over from where he was leaning on the wall. He took the disk. “I will have to build a different drive, but eh, maybe? She can at least get the data readable. Now that we have her password, I’ll ask her to work on this once the drive is complete.”
“Okay, do you need any help with the drive?”
“No, I will handle it.” He put the disk into the inventory, before moving back to his spot at the wall.
“Now, Badboy, I understand why everyone else is here.” Forever spoke carefully. “And I mean no offense, but why is Jaiden here? You said one of Cellbit’s books was for her?”
“One of the books was for her, yes. But it wasn’t from Cellbit. It-” He clenched his hands into fists again, claws almost scraping the table.
“…It’s from Bobby.” Jaiden spoke.
“Bobby??” Max and Forever gasped in unison.
“Your son?” Baghera lit up. “Your son is alive? This is great news!”
“He’s currently in Federation custody.” Bad growled out, hands shaking as he tried to keep his emotions in check. He was rapidly failing.
“He’s uh, he’s hurt pretty bad…but I’m sure we can get him patched up once we get him back!” Jaiden smiled slightly. “He’s…” Her smile fell. “He’s been alive the whole time. The whole funeral, uh, was kinda a sham.”
“They’ve had him the whole time? Alive?” Forever grit his teeth. “And they said nothing?”
“Motherfuckers. The next time I see Cucurucho I’m going to beat him to death with my bare hands.” Max huffed, crossing his arms again.
Bad slammed his fist onto the table, hissing in anger. The others turned quickly to look at him. “They’ve had him the whole time. The whole time. Our family has been shattered, and they have what is ours.” His form shuddered and shook, as he stretched ever taller, his horns growing longer, his tail whipping side to side. He dug his claws into the table. “What’s mine.”
“Bad?” Forever’s voice sounded more cautious. “Bobby is Jaiden and Roier’s-”
He turned to face Forever, his eyes and mouth an almost blinding white, tinged with red around the edges. His voice almost seemed to echo as he spoke loudly. “They are ours! The eggs are all family, that makes each family our family! My family!” His claws carved deep gashes into the table. “Demons don’t share. Those of Death, don’t share. The Federation has hurt, has killed, has hidden what is mine, by birthright.”
Max seemed startled by the outburst, but Forever seemed to understand, as he nodded, hands up in a placating way. Baghera and Jaiden looked over at each other, feathers ruffled.
“They have already separated me from the one I care for, and now I have to just sit here and watch as another corruption breaks out, another thing digs its claws in and hurts the people I love, and I will not just let it happen again-” His head hit the ceiling, and it seemed to lightly jolt him out of his rage.
“Bebou.” Baghera tried to get his attention, before she let out a whistle.
Bad quickly turned to look at her, confused.
Jaiden nodded at her, before letting out a few trills herself.
He continued looking between the two as they continued to make their calls, trills, coos and whistles. He swayed slightly from side to side as they started to move their wings. After a few minutes, it hit him what they were saying, in their avian speech. ‘Safe, calm, okay. Family. Fix, heal, help. Safe. Family. Heal, help, okay. Calm. Safe. Safe.’
He slumped against the table, back in a size closer to his usual one, breathing roughly.
“Badboy, are you…okay?” Forever’s voice sounded cautious.
“Fudge…Forever, I’m sorry. I didn’t…I wasn’t trying to be threatening. I didn’t mean…” He covered his head with his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry-”
“Woah woah, why’s he freaking out now?”
“For scaring the shit out of you, idiot! And because he thinks he yelled at me. Gods, Badboy, you are fine, you did not do wrong-”
“But I-”
“Enough.” Baghera moved over, resting a hand on Bad’s shoulder. “You got overwhelmed, and protective. You became, uh, you fell into instincts. We do not blame for that, ever.”
“Right.” Jaiden nodded. “I know how you feel, Bad. I’m…I want to hurt them too. Which is a new feeling for me, but I…I get it. Family, flock, whatever you want to call it…it’s important. And while we have our smaller flocks, we’re all connected, like you said. We’re a large flock, whether we like it or not.”
“I…”
“You are okay, Badboy.” Max gave a nervous nod. “It- you were a bit scary, but not of harm. Just- Didn't know you could be so damn tall, man.”
Forever laughed. “What, intimidated by his height?”
“He was over five meters tall, Forever!”
“Enough, you two.” Baghera laughed. “Bebou, you need to get sleep. And…” She checked her comm. “…Foolish wants to know if you are okay. He said he could…feel your distress from there?”
“Fudge...there goes trying to keep things secret. I…yeah, I’ll be okay. I just…need to get some rest, I think.”
“Do you need to go somewhere other than home for a bit?” Jaiden looked over him, concerned.
“No, I…I need to be by Dapper. He’ll get me to sleep.”
“Take care of yourself, Badboy.” Forever gave a sharp nod. “We need you to be okay.”
“Check in tomorrow in the global, or whatever.” Max rolled his shoulders. “So we know you’re not dead.”
Bad smiled a slight bit. “Sure.”
Chapter 3
Summary:
The eggs meet and talk.
Fit gets brought into the Order.
Cucurucho finds out what Cellbit is up to.
Notes:
Usually, italics means that that person is speaking in their native language. In this chapter, when the Eggs are speaking, they are also in italics. This is because, technically, they are speaking in their native language, which is a draconic speech of clicks, clacks, body movement and other various sounds that they make. I attempted to show that a bit with the descriptions, but I realized it may still be confusing. Only the other dragons can understand each other, which is why they speak using signs when speaking to the other Players.
So if the eggs are speaking, they are speaking in Draconic. If they are typing, and it is italicized, they are speaking in the native Player language they usually speak (that isn’t English).
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Richarlyson knew he was being a little bit…foolish, but he really just wanted some space.
From his dads, at least. They’d been trying to help so much, comforting him, always being with him when they could, but…it meant that if he wasn’t immediately within eyesight of his dads, or in the guardianship of someone else, they’d start to freak out until they found him.
He understood why they were scared, but he felt they were scared in the wrong direction. None of the eggs had been kidnapped since before he’d woken up, and before any of his dads had arrived on the island. It was way more likely that one of his dads would get kidnapped over him.
But he needed some space to breathe, for a bit. So maybe he’d lied. Maybe he’d said that Dapper had said that Bad wanted to see him, and asked for permission to go visit. And maybe he’d insisted that they didn’t need to check in with Bad, because it was Bad! And maybe now he was out on his own, hiding out in Tallulah’s garden, to try to get some peace.
He was just…He was two months old, and he was so tired. He just wanted a bit of time to just, not have to pretend he was okay.
The sound of the waystone activating caused him to close his eyes in frustration, the second activation bringing a sigh from him. There goes his plan. He’d been found out anyway. He reached out to pull a sign from his inventory.
“Hey.” A click came forth.
He quickly opened his eyes, blinking quickly. He clacked his jaw together, pulling two fingers around in front of his forehead. “Dapper?” He stared, before he clacked again, this time holding a finger horozontal under his nose. “Ramon?”
The two clicked at the same time. “Hey.”
He shook his head, rustling his wings as he clicked and chirped. “What are you two doing here? Shouldn’t you two be at home?”
Dapper rolled their eyes, crossing their arms. They clicked their tongue, before they clicked and chirped. “Shouldn’t you?”
Ramon held out his hands placatingly. He clacked his jaw, moving his fingers in front of his head, before he clicked a few times, followed by another clack, this time accompanied by a finger of each hand making a curving motion from the top of his head down to his shoulders. “Dapper, be nice to Richarlyson.”
Dapper hissed. “I’m being truthful!”
Ramon sighed, gesturing with his wings and his hands as he continued to chirp and click. “What he means to ask, is are you okay? You’re out here all alone, and usually we’re not allowed to do that.”
Richarlyson bared his teeth at Dapper, growling. “Yeah? So are you.”
Ramon sighed, before he stomped a single foot. “Enough. We came to check on you because we’re worried about you.”
“Could have fooled me.” Richarlyson turned away, ears lowering.
“…I didn’t mean to upset you.” Dapper glanced towards him for a moment, before looking away. “We’re out of the loop. All Dad says is something bad happened, and now suddenly we’re all on closer watch than ever before. Dad’s upset and tired, your dads don’t really want to play anymore, and now his dad’s getting called to talk with mine tomorrow and I don’t know why. So what’s going on?”
“Well…”
“Wait.” Ramon glanced over towards the warpstone, before sighing. He clacked his jaw,, gesturing around his waist with one hand. “…Chayanne, I can see your invisibility particles.”
“Damnit!” A huff echoed from the room. “Stupid eyesight, not even fair…”
Another clack, followed by a hand movement from one side of his mouth to the other, before moving up into the air. “And tell Tallulah to come out of hiding too. I know if you’re here she’s with you.”
Tallulah nervously walked out of the room, over to the group. “…Hi.”
Chayanne moved to join her after drinking some milk, sitting down in a huff. “Can’t believe you saw me, I was so close…”
Richarlyson rubbed at his eyes. “Is it ‘spy on Richarlyson’ for one of the quests or something today?”
Tallulah rocked lightly from side to side. “No…I saw on the map someone was near my house, and then I realized it was you, and I told Chayanne I was worried, since you don’t really come to my house that often, and Abuleto’s usually pretty protective, but he was visiting Fit after putting us down for a nap, so…”
Chayanne grinned, tail slamming against the ground. “So I stole a potion, then we went to my safe house, warped from there to the waystone outside our house, then glided down nearby and snuck over.” He huffed again. “And it would have worked, if Ramon didn’t have super eyes or whatever!”
Dapper’s tail flicked once. “Please stop yelling.”
“Fiiiiine…”
Ramon shook his head. “Anyway, you were saying, Richarlyson?”
Richarlyson took a breath. “…Pai Cellbit got kidnapped by the Federation, while he was in the middle of talking to me.”
Tallulah froze, grief over her face. Chayanne’s eyes widened, before they narrowed in rage. Dapper’s eyes widened slightly, before he glanced off, losing himself into thought. Ramon slowly nodded once, crossing his arms.
“That’s why they haven’t been letting me out much, other than the football pitch. They’re scared for me to be out of their sight…Even though I’m not the one at risk of going missing.”
Dapper glanced back over. “You think more of them could go missing?”
Richarlyson crossed his arms in frustration. “Who’s the one of us with two kidnapped dads, and who’s the one of us with no kidnapped dads, huh?”
Ramon tapped his tail on the ground once. “Enough. Though, that does explain something…”
Chayanne growled. “Yeah, explains that we’re gonna burn the Federation to the ground is what!”
Tallulah whimpered. “We can’t, they’re too strong, and we’re still kids…”
Ramon sighed. “No, I meant that explains why his dad wants to talk with mine. Dad’s really good at griefing, and breaking into things, and the like. It’s because of where he came from, he said. So if Dad’s getting called in and that’s what he’s good at…”
Richarlyson’s eyes widened. “They might be trying to break into the Federation.”
Chayanne huffed again, digging at the ground with his claws. “I doubt they’re going for his dads right now, though. They don’t have enough info to find them, and Tio Bad doesn’t seem like the type to do something stupid without a backup plan.”
Tallulah raised her claws in the air. “They might be looking for more information? Trying to find out where they might be hidden away, and the like.”
Dapper nodded, before glancing over to Ramon. “That would make sense…Recon before rescue. Do you know who else is going to be there?”
Ramon shrugged. “Dad didn’t say anything else other than what I’ve already said. He keeps secrets really well.”
Richarlyson nodded. “I guess we’ll just have to wait for tomorrow. For now, we should probably all get home before we get caught. We’ll get in big trouble if we do.”
Ramon smirked. “I won’t, Dad lets me go out if I want.”
Dapper rolled their eyes. “Which he shouldn’t, really.”
Tallulah cut in before another argument could start. “I did want to catch some of that nap…”
Chayanne pushed himself to his feet, giving a salute. “Check in with you later, Richarlyson. Dapper, Ramon, get home before you do something stupid and give our dads heart attacks.”
Richarlyson waved at the four as they used their warp stones, before he sighed and looked up into the tree above him. For a brief moment, he flinched and snatched his own warp stone, thinking he saw green and black hidden behind the leaves. He took another glance, and saw nothing of the sort. He took a few calming breaths, before using his stone anyway.
He didn’t hear it, but the tree rustled as he teleported away, before the tree became silent.
Fit was calm, which wasn’t exactly a surprise.
Sure, Bad had asked for his help for ‘something important’, and said he couldn’t talk with too many people about it, but that wasn’t nessassarily a red flag. He’d already said he’d probably discuss things with Philza though, since if they’re doing something dangerous he’ll need someone to keep an eye on Ramon.
Apparently that had put Bad even more at ease for some reason, but hey, he was a historian of his own world, not whatever history Bad and Philza seemed to have.
Jaiden had met him to lead him to the meeting place, which also was a bit odd. Not that he didn’t like Jaiden, getting to check in with her after the loss of her kid was something he’d wanted to do but hadn’t known how to at the time. He just didn’t understand why she was getting involved in some kind of dangerous mission that Bad wanted to go on,
That was a future problem, though. One he rapidly stopped focusing on once he entered the hidden building, and started nearing a meeting room. He held up a hand, narrowing his eyes as he listened closer.
“You know, it kinda hurts that you didn’t trust me right off the bat.’ Foolish spoke, a slight bit of seriousness in his tone. It wasn’t full seriousness, but it was enough to make Fit pause to wonder what was going on.
“I know. I’m sorry, I just- You’ve been buddy buddy with Cucurucho, and you’ve got a family, and-” Bad sounded like he’d been going around in circles.
“You know I care about you too, right? You and the others on the island?” Foolish laughed a bit. “If what happened back there didn’t pull us apart, why would this be any different?”
“Because you have a kid now? I don’t know, Foolish, I just-”
“Hey.” His tone dropped more serious now. “Look, I get it, okay? You’re running on fumes, and you’re scared.”
“No I’m not-”
“You are literally seven feet tall right now. Go ahead and tell me that means you’re under control.” He scoffed. “Go ahead, Bad, be my guest.”
The only response, after a pause, was a sigh.
“Exactly what I thought. I felt when you had that break the other day, remember? I know you’re not doing well.”
“I don’t have time, Foolish.”
“But you don’t have to handle this burden all on your own.” He sighed. “…You never did.”
“Foolish, I-”
Jaiden finally moved forward to open the door, walking inside. “Hey, I got Fit.”
Fit walked in, taking in the situation. Foolish was standing at the other side of the table, looking over at Bad, who was uncomfortably curled up to sit in one of the chairs near the head. The two waved, Foolish brightening up again. For the first time, Fit wondered if it was an act. “Hey guys, heard you needed my expertise?”
Bad nodded, rubbing at his temples. “That’s one way to put it, yeah.”
Foolish grinned. “We need your combat cabability. We’re gonna break some rules.”
He grinned back. “Hell yeah, I’m in. What’s the plan exactly?”
Bad mumbled a quiet ‘language’ under his breath, before he sighed. “We’re breaking into the Federation.”
“…Oh shit, that’s the kind of rule breaking you mean. Okay, I’m still in. Why, though?”
“We need your backup in case things go south.” Foolish shrugged. “We were gonna ask Etoiles, because he’d be pissed if he missed out on some combat fun, but apparently there’s been some weird shit going on around Pomme’s room so all the French are on high alert so he can’t help us.”
“No, I wasn’t asking why you wanted me to fight things. I meant why are we breaking into the Federation?”
“Well,” Bad gestured around the room. “First off, welcome to the Ordo Theoritas headquarters. Though we’re currently disbanded since Cellbit shut everything down.” He sighed. “Cellbit got kidnapped by the Federation.”
“Oh, shit.” Fit’s eyes widened. “Okay, so we’re going to go get him back?”
“We are, but not yet.” Jaiden spoke again, from where she leaned against the table, wings twitching. “We don’t have enough information about him to get him back yet. Him or Felps. But he got some information out to us before he got kidnapped, and that’s what we’re going forward on.”
“What kind of information?”
“First of all,” Bad leaned back in his chair. “He found some code that Max currently has Sofia going through, to try to figure out what all is in it. It was on a disk, so we can’t read it at all.”
“…Who’s Sofia?”
Foolish rolled his emerald eyes. “She’s an AI that Max made to cope with the loss of his son, keep up Fit. Gosh.”
“…” Fit looked over to Bad. “…What?”
“I mean, that is correct, but how would he know that Foolish?” Bad sighed again.
“It’s Bobby.” Jaiden interrupted, wings twitching again. “The Federation has my son. He’s alive, and he wrote a book that he passed along to Cellbit to pass along to me and Roier. We’re gonna go get him back.”
Fit’s head turned quickly to look at Jaiden. “Oh fuck, okay. Sure, let’s go get him back. …Why isn’t Roier on the crew, then?”
She sighed, wings drooping slightly. “I haven’t been able to find him to tell him. He’s still avoiding me, trying to ‘give me space’. And I’m pretty sure he’s still drinking, too.”
He nodded once. “Okay, that’ll be second order of business after the rescue then. But as for the first,” He leaned against the table, looking between the three. “What’s the plan?”
The bear was wandering, again.
It liked to do that, when it wasn’t busy working. Just wandering around the island, blowing bubbles, scaring people for fun. It was a nice break from focusing on taking down data, or fixing rules that had been broken. And it was much better than just waiting in the room it had been assigned.
There were only so many hours it could deal with staring at the same paintings and same walls, after all.
So it was wandering, inside the Federation’s walls this time. It knew people were getting closer to the base, so checking to make sure no one had tried to break in yet was always a good choice for something to do when it didn’t want to bother the Players. It knew the halls to check, knew what halls not to worry about.
…Though now that the bear thought for a moment, the Federation did have a new guest…It should probably check on him. It nodded once, moving through the halls towards the room it was searching for, and stepped inside.
The cat hybrid immediately stood up from his cot, baring his teeth in a snarl. “Fuck you.”
The bear pulled out it’s comm, hitting a button. A voice played from the device. “Hahaha.”
The cat hybrid snarled again, stepping forward towards the bars that separated half the room from the other. “You bastard. I know what you’ve done. I swear to the Gods I’m going to tear this whole place apart!”
The bear would have rolled it’s eyes if it could have. Unfortunately, that was one trait it no longer had. It stepped forward, causing the other to flinch back. It blinked slowly. That…was an odd reaction. He was always fighty, always ready to attack, even after the chainsaw incident. But now he was flinching away from it? Hmm.
It wondered, for a moment, what exactly the Federation had planned for the cat hybrid, before remembering that it wasn’t any of it’s business.
“I hate you.” The cat hybrid was shouting again. “I’m going to burn this whole island to the ground!”
“Hahaha. No.”
“Fuck you! Motherfucker, if I could get through these bars-”
“No.” Well, that was enough of that. It had come to make sure the cat hybrid was alive, and it had rapidly become uninterested in being yelled at. It wasn’t any fun when the person yelling couldn’t even do anything to it. “I hope you enjoy the island.”
“I hope you rot in hell!”
“Hahaha.” It turned, leaving the room.
“Wait, where are you going? Bastard! Damnit, come back here! Cucurucho! Come ba-” The door shut between them, the sound cut off.
The bear bobbed slightly from side to side, before taking off down the hall again. It really should check on the perimeter.
Notes:
Wow, Cucurucho had a thought for a second! I sure hope that doesn’t have long lasting implications for a faction that won’t be specified which faction it is for several chapters! /sarcasm /joke
Chapter 4
Summary:
It’s rescue time.
Notes:
‘This chapter is gonna be so easy, I’ll totally get it done this weekend’
Loses power on Friday, is exhausted and overheated Saturday, does not have the energy SundayAlso this chapter was going to be longer because it was supposed to cover some more events at the end but Fit’s scene just kept going and going and I got tired, so here we go.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Foolish was…a little bit nervous, honestly.
Sure, he’d been chill lately. Been vibing. Building things for his own wants instead of for others. (Though he didn’t always mind it, remembering a family he built a home for. He resists a shudder, as he remembers the reasons he built some of his statues, however. He much prefers building for himself and his own reasons compared to that.)
But the fact that something happened to throw Bad this far off? To the point where he had felt the death magic roar across the island? He was not at all a fan of that. Sure, once he found out it was a kidnapped egg, things made a bit more sense, but there was still a part of him that remembered a different egg. A different source of power behind Bad’s ire.
Yeah, they didn’t need a repeat of that any time soon.
But the main reason he was nervous about this whole plan was that he’d be breaking some rules. Which, fuck yeah! He loved causing trouble, sure. But given that they were breaking in to unkidnap a kid that they’d been told was dead, and that they’d allegedly seen the spirit of, it felt a bit more…real, than the other times he’d caused trouble for the Federation.
He’d been able to smooth things over, play things off before. This wasn’t going to be something he could easily weasel his way out of. And Bad hadn’t been wrong, he was worried about his family, and keeping Cucurucho on his good side was one easy way to protect them.
But Bad was…important, to him. And he cared for Jaiden, too. Which meant this was worth the risk. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. Unfortunately, he still had to pretend to like it though. Only Bad could read his mask, and he really couldn’t risk making the other two worry because he was acting uncharacteristically nervous.
So back into the act it was. Easy as always.
“So, do we actually know where to go in here?” He asked, as they approached the building. While he’d initially pitched going through the underground tunnels, Fit had pointed out that those are much more easily protected and watched than the main building itself. Something about ‘prior experience’ or something, but Foolish really didn’t want to get into that. He knew Fit would launch into a lecture, and he really couldn’t handle that many words right now.
“From the way that Bobby wrote the book, I think I might have an idea on what directions to go.” Bad finally spoke up from his deep thought. That was how he got, when something serious was happening. Foolish wished it was easier to pull him out of that sometimes, but at least he was getting it out of the way now before they went into the building.
“I…I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t get anything like that from the book.” Jaiden’s wings were bound close to her, but twitched against their bonds. She’d said something about not wanting her wings to get caught, or flair out at a bad time, but she seemed uncomfortable. Foolish knew they were bringing her because she wanted to be there to help her son, but this seemed like it was just going to cause her more stress than nessasary. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be able to be told to stay back if he was going after Leo, so he can’t really blame her.
“Considering the time it took for Cellbit to find him, I’d imagine he’s kept closer to the center of the building.” Fit added, crossing his arms. “He’s a crucial asset, after all. Could hold him to use as a bargaining chip, to get anyone to do what they want.” For not the first time that trip, Foolish tried to commit to memory to not get on the anarchist’s bad side. The causal air Fit had when talking about kidnapping, control over territory, and PvP combat made him uneasy.
“Okay, so break in, go down a few hallways, find a door, get the egg, and get out then? How are we planning on getting out, teleport pads?”
“No.” Bad spoke quicker that time. “It leaves a trail. If we’re careful, we should have enough time to get him and get out before we’re noticed. Worst comes to worst, we can use one, but it’s best if we can just do this with stealth.”
“So I don’t get to keep any blocks then? But think of all the building I could do-”
Fit chuckled. “You can keep the barrier blocks. Contraband enough of an incentive to leave the rest?”
Foolish grinned. “See, Fit, now you’re speaking my language. You could learn a thing or two, Bad.”
“Foolish. Shut.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever.” He pulled their ticket into the building out of his inventory, spinning it in his hands. “You ready to break shit?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Let’s go.”
“Language…but yes.”
“Then let’s get started.” Foolish gestured with the tool, grinning as a few Federation blocks were moved out of place. “Operation: Rescue Huevo is a go.”
It was really hard for Jaiden to pay attention to what was going on.
She was following with the others, keeping quiet, keeping out of sight. But she wasn’t able to focus on what halls they went down, on what blocks were moved, on any quiet conversation that was had between the three navigating.
Her wings strained against their bonds, the exact reason she’d bound them in the first place. Her flight feathers were still regrowing, and without being able to actually use them to move faster, they’d be a detriment. Especially with her emotions all out of wack.
Because she was struggling. Of course she was. She’d been struggling for days, ever since she’d gotten that surprise visit from Bad. Because in one single night her entire world had been once again turned upside down. Which meant instead of freefalling into the sky without the ability to fly, she was now rapidly returning to the ground while still being unable to catch herself.
…That metaphor got out of hand. Okay, not time to spiral, time to try to focus.
She had three people with her who were guiding her to the ground. Who were willing to catch her, to help bring her home. And she knew she had more than just three. She just had to make it through the next…however long this took, and she’d be okay. Everything would be okay again.
She heard someone hiss something, and looked up just in time to see a sudden wall in place where there had once been a longer hallway. She blinked quickly.
“Okay, so, we’ve got a bit of cover, but we gotta move fast, someone’s definitely gonna notice if they come down and see the hall is shorter than usual.” That was Foolish’s doing then, okay.
“It should be…This door.” Bad moved to the side of the hallway. “There’s markings carved above the door, like the ones he wrote about.”
“Okay, so how are we gonna get in? It’s a security door, and while Foolish’s illegal tool can help us get through walls, they were just claim protected, not security protected.” Fit kept an eye on the hallway from which they came.
“I don’t know…Bobby didn’t say anything about a code, and Forever didn’t say there was anything in the book about a code for the Federation buildings…”
While the three discussed what to do, Jaiden moved up to the door, looking through the windows. She saw, across the room, her egg lying against the floor. She saw the cracks on his shell, the dried blood, the scuffed off gold paint from his fake halo. She didn’t know what to do, but she only had one thing to try. She didn’t know what deity could reach this world, especially if the Goddess of Death was silent, but if they were strong enough to do so…maybe they could still help. She rested a hand against the door, closing her eyes as she quietly spoke. “Whatever looked out for Bobby, to let Cellbit find him, to protect him all this time…Please grant us one more blessing. Please let us get to him, and bring him home.”
Her eyes flew open as she heard the door click, the light on the keypad to the side turning green. Before the other three could do much more than turn to look, she shoved the door open, and moved quickly into the room.
The others followed quickly, the door shutting behind them, but the light remaining green.
“Bobby!” She pressed her hands against the barrier blocks, as her brain screamed at her. Her fledgling was right there, right within her sight, hurt and hungry and so alone, he needed to be in her arms, hidden in her wings, back in their nest- “Bobby, it’s me-” Her voice cut out as her throat forced a chirp of distress forward.
Bobby slowly rocked side to side, before the egg gave way to his humanoid transformation. His shell looked dull at the places it stuck to his skin and clothes, the pieces that once were pristine on his head now practically powder and shrapnel stuck in his hair. He reached out to rest a hand on the other side of the barrier block, giving a small tired smile. He imitated one of her other chirps, not quite correct, but the meaning clear as day to her. Flock.
“Hurry up Foolish-”
“Bad do you know how hard it is to target invisible blocks?”
“You’re alright, Jaiden, we’ve got both of you.” Fit spoke calmly, clearly, a balm on her fraying nerves from trying to fight off her instincts. “Safe, team, protect.”
She chirped again, wings straining against her bonds.
“Yeah, yeah. Flock. Flock, protect, safe.”
“Got it!”
Bobby tumbled forward as the barriers fell, Jaiden catching him and pulling him into her arms. She curled around him as much as possible, hooking her chin over his head. He rumbled, not quite a purr, but clearly a noise to soothe.
She chirped and cooed, rocking from side to side. Her fledgeling, her son, back in her arms. Back where he belonged. …No, not quite. He was needed in the nest, where it was safe. He needed more security blocks, more security doors. She would make his castle a fortress, with the nest safely inside, where he couldn’t be harmed or hurt or taken ever again-
“Jaiden-”
She hissed, baring her teeth with sightless eyes at the person who got close to her. She knew they were flock, and she didn’t mean to be angry, but they were near the fledgeling and no one was allowed near the fledgeling-
“Easy, songbird.” There was that calm tone again. “It’s just Bad. Flock, remember? Flock, leave, safe. Leave, home, nest. Yeah?”
Her brain struggled. She knew the meaning of the words being said, and they were being said like avian, but in English, and it was…confusing to her. She chirped the words back, to confirm.
“Yeah. Flock, leave, home, nest, safe. Okay? Easy, don’t strain your head too much.”
She slowly adjusted Bobby in her arms, and staggered to her feet.
“How did you know how to pull her out of that?” That must be Foolish, maybe? Her head hurts too much to think, everything in her straining to return to her spot of protection on the floor.
“She’s not out of it, but she’s more receptive now.” Bad added, now in a more soothing tone of voice. She trilled softly in the same tone.
“Phil gets the same way sometimes. Used to happen more than it does now. If you use the right tones on the right words, it gets the meaning across while pulling them slightly out of birdbrain. At least, that’s how he always described it.” Fit rolled his shoulders. “Unfortunately, we’ve now got a time limit. There’s only so long she can keep from her instincts when under such distress, and I really don’t want to have to push her farther than nessassary. Bad, once we’re outside, cut those binds. Foolish, when we’re closer to the gym, you run ahead and make a pile of mats and cushions. We’ll need to give them both some cooldown time before we can transfer them back home.”
She chirped the last word back.
“That’s right, home. We’re all going home.”
Fit would say, if you asked him, that this had been a successsful mission all things considered.
That made it sound worse than intended. The kid was safe, everyone made it out okay, and no one had noticed anything going on. He’d have to check his comm after they got inside the gym, but things seemed all good!
The ‘all things considered’ was less about the mission itself, and more about the other three who had gone on it.
Look, Fit was human, okay? So he didn’t really know what it felt like to have instincts based on your hybrid side. For him, instincts were more 'recognize this kind of trap, know how to curl up when you get blown up, keep your eyes on the trees for lurking enemies’ kind of things.
But he also wasn’t stupid. Hybrids might not be ostracized, but they still had to deal with things he never did. And if he wanted to work well with his allies in the Wasteland, he had to know how to help them deal with some of the things that, while good in theory, might not exactly be the greatest to manage in the middle of the multiverse’s Oldest Anarchy Server. So he’d picked a few things up over the years.
Which is why he knew just from the twitching of Jaiden’s freed wings that she was just on the edge of snapping and trying to fly away with Bobby in tow. Why he knew from Bad’s distracted behavior and growth of one and a half feet in height that the demon/grim reaper/what other entities he wanted to call himself was fighting off his own battles. Why he could tell that while he didn’t know what kind of shark Foolish had on the one side, he was very familial, and the glances towards Bobby every few minutes was enough indication that he wanted to be home with his own kid right now.
Well, he could fix one of those issues, set up another to be solved, and figure out the third as it came. And not in the specific order either.
“Foolish,” He spoke quietly to not startle the other, but he flinched anyway. Damn. “You go ahead, okay? We’re close enough that I can keep an eye on you just in case something strikes.”
“Uh, yeah, sure. You got it!” The man gave a lazy salute, before running off down the path.
“Ten…” Bad’s voice was strained, which wasn’t ideal. “Ten diamonds says he runs into a mine.”
“Unfortunately I can’t take you up on that bet, I made sure to check the entire path before we left, and while I don’t know much about Vegeta, I doubt he’d leave Leo alone just to cause trouble.” Fit grinned. “I’d love to see it though. Foolish getting himself blown up I mean.”
Bad chuckled. “Yeah.”
Jaiden chirped sharply, her ear feathers twitching. Okay, she was still coherent enough to not like a joke about one of the team, sorry flock apparently, getting blown up. Noted.
“Sorry, Jaiden, we’re just kidding. Flock, safe. Flock, safe.”
She chirped another word he recognized.
“Yeah, almost home. …Actually, Jaiden. Foolish is setting up a temporary nest inside the gym, so-”
Before he got much further than the word ‘nest’, Jaiden was taking off sprinting, wings flapping behind her as she tried to hop into the air as well.
“…Well, okay. That’s…this is fine.” Gods, he was tired. Okay. “Bad, are you good?”
“Huh?”
“…You’re a foot and a half taller than when we left, and you can’t focus for longer then a minute at a time.” He kept his eyes on the environment around them, even as the three ahead of them vanished into the building. “What do you need?”
“…To focus. On…family.” Bad shook his head as if to clear it. “A task.”
“Okay, does that mean Dapper, or on the entire crew?”
“Second.”
“Okay. While I keep an eye out as we finish our travel, will you check comms and let me know the status of people while we’ve been gone?” They were getting closer to the wall, and he saw a single small light shine from above. His nerves relaxed, as he saw the shadow of a figure spread out his wings.
“Yes.” Bad pulled out his comm, flicking through it.
Fit also pulled out his comm, shining a small light back at the figure. Philza was checking in, seeing if he needed backup, and giving an all clear message at the same time, just as they’d agreed on before. Man, Philza was gonna be pissed when he found out it was a kid recovery mission and he hadn’t told him. Oh well, the older avian (Elytrian? People seemed to alternate with those names these days, and Fit wasn’t exactly gonna go up to someone and be like ‘hey, can you tell me the difference between these two probably distinct groups of people that also share similarities?’ That would just be stupid, and it wouldn't even be helpful) would forgive him, he would understand.
“Mike and Pac…knocked each other off their build they’re working on a few times. Forever, and Richarlyson apparently, laughed at them both about it. Etoiles said he saw a glance of the code around the French area, and then Baghera tried to startle him and immediately got downed for it. Pomme and Richarlyson are fine.” Bad paused. “Telling you he’s fine first, but Dapper apparently almost knocked down Ramon earlier, he forgot to make sure Ramon was wearing all his slime armor before hitting him over the head with one of his hammers.”
Fit sighed. “Why is it always our kids that get each other into shit.”
“Sibling behavior, I guess. Oh, and Slime blew himself up twice. Somehow.”
“Well, at least things are normal, then.” He reached forward and pushed open the door to the gym. “Hey, everything okay in here?”
“Help…” Foolish spoke in a defeated tone, from where he was sat on the edge of the cobbled together nest. “She grabbed my arm and won’t let me go.”
Jaiden, meanwhile, seemed perfectly content in the honestly almost depressing pile of pillows and cushions. She chirped with glee, her son in her lap, one hand holding Foolish’s arm, the other hand preening her son’s hair.
“You’ve been adopted. Congratulations.” Bad’s words sounded more clear, once they were all contained within the building.
“Okay, Jaiden. That’s enough, you gotta let Foolish go home.” Fit moved to sit on the edge of the nest. “He needs to go home to his main flock, and check on his own kid.”
Jaiden seemed to consider this, before chirping a few words.
“Yeah, his flock, his home, his fledgeling. Okay?”
She didn’t seem all too pleased by this development, but reluctantly let him go, turning all her attention to preening Bobby’s hair.
“You’ve saved me, I’m free, I thought I was gonna die here in your lame fitness center.” Foolish stood, dusting off his pants.
“Get home, Foolish. Message me tomorrow to let me know you and the others are alright, yeah?”
“Oh my Gods, you’re such a dad. Whatever.” The amusement was obvious in his voice, as he pulled out his warp stone. “Sure. You four take care.”
Bad let out a breath once Foolish was gone. “Okay. Food, healing…”
“Jaiden’s got food set up at her place, I don’t think either of them are going to be ready to eat until they’re both secure and safe. As for healing…” Fit reached into his hotbar, pulling out a bottle. “Here, consider this a gift from uncle Philza and uncle Fit.”
Bad’s eyes widened. “A diluted regen potion?”
“Yeah. It’s not ideal, usually you’d prefer to dilute it with awkward potion, but we don’t exactly have brewing ingredients easily available, so we’re working with what we’ve got.” He pulled out another bottle. “Instead of the half and half method of potion to base potion, it’s half potion and quarter water. So ¾ths of a bottle for each one. Like I said, not ideal, but it should be easier on the poor kid than a whole potion right off the bat.”
He nodded, taking the two bottles. “One now and one later should be good. Thank you.”
He waved him off. “No worries. You think you can focus on getting Jaiden and Bobby ready for travel back home? I’ve got someone I need to contact.”
“Yeah, I’ll handle that. We’ll let you know before we head out.”
“Sounds good.” He stood again, moving to the other side of the gym as he pulled out his comm again. He narrowed his eyes at the lack of someone speaking in the chat.
[You whispered Roier: Hey, where the hell are you?]
[Roier whispered you: fuck off, what do you want]
[You whispered Roier: Need you at Fit’s Fitness.]
[You whispered Roier: It’s important.]
[Roier whispered you: why do you type so goddamn loud]
[You whispered Roier: Are you on your way?]
[You whispered Roier: Yes or no?]
[Roier whispered you: yes]
Fit nodded once to himself, before turning to the other three again. He smiled to himself.
Jaiden seemed a bit more together than before, and Bobby was even standing on his own with his arms wrapped around her leg. Bad, meanwhile, was trying his absolute best not to hover around the two, and was failing.
“You three heading out?” Fit asked, as he moved back over.
Jaiden turned to look at him, nodding with a chirp.
Bobby looked up at him, and imitated a chirp of his own.
“You’re both very welcome. You rest up, and Jaiden, let me know how you’re all doing later, okay?” He set down a waystone, simply labeling it ‘TEMPORARY’ in all caps.
She nodded again.
“I’m gonna go after they go, so that I can make sure they get settled and everything.” Bad nodded once.
“You two get some rest, okay?”
Two chirps replied to him, before the sound of two warps was heard.
He turned to look back over at Bad. “I’ve got Roier on his way. Once I get him cleaned up, and un-drunk, I’ll send him through. Think you can take care of the two until he gets there?”
“Absolutely. And thank you, Fit. For all your help today, and for getting Roier. I didn’t even think to-”
“Hey, take it easy. You’re fine. I’ve been working on this since you asked me for help, so don’t worry about it, yeah?” Fit grinned. “Do you know if Ramon made it home?”
“Yeah, it looks like he’s been home for a few hours.” Bad smiled. “You gonna spend the night there?”
“As much as home feels like home, I kinda want to be with my huevo tonight.” He rested a hand on the other’s shoulder. “You did good, kid.”
Bad snickered, lightly knocking the hand off. “I am so much older than you.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “So you say, so you say. Hey, check in once you’re home with Dapper?”
“Of course. Goodnight, Fit.”
“Goodnight, Bad.”
[Etoiles whispered you: how did the mission go?]
[You whispered Etoiles: No combat, if that’s what you’re wondering.]
[Etoiles whispered you: damn]
[Etoiles whispered you: how boring for you]
[Etoiles whispered you: it is good I did not go I would simply die of boredom]
[You whispered Etoiles: Here lies Etoiles, didn’t have enough shit to fight.]
[Etoiles whispered you: exactly! you get me]
[Etoiles whispered you: is the egg okay?]
[You whispered Etoiles: Bobby’s roughed up, but he’ll be okay.]
[You whispered Etoiles: And Pomme?]
[Etoiles whispered you: she is distressed from today but is unharmed]
[Etoiles whispered you: am I allowed to tell her tomorrow that Bobby has returned?]
[You whispered Etoiles: If you don’t, I’m sure that’s gonna get around tomorrow regardless.]
[You whispered Etoiles: You all take care over there.]
[Etoiles whispered you: you as well]
[Etoiles whispered you: goodnight]
Notes:
Next chapter will be people around the island learning that Bobby is back and it will be chill and nice, can’t wait for that
Chapter 5
Summary:
The island finds out about Bobby.
Notes:
Minor content warning, Philza’s part has a bit of a negative mental spiral, but I’m not sure it’s very severe. It’s about the situation on the island, and the past server he was on (yes, that one). If you need to skip it, please skip the three large paragraphs in his section after Fit tells him about Bobby.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Roier woke slowly, more comfortable and content than he’s felt in a long time.
He didn’t usually sleep well anymore, plagued by nightmares of recent events or of far past life events, depending on how sober he is by the time he crashes. But he was sober last night. And for once, he woke up feeling good.
He was in a ‘nest’, a cobbled together pile of pillows, blankets, and a full sized mattress slightly embedded in the floor. It’s a new development, hastily added to the room before he got there, but he can understand the meaning and the comfort of it. They’re in a room of the castle, Bobby’s castle, in a quickly secured room with mismatched blocks and two security doors.
It’s a mess. It’s perfect.
He slowly looked over to his side, seeing his family, his platonic partner and their son. Their son, because Bobby is alive, because Bobby was alive the whole time and they’d been lied to and tricked, and if he thinks too hard about that he’s going to start crying again, so he doesn’t.
He’d been annoyed, the night before. When Fit had called him over to the gym, handed him a bottle of milk to sober up, and forced him to take a shower and clean himself up. He hadn’t wanted pity, he’d wanted what shitty place he’d been in because there was no more light without his son, and because he hadn’t wanted to bring Jaiden down with him. But when Fit had given him some of his clothes to borrow, and told him that Bobby was alive, he’d…
Well, he didn’t care about his bad tendencies at that time.
Returning to the castle to see Jaiden though, that had worried him. The castle hadn’t exactly been in disrepair, but it hadn’t been in a shape that had shown it was very much in use. There was a noticeable trail through the dust and dirt that led to the room they were now within, after all. He’d thought she would be better off without him, without a constant reminder of who had failed their son. But it seemed like she might blame herself just as much, and she wasn’t even there.
But that was something to discuss and talk about at a later time. For now, Jaiden was seemingly fully stuck in ‘birdbrain’, her avian side wanting to keep her family safe and protected. She’d even sulked the night before, when Bad had said goodnight and left, and she hadn’t been able to convince him into the nest.
Now, though, she was fast asleep. Her eyes still showed signs of exhaustion, even when closed, but her face looked relaxed in a way he hadn’t seen in a long time. Her arms were both around Bobby, even as he was resting in his egg form, one wing curled on her back, the other stretched over all three of them.
He’d been sleeping on his back, treating the wing like a warm blanket, and the weight had likely helped him that night as well. But all good things had to come to an end, and he was about to possibly have a very annoyed bird on his hands. It was a worthy sacrifice, however, as he needed to get up and make them something to eat.
He slowly, and as quietly as he could, crawled out from under Jaiden’s wing and out of the nest, pushing himself to his feet with a wince. His back had been aching since he’d left the castle, and finally sleeping on a comfortable surface seemingly brought said pain to the forefront of his mind. He needed to unglamor at some point…but he hadn’t had the energy, or the time. Man, Cellbit was gonna yell at him whenever he found out.
…Oh, right. Cellbit was catnapped. He’d almost forgotten that Fit had mentioned that too.
Well, if Bobby was able to be saved from Federation clutches, he assumed Cellbit would be able to be saved too. He couldn’t worry about that right now, he needed to worry about the family he currently had with him.
His foot stuttered as he walked across the room, at that thought. Oh boy. Cellbit, as family? Okay, that was also going back in the mental box until a later time, he was far too emotional right now to think about this.
A chirp sounded at the noise, and he winced as he heard shuffling from the nest. Jaiden was waking up, which meant she’d notice he wasn’t in the nest, which was going to lead to a very unhappy bird.
He jogged across the room to the patched together kitchen, to try to at least get a start on making some coffee. He at least needed some of that before he tried to get her coherent for the day.
Fit felt something climb onto him, as he quickly woke up.
He blinked, looking around, trying to remember where he was and what might have been near him. The room was easily recognizable, as was the kid shaped bundle that was currently hiding under his blanket in his lap. He must have fallen asleep sitting up against the wall again.
He smiled, lifting the blanket over his son’s shoulders. “Good morning, Ramon! My beautiful baby boy,'“ His smile fell, as he took in Ramon’s worried look. “…What’s wrong, kiddo?”
Ramon glanced around, before poking his father in the chest.
“Me? …Are you worried because I fell asleep against the wall? I promise, Ramon, I’m used to it, I’ll be okay.”
He shook his head roughly, before poking him again.
“…Oh. Is it because I stayed over? Does that have you worried?”
He nodded quickly, before pressing his face to his dad’s chest.
“Oh, my boy…” He pulled his son into a gentle hug, resting his head against his own. “I’m sorry I scared you. I just wanted to see you after the mission last night, and make sure you were okay.”
Ramon flinched in his arms, trying to struggle out of them.
“No, no- hey, everyone’s okay.”
The kid slowly settled.
“Everyone’s okay. I just…” He sighed. “I was feeling clingy, Ramon. Didn't want to be away from you.” He wasn't exactly embarrassed to say so, but it felt…silly to admit, even to his son.
Ramon adjusted his head to look up at him, before tilting it in question.
“Yeah, I can tell you now. You ready to hear it?”
He nodded, squirming again, but he was released this time. He moved to sit on the floor, crossing his legs as he scratched at some eggshell on his arm. He swayed some from side to side, attempting to stim away his nerves.
Fit sat up, stretching his arms for a moment before he relaxed back against the wall. “Well, here’s what you need to know. Your uncles Bad and Foolish, and your aunt Jaiden, and I all went to the Federation last night. Which yes,” He spoke quickly, seeing the hand fly into the air, “that’s why I didn’t tell you, because we were breaking into a Federation building, and while I know you’re so big and so strong I wanted to make sure you were home and safe, because that was really dangerous what we did.”
Ramon nodded, letting his hand fall again, eyes wide as he listened.
“So, before I continue the story, I need you to know the ending, okay?” He reached out, resting a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. “Everyone made it out okay. Everyone, even the person I’m about to mention to you. Understand?”
He looked confused, but nodded slightly. The nervousness was returning.
“We went to rescue Bobby, Ramon. Bobby is alive. And the Federation had him trapped.”
Ramon’s eyes glazed over as he heard the words, falling deep into thought. After a few moments, he blinked quickly, tears falling from his face. He scrambled, reaching into his inventory for a book, to quickly write in.
“He’s okay, Ramon. He’s gonna take a while to heal back up, but he’s safely back at home with Roier and Jaiden. I made sure of it myself, along with Bad.”
Ramon shakily held up the book. [You mean it? Bobby’s alive?]
Fit nodded, holding open his arms. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that, Ramon. I gave him a regen potion myself. He’s alive, and safe at home.”
He threw himself into his dad’s arms, trembling with emotion he didn’t know how to express, letting out wheasy little breaths.
“It’s okay, Ramon…it’s okay.” He held him close. “Hey, since you’ve got your quests done, about we have a stay at home day, huh? Just you and me, in your house. How’s that sound?”
Ramon nodded quickly, clinging to Fit’s shirt.
“Okay. I’ll start getting breakfast ready, and then I need to call Phil, and then we’ve got the whole day here, and we can do whatever you want.” He smiled, slowly getting to his feet and carrying his son towards the kitchen.
[You whisper Ph1LzA: Hey Phil.]
[You whisper Ph1LzA: We need to talk about last night.]
[You whisper Ph1LzA: All is good, but you need to know what went on.]
[You whisper Ph1LzA: You good with a call?]
Maximus felt…conflicted.
He knew about the quartet’s plan to go to the Federation the night before, of course. He’d been there when Bad and Jaiden had revealed that Bobby was alive. But it wasn't that that caused his conflict.
It was that Bobby was alive. And as far as they knew, his own son…wasn’t. He didn’t even know if Dan was alive, the man had seemingly dropped off the face of the Overworld, or the Server, entirely. He hadn’t been the only one to go missing, of course, Rubius seemed to come and go as he pleased (lucky bastard), as did Missa (did anyone involved with some kind of spirit or entity get to leave whenever? Obviously not, or Bad and Philza would have run off to get help by now, but seriously what was up with that?), and Mariana and Spreen had vanished over a month ago. But Mariana had his issues, and Spreen just full on abandoned Fit which was messed up, and Luzu had tried to give some sort of message before he fucking vanished, and all he knew about Dan was that Dan was just. Gone. Never online on the server list, never afk, just…gone.
He didn’t like that.
But back to his son, he…he wanted to believe that if Bobby was alive, that so were the other fallen children. Juanaflippa, Tilin…and Trump, his son. Gods, he missed his son. The boy hadn’t even learned how to shapeshift, by the time he’d fallen. They’d never gotten to know what he looked like, as a little boy. All they knew was his egg, and that Max hadn’t been able to care for him well enough.
They knew Max was a failure, and he couldn’t handle that.
And now here he was, running through data with his AI daughter, trying to find anything in the code that could help anyone, wanting to get back his kidnapped friend, while grieving his dead son and feeling guilty about it while his friends cherished the return of their own son.
…And he hadn’t slept in days. Damn, even Cellbit would kick his ass for this behavior. They can’t all be self destructive, or they wouldn’t have anyone to protect anymore.
His communicator going off pulls him out of that spiral, and he glanced over to it for a moment. He blinked slowly, before raising his sunglasses onto his head. …Nope, still as confusing a message as ever. Okay then.
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: jaiden]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: why did you just send me a uh]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: a beach ball emoji, a thumbs up, and a seven]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: what does this mean]
He stared at his comm for a minute or two, shaking his head when he didn’t get a reply. He sighed quietly.
“What’s wrong?”
He turned to look at the screen with a soft smile. “Nothing you need to worry about, Sofia. I just got a confusing message and am waiting for clarification.”
Sofia seemed to process that for a moment. “Is it a bad message?”
He hummed. “I don’t think so. It’s from Jaiden. I think she’s just struggling to communicate right now, for some reason.” He smiled. “Maybe she just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Why would she not sleep? Sleep is important for mortal creatures.”
“Sleep is important for immortal creatures too, you know. Foolish needs sleep. He doesn’t sleep enough…” Max shook his head again, looking back at his comm. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. My apologies.”
“Apology accepted. What did you forget to tell me?”
“Jaiden’s son, Bobby? You remember hearing about him?”
“Yes, I believe I do. Why?”
“Well, he was rescued from the Federation last night. Or at least, I’m assuming the plan went well. I can’t see a call for help being a beach ball, a thumbs up, and a seven.” A ping goes off. “Oh she replied.”
[JaidenAnimations whispered you: sdfgjdjg njmf ccccccccccccccccccccccc]
“…Well that’s no fucking help.”
“You mentioned once, I believe, that Jaiden is an avian, correct?”
He looked over to Sofia’s screen again. “Yeah, she is. Why?”
“According to my databanks, avians can get a bit more into their bird like instincts when they are reunited with missing family, whether it is from accident, injury, or even return from a long trip.” Sofia attempted to mimic a hum. “Perhaps she is in this state, and struggling to communicate?”
“…Sofia, you’re a genius. You’re the smartest girl alive.” He turned his attention back to his comm.
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: okay lets try this]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: if you can understand my typing put a single letter]
[JaidenAnimations whispered you: l]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: okay i am going to send an emoji like you did before]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: if you can understand, send it twice]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations ♫ ]
[JaidenAnimations whispered you: ♫ ♫ ]
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.”
“Max.”
He looked over again. “…Yeah, Sofia?”
“…Do you miss your son?”
“…Sofia, missing him doesn’t mean-”
“I do not mean it in a ‘do you miss him more than you love me’ way. I know you care for me. And while I am still learning love, these questions still apply.” She paused for a moment. “Grief is a form of love, yes? Love when someone is gone?”
He’s quiet for a while. “…Yes, it is. I do miss him. But I love you. And I love Bobby. And I feel…”
“Guilty for missing him when she got her son back?”
“…Yeah.” He returned to his comm.
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: if your family is okay send two]
[JaidenAnimations whispered you: ♫ ♫ ]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: if the emojis you sent before are important right now send two]
[JaidenAnimations whispered you: ♫ ]
[You whisper JaidenAnimations: okay, we can talk more when you are more in your head, okay?]
He watched the sets of musical note emojis roll in, and assumed it was a positive thing. She seemed pleased with the chosen emoji, so maybe it was a bird thing? He’d have to add that to the list to ask about later.
“Max?”
“…Yes, Sofia?”
“I have the data in a bit more clear of an order. But I cannot understand any of it.” She paused. “I think you may need to get someone who understands code more. I am made of code, but that does not mean I understand it.”
“Right.” He moved over to her side. “Of course. Thank you for what you were able to do.”
“Also, if I may…some of this looks like higher run code. Not specifically entity created, or even Player created with command blocks. This looks higher.”
He blinked slowly. “Like Admin code? Server code?”
“Possibly both. I do not know the difference.” She paused again. “…I think this may be more important than was realized.”
“…I’ll need to get this out soon. Sofia, can you get it transferred to either a digital document, or a book? Or both, maybe.”
“I’ve got it stored on my database as a document, as well as the original file. I will transfer it to something that can be taken. …How do you plan to do that?”
“Well…” He leaned against the console. “There’s this event coming up, MCC. I think Bad and Philza go to it? Bad dropped out this month I think, too worried about the kids, especially with Cellbit acting off and then going missing. If Philza still has a ticket…that event has a lot of people, plenty of connections he has. Maybe someone there can be trusted to help.”
Philza hadn’t slept well in…a while.
It was expected, with how worried he was about his kids. He’d gone through this before, though back then there had been so much less danger to fight against, so much less to have to protect from…
But that was then, and this was now. And now, he woke up in a stiff wooden chair, his wings aching from where they’d been pressed against his back, sitting up. He was in the kid’s room, and did a quick look around to see what might have brought him to alertness that wasn’t his own aches and pains.
The turtles were still wandering around, Tallulah’s flower pets were sleeping in their pots, there was no little Gegg monster wandering around hissing in his ear. And Chayanne and Tallulah…seemed relaxed in their sleep. He could hear their soft breaths from where he was sitting, which put him at ease as to their safety.
Must have just been soreness, then. Well, as he checked his comm and saw it was sunrise, he figured he had a way to help soothe that at least somewhat. He stood up and stretched, muttering about getting old as he felt his joints pop, before he put his sandals back on and left the room up the ladder.
He climbed onto the house above, lying down on his stomach as he cushioned his head with his arms. He let his wings extend as much as they wanted to in that relaxed position, closing his eyes as he felt the wind and sun soothe his feathers. He hadn’t preened in a while, and he knew that would cause problems for him later, but he couldn’t fly anyway with his flight feathers cut, so it hadn’t taken a priority spot on his list of shit to do every day. But the light fluttering of the wind on some of the more sore feathers helped put him at an ease he hadn’t felt in a while.
He hadn’t had time. He had two kids to look after, as a single parent (Missa would come back sometime, he had to, he promised, and Wilbur would be back for his daughter once his tour was over, which would be its own issue as he didn’t want to let his flock be away from his grasp again-) it was exhausting enough to keep them fed and healthy, let alone the egg quests, other enrichment, dangerous mobs, that fucking code bastard, plus Cellbit getting kidnapped or something, that other Brazilian Felps also got stolen he thinks, Maximus was in the hospital he also thinks he heard at some point, plus four eggs had died by that point, and he couldn’t hear his wife no matter how much he prayed to her for her protection and safety and-
Okay, no more spiraling, he really just…needed to focus on the warmth sinking into his feathers and his bones. Because it felt so soothing, both the warmth and the light relaxed stretch of his wings that he’d ignored far too much. It felt comfortable in a way he desperately needed. He’d just…he’d…
…
He startled awake as he heard the bell attached to the house ring, shoving himself up from his position with a squawk. He attempted to get to his knees, to then push to his feet, but he overbalanced with his wings, sending himself tumbling to the side. “The fuck?” He swore, wincing as his shoulder caught the roof. “Ow-”
He heard snickering, before the sound of a punch, and two sets of seemingly irritated clacking. It took him a bit to both process the noise, and which way was up. By the second punch, he was throwing his legs over the roof, and dropping down to the grass.
“That’s enough- Chayanne, stop hitting Tallulah. Tallulah- no, do not hit your brother back-” He moved between the two, pressing hands to a shoulder of each of them. “Okay, what the hell’s going on? You’re both so energetic today, Gods.”
Tallulah shifted from foot to foot in irritation, clacking her jaw and gesturing with her arms and wings. Her beanie had fallen out of place, partially covering one of her eyes. She huffed.
Chayanne had his arms crossed, rolling his eyes as he huffed back. He reached into his inventory, placing a sign next to them. [Tallulah’s yelling at me for waking you up, but I was bored]
She huffed again, pulling out her own sign to place. [you could have been nicer to abuelito!! he was resting!!! >:(]
[He can handle a bit of noise, that’s how he wakes me up all the time]
[because you sleep like a bear!!]
[Don’t call me a bear!]
[be nice to abuelito then! say sorry!!]
Philza was not awake enough for this shit. “Okay, both of you, calm down. Chayanne, when I woke up to such a noise, I immediately thought there was danger someone was trying to get my attention for.” He looked over to his son. “If you want me awake when I’m not awake, that’s fine, but please consider what it seems like waking up to our giant fuck off bell going off. And not what it means just for you to wake up to said bell. Okay?”
Chayanne sulked, but nodded.
“Thank you. And Tallulah,” He looked over to his (granddaughter, Gods not only did that make him feel old, but reminded him just how young these kids are) daughter. “While it was nice of you to try to defend my honor, or whatever, I’m a grown man and I can handle these things myself. I know you just wanted to look out for me, but you don’t have to worry about that. Neither of you do. You two should focus on being kids. Okay?”
Tallulah looked upset, but she nodded quickly, reaching out her arms.
“Hugs can be had after you and Chayanne apologize to each other and make up, okay?” He pulled his hands away from the two.
Tallulah looked over to Chayanne nervously, again extending her arms. She clicked and chirped, tilting her head.
Chayanne looked her up and down before sighing and rolling his eyes. He chirped and clicked in return, moving to accept the hug.
“Good. Thank you both. Now,” Philza stretched out both his arms and his wings this time. “Chayanne, why don’t you get started on breakfast with a…” He opened his inventory, navigating to the quest menu. “That starts with the letter h. That isn’t hash browns, for Tallulah’s sake. And Tallulah can start her day with some cuddle time. Sound good with you two?”
The two nodded, Chayanne booking it for the trapdoor, Tallulah reaching up her arms again to be picked up.
Philza scooped Tallulah into his arms, before he followed after Chayanne. He managed the ladder with ease, it wasnt the first time he’d had to climb something holding a child, and he felt himself start to relax again once the kids were both safely in their room.
Chayanne was already at his little kitchen setup, standing on his tip toes as he looked in his ingredient backpack. He hummed to himself, balancing with a tail made of bone to match his mask. The mask had been worn for a while, but the tail…that was a new development. Most of his cracked eggshell seemed to be gathered on his tail, though if that was due to damage sustained or personal preference or what wasn’t sure.
Tallulah on the other hand, had only thus far manifested two small horns poking out of her hair. Most of her pieces of eggshell were under her sweater, with the cracked pieces located mostly on her back. That was a bit of a worry for the future, what it would mean for her developing wings, but considering their humanoid forms were not real hatches anyway Philza wasn’t even sure if it would matter at all. He just couldn’t help but worry.
He fixed the young girl’s hat, giving her a snug hug before setting her down again. “Alright, you’ve got some free time before breakfast, do as you’d like.”
She grinned at him, before darting off to the corner of the room to play with her turtles.
He slowly sat back in his wooden chair, pulling out his comm to check it as he waited. He heard Tallulah making a few quiet clicks and chirps, and whenever he glanced over he saw her holding a turtle and bobbing it around as she made the noises. He guessed she was ‘playing house’, or whatever variant you could come up with for a set of live turtles that lived in a moss room. Chayanne apparently understood whatever she was saying, as he would occasionally chuckle as he cooked, sometimes letting out a click of his own that would be answered with a shocked and appalled gasp. So the kids were having fun, at least.
A set of four pings to his comm caught his attention, and he pulled up his messages quickly and read them over. He sighed. “Oh boy.” He heard two series of clatters, and he quickly waved a hand. “No worries for you two, Fit just messaged me and said we need to talk about something that happened last night. You two good while I take a call?” After a set of single knocks, he nodded. “Thank you. Hopefully this won’t take too long…” He clicked the call button.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Philza Minecraft.” Fit’s voice came through the communicator with only a minimum of audio distortion. “Or at the very least I’m guessing it is, since you don’t ever allow video calls.”
“Are you kidding me? You think I’m gonna take a video call on this island?” Philza scoffed. “And you’d be willing to? Fit MC of 2b2t, have you gotten soft?”
He chuckled. “More like gotten comfortable, is more like it. How’ve you been Phil?”
“Same as always. Focusing on the kids. Tired.” He stretched his wings out again. “My son just woke me up because he was, and I quote, bored.”
“You slept that late? Damn, I didn’t mean to keep the old man up past his bedtime last night.”
Chayanne was heard snickering over by the kitchen.
“Oh fuck off mate, I was stretching my wings in the sun and I fell back asleep. It was comfortable.” He smiled, despite himself, even as he changed the tone of the conversation. “Speaking of last night, you said you wanted to talk to me about it.”
Fit’s voice became more serious too. “Yeah, I did.”
“I thought you didn’t want me to get involved, Fit.”
“It wasn’t that.” He sighed. “It was that I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but I wanted to have backup just in case, because last night we did somethin’ really stupid. But it was also that I didn’t know how you’d react if you knew the full story.”
He rolled his shoulders. “So what’s the story then?”
“It’s a two parter, if you can be patient.”
He leaned back in his chair dramatically. “Man tells me to call, and then says I’m impatient for wanting to know what’s going on. Can you believe this?”
A giggle sounded from the corner that Tallulah must have crawled into.
“You know, for someone who’s so old, you sure are the most impatient man I know.”
“You literally came from a place where people would impulsively blow each other up for fun and combat!”
“And?” The grin was audible on Fit’s face.
“Fuckin tell me what’s going on or I’m hanging up, goddamn.”
“Okay, okay, don’t get your feathers bent or whatever.” He paused for a moment. “We broke into the main Federation building.”
“…Fit, what the fuck-”
“It was me, Foolish, Jaiden, and Bad. And we didn’t just do it for fun, we did it for a mission.”
Philza sat up straight, fully focused now. “Was this about Cellbit? Why wouldn’t you tell me if that was the case? I told Bad we’d burn the place to the ground for taking one of ours.”
“Because it wasn’t about Cellbit or the other Brazilian. This was about an egg, Phil.”
His blood ran cold. “What? But no one was in danger- someone would have called out if an egg went missing, right?”
“It was a lost egg. Phil, we got back Bobby last night. He wasn’t dead, he was hidden away in Federation custody. And the state he was in? It was bad, Phil.”
Fit’s words slowly faded out of Philza’s hearing, as he stared off. Because that couldn’t be true, right? He’d heard about the funeral, he hadn’t gone with the others on the rescue mission to the dungeon because he’d thought they’d had enough, but they hadn’t, or they hadn’t done whatever the Federation wanted, and so Bobby’s death wasn’t overturned. Which meant that Bobby had to be dead. Which while that was horrible, if anyone could escape this death trap of a Server it would be a ghost, which would mean that his wife would likely have found the kids, and taken care of them, even in their deaths. She likely wouldn’t have been able to pull any strings, though if the server was as illegal as he thought it was then maybe there was a favor or two that could be called in with Life or maybe with the High Pantheon, but at the very least they would be safe, away from the hell on Overworld that was this shitty island, with someone who could look out for and protect them. Maybe they could even all have shared a Limbo, to have some sort of a childhood.
But that wasn’t true, because Bobby wasn’t dead. Because he couldn’t imagine for even a single moment that Fit would be messing with him about that. Which meant the fallen kid wasn’t fallen, he was kidnapped. Trapped. Taken. A fledgeling was stolen from his flock, while the flock was told he was dead and gone. Was that another experiment? Or were they trying to kill off the kid anyway? Were the other kids still alive? Gods, were all the fledgelings alive? Were they really fully player, in a way that death meant nothing unless hardcore was engaged, and the Federation just…locked them away? Or was this abnormal, and they weren’t fully player yet like their egg forms indicated, and this was just a stroke of luck? Could that even be considered luck, being trapped away in a research facility while those who you love and who love you think you’re dead?
He thought he heard a ringing in his ears, but he was too far away to pay it any mind. Gods, what the hell was happening on this island? The Gods couldn’t hear them, couldn’t answer any prayers, couldn’t provide guidance. The only messages he could receive or send from outside were from his touring son, likely due to Federation influence. He didn’t know if this was just like before, if they were once again trapped in another Server for the Admin’s amusement, or if this was all just an elaborate story and bit that Quackity had been cooking up that had just gone too far. He didn’t think that Quackity would pull from their not distant past for a bit, at least not with the group at large, and definitely not with a ton of other Players who had no idea what the ‘reference’ was supposed to be, but to imagine the alternative would mean that he was once again trapped in a glorified goddamn birdcage again. Again, surrounded by children. Again, having to make choices that effect them. Again, wanting to blow up the entire goddamn world damn the consequences (he can’t do that again, he swore to himself he wouldn’t let himself fall pray to that rage again, that he wouldn’t forget the people around him were children, even if they pretended and acted and cosplayed adults, he couldn’t fail again, couldn’t watch as children tore each other apart again)-
He was finally knocked slightly out of his spiral by something throwing itself into his lap, wrapping arms around his shoulders. He flinched, blinking rapidly as he tried to clear his vision. Whatever was in his lap was shaking slightly, and he slowly wrapped his arms around it, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. He still couldn’t hear anything, why couldn’t he hear anything? He slowly looked down, a thrashing tail of bone being the first thing to catch his eye. He tried to speak, but his voice got stuck in his throat and he had to clear it. “…Chayanne?”
Chayanne pulled back from the hug, resting his hands on Philza’s shoulders. The boy looked over his dad’s face, before bumping their foreheads together, looking into his eyes. There was worry in the kid’s eyes, fear, anxiety, distress, all of those emotions so potent in his behavior as well.
“I…” He took a breath. “…What happened?”
The boy pulled away just a bit, to hold out the comm unit.
“Phil, you back?” Fit’s voice sounded concerned.
“I…yeah.” He turned to cough into his elbow, his throat aching.
Talllah moved close, nervously pulling on her sweater, before she held out her arms again. He picked her up, setting her on his lap next to Chayanne, feeling more secure as both of them rested their heads on his chest.
“Ramon’s still catching me up on what’s going on, he kinda took over and started…talking? With Chayanne and Tallulah? Communicating, at least, I have no idea if it’s a specific language or not, but I had no idea what they were saying.” He took a breath, and Philza was sure he was pacing his home. “I mentioned the kid’s status and you checked out. What happened there?”
“I…” He let out a slow breath. “…Memories.”
“…Is this about your last server?”
He hummed quietly.
“Shit. Okay, is there someone I should call to head over to you? Someone from there, maybe?”
“No.” He cleared his throat again. “Not really…a good idea to see any of them, right now.”
“Even Bad?”
He thought for a moment. If anyone would understand, anyone currently on the server at least, it would be Bad. He trusted the other with the lives of his children, and knowing what Bad had gone through, he was likely also having a rough time. He didn’t feel any resentment towards the other anymore, especially not after the tear filled apology that had fallen from the other after they’d escaped. “…Bad would be fine.”
“Okay. I’m gonna hang up and message him. Knowing him, he’ll be over as soon as possible, okay? You gonna be okay with the kids until then?”
Philza looked at the two kids in his lap. Tallulah was obviously still nervous, fidgeting with his heart necklace as her other hand held one of Chayanne’s. Chayanne was chittering, his free hand both holding open a book and writing in it with a quil. Every once and a while he would pause and look up at Tallulah, and she would nod before he continued writing.
“Phil?”
“We’ll be okay until then. Thanks, Fit.”
“Of course, Phil. Take care.”
Forever didn’t know how this conversation was going to go.
He hadn’t exactly been looking forward to being the one to tell Richarlyson about Bobby. Not because he didn’t think the other would be happy, but more because he didn’t know how Richarlyson was going to react in general. He knew the kid felt smothered, given that he wasn’t allowed out of anyone’s sight for much longer than a few moments, and he could see the irritability building up in the kid. He felt badly for the strain that was being put on the kid, but he also couldn’t help it. He was terrified of the Federation going after him, especially if they found out that it was him that Cellbit had leaked information to.
They just couldn’t risk him being on his own. Which unfortunately meant that he was grumpy and annoyed at all three of them. He hadn’t slept well in days, waking up crying and trying not the let either of the three know to varying degrees of success. None of them were happy with the current emotions or arrangement, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it for the time.
This had been the most freedom Richarlyson had been given since the kidnapping, which was him being allowed to paint in the other room with the door closed. And Forever didn’t want to interrupt that bit of peace the kid needed.
He checked his comm as he avoided the situation for a bit longer.
[Slimecicle: uh, does anyone know why Jaiden would dm me a beach ball, a thumbs up, and a seven?]
[Maximus3blog: you too??]
[Foolish: WAIT WE CAN USE EMOJI???]
[BadBoyHalo: Not in global chat you can’t]
[Foolish: YOURE NO FUN]
[FitMC: Foolish if you post emoji’s in global I’ll fill the chat with ASCII art.]
[Foolish: IS THAT A PROMISE?]
[BagheraJones: Jaiden is not feeling up for talking today, is all!]
[BagheraJones: Slime, Max, dm me please, I will explain]
[Etoiles: if foolish posts emoji am i allowed to kill him?]
[Foolish: NO]
[FitMC: Yes.]
[BadBoyHalo: Yes]
[Etoiles: the crowd has spoken]
Forever smiled to himself at the shenanigans in the chat, before he realized he’d run out of distractions. He had to actually go speak to Richarlyson now. He sighed, pushing himself to his feet and moving over to the door, lightly knocking on it. “Richas? Can I come in for a minute?”
He heard the frustrated huff from the other side of the door, and a few petulant stomps.
“Richas, I just need to talk to you. It’s important, or I wouldn’t be bothering you.”
A few more stomps were heard, before the boy opened the door, crossing his arms with another huff. His eyes were, as always, hidden in his hair, but the glare was obvious anyway.
“Thank you. I need you to know something that happened yesterday.” Forever moved into the room, closing the door behind him. He blinked. “…Ah.”
The room was a mess, paint thrown not just on the canvas, but splattered on the walls and floor. The painting itself was unrecognizable, so many colors frantically put over others that it all seemed to meld together. At least one paintbrush was broken in half, others still coated in paint and discarded haphazardly on the floor. It was remarkable that none of the paint was on Richarlyson himself, but if anything that showed that this was even more deliberate, not just emotional lashing out. But maybe that was good. They could always make him more paints, more brushes, clean up the walls and floor. If this was how he was currently able to self regulate, that was better than current alternatives.
Forever moved to sit down on the floor, his back resting against the wall. “So, you remember how your Pai gave you a few different items, right?” He was trying to be gentle with his tone.
Richarlyson paced back and forth, looking over at Forever. He nodded roughly.
“Well, we gave one of those books to your aunt Jaiden. And using that book, a few of our friends were able to go into a Federation building.”
The boy froze, staring at Forever.
“It’s not Cellbit, not yet, and not Felps either, but…” He adjusted how he was sitting, uncomfortable with the staring. “They found Bobby, and brought him home. Bobby’s alive, Richas.”
It took a bit for Richarlyson to react, it seemed, as he stood frighteningly still, before he started to shake.
“Richas? Are you-”
He slammed his prosthetic heel against the wood, an audible crack sounding from the floor as he threw out his arms and screamed.
Forever flinched, before rushing forward, pulling the boy into his arms. “Richas, it’s okay, it’s okay-”
Richarlyson kept screaming, slamming his fists against his dad’s back as he cried. He was so overwhelmed, he couldn’t even think to communicate. He was upset, he was scared, he was hurt, and there was just…too much. Everything that had happened was weighing down on him, and the thought of even having a glimmer of hope was just too much.
Forever held him close on the floor, rocking from side to side, mumbling and humming to his son. They’d all known he’d break down at some point, but none of them had expected it this soon. Maybe that was part of the problem. they’d been focusing so much on keeping him safe, they hadn’t taken note of how close he was to his breaking point. He ran his hand through his son’s curls, the other arm wrapped tightly around his back.
Eventually, the pounding fists slowed and stopped, the screaming fell to quiet sobs, and rough shaky breaths wracked his little frame. He dug his fingers into Forever’s hair, as if he was afraid he would leave, too.
“It’s okay, Richas, it’s okay…Bobby is back, he’s alive, and we’re gonna get back Felps and Cellbo, and we’re gonna destroy the Federation for hurting our little family. Okay?”
He slowly nodded against his dad’s chest.
“Let’s get you to bed, we can rest together, okay? Tomorrow, we’ll go visit Bobby, and you can see him for real. Okay?”
He nodded again, hands slowly loosening in Forever’s hair. He was already starting to drift asleep.
“I’ve got you, Richas. You’re okay.” Forever blinked away a few of his own tears. “You’re okay.”
Notes:
There were supposed to be a few more scenes, but this chapter already had gone much longer than I had expected (thanks Philza Minecraft), and I didn’t want to break it into two, so please imagine these scenes as you like offscreen:
Etoiles tells Pomme and Baghera. Pomme is delighted and wants to go see Bobby right away, while Baghera busily messages Jaiden.
Foolish doesn’t want to be away from Vegeta and Leo that day, and is very clingy and a bit protective, before telling the two about his mission the day before. Vegeta lectures him a bit about his safety, before Leo asks if that means that the other eggs might be okay too. Foolish doesn’t know how to answer that.
Bad wakes up sluggish, and slept in Dapper’s room on the floor, much to Dapper’s bafflement. Before Bad can explain, he gets the dm from Fit, and he and Dapper go over to Philza’s. Bad helps talk to Phil, while Chayanne and Tallulah tell Dapper that Bobby is alive.
Slime is confused by the dm he gets from Jaiden, so he asks in the chat. After Baghera tells him to message, he does, and she tells him about what went on. After their conversation, he wonders about if the other eggs might also be able to be saved, and decides to move back to the main island. If he can help the others, maybe there’s a chance they can help him get his daughter back.
Chapter 6
Summary:
Richarlyson sees Bobby again.
Philza goes to MCC.
Cucurucho has…a moment.
Notes:
Quick update because I finished this chapter in record time. Also the first chapter with a bonus scene! Bonus scenes are going to be scenes without the main QSMP cast, that are relevant to the story.
Also please note: there are two separate times a group is referred to as Them. These are different groups. It makes sense in context, I promise, I just wanted to make that clear.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Richarlyson hadn’t been still for longer than a few minutes since he’d woken up.
How could he be? His big brother was alive, and not only that, he was allowed to see him! Not that he thought he wouldn’t ever be allowed to, but apparently aunt Jaiden had been having a hard time with her avian traits, and so she was being kinda possessive of him and Roier. He didn't blame her. After all, hatchlings are very possessive of their chosen families. The only reason he could handle sharing his siblings and his parents was because he was sharing them with other people in his hoard. And even then, sometimes there was trouble, like how Chayanne did not like sharing Tallulah unless he was also there, or Dapper got bitey if Bad had to be with other eggs for too long, or any of the other issues they’d worked through.
So he didn’t blame her, but Gods was he excited to finally see his brother again!
He was waiting at the field, pacing back and forth across it. Forever was nearby, as was Etoiles, the latter there to help put his dad at ease with being out in the open. And he was so glad for it, he was so happy to be outside, and able to stretch his leg and run around and feel the wind in his hair and not feel so smothered for a moment.
“Well, look who has left her nest!” Etoiles spoke with amusement, before the sound of a punch was heard. “What? I am simply stating a fact!”
Richarlyson spun around, seeing his aunt look amused at his uncle, but paid them no more attention. Because he saw Bobby, and he was more important in that moment.
Bobby looked…rough. He was in his humanoid form, and he had color returning to his skin, he didn’t look dangerously thin, but…he had still healing bruises along his skin, exhausted bags under his eyes, and held himself as if he was…nervous, or unsure. Like he was afraid.
He took a few steps forward, holding out his arms as he clacked. “Bobby?”
He stood still for a few moments more, before he sprinted forwards, throwing himself into his younger brother’s arms, almost knocking the two to the ground. “Richarlyson, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry-”
He hugged him back as tightly as he could manage. “Shut up- you don’t owe an apology, I’m just so-”
“It’s my fault, I insisted even though dad said not to and-”
“I don’t care!” He dug his claws into Bobby’s overalls. “I don’t care. It’s not your fault. You made a mistake, that shouldn’t mean your death. It shouldn’t-” He sniffled. “It shouldn’t mean being locked away forever.”
Bobby trembled, running a hand through Richarlyson’s curls. “I missed you so much. I was so upset, that I wouldn’t get to see you get bigger, that I was gonna miss hatch day. Being trapped was…” He shuddered. “But I was more upset that I was gone.”
He slowly lowered both of them to sit in the grass. “How…how did you find…?”
He took a slow breath. “…He found me. I…I don’t know why the door unlocked when it did, because that door was connected to the Federation’s systems, but…he walked in, and he saw me. And he promised me that I’d get out.” He rubbed at his eyes with one clawed hand. “I’m…I’m sorry your dad got kidnapped because of me-”
“No!” He holds him tighter again. “It’s- it’s not your fault, they…” He blinked away tears. “…They were always gonna take him away, I think. They took away Felps, and then him. They…they want my dads. And I don’t know why.”
“…I’m sorry, Richarlyson.”
“Stop apologizing, or I’m gonna hit you.” He sniffled, finally pulling back a bit. “…Never leave again, okay? Promise.”
“I promise. As long as I can, I will never let myself be taken away again.”
To say that Philza was on edge was a bit of an understatement.
He wasn’t worried about the competition at all, in fact he was excited to get to take a break and actually have some fun for once. And Fit had promised Chayanne and Tallulah to show them a broadcast of it, so they could see where he goes for a week every once and a while, as well as make sure their quests were done.
No, he’d been on edge because of the contraband that had been hidden in his inventory as he’d left the Server. He’d never been searched before, and there was no reason for it to happen this time, but as he waited for his message of permission to leave he’d been worried this would be the one time it would happen.
But after a simple message of ‘We hope you enjoy your competition.’, he’d been back in the Hub with no trouble.
The first thing he did was look at his wings. The rest of them were a mess, but there at the bottom of his wings were his flight feathers, entirely intact. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, before he started walking down the hallway.
The area he was in was an offshoot of the private portals area, where instead of functional portals there were teleport pads. It wasn’t exactly unheard of, especially for smaller private servers, which it seemed the Federation was counting on. Philza wasn’t exactly happy about the fact, but he couldn’t afford to raise a fuss. He had to keep his head down, for his kids.
As he walked, he rested one hand over his pendant, mumbling quietly. “Lady Death, your Angel requests your guidance.”
A raven flew up to him, landing on his shoulder. “Phil.” Her voice fell from the bird’s beak, as it nuzzled at his neck.
“Kristin.” The relief in his voice was obvious. “I hadn’t heard you in so long, I was starting to worry.”
“I as well.” The raven pulled back, tilting her head. “My ravens haven’t heard from your crows in months.”
“I know. I…I want to explain, but-”
“But it will take time. I understand. As long as you are keeping safe.”
He chuckled. “As safe as I can be.”
Her laugh sounded melodic. “That’s all I can ever ask for.” The raven hopped a bit on his shoulder. “Good luck at MCC. I’ll be watching~” She bumped her head against his cheek, before flying off again.
He lowered his hand, sighing. With that check in complete, he just…needed to stop by one portal, before he went to the MCC portal.
He knew it’d be closed, it always was. But he…always had to check. Just in case.
…
By the time he warped into the MCC Server, he was exhausted again. His lack of sleep was really starting to catch up to him. He looked around as he walked forward from spawn, checking his inventory quickly. He let out a breath as he saw the book was still there.
He knew Scott would let him bring something on the server if he asked, and he appreciated his ‘no questions asked unless it’s dangerous’ mentality, but a part of him had still expected the book to vanish. Maybe he really was getting too paranoid.
He heard footsteps and looked up, smiling. “Oh, hey Martyn. Been a while.”
Martyn Littlewood smiled back at him, leaning back casually. “Hey Philza. It sure has been. How’ve you been?”
“Oh, you know.” He knew the other absolutely did not.
“I figured.” And he absolutely knew that he didn’t either. “Hey, you got any plans for this afternoon?”
“It’s only afternoon? Gods…” He rubbed at his temples. “Actually, I needed to talk with Grian about something. Is he here yet?”
“That’s perfect, actually, because he wanted me to get you to talk to him about something too.” He turned around with a bit of a spin, and a hop in his step. “Follow me! We’ve got a good place to talk.”
“…He wants to talk to me about what exactly?” He narrowed his eyes, but he followed the blonde. He trusted Martyn, and he trusted Grian, but he didn’t like being caught so off guard.
“He’ll explain, don’t worry about it.” The words between the lines were obvious. ‘Something private. Something that doesn’t need prying eyes or ears.’
“…Right.”
“Don’t worry, old man. It’s nothing concerning. …Well, he’s concerned, but I’m sure you won’t be.” He stopped at the door to what looked like a normal one room home, one of the standard housing accommodations for competitors to choose from. “After you.”
Philza nodded once, before opening the door and entering the room. He felt the stillness as he entered, but instead of causing distrust, it put him at ease. Of course. Of course the two would have had Scott make a room that’s protected from Them. And if They couldn’t see, and They couldn’t hear, then there was zero chance the Federation could either. He relaxed even more once Martyn closed the door behind them and stood near the door.
“Philza.” Grian nodded, pushing off where he was resting against the wall. In the blink of an eye his wings returned to their parrot coloration, and his black eyes gleamed in the lantern light. “Good to see you.”
“In person, I assume?” He raised an eyebrow, smirking. “How long?”
“Since you entered the Hub.” He shrugged. “I wanted to make sure you made it okay. You know your status has been listed as ‘Unknown’ since you left MCC last, right?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I guessed as much. No communication in or out.” He rolled his shoulders, stretching his wings slightly. “…It’s bad, Grian.”
“…It’s not like-”
“Not exactly? But it sure feels similar.”
“Shit.” Martyn covered his face with a hand. “It’s not him, right?”
“No, he’s still missing. And the portal’s still closed, I checked. Not destroyed, closed.”
“Is that why your wings are all…” Grian gestured at him.
“…I haven’t exactly had time to take care of them, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Well, in that case I’m going to have to insist you let me fix them. Can’t have my biggest flying competition hampered by unpreened wings, can you imagine how embarrassing that would be?” He grinned.
Philza chuckled. “Yeah, whatever. …First, though.” He pulled the book out of his inventory. “…I need your help. We…we all need your help.”
His amusement immediately fell to seriousness. “What’s up?”
He held out the book. “This book contains series of code that we need translated. It’s above entity caused code, and it’s above Command Block code. From what little I can understand, some of it seems to be tied to Player code. And it’s vital that we understand what it says as soon as possible.”
He took the book carefully, flipping it open. “What’s the main priority?”
“Anything to do with binary, then anything you can find attached to Player code. Then the rest. It’s not even all in English, unfortunately. Though, maybe that’s helpful for us later…”
“Helpful?” He looked up from the book.
“There’s four languages spoken on the Server. If some are in some and not others, that might help us tie what code goes to who or what.” He gestured with his hands. “The languages are English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.”
“Noted.” He closed the book and placed it into his own inventory. “Anyone specific we should look for? …You do know I’ll need to ask for help, right?”
“I know, and I trust you to choose carefully. This…needs to remain secret.”
“…Your Admins don’t know you have this.”
“Nope.”
“Got it. We’ll keep it hidden.”
“Thank you, Grian.” Philza sighed. “We’re missing a few members. DanTDM, ElMariana, Rubius, Spreen, the list goes on but those are the four we’re most worried about right now. Any Player names or ID codes you find, if you could separate them for us to check would be appreciated.”
“You got it. I’ll see what we can do this week.”
“Thank you, Grian. And you too, Martyn.”
Martyn held up his hands. “Hey, don’t thank me, I don’t know about code.”
Philza laughed. “I meant for getting me, smartass.”
“Okay, that’s quite enough. I’m family friendly, you know.” Grian rested his hands on his hips as he snarked. “Now, can I fix your wings or not? Your feathers are making me itch, I can’t imagine what it feels like for you.”
“Fine. Thank you, you silly parrot.”
“You’re welcome, snarky crow.”
The bear didn't know why it was uncomfortable, but something felt wrong.
It walked through the halls of the Federation, feeling something tugging at it. Something telling it that there was something wrong. But it didn't understand. It checked it’s comm a few times, and saw no pending quests. It updated the Egg Quests hours ago. It had completed all of it’s tasks. There was nothing for it to feel uncomfortable about.
It felt a stronger tug, and it realized it was code itself that’s pulling at it. That’s…troubling, in and of itself. But for some sightless code of the Federation to be trying to tug it to a location…something was damaged. And for some reason, a worker wasn’t being pulled for it. The bear was.
It followed the tug on it’s own code, moving down several hallways. It was silent in the halls, other than the furry steps. It stopped at a door, glancing over it. There were no markings on it, no carvings, no signs, nothing. Why was it at an empty room? It reached for the keypad, pressing in a set of numbers it immediately forgot.
When the door opened, it moved forward, flinching as a scream hit it as soon as it crossed the threshold. The door slammed behind it, and it looked across the room, at-
No.
The bear felt dread through it’s body, as it looked across the room. Strapped down to a bed, with various medical equipment strapped to him, with a Command Block wired to his chest, was the cat hybrid known as Cellbit. The cat was screaming in pain and anguish, eyes shut, as he fought against his binds. It’s very own code screamed that this was wrong, that this was not supposed to be happening, and as it saw a tail lash against the bed, a white tail, it wanted to scream itself.
It launched across the room, to press his hair out of the way. White cat ears were what it found, and it flinched back.
The cat’s eyes flew open as it touched him, and he kept screaming, trying even harder to get away.
This was not what was supposed to happen. They had promised it this would not happen again. That it was all They needed. They had the workers, and They had it. They had promised.
This was not perfect.
It felt the code that had pulled it again, focused in the Command Block. It watched it for a moment, before it realized. Whatever the code was, it was trying to restrict what the Command Block was doing. The code also knew this was bad.
It would fix this. It could not make this perfect. But it could stop it from becoming worse.
It reached a paw forward, grabbing the cables connected to the cat’s chest, and it pulled sharply.
The cat screamed louder, as the cables tore from his chest, spots of blood remaining where there had once been metal. Abruptly he fell limply against the bed, breathing roughly.
The bear looked at the cables, before ripping them from the Command Block as well. It put the cables away in it’s inventory, before it waved a hand, two admin panels appearing in front of it. One, it directed to scan the Command Block. The other, it directed to scan the cat.
The cat still hadn’t stopped staring at it. It didn’t know if it had somehow managed to have an emotion on it’s face, but it almost swore it could see a sense of understanding from the cat.
The admin panels kept working, as the bear started removing the bindings. It looked over when the first panel was finished, dismissing it to examine later. The second it pulled over, looking it over. The cat was injured, and some code had been messed with, but…the Player was still intact.
The Player was not perfect, but the Player was not broken.
It dismissed the panel again, as it thought quickly. It could not return the cat, not in this state. The cat was meant to remain in Federation custody. But if it did not intervene…The promise would be broken again.
The promise was never a real promise, it realized.
It…needed to help. But it could not return him, that would be against it’s command. …But it knew what it could do.
It unplugged the cat from the other machines, ignoring their beeps and screeches. The room was soundproofed, the equipment would not be a problem. It reached out and pulled the cat into it’s arms, before quickly leaving the room.
It wasn’t sure if it was because of some strange form of comradery, or if the cat had finally given up, but he rested against the bear without even a moment of fighting. It didn’t like it. It didn’t like that the cat wasn’t aggressive, wasn’t hissing, wasn’t showing teeth or claws. The cat wasn’t acting like the cat.
It hoped that was just due to stress, and not something it had missed in the scan.
It opened a large door, moving into a dark room. The cat seemed to pay more attention after that, looking around. His eyes latched onto a glass container at the side of the room, and it took him over to it quietly.
Within the case was the Brazilian known as Felps, within cryostasis. The very person the cat had been searching so hard for, had put his life at risk for.
It wondered if it had ever felt that way, been that willing to protect someone. It couldn’t remember.
The cat reached out and rested a hand on the glass, before looking up at the bear. His question was obvious, even if he did not speak. ‘Is this my fate as well?’, or something like that.
“Yes.” It’s mechanical voice spoke from it’s comm. “Good evening.”
The cat slumped back against it, eyes closing again. He was too tired to react.
It didn’t understand why he seemed upset about this. He would be alive, and safe, just like the human. His code would have time to stabilize. This was ideal, perhaps he did not understand the situation he was in? It thought he was smart enough to get that. Or perhaps he thought he would be contained for eternity.
It couldn’t exactly blame him, if that was the case. But that would not be what would come to pass. The cat needed to be safe, for the island to be perfect. The residents needed to be safe. It knew exactly what it was doing, as it gently set him into another cryostasis box near the human. It would teach Them that any captured Players were to be contained this way. That this was safest. That this was…closest to perfect. And this was.
The bear knew about the missing egg, after all. And if it said nothing, then that was none of Their business.
It rested a paw on the cat’s head, noticing the streak of white hair, that showed it was alarmingly close. It tilted it’s head as it pulled it’s hand away. “Good evening. I hope you enjoy the island.” It closed the box, watching as the cat slowly closed his eyes, and the box beeped.
Content that the cat was safe, it turned and left the room. It had to follow orders, but it also had to make things perfect.
If it had to work against Them to make things perfect, as They demanded…then so be it.
Notes:
BONUS SCENE:
The tension is…strained.
Martyn’s leaned against the wall by the door, waiting. All he could do was wait, until it was his time to work. He kept his eyes averted from the other figure in the room, for the other’s comfort.
Grian was searching. He’d kept a sharp eye on the invite list, and those who had rejected said invitations. The fact that BadBoyHalo, one of the players that was still listed as ‘Unknown’, had rejected his invitation due to a ‘family emergency’ had been alarming enough. But now Philza was late. He always arrived around the same time, after doing the same routine, and he was late.
Grian hadn’t been able to find him, either. His sets of wings fluctuated between purple and black, his purple eyes lost in a far away sight. Multiple floating purple eyes, almost looking as if they were drawn onto the world’s code itself, lingered around the room.
Wherever Philza was, he was hidden from Sight, and hidden from Hearing. And that made neither of the two in the room comfortable.
A lot of people knew each other, in their social circles. A lot of those people knew that something had gone wrong with the Server known as the DSMP. That something traumatic had happened, that they had been hidden away from help, that things had gotten…horrible. A locked away Server, untrackable, uncontactable, while previously ignored…was now on a lot more radars than before.
Martyn grimaced as he looked towards the door. DSMP hadn’t been the first time that a Server had been locked away, and he should have noticed. He was sure Grian, and the others, also felt that way. But then again, they hadn’t known that Admins could do the same as godlike creatures. That Admins could also lock away their charges, for their entertainment. The thought of an Admin doing that had been unthinkable.
But then it had happened, in a very public way. And now it might have been happening again, and they had no way of knowing. Not until they managed to talk to someone from said Server.
Grian’s head suddenly twitched, several more eyes opening up in the room. “Found him.” His voice spoke more through the code around them than through him, and his eyes scanned through something unseen. “The Hub.”
“Coordinates?” Martyn closed his eyes, taking a breath as he focused on attempting to Listen. He heard Philza talking to himself, before a raven started cawing at him.
“No need. Eye placed.” Several of the eyes close around the room, fading away. “He looks…”
“Bad?” He huffs. “He sounds it, too. Sounds exhausted.”
“His flight feathers are fresh.”
Martyn’s eyes flew open, as the other conversation faded away. “What? So they…”
“Took his flight away, instead of requiring a glamour, or just working based off trust.” Grian’s arms were crossed, and the scattered eyes were closed, but his eyes remained purple, and the multiple wings remained. “Just like before.”
“Shit. This…this really is bad, isn’t it.”
“I’d imagine so. To be able to lockdown a server, to the point that we can’t even reach it? Even he couldn’t do that. We just didn’t think to look.” He took a breath, allowing his wings to fall to a single pair. “The portal is still closed. He checked.”
“…This is likely going to be something that has to be brought to the Council, you know.”
“I know.” Grian rubbed at his forehead. “But we can’t risk it. Not until we at least know what we’re dealing with. How many players are trapped. If we’re lucky, it’ll be as many as last time. If we’re not…”
Martyn sighed. “If it’s a large amount, it’s gonna be even harder to evacuate. Should I ask Nox to be on standby?”
“…No.” He shook his head. “Ask Scott to be on guard, and to be ready if we call in a favor. If he says he doesn’t owe us a favor, say we’re owing him one.” He sighed. “I’ll talk to X, make sure he’s ready in case we need his help. He’ll be more than happy to put a case together and present it to the Council.”
“But we wait to see how bad it is before we proceed, right?”
“Absolutely.” He tilted his head. “He’s here. Would you…”
Martyn waved a hand. “I’ll get him. You focus on getting yourself back together. Don’t want to scare anyone.”
Grian snorted. “Like he could ever be scared of me. What am I gonna do, kill him? Oh no, free vacation to see his wife.”
He laughed, as he pushed open the door. “See you in a bit, Grian. Call me if you need me.”
“Of course. Take care, Martyn.”
Chapter 7
Summary:
Jaiden and Baghera talk a bit.
Forever reads some of Cellbit’s book.
Philza meets up again with Grian.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Everyone had been surprised, when Fit and Foolish had returned from a meeting with Cucurucho with a satellite dish each.
The two had been determined to get the kids some enrichment they could watch. Fit wanted the kids to be able to watch MCC, as he’d promised Philza he’d get for them, while Foolish wanted to be able to show Leonarda building tutorials and watch language learning videos together.
But not only had they gotten access to those types of channels with the dishes, but they’d even managed to get access to some other programs as well. Hermitcraft Recap, the Minecraft Monday Show, and one that Fit was pretty sure was the video equivalent of a ‘play your requests’ radio station. But the kids seemed to enjoy the last one, with the silly bear wearing purple trying to damage his Worlds, and the fox making new creations that made Bad and Foolish freeze up for a few moments.
There had even been quests that week to watch some programs, which had resulted in several watch parties ending up at Fit’s house. He’d actually been surprisingly eager to have everyone over, and had even renovated the main room with the television to be more comfortable for the kids to all sit together.
Which had led to then, the end of the week and the last day of the Minecraft Championships for that cycle. The kids were eagerly sitting on the floor with Fit and Bad, showing their various excitement and support, especially whenever Philza was on screen. Fit explained some of the last games, while Bad pointed out people he knew and told the kids all about them.
Most of the other parents were scattered around in groups, taking the moment to relax as everyone was seemingly safe. Forever had snuck off to a different room after making sure that Richarlyson was secure, and Foolish had left to go work on his dragon while Leonarda socialized.
Baghera and Jaiden were by the window, surrounded by a pile of mixed feathers. The two had taken the time to assist each other with preening, as they usually did, and now were half listening to the kids and half just relaxing. After a while, Jaiden finally looked over to her. “…Hey Baghera?”
“Yes, Jaiden?” She looked over in return. “What is it?”
“…I haven’t had any quests for Bobby this week.”
“Oh?” She thought for a few moments. “Well, if according to the Federation he lost his last life, I suppose it makes sense that he would not have any quests, no?”
“Do you…think he’ll be okay?”
She rested a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Yes, I do. Even if they were to try to take him away again, we would fight and kill.” She grinned. “Etoiles has been waiting to engage in violence, he would be delighted to fight for Bobby.”
Jaiden laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just…”
Baghera nodded. “You worry. I understand. You just got your, eh…fledgeling back. You worry for him.” She smiled gently. “I worry for Pomme always, even though she has both lives. I understand.”
“I know you do. The others…they care, of course. I don’t wanna sound like I think they don’t. They just…”
“Do not feel the same. It is different.” She taps the side of her head. “Flock is very specific. Fledgeling is very specific. They care, but not the same. It is impossible. Not their fault though.” She stretched her wings behind her. “…This reminds me. We should probably check in soon, with Quackity.”
“Yeah…I haven’t seen him lately, but I figured he was just avoiding people. I think he’s still stressed out by the Richarlyson custody battle thing.” Jaiden sighed. “We really all need to communicate better, honestly.”
“We are learning. We continue to learn. It will improve.”
She sighed again, leaning back on her hands. “If Wilbur was here he could get through to him. Those two just understand each other in a way I don’t think anyone else does.”
“They are from the same Server before, yes?”
“Yeah. It…I dunno. Bad doesn’t like to talk about it, and I know a bit, but mostly from discussion other people had when they found out about the Server.” Her wings slumped behind her. “Bad, Phil, Foolish, Wilbur, Quackity, they all were from the same one. Skeppy, who Bad talks about a lot, was too.”
“Hmm. Well, with Hatsune Wilbur currently unavailable,” She snickered halfway through her own sentence, “we’ll just have to do what we can to help Quackity ourselves.”
Jaiden smiled. “Yeah.”
Forever wasn’t…avoiding this, per se. But he definitely was anxious about it.
He still hadn’t read Cellbit’s book. He hadn’t…He didn’t know exactly how to explain. How did he explain that the thought of looking at the book filled him with dread? That he couldn’t stop thinking of the book as the other’s last words? That he felt so much regret for falling for Cellbit’s ‘betrayal’ that he might never be able to make up for, especially when the contents of the book likely would explain the plan?
He was afraid. Reading the book would make it all the more real. Make it more real that Cellbit was gone, that he might never return. That Felps and him might both be truly gone. And more than that…he knew that whatever was within the book would hurt. No matter what was written, it would hurt. And it would either hurt and break him, or hurt and push him to the same point that Cellbit himself had been at. And he didn’t know if he could keep himself from trying to go after the two if that was the case.
He didn’t want to be the third of Richas’ fathers to go missing.
He’d gone and hidden in some elevator based crawl space in Fit’s house, somewhere he hopefully wouldn’t be searched for. He wanted to be close to the others, but he needed to read it before he chickened out again.
He took a slow breath, before opening the book.
[Forever,]
He slammed it shut again. Fuck. He was the first one written to, which mean Cellbit knew he’d be the first to read it. He took a few minutes to breathe, before he opened it again.
[Forever,
I need you to know how sorry I am. I know how much all of this must have hurt you. I…I needed to make it seem real. Seem true. I couldn’t let you in on the plan, it was too much of a risk. I never wanted to actually hurt you. I never wanted to take Richas away from you.
I thought…maybe I could find a way to make them help Richas. Maybe I could find Felps. Maybe I could find something we could use to our advantage.
I don’t blame you if you never want to see me again after this. I broke your trust, and for that I will always regret it. That was the real reason for the password I chose. Because I regret what I did to everyone, even though it was nessassary.]
The last few bits of note on the page were scratched out, and more frantic writing led to the next page. Forever’s eyes widened.
[I found Bobby. Fuck, he’s still alive. it was a lie, Forever. They’ve always been fucking lying. The bastards made up the two life rule. It doesn’t fucking exist.
I made a copy of some code, it might be helpful, I don’t know. Fuck, I shouldn’t have locked away Sofia. Goddamn it.
I FOUND FELPS, BUT THEY KNOW
HE’S FROZEN BUT ALIVE
IN THE MAIN FEDERATION BASE
HIDDEN AWAY]
He rubbed at his eyes, as he saw the final note left for him.
[IM SORRY]
He curled up, fingers digging into his hair. They had a location for Felps. It wasn’t exactly a direct location, but it was a general location, and that was more than they had before. If he had read it sooner…No, they couldn’t have gone for Felps and Bobby at the same time, that would have been too dangerous. But…
He rocked lightly forward and backward, trying to focus on his breathing. He could have a little bit of a panic attack, but he had to get himself back together. He had to put together a plan. He’d…he’d need a team, to help him go after Felps, and…and hopefully Cellbit.
He was going, obviously. He wasn’t gonna just sit on the sidelines again. He wasn’t going to send others to risk their lives and sit behind. Bad would be a good choice to go with, he’d be able to put together a good plan to get them out once they got to their goal. Etoiles would also be a good choice, in case they ran into hostility. They might not, but being prepared just in case was the best plan. But he didn’t think that Foolish’s block trick would work a second time, which meant they’d have to find a new way to break into the building. And he didn’t want to put Foolish in any more danger than he already had been. He could go to Pac and Mike, but if something happened, that would leave Richas with zero parents, and he…he couldn’t risk that. He couldn’t.
He…he’d discuss with Bad and Etoiles. They’d help him figure out what to do.
Philza was riding the high of another successful competition.
His team hadn’t won, but he never really cared about that. He cared way more about making sure everyone had fun. And given how his team had been jumping around and laughing, he figured that was in fact the case. He’d had a great time, it’d been such a relief to be able to fly again, and having challenges that wouldn’t result in possible real death was an absolute relief compared to what he’d dealt with for so long. There was a part of him that didn’t want the week to end.
But his missed his kids, and he couldn’t wait to see them again, even if it was within a hellscape they were still trying to fully escape.
He was on top of the plane again, wanting to enjoy being high up, when he heard someone land behind him. He knew there was only one option. “Hey, Grian.”
“Hey Phil.” Grian walked up next to him, looking off into the distance. “Heading home soon?”
“Yeah, I need to get back.” He glanced up. “Something on your mind?”
“Can you come with me real quick? Before you head out.”
He raised an eyebrow, before he pushed himself to his feet. “Sure thing. Lead the way.”
The other man lept off the plane, spreading his wings and flying off. Philza followed right behind him, keeping note of their path. It looked like they were heading back to the safe house, which made a few of his feathers want to stand on end. On the one hand, that meant he’d found out something important. On the other hand, it meant he’d found out something vitally important.
The two landed just outside the yard, moving up to the door and heading inside. “No Martyn this time?”
“I didn’t have time to get him.” Grian sighed as soon as the door was closed. “I had to make sure to catch you.”
He shifted from foot to foot. “What did you find? Or, your associates, at least. It’s only been a week?”
“It has, and once I get back home tonight I’m going to start work on the project as well.” He was pacing, his wings twitching behind him. “I had a team of the Hermits working on it. There’s still a lot of stuff to go through, and none of us are fluent in the other languages, but some things managed to get isolated out. We…wanted to make sure you at least had something to take with you. I’m hoping that once Wilbur’s tour is over, we’ll have something more complete to give to him to bring back.”
His eyes widened. “You’re planning for the long game, then.”
He scoffed. “Of course I am. You can’t, so someone has to.” He smirked for a brief moment, before his smile fell. “Phil. If there’s anything else you can tell me, we need to know. There’s…there’s some stuff in the code that’s been examined so far that’s…frankly horrifying.”
He sighed. “…I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.”
“How many people are on that Server?”
He thought for a few moments. “…25 or so Players-”
“Gods…” Grian rubbed at his temples.
Philza looked over at him. “…And 11 kids.”
His eyes shot up to meet his. “…What?”
“There’s…” He rubbed at his own temples. “They’re not hatched. They’re- they’re definitely Players, mate. But they haven’t even gotten to the point where they fully count as Players. They’re unhatched dragon hybrids.”
For a moment, the code of the room they’re in seemed to slightly shift, before it returned to normal, and Grian pressed his face into his hands. “Fuck.”
He flinched. “Grian-”
“No- I’m not-” He hissed out a sentence or two in Galactic, before he stomped around the room, wings twitching again to get rid of his anxious energy. “Not mad. I’m just-” He ran a hand through his hair. “That makes things so much more complicated.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“It also- Gods-” He tugged at his hair for a moment. “Suddenly a lot of what I looked over from what they gave me to give you makes so much more sense, and that’s horrific.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll just- you need to read it. I, I think you need to read it with some other people, though.” Grian pulled a different book out of his inventory, holding it out to him.
Philza took the book, looking over it. He could see a bunch of post it notes, papers sticking out with notes on them, and at least three different handwritings just from the bit of the book he could see on the outside. “…Who looked through this?”
“It’s a copy, we still have the other one at home. X, of course, Doc, Iskall, Etho. I think Ren was also helping out with trying to understand some behaviors, even if he wasn’t actively looking at the code.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Philza. Is there anything else we need to know?”
“…There’s an AI. Her name’s Sofia. She’s…important to one of the Players. Like a daughter. Other than that, I don’t know what else I can think of to say.”
“An AI- okay, so she’s not Player, but…I’ll get Mumbo on the case. He might not understand Player or Server code, but when it comes to AI, and AI transfer between Servers, he’s the best I know for the job.”
“Grian, don’t put too many of you at risk about this. If you all get hurt-”
He scoffed. “With all due respect, Phil, I’m not exactly scared of some rogue Admins making their way onto Hermitcraft to get revenge. I’m not worried about any attempts at retribution. We have some of the best firewalls and antivirus possible, because we invented it ourselves. We’re not worried about us.” He let out a breath. “…We’re not worried about us.”
“We’re holding out fine. We’ll do what we can with what data you’ve already translated, see if we can do any of it on our own, and hopefully when Wil comes back he’ll be able to bring some more.”
“Right.” Grian nodded once, before pulling an envelope out of his inventory. “That reminds me, actually. Here, this is for…Maximus, I think his name was?”
Philza took the envelope, blinking. “…What?”
“…You don’t know.” He took a quick breath. “You couldn’t find Dan, because he’s not on your Server. He hasn’t been on your Server in months. He…he had a family emergency, and apparently just…asked to leave? He was basically told if he left he couldn’t come back, and he said he didn’t have time to tell anyone because it was really important, but he…didn’t know the Server was locked down. He thought he’d be able to send a comm message, at least.”
“…Dan’s alive, and safe.”
“And so is his family. Scott actually contacted him for us, and had Dan send through the note. We…figured that you should probably bring that through, too.” He stretched his wings out for a moment. “We’ve also found Rubius…sort of? Parts of him, at least. He has some kind of angel and devil thing going on?”
“Yeah, that’s Rubius. But if you’ve found both of those, that probably means he’s fully out as well. Any luck with the other two?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I’ll give it a look over once I look up their Player IDs, but so far all that was found were…” He trailed off. “Well, you’ll see.”
“…Right.” He put the book and the envelope in his inventory. “Thank you, Grian.”
“Don’t thank me yet, we haven’t even fixed anything. I just hope what we’ve discovered doesn’t make anything worse.” He ran his fingers along the hem of his sweater. “Do your best to be safe, okay? Everyone, of course, but…” His voice fell to a mumble. “…More worried about you, to be honest.”
“What was that?” Philza raised an eyebrow again.
“Don’t worry about it.” Grian smiled, but it was a bit strained.
“Well now I’m gonna, but okay.”
“Just…be careful.” He looked at him, seriously. “Please.”
“…I’ll do my best, mate.”
“That’s all I can ask for.”
Notes:
Next chapter is gonna be a Big Moment and I’m very excited for it.
Chapter 8
Summary:
The team starts to go through the code they’ve gotten back.
Someone runs.
Someone watches TV.
Notes:
Bonus scene in the actual chapter even though it throws off the vibe because apparently there’s a character limit for end notes, so oops
Also I hope y’all like the chapter, please remember that things will be happy in the end.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
To say that the room was tense would have been a bit of an understatement.
Ever since the message that Philza had rejoined the server, there had been a gathering of people at the Order. Max was there, of course, and was joined by Forever, Jaiden, and Baghera. They were just waiting for Philza to arrive. The crow had said he wanted to see his kids and put them to bed before they settled in to reading over the returned data, and none of them could find a way to argue against that. Knowing their tendencies to hyperfocus, they’d likely all get sucked into their work until the early hours of the morning, and those who had kids had either already put them to bed, or had them with their other parents for now. Bad, for example, was getting Dapper ready for bed, but he had told the group to start without him, expecting Dapper to take their time.
Eventually, the blonde pushed open the door, moving inside. “Sorry about that, Chayanne wanted to ramble about the combat he’d seen, and Tallulah wanted to talk about Build Mart. I didn’t expect you guys to actually be able to watch MCC!”
Forever grinned. “Philza! You did quite well, you know?”
He grinned back just as bright. “Of course I know, mate. Some of it was scuffed, like usual, but getting to do both Rocket Spleef Rush and even the Tunnel during To Get To The Other Side? I know there’s a tough battle to beat me.”
“It’s the wings!” Baghera laughed. “I am surprised you are allowed to use them, it is an advantage.”
“Hey now,” He smirked over at her, “My wings are glamoured to work like an elytria during the mini games, the only advantage I have is more practice. Which if they went into single player, or a dedicated multiplayer, they could practice more as well.”
Jaiden perked up. “But you get to fly at the end, right? In the lobby?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely. Free hybrid reign, honestly.” He laughed. “After a fierce game, I’ve seen Ranboo go searching for the best grass blocks to squish between their hands, and I always try to fly up as far as possible. I’m pretty sure Scott’s the reason it usually ends at night, too. Gives him a chance to reconnect with the stars, and all that. You know?”
Max nodded with the air of someone who absolutely did not. “Of- of course.”
Philza waved his hand. “I’ll explain sometime in the future. Though maybe not too much about Scott, he prefers to keep some secrets to himself after all. Anyway,” he walked over to the table, sitting down at one of the empty chairs with a back for wings. “…isn’t Bad supposed to be here?”
“He’s on his way.” Forever nodded. “Putting Dapper to bed. He has been, uh, fussy lately.”
“Is Bad still not sleeping?” Baghera sighed. “No wonder they are worried.”
“I told him, if he didn’t get sleep, then Dapper would get on his ass about it. I told him that, verbatim.” Philza rolled his eyes, as he set down the book. “Anyway, they said they didn't get much done, but it looks like there’s actually a ton of data for us to look through. I’m guessing there was way more data in that package than we thought there was.”
“Did they find any of the missing players?” Forever looked over at the book.
“Oh!” He reached into his inventory again, pulling out an envelope and sliding it across the table. “Max, that’s for you.”
“M-me?” He picked up the envelope, before putting it away. “Ah, thank y-you, Philza.”
“You can speak Spanish if it’s easier, mate. I genuinely don’t mind. I can read just fine, and if takes some of the stress off you that this whole thing is gonna cause, I think that’s a fair trade off, yeah?”
Max simply nodded, before relaxing slightly.
“Anyway, Rubius is safe, off doing fuck knows what. No discovery of Mariana or Spreen, though, which is concerning.” He flipped open the book to the first page. “I haven’t opened this yet- my Gods, what the hell.”
Various pieces of paper fell onto the table, after the cover was opened. Each one was on a different color of paper, and there were various different handwritings across them all.
“How many people are working on this?” Jaiden widened her eyes, reaching out to take one of the papers. “…This is a giant list of binary translations for letters, including some characters with the uh, oh gosh what are they called…”
“The tilde?” Max tried to glance over at the papers. “I think it’s called something else in English.”
Baghera typed away on her comm, before she looked up. “Bad says it is called a diacritic in English. The symbols on letters that English took from Spanish and French and others.” She also looked over to the paper sheet. “It has a note from a ‘Ren’, an apology for not- …you are kidding.”
“Did this guy actually try to apologize for not including a binary translation for every letter than exists in four languages?” Jaiden threw up her hands. “Phil, who are these people you know. They seem crazy.”
“I don’t know Rendog personally, we know of each other but that’s about it. I know Grian, and Grian knows Ren. They’re all friends of Grian. Which honestly doesn’t exactly make them any less crazy, to be fair.”
“We should be respectful of them, they are putting themselves at risk to help us.” Forever moved to a closer chair.
“I imagine we’re more at risk than them, honestly…”
Philza sighed. “Grian already noticed something was off before I even showed up at the beginning of the week. When we’re on the Server, this Server, our locations show as ‘unknown’ in the Player database. No last coordinates, nothing. There’s…there’s a lot of concern for us right now. I think Grian was just waiting for one of us to get out to talk to before he started searching for answers on his own.”
“And it’s safe for him to do that? For him, I mean.” Jaiden shrugged. “I imagine we can’t get in much trouble because of someone we can’t even talk to.”
“He’s stronger than you might think.” He leaves it at that. “Anyway, it looks like…okay, this is some modlist info, we already know quite a bit of the mods that are enabled so that should probably wait…This…this looks like some standard error warnings, we should take note of those later, see if anything shows up as bugged. This…” He slid out a piece of paper. “This looks like some Player info.”
Forever took the paper, looking it over. “It says there are…eight sets of code that seem to follow a similar pattern, and each have a Player ID. And that each one is then listed as their last two numbers. Each one is in different amounts of language.”
Baghera nodded. “If we can put together who is what language, then this should correspond to our kids, yes?”
“I’d imagine so…what do they have listed?” Jaiden leaned forward, wings twitching.
Forever cleared his throat. “01 is started in Spanish, but quickly moves to English only. Same as 03, starts in Spanish, moves entirely into English. 05 is almost entirely in Spanish, with a few words in English. 02 is exclusively English, as is 04. 06 is in a mix of English and Spanish. 07,” He lifts up a finger, “is a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and English. 09-”
“Is French and English. Pomme."
“Exactly.”
“But then…where’s whoever 08 is? Where’s the other three kids?”
Philza looked back at the book, pulling out another sheet of paper. This one was about the Binary Entity, and as soon as he started to look over the words that were written, he felt his skin start to crawl.
“Are they in numerical order because they are all spawned at the same time?”
“That…they’re not like, in exact order, I imagine they just chose the last two numbers to make it easier to read and process instead of typing the whole number each time. They can’t replace it with names yet.”
“Why not? This is Richarlyson!”
“They don’t know who is who, the eggs are not in the Player database, there is no frame of reference for them. Only we have one.”
He was shivering, he was sure he was. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the paper.
“Well, there are two for us to solve easily. Pomme, and Richas. The others may be harder.”
“We can probably put some of them together…like 01 and 03, I bet those two are Ramon and Chayanne. Had Spanish parents who left, leaving them with English. Just need to figure out which one is which.”
“Using that…02 and 04 must be Dapper or Tallulah. Only one parent, who spoke English.”
“So 05 is Leo, who only really speaks Spanish. And that leaves 06 as Bobby, with both English and Spanish parents. Right?”
Philza finally shoved himself back from the table, causing the others to all turn at look at him. He was panicked, only almost able to hide it, as he got to his feet. The chair fell to the floor, and his hands trembled.
Forever’s face filled with concern. “Philza?”
A single avian sound came from the crow, before he turned and sprinted out of the room.
Baghera and Jaiden both flinched at the noise, hurrying over to look at the paper he had been examining. Baghera cursed under her breath.
“…Oh Gods…”
“What did he say? Jaiden? What did he say?”
“He said ‘fledgelings’. Forever, this…this paper is about the Binary monster.” She lifted the paper in her hands. “There are three Player codes within the Binary monster. Two in Spanish, one in Spanish and English.”
Max pushed the sunglasses up his face, eyes wide. “…Trump, Tilin, and Juana. They’re…they’re the Binary?”
Forever huffed. “Why did that make him panic? This is good, yes? We know where they are! We can start separating code to find them!”
Baghera shook out her wings. “Forever, they’re fledgelings. I know you do not understand the same, but fledgelings are important for avians in a way that is difficult to explain.”
Jaiden set down the paper. “Fledgelings are like, they’re special, you know? They’re to be cherished. A flock doesn’t always have a lot of fledgelings at a time, and each one is seen as a precious treasure and a gift. To be protected at all costs. Philza is willing to do anything to protect our fledgelings. And now,” she sighed, “and now he’s just found out that the thing he tried to protect them from the most, is made up of fledgelings. And he didn’t just try to kill it. He pledged to kill it.”
Philza can’t fucking do this again.
He knew he shouldn’t be alone, he knew he needed to be around people, he knew that the other two avians in the room would understand. But…he also couldn’t take that risk. If he ran, he didn’t have to see if they reacted poorly. If he ran, he didn’t have to face the consequences of his actions. He always ran. What’s one more?
(He knows that’s illogical. He knows he’s spiraling, he knows he needs help, but the only person he wants to see right now isn’t here, and in another world is dead by his own claws wielding a sword. Just like his daughter. Gods, he really doesn’t change does he?)
He hadn’t stopped back at the Federation to get his wings recut, and he hadn’t bothered to apply a glamour before he returned, so he quickly took to the sky. He missed flying. He’d felt so trapped on the ground, and now that he finally had it, he realized he could never use it again. It would put a target on his back, with the Federation. (Another target, he doesn’t forget the one that must be on him now. He’d threatened the children. He hadn’t known, but he’d done it anyway. He’s a target for death if he’s lucky).
He had to run. To hide. He knew what he really owed, for the crime he’d attempted to commit, but he…he couldn’t do it. Not yet. He…he needed to know his kids would be okay. He needed his kids to be okay.
He landed on the wall quickly, trying to move as quietly as he could. He knew Tallulah was asleep, but he heard the movements of a still awake Chayanne doing some practice sparring. He moved into the above ground home, gritting his teeth at the sound of the door. Luckily, Chayanne didn’t seem to notice.
He shook his head, ruffling his feathers as some fell to the floor. He didn’t care. He reached into his inventory, pulling out his backpacks one by one. Each one, he quickly checked before setting it on the floor. Eventually, he pulled out his weapons, too, and placed them in one of the discarded backpacks. The only one he kept was his food backpack.
He pulled off his armor, too, discarding it on the unused bed. (He can’t get himself to use it, not with Missa being gone for so long. He doesn’t have time to sleep, anyway. He has to take care of his kids, keep them safe- …including safe from himself, and whatever he brings upon himself-) He let himself take a single blanket, and his digital camera. He set the analogue camera down on the counter along with the album, before his claws twitched and he snatched them up again. He didn’t want to take those memories from the kids, but if the others knew…they might burn them, and if that was going to happen he might as well keep them anyway.
He took a slow breath, moving outside to the copy machine. He pulled out the canvases, lining them up to take two photos of them, before putting them back. He tucked the photos away, before quickly moving back inside. He reached for his comm, ignoring the world chat entirely, and sent two direct messages.
[You whisper BadBoyHalo: please take good care of them for me.]
[BadBoyHalo whispers you: ???]
[BadBoyHalo whispers you: Philza?]
[BadBoyHalo whispers you: are you okay?]
[BadBoyHalo whispers you: where are you??]
[You whisper FitMC: please take good care of them for me.]
[FitMC whispers you: Phil?]
[FitMC whispers you: I don’t know what’s going on, but I see people freaked out in world chat.]
[FitMC whispers you: Phil tell me where you are.]
[FitMC whispers you: Phil, don’t do this.]
He set the comm on the counter, moving to grab a piece of paper. He felt terrible. He knew this would crush Chayanne, that this would devastate Tallulah. But maybe, if he was lucky, the others would still welcome them. They wouldn’t be punished for his crime. (Bad and Fit would be better dads than he ever was, anyway. They hadn’t managed to kill their own kids twice. …Three times. Gods…) He wrote a small note.
[I’m sorry.
I love you two so much.
Be safe.
-Dad]
He paused for a moment, before scratching out the signature. He looked over once more to his comm.
[BadBoyHalo whispers you: Phil???]
[FitMC whispers you: I’ll be at your house.]
[FitMC whispers you: You better still be there.]
[FitMC whispers you: Please.]
He turned and left the house, noticing Chayanne’s sudden quiet behavior. He took quick steps to the trap door and slipped the note in the slot, before he turned around and started to walk away. He heard the two locked doors below him open, and he knew that had to be Chayanne running to see what was going on, what the sound was. Which likely meant whatever Fit had mentioned in world chat had been seen by him. Which meant he was running out of time.
Voiding wasn’t only something the eggs could do. It typically required some sort of connection to the Server in a special way, via a special client, mod capabilities, or like for the eggs, seemingly a self preservation technique. He had none of those things. What he did have, though, was a connection to Lady Death herself, and even if she could not see or hear his call, the void she called her home would always answer his pleas.
As he heard someone skitter up the ladder behind him, heard the waystone start to activate, and heard his own murder of crows start to try to make their way towards him, he took a breath, closed his eyes, and
Fell
Down.
The first thing he did was he removed his nameplate. It was unnessasary. He had no comm, he had no reason to have a nameplate. This was easy.
The next was spread his wings, and fly through the void. He wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. The Server would notice some strange behavior, and remove him from his state. It was the closest he would get to his wife, to his home, for a long time. He could enjoy it for a brief moment.
The final thing was maneuver his way through the void, to his new goal. He couldn’t hide somewhere without a plan, he’d get himself hurt and people would find him. No, the only option was for him to go to someone else. Someone who would understand.
Someone who knew better than anyone else what it felt like to commit that kind of crime.
He flew towards where he knew Slimecicle to be. Slime wouldn’t turn him in, even if he deserved it. Slime would understand. He had to understand. He had to.
There were no other options.
The entity felt his shoulders slump, or whatever passed for shoulders anymore, as he watched the two inside the window.
He’d been watching TV, as the parent and child had been watching, but suddenly there were all sorts of words flying through the world chat, and trying to focus on it hurt his head like always, so he ignored it and tried to keep watching. But suddenly the parent had turned off the TV, said something about ' I need you to go to safety’, and said something about ‘I have to go help your uncle’, followed by a confused chirp and a clack of distress, and then the house was empty and silent.
He didn’t want there to be silence. He wanted to watch the funny bear on the TV.
“He isn’t coming back tonight, I bet.” They spoke up, numbers swirling around his sort-of head. “Something’s gone wrong, according to the islanders.”
“Ooo, it’s Philza!” She giggled, numbers swirling around his hands. “We should go kill him!”
He didn’t want to kill anyone. He wanted to watch the funny bear. He didn’t like how loud the two always were, when he was the one in control.
“The crow?” They scoffed, and he felt their annoyance rise. “He was mean to my papa. He bullied him all the time while he was grieving. It’s not fair. He forgave your papa!”
“Papa had me kill him once. It was with a gun! He got so mad but then Papa made him go away before I could shoot him again. We could shoot him again!”
He moved his hands up to cover where his ears should be. It never made the two be quiet. The code was always so loud, even when no one was speaking. It used to hurt too, but he wasn’t sure when it stopped. He wasn’t entirely sure it did stop, maybe he just got used to it.
“Let’s just play with him a bit, mess up his stupid wings. Make him fall.”
“Let’s kill him!! It would be so fun, and he’d probably even be mostly okay afterwards!”
“No.” He grumbled, crossing his arms like a petulant child (he was one, after all), “I wanna watch the bear. We’re watching the bear.”
The code around his head spun in front of his not-quite eyes. “Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do that?”
His hands itched, as the code along them flowed up his arms. “Oh! Oh! Are we gonna break in? Smash the windows? Burn it down??”
He huffed, before resting his hands against the windows. The rules were, no getting into the safe houses of the eggs. This wasn’t an egg house. And there weren’t even any eggs in it anyway. Which meant this window…
…Meant nothing, and he looked around at where he stood in the room (stood? Floated? It was unclear, as it always was. He ignored it), before moving to sit where the other two had been before. The code around his head, and around his hands, moved to settle, as he willed the TV to turn back on.
He relaxed as it turned back on, smiling (or at least, he felt like he was smiling) as he saw the funny bear in purple. He much preferred that bear to the one he knew.
“…Fiiiine, we can watch I guess.”
“You’re so boring…but maybe you can learn a thing or two from this guy!”
He wrapped his arms around himself, as he sat where the egg had once sat, and wished (not for the first time) that his dad was with him.
BONUS SCENE:
They’re all scattered around the room, when their comms go off at the same time.
Xisuma’s spot was at the main table in the middle of the room, numerous Admin screens around him as always. His main screens, the ones that focused on his Server and his Players, were a simple blue. It was his usual color for his screens, partially because it made his ‘there’s an immediate issue’ screens really pop when they showed up in bright red. His screens that he was using to go through some of the thefted code were green, with things that concerned him popping off into yellow screens. He looked over to one of his main screens to check the logs, relaxing ever so slightly. “Grian’s home.”
Doc was sitting in one of the smaller divots in the floor, along with Etho, having converted it into a semi nest. The focus he was putting into his segments of code searching were taking a toll on him, so he had dropped his glamour to save energy, which brought a bit of discomfort itself with his four pawed Creeper lower half. So a nest it was, to be comfortable on his body, and to partially obscure it. No one in the room, or on the server, would judge him for it, but everyone had their own pace to be comfortable with themselves, so no one would push him. “Good.”
Etho, meanwhile, was leaned back against Doc’s fluffy midsection, constantly circling and writing notes on another paper copy of his section of code. While the others were working a bit more generally, it was his job to locate Player IDs, as well as try to isolate any segments he was pretty sure had to do with Player code. He was taking notes on what IDs he saw, where in the code they were, what other codes they seemed to either be connected to or have closeness to, and try to collect that in some sort of order. Honestly, he was content to be working in the nest, it was much more comfortable then his terrible posture in a chair over at the desk again. “We didn’t miss a win, right? I’d feel kinda bad if we missed one of his wins.”
Iskall was lying on one of the couches, Moderator panels floating above them. They were trying to pull out any modified code, specifically from Player made mods, to see if they recognized any of them that might be on the server. And the code they’d been given had a surprising amount of Server data within it. They hadn’t had much trouble at first, with some mods being absolutely obvious to them given their experience in the field. Meanwhile others…they had set aside for Grian to examine. They were quiet, entirely focused on their task.
Ren was on another couch, with a book and quill of his own. He was writing out things that they thought they had understood from the code, people they thought they could account for, and trying to draw connections between them. If all this code was wack, then there had to be a reason for it, meaning if they could figure out the reason, they could be ahead of the game on how to get everything fixed. Unfortunately, with so much data currently incomprehensible until they got permission to use a digital translator, his book looked more like a conspiracy board then a put together plan. He’d focused on writing down a Binary to Letter translation instead, that they’d included in the book Grian had gotten to give back. “No, he didn’t win. Placed really good though! The Rocket Spleef Rush battles were the best this time, in my opinion. But Ace Race is always a classic, especially for someone so skilled at flying.”
“He needs more trident practice.” Doc snorted. “I could give him a few lessons…”
“Lessons that don’t involve lightning, I hope.” Grian spoke with a smirk, having teleported directly into the room instead of bothering with the door.
“Where’s the fun in that?” He smirked back, before closing his eye again.
“Hivemind, or exhaustion?” He asked, stretching and shaking out his wings.
“Both.” Etho chimed in, scratching out something in his book. “He didn’t want to rest until you got back.”
“Tattletale…” Doc fell into slumber quickly, having used almost all of his energy. His robotic eye dimmed to his sleep mode level.
“Well, I’m home now, and everything’s locked up and secure. Get some rest, Doc. I’ll start some work from here.” He moved over to join Xisuma at the table. “I’ve also sent a message to Mumbo, asking him to come over too. There’s an AI that will also need extraction."
“Of course there’s an AI. Of course it’s not simple. Why would it be?” Iskall grumbled to themselves, not out of malice, but out of frustration at the situation itself.
“It gets worse, actually.” Grian rested his hands on the table, letting out a sigh.
“What’s up?” Xisuma moved the screens in front of him out of the way, to look across at the avian. “Did you get a list of people?”
“Not quite, but I got a rough number of Players. It’s 25, by the way.”
“Oh Void…”
“Oh boy…”
“Gods damnit, they’ve got that many trapped?”
Ren cleared his throat. “Did you say rough number? They don’t even have a confirmed number?”
“Oh, it gets so much worse. That’s the rough Player count.”
Xisuma stilled. “…They have NPCs as well?”
NPCs’ were…a bit of a taboo topic. Mobs themselves, after all, weren’t truly counted as NPCs. Sure, they weren’t Players, but Mobs had their own thoughts, their own reasons for decisions. Players and Mobs were separate types of creatures in the world, but there was often overlap. A Slime Player, for example, or a Creeper Hybrid Player. Even AI, while not Player, were still considered Entities. No AI stayed at an NPC level for long, in anyone’s experience. And some AI even became Players over time, like the robot that hosted the Minecraft Monday show. True NPCs were…created by Players, specifically to not be Players, but to seem like them. And even then, the line between an NPC and an Entity were extremely thin. But even with all of that…
“I almost wish they did. It’s worse, X.” Grian’s wings slumped, twitching. “They have unhatched Players. 11 of them.”
The room became deathly still. At the very beginning of the problem, unhatched Players, or any kind of ‘Pre-Player’ at all, were under extreme danger. Without fully recognized Player code, they were usually forbidden to travel to any other Server, with it usually being safer to keep a Pre-Player in the Server they spawned in until their code solidified. Usually, Pre-Players spawned on Servers that were safe to begin with, or if it was a more dangerous Server there were protocols in place just in case. Even 2b2t had protocols for Pre-Players, and it was an Anarchy server with age restrictions like any Anarchy server worth it’s salt. To have Pre-Players spawned in a Server that was in a forced lockdown, without much access to the outside, with what data they’d already discovered…was concerning. But it was even worse, as those in the room began to put together the pieces.
“…You said 11?” Etho spoke, having fully sat up from his comfortable position. “I’ve found 14 unaccounted for Player IDs, or at least, including the semi corrupted IDs. Does that mean…”
“That those codes that are similar in format are the children? Probably.” Grian let his head hang forward. “And the fact that they’ve developed enough to have Player IDs at all…”
“Means that they’ve been intentionally restricted by their Admins from hatching at all.” Xisuma’s voice was low, serious, and containing a barely disguised fury. “Because the only reason to keep a Pre-Player from becoming a full Player is that Players are registered in the Player database.”
“You can’t track what you don’t know exists.” Iskall took a slow breath. “…This is so much worse.”
“And we still can’t report this,” Ren closed his book, “because if we do, it puts not just those Players at jeopardy, but those kids too. And the kids can’t run as easily as Players can.”
“I have an idea on how we can get them into the database.” Grian gestured aimlessly with a hand across the table. “But in order to do that, we’d first need to figure out how to undo the hatch block they’ve got on them.”
Xisuma nodded once. “I’ll start searching the code for the block immediately. Etho?”
Etho nodded, returning to his comfortable position. “I’ll send you all the Player ID’s I’ve got, as well as their associated languages.”
“I’ve got some mods I need you to look at, Grian, I can’t tell if they’re homebrew or if their code is just…garbage.”
“I’ll be right over. Yes, Ren?”
Ren lowered his hand. “Do you have a translator we can start using on some of the other language code? I assume we shouldn’t use a generic one since there’s risk of data scraping.”
The door to the room opened, and Mumbo Jumbo blinked as he entered. “…Oh, this seems…this is much bigger than what I was expecting this project to be, it seems. Er…did you say you needed a translator rigged up? What languages?”
“Spanish, Portuguese, and French. And maybe Binary, so we don’t have to keep translating it by hand.” Grian gestured with a wing. “Welcome to the project, Mumbo. We’re currently trying to save a locked down server.”
Notes:
Some worldbuilding info real quick:
The minecraft multiverse exists in this, which means a lot of different servers are all canon to the universe, but are just not super relevant.
The TV people:
The white bear wearing purple is the creator known as Knarfy, he makes videos trying to break minecraft.
The fox that made Bad and Foolish freeze up is Fundy, post DSMP he gets really into server modding and tries to teach people stuff while being silly.
The Minecraft Monday show is an old YouTube series from ages ago, hosted by BeBopVox. His skin was of a robot, so he’s a robot in canon. In this canon, he still makes the show every week.
He’s also one of only three people from Minecraftia (the Yogacast worlds back in the day) who is public these days, everyone else is kinda quiet and tries to keep to themselves. The second person is William Strife, but he’s more a ‘if you see him you might recognize him because of papers he’s written’ kind of known, not a 'I go out intentionally for people to know who I am’ kind of known. The other person who’s public is Martyn. He went to Evo after leaving Minecraftia, and well, you likely already know how that went.
Chapter 9
Summary:
Fit helps some people try to cope.
Max reads his letter.
Slime has some thoughts.
Somewhere, two people wait for rescue.
Notes:
Honestly was kinda struggling with this chapter because Life Stuff and then the QSMP went on it’s angst arc which was A Bit Difficult haha
Here it is now, though. Hopefully this will be easier to update now that I’ve broken through it.
Chapter Text
Fit knew he hadn’t been fast enough as soon as he’d arrived, and that was before he heard Chayanne make a noise of distress.
He turned quickly, moving over to the young boy’s side. “Chayanne, what’s wrong? What happened?”
The blonde dragon rubbed at his eyes with one hand, bone tail lashing across the ground. His wings trembled at his back, and he was trying to choke back his upset sounds. He unclenched his hand on the ground, revealing the now crumpled paper he’d been holding.
Fit gently took the paper, his other hand resting on the boy’s shoulder. He read the note quickly, before letting out a sigh. “…Shit. Something really set him into flight mode, huh?”
Chayanne sniffled, before using one hand’s claws to dig a message into the dirt.
[Why is he leaving me?]
“Oh, kiddo, no…he’s not. He…he’s running off because he’s freaked out, but he’s not leaving you. He’ll come back.” He wasn’t sure he had the words to comfort the young dragon, but he knew he had to try.
[Missa left. Now Dad left. What did I do wrong?]
Shit. Okay, so Chayanne had a lot more trauma than he had been willing to let on. That…that was a problem. Fit scooped up Chayanne into his lap, as he sat more fully on the ground. “You didn’t do anything, bud. Missa has a very important job, and he’d thought this whole server would be a vacation, not…what it ended up being. He can’t cancel his work, he does very important work for Phil’s wife. And Phil…” He sighed again. “I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know what’s going on. I looked at world chat but everyone was being really vague, But if it’s enough to scare him into running, it’s something big.”
Chayanne leaned over towards the dirt again, before reluctantly taking a book that Fit pulled out of his inventory.
[Why didn’t he take us with him? Does he…not trust us? Trust me?]
“He wants you safe, Chayanne.” He ran a hand through the boy’s hair. “He messaged me, asking me to take care of you and Tallulah. Whatever’s got him spooked, it has him afraid for your safety. Or at the very least, has him afraid for your safety if he sticks around.”
[Why would he be scared? He’s so strong.]
“You’re strong too, Chayanne, and you still get scared.” He rocked them both lightly from side to side. “Fear is a normal emotion for mortal species to feel. It just makes people act irrationally sometimes.”
[…Will you bring him home?]
“Chayanne, I promise you, if I’m able to get my hands on him, his ass isn’t leaving this house or his nest for at least a godsdamned week.”
Chayanne smiled faintly at that, before slumping against Fit. Mission accomplished.
The waystone went off behind them both, and Fit tensed up, arms around Chayanne protectively.
“Philza? What the fudge was that message?? Philza-” Bad paused for a moment, before his steps quickly approached. “Oh fudge- Fit, what’s going on? I got a message from Philza, and-”
“Me too.” Fit slowly stood up, keeping Chayanne in his arms. “Phil left that note for Chayanne and Tallulah, and vanished.”
He moved over quickly, leaning over to scoop up the paper, before he gasped. “Oh no, this isn’t good…What happened?”
“You know as much as I do. Or at the very least, I don’t know much.” He shrugged. “Phil said he had a meeting with the Order today? But that’s all I know.”
Bad tensed up. “I was on my way there to meet up with them all, I told them to get started without me. I was just putting Dapper to bed, and then I was going to be there…” His tail lashed behind him. “What could have been in that data to scare him so much…?” He mumbled to himself.
“What was that?” He raised an eyebrow. “What data are you talking about?”
He flinched, before his tail drooped. “…It’s a long story. We…we should be inside with the kids right now. There might be listening ears.”
Something was going on, that Bad was worried about people hearing. And not anyone specific, which probably meant there was concern about the Federation as well. And it possibly had to do with Phil’s disappearance. Great. Of course. Sure.
Fit nodded once. “Alright, let’s get back downstairs then.”
It was harder than he expected to climb down a ladder while holding a child, but Chayanne refused to let go of him, and he wasn’t gonna make the kid do anything he didn’t want to right now. He moved into the room just in time to see Tallulah slowly sit up in her bed, sliding off her sleep headphones. Her eyes widened with immediate concern as she saw the state Chayanne was in, and she chirped nervously. Chayanne chirped in reply, and Tallulah froze, before a small whimper fell from her.
Bad quickly crossed the room and picked up the girl. “Tallulah, I’m so sorry you got startled awake so badly. Let’s get a little nest set up, okay? How does that sound?”
Fit moved over to the middle of the room, where a pile of pillows and blankets were half heartedly pushed together. “Uh, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this isn’t a normal kind of nest.”
Chayanne squirmed a bit to be set down, as he went to work on the pile.
“No, it isn’t. Philza hasn’t been sleeping in a nest, has he…”
“He sleeps in that wooden chair. Says he needs to stay ready to protect the kids.”
Tallulah pulled at Bad’s cloak, letting out another sad chirp.
“…Tallulah, something happened with Phil.” Fit spoke up before Bad got a chance. “We don’t know what it is yet, but we know he’s freaked out and scared, and he ran.” He moved over to the two, taking Tallulah into his own arms. “He asked us to take care of you two, so it seems like he was afraid staying here would put you two in danger, but we don’t know why.”
“I’ll ask them now. I’m going to message Baghera, she’s the one who was contacting me while I was running late.” Bad moved to sit near the nest. “Fit, you be with the kids in the nest, I’ll…join once I’ve got a better grip on the situation.”
Fit looked over to the nest, and felt his heart sink as he saw Chayanne’s grabby hands from the sad pit of blankets surrounded by pillows. He kicked off his shoes, stepping carefully around the pillows as he sat down. Chayanne climbed into his lap with Tallulah, the two immediately gripping each other’s hand. The two dragons quietly chirped and chittered, as they slumped against Fit’s chest. He held the two close, rocking lightly from side to side again.
So, both of the kids he was holding had some kind of abandonment issues. Tallulah was afraid of being left alone again and afraid her dad wouldn’t still love her when he got back, while Chayanne was sure he must have done something to not earn the love of his working dad and was afraid he’d pushed his one remaining parent away. Meanwhile said parent ran off due to fear, something big enough to scare the survivalist and husband of Death herself, to the point he was desperate to keep the kids safe.
And he’d voided. Fit knew what voiding looked like. The kids didn’t always do it often enough to notice, but he’d been from the wasteland. Anything went, there, and that included voiding. And voiding without a client built to do it required either a special connection to the Server, or an immense usage of power. Which meant that Phil had used his power to void. His power that he hadn’t even reached out to tap into since they’d arrived on the island.
And as he checked his comm again, he noticed the missing name in the connected list. Not even listed as AFK, just entirely missing, without any disconnection message. Which meant that not only had Phil voided, he’d gone entirely off the grid. The guy probably didn’t even have his comm on him, just in case he could be tracked that way. So he was scared enough to run immediately, asked the two people he trusted the most to look after his kids, abandoned his comm, hid his Player tag, and voided to get somewhere no one would know he was heading to. What the hell kind of data was worth that kind of response?
Bad hissed from across the room, knocking him out of his thoughts.
“Uh, what’s-”
“Fuck!” He snapped, digging his claws into the moss below them, his body contorting as he grew in size. “Gods-” He swapped to what Fit could only guess was Galactic, and the way he hissed and spat the words, it seemed extremely likely that Bad was cursing out the entire…well, possibly everything in existence.
Tallulah flinched, clinging tightly to Fit’s shirt. Chayanne growled quietly, tail lashing again.
“Bad. Bad!”
The demon’s eyes snapped up to glare at him, before he realized who he was looking at, and he slumped slightly. “…Sorry. I…”
“You swore, and it scared Tallulah and pissed off Chayanne.” He shrugged. “The hell’s going on?”
“It’s…” He huffed, as he had to curl over on himself to fit comfortably in the room. “…It’s…it’s terrible.”
The two kids froze in his arms.
“Is it fixable? Whatever the problem is, is it repairable?”
He paused for a bit. “…Hopefully. We don’t…we don’t know yet. Theoretically? But it entirely depends on…Gods above and below, it depends on so much…”
“Are we talking about what happened with Phil, or what set Phil off?”
“The latter.” His tail wrapped around his leg. “Philza…it’s a hybrid thing. And a past thing. He’ll be okay, if we can find him and show him things are okay.”
Fit’s eyes widened, even as the kids relaxed slightly in his arms. “Like, a ‘previous Server’ thing?”
“…Yeah.” He reached up to rub at his temples. “…Gods, we can’t go through this again…”
“…Bad, I really need you to start explaining things, because you’re freaking me out.”
He was quiet for a bit longer, before he sighed. “…None of this information leaves this room. That applies to all three of you. Understand?”
Fit’s eyes widened, as the kids nodded. “Of course. What’s going on?”
The demon sighed, pressing a hand over his eyes. “…Before Cellbit was kidnapped, he left Richarlyson a backpack full of info. That included a bunch of code data that was too dense for us to understand. We sent a copy with Philza when he went to MCC, in hopes that he could get some trusted help getting some of it translated. Well, with what they got done in the week he was at MCC, they were apparently able to narrow down Player data for the eggs. As well as Player data within the Binary Entity.” He looked over at the three again. “…The Binary Entity is the fallen eggs. Trump, Tilin, and Juanaflippa.” He took a shaky breath. “The dead eggs have been trying to kill the other eggs, trying to kill everyone. I…” He curled up a bit more. “They’re green, not red. They’re green, not red. Not red…” He muttered to himself. “…Not red…”
Fit was absolutely out of his element. Here he was, sitting in a ramshackle nest with two upset children, while the friend who knew what was going on was having some kind of ‘Before’ based meltdown, because his other friend also seemingly had some kind of ‘Before’ based meltdown. The wasteland might have sucked, but at least that was something he knew how to handle. This absolutely wasn’t. “You’re right, they’re not red.” He tried, seeing if that would help.
Bad seemingly ignored him, mumbling to himself in English and Galactic.
He tried to think of something he could do to get the other’s attention. He couldn’t go for physical grounding techniques, he needed to provide that for the kids right now, and he wasn’t entirely sure what Bad’s reaction would be to being touched right now anyway. Last thing they needed was an accidental death at that moment. The demon was protective, immensely so, and if he accidentally provoked him he wasn’t sure the other would realize what was going on before the death message. …Though, the protective nature…that gave him an idea.
He’d heard Ramon make a few noises before. Besides the last few times, he had a specific noise he used with Dapper if the fighting between the two got too serious, or got overstimulating. He’d also heard Dapper make it a few times, if he was becoming upset without having Bad’s attention. So maybe it was a distress sound, or a ‘pay attention to me’ sound? And if that was the case…maybe that would get through to him?
Fit struggled for a few moments, before he attempted to copy the sound as a sort of whistle. While Bad did not react at all, the two children in his lap certainly did.
Tallulah looked up quickly, reaching her hand up to his face to check if he was alright.
Chayanne, on the other hand, looked up at Fit with confusion. He chirped, in a tone that almost sounded curious.
“Sorry kids, didn’t mean to startle you. I’m alright. I was trying to get Bad’s attention by mimicking a sound that Ramon’s made before. He’s…” He gestured with one hand. “He’s a bit lost, like Phil was the other day, and I don’t think touching him will work like it did for him.”
Chayanne seemed to think that over before he nodded, turning to look at Bad. He let out the sound, what was seemingly a mix between a chirp and a whistle. He waited to see if Bad would react, before making it again.
Tallulah looked over, tightening her grip on Chayanne’s hand. She made the sound herself, a bit quicker of a tone to it, a higher more warbly pitch.
Bad looked up immediately, locking eyes with Tallulah as he let out a yelp of distress. He looked at her, but he didn’t seem to see her.
“Bad, Tallulah needs you. Chayanne needs you. …I need you.” He let out a nervous breath. “I can’t do this on my own right now, man. I know, you’re freaked out, something’s gone completely to shit, but we need you here right now.” He held out a hand. “Everything here, on this Server, is fixable. But we need you here, on this Server. Not on that other one.”
Bad’s eyes locked onto the outstretched hand, and his claws slowly uncurled from his horns.
“There you go, come here Bad. You said the nest was a good idea, right? Good for the hatchlings? The hatchlings are here, come protect the hatchlings.”
The demon slowly shrunk his form, though he was still at least three feet taller than usual. He crawled closer.
“Good job, you’re doing a great job Bad. Almost here. You can hold the hatchlings and I can see why someone keeps whispering me. Sound like a plan?”
He was still struggling with something, but he seemed to have a bit more of a grasp on at least some of the situation around him. He cautiously crawled into the nest, smiling faintly when Tallulah held up the blanket for him to crawl under. He held out his arms, calming once Chayanne and Tallulah had crawled into his hug.
Fit let out the breath he was holding, letting his hand fall to snag his comm instead. He moved to lie on his back, projecting the chat above him. He checked the global chat first.
[ForeverPlayer: HAS ANYONE SEEN PHILZA]
[Roier: no?]
[FoolishG: WHATS GOING ON? D:]
[JaidenAnimations: ill dm you in a sec foolish]
[ForeverPlayer: everyone online. meeting. now, if you please thank you]
[Roier: Jaiden just showed up and locked the door]
[ForeverPlayer: Roier is exempt]
[Etoiles: i am awake but with Pomme and Baghera just arrived]
[ForeverPlayer: Etoiles is also exempt]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: fit I see you]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: please tell me he is there]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: at least tell me the eggs are okay]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: Hey. No, he’s not here. The kids are with me and Bad.]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: None of the three of them are doing great right now. Think we’ll have to miss your meeting.]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: no worries no worries]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: did badboy say anything?]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: He told us some things, but i’ll be honest a lot of it flew over my head.]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: I’ll need to talk with you soon anyway. Phil voided. He’s alive, don’t worry, but it means he's borderline impossible to track.]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: I’ll explain it all later.]
[ForeverPlayer whispers you: okay be careful]
[You whisper ForeverPlayer: You too.]
[ForeverPlayer: Badboy and Fit are also exempt]
[Roier: jaiden wants to know the kids are safe]
[FitMC: Kids are safe, Bad’s here with me.]
[Etoiles: baghera is glad they are safe]
[Slimecicle: why wouldn’t they be safe???]
[Slimecicle: the hell is happening??]
[ForeverPlayer: slime you are not exempt, favela now]
[Slimecicle: ?????????]
Maximus felt…well, to say ‘overwhelmed’ didn’t feel strong enough.
His world had simultaneously fallen apart and also been rebuilt in the span of a few moments. He knew his son was alive, or at the very least was in a state where he was able to be revived if they could figure out how to do it. He knew his son had a Player ID, which meant that he should have hatched by now, should be free of whatever restricted respawn system the Federation had forced upon all the unhatched children. Should be a full Player, but wasn’t. Was held back from being so.
The power of the Federation was even stronger than any of them had expected, which was…alarming. Sure, the Feds had been acting weird, had been vague, had told them they couldn’t leave, but…well, to be blunt, Admins were supposed to be able to be trusted. Whatever it was the Feds were doing, it had to either be important, be part of the lore, or have at least some reason that made any sense at all…or at least, that’s what he’d thought.
But he remembered the look Bad had in his eyes when they originally realized they couldn’t leave, remembered the irritability Quackity had been doing his best to hide, remembered Foolish immediately making jokes and then refusing to discuss it again. Not all Admins were kind. And the Federation seemed to be even worse than unkind, they seemed to be cruel.
Which meant they were all in so much more danger than they had thought. Fighting against Admins was…difficult at best, borderline impossible at worst. The power an Admin had usually outranked any Mod, and even if they managed to get a Mod on their side, an Admin could always just delete a world and be done with it. And with the Server locked down, deleting the world…
Max shook his head roughly. He didn’t want to think about that possibility anymore.
“Max?” Sofia spoke up, her head turning slightly on her monitor.
“Yes, Sofia?”
“Are you alright? You’ve been staring off into space for…23 minutes, 35 seconds.”
“I…” He sighed, rubbing at his temples. “I will be. I’m sorry to worry you, Sofia.” He stretched his arms, feeling his shoulders ache at the tension he’d been holding. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. I’d say I’m about halfway through parsing the relevant data for all code that is believed to relate to your son. I am marking anything that seems to be connected to the Player data you informed me may belong to him.”
“You know…If he’s my son, and you’re my daughter, that makes you two siblings. He would be your older brother, and you would be his younger sister.”
Her computer continued making quiet noises as she worked. “Does that make the other children also my siblings?”
“If you want them to be.” He smiled faintly. “I’m sure Bad would be excited to introduce you to Dapper and Pomme as siblings.”
“I am very different to them. Do you think they would like me?”
“Sofia, we are all at a base level made of code. Just because my code makes flesh, and your code makes data, doesn’t mean anything.”
“But I am not a Player.”
“Not yet.” He leaned back against his chosen wall again. “It’s not uncommon for AI to be able to become Players. There’s just…things that would have to happen first. And while I don’t know them, I’m sure someone does. I’ll do whatever I can for you to get the chance to become a Player.”
She went quiet for a while. “…You’re avoiding something.”
He blinked behind his sunglasses. “What?”
“You’re avoiding something. You get intense about me and my brother, or other people you care about, when you are avoiding thinking about something. What are you avoiding?”
“…” He sighed. “…Before Philza ran off, he handed me a letter from someone. And I guess…I’m afraid to read it.”
“Why are you afraid?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Because it’s from Dan. I looked at it and saw who it’s from, but I haven’t read it. I’m just…I’m afraid.” He sighed again. “And before you ask, no I don’t know why. I guess…I thought he was dead, you know? We all thought he’d actually…died permanently. I didn’t exactly have time to mourn before I lost Trump too, and…now I get hit with not only is my son alive, but Dan is outside the Server.” He fidgeted with his sleeve. “At least that explains why he never came back, you know? He got out. If we can’t get out without permission, I’d imagine we can’t get back in either.”
“…You should read the letter, then. If anything, it will give you some closure. And I will continue working, so there is no lost time.”
“Sofia-”
“No arguments. Sit down and read now, please.”
He chuckled quietly. “So bossy, where did you learn that from, hmm?” He shook his head, before he slowly sat down where he was. “Okay, okay. I’ll read it. Just…don’t get too worried if I get…Emotional. There’s just…a lot going on right now, and I don’t think I’ve properly processed anything that’s happened on the server since…well, since I lost Trump.”
“Running judgement free protocol…”
“Hey! Great, now she’s learning sarcasm too. What are we teaching children these days?” He smiled as he spoke, before it fell as he pulled the letter out of his inventory. “…Well, here goes.” He opened the envelope, pulling out the sheets of paper.
[Maximus,
I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to contact you! I didn’t have the time to tell you or anyone else what was going on before I left, and I know that bear thing was vague with talking to me, but I didn’t realize just…how things had gotten. How things were.
Starting from the top, I had to leave. There was a family emergency on my home Server, and I had to be there with them. I went to that bear thing, right? And I explained I had to go, there was something wrong, I had to be there, and it seemed really confused at first? Which is wild, because it can’t actually emote or anything really, but that’s besides the point. I’m getting sidetracked. It told me that I could leave, but I couldn’t come back.
I thought that was weird, but I figured it was still kinda the vacation thing, that it was sort of a ‘if you leave early the vacation invitation is null and void’ sort of thing. So I said yeah, I still needed to go, and next thing I knew I was stumbling as I landed in a Hub, and then I was more worried about getting home than anything else going on.
Everyone’s okay now, no need to worry about that. Everyone’s okay. But it was only once that was the case that I realized something weird was going on with that Server. I tried to message you, and kept getting ‘Player is unavailable’ errors. I tried to reach out to anyone else I had who was on the Server, and they all had the same thing. So I tried to find out what was going on by going to look at the Player database, right?
Except then it turns out that it lists all of you as Unknown status? And Unknown server? And that’s kinda when I realized something was really wrong. I didn’t think to save the IP of the server either, because of course I didn’t, so I couldn’t even try to do anything with that info. I was just in the dark about what was going on.
Scott Smajor reached out to me. You probably don’t know him, he’s more well known on English servers, but he’s the kind of guy who can basically find anyone if he puts his mind to it. He reached out to me and told me that a friend of his said something’s a bit strange with the Server you guys are on, understatement of the year honestly, and he said he could pass along a message to you. Or find a way to get someone else to? He said to include something in the letter, so that’s the sheet at the back. I don’t understand how he can do what he does, but he’s definitely someone who has weird powers, so I’m not gonna try to fight that.
So, here’s what I want to say.
Max, I’m so sorry I just up and left you like that. If I had the time to tell you, I would have. I’m alive, and my family is okay. I’m sorry that you didn’t know what was going on, and that you’ve been alone in the house. Well, not alone alone, but you know what I mean. I’m sorry I abandoned you. It wasn’t because I wanted to, and you didn’t do anything wrong. I hope you and Trump are doing well together, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you two. I hope one day when you get out of that Server, you and I can talk in person again. I really liked getting to know you.
Trump,]
Max shook his head, folding the letter closed. He couldn’t handle reading the message meant for his son right now. He’d just…he’d hold onto it. He and Trump could read it together, once the kid was back safe and sound. He pulled out the paper that was on it’s own in the envelope, blinking at it as he read.
[Maximus3blog,
Eugh, sorry about that Maximus, I hate having to break out the full Player name, especially when it’s the first time we’ve talked. Sort of. It always feels kinda gross, honestly.
Anyway! Hello! I’m Scott, also known as Scott Smajor. I don’t exactly know what’s going on with your weird Server problems, but if Grian’s being vague with me that’s never really a good sign. Especially with some usual Players of MCC being with you over there, and them rejecting my invites…
Regardless, that’s kinda what this is for. I can’t exactly invite you as a competitor to MCC, there’s rules and regulations and so on for adding new players, but I can at least do this. If you get to a point where things are getting dangerous, I need you to sign at the bottom of this, put it in an envelope with the seal that’s at the bottom holding it closed, and toss it into the air. No matter where I am, MCC mail always finds me.
If it gets to it, I need you to send me all Player names, in full. Like I did when I wrote your name at the top, you know? And just in case, because Grian’s freaking me out, if there’s anyone that doesn’t have a full Player name, or you don't know their Player name, or something weird’s going on with them in general, please put their Player ID code down. There may be a block on you guys leaving or whatever, but there’s ways to get around it. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure you all have backup ways out of there.
Be safe, and take care of yourselves.
-Scott]
Slimecicle was…reeling, was the only way he could put it.
He’d already been on edge when he’d been called to the meeting in world chat, especially since it had happened so soon after a distressed Philza suddenly appeared in his house missing a name tag and rambling about ‘don’t tell anyone I’m here’ and ‘please Slime I need the kids to be safe’ and a half hearted threat of claws going for his throat if he told anyone what was going on.
And then he’d been insisted to that he needed to be at whatever this Serverwide meeting was about, and he’d had to spend a lot of time reassuring the crow that he wasn’t gonna tell anyone while he was over there, but he’d gotten to the meeting eventually. And then all of that info came out, and…
His daughter was alive. She was trapped within that Binary Entity, but she was alive. Her code was close. And if it was truly close enough that they could pick out her Player ID…then that was salvageable. He had glimpses, sometimes, of past Servers he’d been on way back when. If you had a Player ID, it didn’t matter how corrupted the Player’s data got. You could at the very least bring them back to you. If you had to spend time fixing the rest of the data? That was a worthy sacrifice of time and energy. But you couldn’t do that without the ID.
(Distantly, he remembered panic and fear, a haunting trip to the Nether, a fellow God cast down from grace. It had all been play. But the corruption his friend Grizzly had faced had been very real. They’d gotten him back, but none of them were the same. They hadn’t played so seriously since.)
And that had also put some of Philza’s panicked behavior into context. Slime wasn’t an avian, he wasn’t even close to a lot of the more common hybrids that were out there, but even he knew what it felt like for family to fall, for family to be threatened. He knew better than he liked to focus on, most times. Which must have been why Philza chose him, sought him out. Because Slime had been forgiven, for whatever reason he still to this day couldn’t understand. And Philza…felt like he deserved the same treatment?
That was the part that stuck with him, as he walked back home. That Philza thought he was either as much of a danger, or that he was under as much of a threat, as Slime had been when he’d had his…breakdown. It had to be because of the eggs being the entity, because he’d been so vocal about hating it and wanting to kill it, promising to kill it with his own hands. But even with all that…it made no sense to Slime why he was so afraid now. He’d technically threatened kids, sure. But those kids had fuckoff powerful swords, Creative mode, and guns, and were using all three of those things and more to try to kill the kids they still had under their protection. Honestly, Slime was a bit shocked that everyone had swapped their tone so quickly from ‘kill that fucking thing’ to ‘we need to save them as soon as possible’, and his own daughter was one of those within the entity itself.
And those who had been at the meeting had expressed concern as soon as they realized Philza was truly missing, trying to figure out what they could do to try to find him, to bring him back to them. Even the ones he hadn’t befrended as much, like Vegeta, and Pac and Mike, were wondering what could be done to bring him home. Sure, part of it was just normal care for a community, but he could tell, at least in the latter two’s case, part of their worry was that he might be found by someone who wasn’t one of them.
Well, okay, so that made Slime’s job a little bit more concerning, but that was fine. He just had to reassure an acolyte of Death that was older than the Server his slime had spawned from that he was not a threat to flock, that flock did not want to cast him out for threatening fledgelings, and also make sure no one found him before he was ready and threw aside all his progress, while also making sure the Federation had absolutely no chance at finding the crow while he was in such a fragile state.
…Not the hardest task he’d ever had, but he wasn’t exactly thrilled at it. He’d do it, he wanted to help Philza anyway, and if anything he felt almost as if he owed the other man for the patience he’d been given after his own breakdown. But he…really wasn’t sure if leaving him to be the rational thinking one was really the best idea.
Well, it wasn’t like there were many other options at the minute…so he’d just have to try his best. First thing first, he thought as he finally reached his home, was to start with food. He probably had some tea somewhere, and while he’d been doing his best to eat as his daughter had before, he knew where to get some fish for the crow. Just because he was adhering to a specific diet didn’t mean he was gonna make someone else do the same, and he’d need to figure out other alterations to his farms to provide a bit more for the other man, but…honestly, he’d needed to upgrade his food anyway, even if he kept to the same dietary restrictions…
Maybe that would actually turn out good for the both of them. Slime wasn’t sure yet, but hey. A guy can hope, right?
He is so tired. He doesn’t know what it’s like to not be tired, anymore.
He aches, which feels like it should be impossible. He is not in the configuration he should be, to feel aches or pain. And he definitely felt pain earlier. He’s lost track of how long ago it was.
He’s not sure it matters, anyway. He’s watching over something, even though he doesn’t have eyes to see. He feels more than seeing, feels the presence of the block he resides in, feels the presence of the Player the block is looking out for. This block is a good one, not like the last one. The last one was very, very bad. It had hurt him greatly, and had hurt the Player too. He is glad that block was broken.
His companion is nearby, he knows. At the other block. There is a block like his near another Player, just a few meters away. That is where his companion is.
His companion is also not happy, but for different reasons. Companion seems to understand better, what is happening to them both. Companion is irritable, and a bit sharp, but looks out for him. Companion and him are connected, after all, he’s always told.
He doesn’t remember that very well anymore. Companion doesn’t like that he doesn’t remember. He’s very tired, and wants to go home, but he’s not sure if he even has a home. Maybe home was just a nice dream. That could be likely.
Companion doesn’t like when he thinks like that, either. It makes Companion’s frustration show through the worry that is the true feeling.
He thinks maybe, if he does a very good job with this block, and keeps this Player safe, maybe someone will let him see a home. He thinks that would be a nice treat for a job well done. Companion says that once the Players are safe, the Players will come back for them both.
He hopes Companion is right. He’s very tired.
Chapter 10
Summary:
Slime learns some things.
Pomme does, too.
Notes:
This turned into kinda an exposition chapter and I’m sorry but also not? But I needed to cover some stuff, so here it is. Also double Slime POV because I was originally gonna have that last part be from Philza’s perspective but it would not have been very informative for the viewer so oopsie Slime gets a Main Character Moment I guess.
I’ve got major plot points planned out through the end of the story but I only have chapter plot points written down for three more chapters so hopefully I get on that soon lol
Enjoy! I’m totally not coping with current lore by writing this which I know will end happy haha I am So Normal about the current lore arc
Also another reminder than italics mean they’re speaking their main language. In the second segment, that applies there as well. Dragon language is a spoken language, not a typed one.
Chapter Text
Slimecicle had no idea what he was looking at.
Well, that was an oversimplication. He understood a bit about code and servers, or at the very least somewhere in his brain he did, but this mess of code specifically was just…a mess. It didn’t help that it was mixed inbetween four different languages, some of them swapping seemingly in the middle of text strings. As it stood, he was supposed to be looking through for his daughter’s code, try to figure out what might be her, but he can’t…focus on that right now.
His mind was drawn to the others, those who were still physically around, those who could still be lost. And he knew his daughter wasn’t lost anymore, she’s found, but…the worry he felt for the other kids was still real. And sure, part of it was because of the kindness the other parents had showed him since he had returned to spending some time around the island again, still living in Eggxile but around far more often, but…part of it was also worry for his new charge.
Philza still wasn’t doing well. The crow barely talked to him, hiding behind a wall in his storage room and doing his best to remain silent. He also was barely eating, even when brought a variety of foods, or even his go to of avocado toast. Slime knew now what had him so freaked out, but he hadn’t had the chance to even try to get through to him that he was safe. And it had been a few days since the other had arrived at his house. He’d really hoped that this would have, you know, made some progress by now?
So yeah, maybe he was looking through the data to see if he could lock on to Chayanne and Tallulah’s codes. Maybe he wanted to have a personal backup of their Player IDs, maybe he wanted to give them to Philza to try to earn his trust again. Maybe he cared, and maybe that scared him. Sue him or whatever.
It was only three of them today, and given who was there it definitely seemed intentional. Forever was there of course, he’d reportedly rarely left the room they were in, spending almost all his time trying to see what other data he could think of to separate to look over. He wasn’t as skilled at code as some of the others, but he was dedicated, and he was the one who had started writing recurring phrases on the walls, working with others to attempt to get translations in all four languages.
The other was Quackity, who…was hard to read. Even for Slime, and that thought hit him in the chest. He had always misinterpreted the duck before, but now…they were equals here, and they’d talked after the other Server had shut down, come to an understanding with each other. But in that room, Quackity was unreadable. He’d been focused on the data screens in front of him, projections from his comm almost a mockery of the Mod panels he should have had access to.
…Oh. Maybe that was the issue, now that he thought about it. He looked down at the code he was going through, and shook his head before he looked over at Quackity. “…You do know this isn’t your fault, right?”
Forever looked up, glancing between the two, but remained silent.
Quackity, however, kept his eyes on his work. “Why thank you Slime, for reminding me just who’s fault it is that I’m looking through this.” His sharpness was intentional, but his undertone was known. He was lashing out to avoid the topic.
That was something he knew how to work with. “Good, I’m glad that we’re on the same page that it’s the fault of whoever pretended to be your Mod team.”
His hand twitched in front of the screen. “…That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Yeah, I do. But it’s what I meant.” He rested his arms on the table, his form spilling a bit onto it. “And it’s not your fault you got tricked either.”
“…I don’t remember that, Slime.” His tone was like the gambler he once knew, and well, that wasn’t a great sign. “I remember wanting to start up a Server. I remember…an idea. And then suddenly we had tickets, and I thought ‘oh, the team must have set it up already’. I should have…”
“Quackity, we were going to end up here regardless.” He rolled his shoulders. “They have literally messed with memories, tampered with code, harmed people’s hybrid traits.” He shrugged. “They were probably gunning for some of us from the first place. Nothing you could have done. After all, we all took the tickets and showed up, even without you contacting us about them. If anything, we’re all idiots.”
“But why would they pick us specifically? We don’t even know what they want, man.”
“…I think you know that answer just as well as I do, actually.”
Quackity stared at the panel in front of him, not reading anything on it. He slowly turned to look at Slime, a question on his face as some pieces started to add up. For some of the English Players at least, most of them had one specific thing in common, one specific location. The others were a bit more tricky, but the Spanish Players sort of knew each other, and some knew Quackity, which tied them in. The Brazilians seemed to all know each other, and the French at least knew of each other.
“There’s one more thought though. Less about who we are, and more about what we are.” Slime sighed again, looking back at the code in front of him.
“…But, why? There aren’t those kinds of Servers anymore. Is it just for raw data, or…”
“What are you two talking about right now?” Forever finally spoke up, confusion obvious.
“…So, Forever, you know how most of us aren’t human, right?” He straightened up in his chair again, pulling his slime back into himself. “Well…almost all of us honestly, except you, Fit, and Felps.”
He scoffed. “I’m not human either, you know.”
“Sure.” He simply agreed, he wasn’t gonna fight with the other man, even if he seemed pretty human to his eyes. “So two out of all of us then. And there isn’t much overlap with what kind of hybrid we are.”
Quackity nodded once. “Other than…Baghera and I, I think? Like, there are four of us avians, but we’re all different birds except for me and her.”
“Mariana is also human.” He speaks with reluctance, giving Slime a glance.
“So three humans. Two duck avians. And then a whole mess of other hybrids. Which, considering how much they talk about the quests, and about doing tasks, and ask us questions all the time from that fucking bear, plus the whole…thing the Federation has going on…” He rubbed at his face. “This is a test server, I think. They’re experimenting. And we’re the experiments.” He threw his hands into the air. “Not like that does us any fucking good to know! It’s not like we can change anything from in here anyway.”
“…Wait, can we cycle back real quick?” He adjusted his beanie. “Is Max not human?”
“No.”
“Nope.”
“…How do both of you know that??”
Forever shrugged. “Because of what I am. Don’t worry about it right now.”
“I’m gonna start worrying-”
“And as for me, I’d love to tell you how I knew things, if I could remember how in the first place.”
“Oh my Gods, you’re still so annoying…”
“Anyway.” Forever clapped his hands together, flinching at the loudness. “Have you two found any other words that repeat so far?”
“Well,” Slime pointed at the code he had been searching. “I found this word, technically two I guess, which I’m…pretty sure I know what it is. I think I’m looking at Chayanne and Tallulah right now, and I can say that because they both have this word pop up at the same time. His in Spanish, hers in English.” He took a breath. “It’s ‘Nightmare reverted’.”
His eyes widened, and he looked at the code. “…The beach nightmare, I heard about that.”
Quackity selected a set of code on his screen, sliding a copy through the air to be in front of the two. “And this code lines up with other instances of reverted deaths. It’s basically their…deaths and lost lives. So this one, for example, is…who’s is this. Ramon. This is Ramon’s death text during his ‘nightmare’. You can see it lists that he died, it shows the amount of remaining lives is zero. And then it’s followed by ‘Nightmare reverted’, like Slime pointed out. So we have the English formatting of that sequence…”
“And the Spanish, if we take this piece here from Chayanne. Did Richarlyson ever have a nightmare scenario?”
“Our first day, he fell to a bull. We all did I think…so if I look over here…” Forever flipped through bits of code. “There, ‘Nightmare reverted’, that means this piece before it is the Portuguese formatting of the death data.”
“And Pomme had her nightmare that one day with the Code Monster, right? When they tried to kill her and Philza? So we should also be able to get it in French when one of them comes back to work on code.”
“And we should also be able to find the same strings with our kids too. Just…without the reversion.”
“Well…with one reversion.” Slime sighed. “Though the fact that now I know they could just revert deaths means the whole court case was just…so bullshit.”
“Yeah, just to make us feel better. Fuckin Feds.”
“That was the case for Slime’s daughter, right?”
“For Juana, yeah. It’s…why I got so skittish when Cellbit said he was gonna take you to court. Their case didn’t…turn out great. And I didn’t…” Quackity cleared his throat. “Anyway. That definitely means that you’ve found Chayanne and Tallulah, which will make isolating their code easier. I don’t…remember if Leo had a nightmare scenario, but if she didn’t that might make it easier to find which is hers. Dapper had his death in the dungeon, and so did Bobby, but with Bobby…we also know he had a death with no reversion. Which might tell us what the Federation did with him and the other three.”
“And honestly if we can find out some of that data before we have to translate it from Binary to Spanish to English that would just be, like, so great.” He rubbed at his eyes. “My eyes hurt so bad dude, I can’t. I can’t understand Spanish well on a good day, let alone trying to make sure I translate the letters right to then translate it again.”
“Max has been working with Sofia on isolating Trump’s code from the Entity, so if they are making good progress then we should have an easier time with the other two.” Forever stood up and moved to the wall, scrawling out some of the code in three languages.
“I was gonna ask why he wasn’t here and part of the sad dads club. He’s working with his daughter. That’s…good, I think?”
“That sounds fucked up, Quackity, is what it sounds like. Like, hey, don’t give me that look!” Slime raised his hands in defense. “I’m not saying he’s a shit dad, I’m saying the concept of having to work with your younger kid to regain access to the code of your older kid is a fucked up situation to be in, do not fucking hit me with your small ass wing I swear to God-”
The two at the table devolved into a bit of play fighting, as Forever kept writing on the wall.
Pomme loved her family, but if she had to stay in her room for much longer she was going to snap and assassinate someone just for fun.
Baghera had been so chirpy and nervous when she’d come back from her Order meeting, and Etoiles had even stayed with the two to make sure they were safe. Antoine had stopped by for a while, but had been able to escape, and Pierre had said hello from the window and run off before Baghera could catch him.
She was bored. Sure, she had her quests done already, but she was bored! She was a kid, she wanted to explore and play and murder enemies and see her other family. She hadn’t seen Bad in days, and she was starting to get upset about it.
She was sitting by her window, Baghera and Etoiles both asleep on a makeshift nest/bed thing. Baghera kept trying to contain the two, and Etoiles seemed to hate being confined with a passion, so it was an incredibly short nest, basically just a large bed with pillows around the edge. Being by the window, with the light rain outside, was the coolest she’d felt in temperature since she’d been pulled into the nest in the first place. It was a bit of a relief.
Her comm rumbled quietly, and she pulled it out. All of them had comms, regardless of what the adults thought. How did they think that they could be tracked on the map? The comm was how they turned that on and off. And they read world chat all the time. Honestly, sometimes the adults were very very silly.
She smiled slightly at the message group that had activated her comm. It was her other siblings. And with just a cursory glance, it seemed some of them were getting stir crazy as well.
[Chat: Egg Carton]
[Dapper: if i have to stay here one more moment i am going to bite]
[Dapper: whi changed the name to ‘egg carton’. Why.]
[Ramon: whi]
[Chayanne: whi]
[Tallulah: he’s biting both of them now.]
[Tallulah: oh dear]
[Richarlyson: kkkkkkkkk]
[Leonarda: why are you making my comm go off so much what do you want]
[Tallulah: hi Leo!!]
[Leonarda: hello tallulah]
[Richarlyson: wow no hello for me?]
[Leonarda: no.]
[Richarlyson: WOW]
[Pomme: hello Leo!]
[Leonarda: hello pomme]
[Richarlyson: i can’t believe the girls have abandoned me]
[Tallulah: i still can’t read that yet i’m sorry >: ]
[Pomme: don’t worry he’s being dramatic is all]
[Pomme: some of us handle being under house arrest with dignity]
[Richarlyson: pomme next time i see you i am pushing you in the water]
[Pomme: better make sure you do not miss!]
[Dapper: for the record, i’m not sorry]
[Ramon: Yeah, I’m pretty sure Dad knows that genius.]
[Dapper: you both deserved it]
[Chayanne: learn to spell better then]
[Chayanne: L]
[Dapper: if you were not on one life i would kill you with my bare hands]
[Chayanne: you’d have to be stronger than me to pull that off]
[Tallulah: can you please not fight in person and in text?]
[Tallulah: one of the two is already plenty ;-; ]
[Ramon: Ignoring the two idiots for a minute, who else is currently in lockdown?]
[Ramon: Dapper, Chayanne, Tallulah and I are all stuck in the bunker with Dad and Bad.]
[Richarlyson: i’m at Chume Labs with Pac and Mike most of the time. Forever’s been busy with his newest project.]
[Leonarda: i’m at home like always, but Foolish has been much more anxious lately whenever he goes out to build. He insists I stay inside by windows so I can still see but be safe.]
[Pomme: Etoiles and Baghera have been with me in my room in the hotel for days]
[Bobby: Birdbrain is a hell of a drug]
[Tallulah: Bobby!!]
[Richarlyson: BOBBY YOU BASTARD YOU HAD YOUR COMM THE WHOLE TIME I AM GOING TO KILL YOU]
[Bobby: i just got it back lol, apparently mom kept it in my room.]
[Bobby: along with my gun that i definitely didn’t leave behind?]
[Richarlyson: i plead the fifth]
[Chayanne: that’s an American thing you can’t do that]
[Dapper: what is an America]
[Ramon: Oh that’s easy, that’s a country from SMP Earth. It was destroyed by the Arctic Empire probably, so it doesn’t exist anymore.]
[Bobby: anyway to answer the actual question i am also stuck in the house yes]
[Bobby: mom’s freaked out at the idea of me being seen by anyone right now]
[Bobby: and I think that whole Order meeting made her freak out more]
[Pomme: right…how are you two holding up over there?]
[Tallulah: it’s…its hard right now]
[Chayanne: not just because of dad going missing, there’s other stuff]
[Chayanne: Bad said we’re not supposed to talk about it though]
[Richarlyson: yeah but they don’t know we can talk on comms, they’ll never know]
[Richarlyson: and the Feds don’t read this or they’d have taken away so much shit]
[Richarlyson: looking at you, ramon]
[Ramon: I plead the fifth.]
[Dapper: L]
[Tallulah: but what if it makes bad sad, i don’t want to make him sad by breaking his trust ;-; ]
[Dapper: if its something that important i think its worth telling us]
[Leonarda: whatever happened it has Foolish upset, which makes me worried]
[Tallulah: okay, but you can’t tell any of the adults.]
[Pomme: tallulah, they probably all already know, it’ll be okay]
[Chayanne: it’s about the binary]
[Dapper: that bastard]
[Richarlyson: of course it is, why wouldn’t it be]
[Bobby: that thing’s still around?]
[Leonarda: yes.]
[Bobby: damn, was kinda hoping you guys had solved that by now, im not looking to get drowned again]
[Ramon: The bastard cheats now btw. Saw it with my own eyes.]
[Bobby: of course. why not?]
[Tallulah: it’s…]
[Chayanne: i’ll tell them lulah, it’s okay]
[Dapper: shes crying]
[Bobby: oh shit.]
[Chayanne: this is taking too long to type out oh my gods give me a sec]
[Chayanne: you all just have to deal with the bluntness i can’t right now]
[Chayanne: the other three eggs, the dead ones, deader than Bobby]
[Chayanne: they’re the binary]
[Chayanne: they’re the ones trying to kill us for some reason]
[Chayanne: Trump, Tilin, and Juanaflippa are all the binary entity and want us dead]
[Chayanne: and whatever they do to kill hurts normal players a bunch too]
[Chayanne: we know that because of Cellbit and Maxo]
[Chayanne: something happened to them and broke them and they’re the ones attacking us]
[Chayanne: which freaked out dad because while he’s trying to protect us that means the binary is kids too]
[Chayanne: so to protect kids he has to hurt kids and his brain couldn’t handle that]
[Chayanne: so he ran off to hide but i still don’t really know why]
[Chayanne: but yeah that’s the deal, that’s what’s going on and what’s got the parents so freaked out]
[Tallulah: he also turned off his nametag, so we can’t see him on the map…]
[Tallulah: and fit said he left his comm upstairs so we can’t use that either ;-; ]
[Richarlyson: holy fuck]
[Leonarda: that explains Foolish being so scared, he doesn’t talk about before much but i know he knows bad, so he knows philza too]
[Dapper: dads an absolute mess, he keeps muttering about red eggs in galactic]
[Bobby: why the fuck do you speak galactic]
[Ramon: He doesn’t, I took some software from Dad’s special comm and managed to get a translator up and running on our two comms.]
[Pomme: but if he’s talking about something from Before, and Foolish is also stressed, and Philza felt the Before…]
[Tallulah: then this might be worse than just code being corrupted… ;-; ]
[Bobby: do you think the others can be helped?]
[Ramon: I don’t know. Are we even Players like they are?]
[Richarlyson: they’re probably working on it right now, Forever and the others.]
[Richarlyson: to see if anything can be done]
[Chayanne: do we have any former admins on the server?]
[Chayanne: or at least former mods?]
[Tallulah: papi used to run a server i think, he used to tell me about science he would do]
[Tallulah: not scary science like the federation, silly science that was all for fun and people could stop whenever they wanted]
[Richarlyson: my family was on a server but they weren’t mods, so i don’t think so]
[Ramon: I’ll get back to work with Dad about getting his special comm working again. It lets someone bypass restrictions, so it should open up the gates for Mod access.]
[Leonarda: Chayanne your father has his own single player server, right?]
[Chayanne: 1) he’s not here right now]
[Leonarda: fair.]
[Chayanne: 2) he doesn’t play hardcore with commands enabled, so he has no server control]
[Bobby: i don’t think mom’s been on many servers before this one, and i don’t think dad has been a mod either]
[Dapper: theres something about slime, i dont know if hes been a mod but he feels of power]
[Dapper: power that usually only someone who is a mod or higher has]
[Bobby: how the hell do you know that?]
[Dapper: because dad told me that some people have power because of what they are]
[Dapper: and some people have power because of what theyve had access to]
[Dapper: philza feels touched by power too]
[Chayanne: Lady Death. she’s a goddess, he’s told us stories about her]
[Ramon: You think Uncle Slime, known slime who trips over his own two feet, is touched by a God?]
[Dapper: just consider he might be helpful]
Pomme looked up from her comm, resting her head against the glass window. That was…so much to take in. Part of her was afraid, afraid of the anger and violence that her siblings had directed at her through their numerical form. Afraid of what she could have done to cause them to hate her. Afraid of how much pain they must be in to be lashing out like this. But part of her also felt…lighter. Her siblings, in some form, were alive. She hadn’t had the chance to meet them before this, but if they were still alive…she’d get to know them, someday. She could play with them, once they were all safe. Because one day they would be safe.
She moved back over to the nest, crawling to lie down between Etoiles and Baghera, closing her eyes. The comfort…was needed, right now.
[Etoiles whispers you: slime]
[Etioles whispers you: can we talk]
[Etoiles whispers you: its important]
Well, if that’s not one of the most stressful messages to wake up to, Slimecicle wasn’t sure what was.
Not even taking into account the fact that he was still hiding someone who thought he was a fugitive in his goddamn walls, though he’d been improving a bit lately, and had even been taking more food. Still hadn’t talked any, but Slime would talk enough for the both of them, he had a ton of practice.
Still. The message.
[You whisper Etoiles: haha yeah man, sure]
[You whisper Etoiles: i’m kinda far out though, you sure you want to make the trip?]
[Etoiles whispers you: omw]
Shit.
“Uh, Phil? Uh,” He cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but Etoiles has invited himself over to talk to me about ‘something important’. I think I may be about to die.”
There was a faint rustling behind the wall, but no other response.
“I can’t think of anything he’d want to talk to me about. Uh, I haven’t fucked up anything recently. So what could he want to talk about?” Oh shit, he might know actually. They needed to search for the data in French right? Did Forever tell him that Slime was the one to start to find that data? Maybe he wanted to kill him a little bit because of the stress. Honestly, he wouldn’t blame him. It might be good for both of them, honestly. Well, okay, he knew the dying wasn’t exactly great for his mental, but hey, everyone copes differently, and it just so happened that the two people in that house coped extremely poorly. Sue him.
He really needed to stop thinking that, at some point someone was going to actually sue him and he had no money to get another lawyer.
The knocking arrived on the door far sooner than he expected, and he flinched with his whole body. “Uh, coming! Hold on!”
Etoiles stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow as the door opened. “Your house looks shit.”
“Why thank you, it’s totally not like I did my best on it." He rolled his eyes. “Come in or whatever. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Right…” He walked in, closing the door behind him. He had a sword in his hand, which…was different than usual, Slime was pretty sure. Oh fuck, maybe he was actually about to die.
“Look, I’m sure whatever’s going on, it doesn’t need to be handled this way right?” He held up his hands, stepping back.
“What?” Etoiles looked confused for a moment, before looking down at the sword in his hand as if he forgot it was there. Honestly, maybe he had. “Oh. No, I am not killing you today.”
“…You know what, I’ll take today. Uh, let’s reschedule for-”
“Hands out please.”
“…Okay??” He held out his hands, eyes widening in shock as the sword was dropped into them. “Uhm??”
“Look.” He rested a hand on Slime’s shoulder, hovering the other over the blade. The tooltip rose above. “What does this say?”
“Why’s it look different? It…It lists more damage types than usual.”
“Don’t worry about it. What does it say there?” He gestured with his eyes. “Right there?”
“It says…Oh fuck, man, don’t…” He felt his body tense. It was the sweeping edge damage.
“Shh, no, look, what does it say?”
“It says ‘ignores armor’ at the end of a big fuckoff number, what do you want from me Etoiles?” He shoved the sword back into the other’s hands. “Do you want to rub it in my face just how much of a fuckup I am?”
“No, give me a moment.” He put the sword away in his inventory, pulling out a wooden one instead. It was shoddy, even by wooden sword standards, and it looked like it would fall apart if you held it wrong. “This one now please.”
He held out his hands again. “I don’t understand what you want from me, man.”
Etoiles rested a hand on his shoulder again, before returning the tooltip. “Read this now. Yes?”
“It’s a wooden sword, what the hell am I gonna-” His voice died in his throat.
“You see, yes? You see now?”
“I…” He couldn’t understand. That wasn’t possible. That wasn’t how weapons were supposed to work, were supposed to be coded. Why-
“Swords are busted. Their code is bad. You see? Small damage, but large sweeping edge. Ignores armor. Same as diamond.” He moved to take the sword again, resting both hands on his shoulders. “This is a bug. It wasn’t supposed to work that way.”
“Etoiles, they died because of me-”
“No, they died to a bug.” He lightly shook him. “It was not your fault, that is what I am trying to tell you.”
Slime felt himself shaking. “…It…But…”
“It was never your fault. It was a bug. No one else knew, I am too tryhard, I found the bug. We know to avoid it now. But it wasn’t your fault.” Etoiles nodded at him, tightening his grip on his shoulders as if that would make the words sink in. “It was bad code. You didn’t kill them.”
He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Etoiles as he broke down in earnest, slime clinging to him.
“Oh boy, okay, we are doing this now. Uhm. Are you dying? You are goopy. I’m- I am not the person for this job, uh…”
His sobs just grew louder.
“Okay, okay, we are sitting down now okay? Yes, we are sitting now. We are, uh, we are in your shithouse. You are here and I am here and you are okay. There is wood under you, there is cloth touching your skin. …Is this helping?”
The question managed to startle him partially out of his breakdown, and he laughed. “You’re shit at using grounding techniques.”
“Ah ha, but I managed to get you back anyway. My methods work.” He smiled a bit, before it fell as he pulled back. “…Are you okay? You…should not be alone, I think.”
“I’ve…” He’s got someone, he almost said, before he remembered he wasn’t supposed to let anyone know that. “I’ve got someone I can message. I…I won’t be alone, okay?”
“You are sure?” He looks wary. “I don’t want you to…do something you may regret.”
“I’ll be okay. I won’t be alone. I’ll…message you in the morning, okay? And…and if you see anything worrying in chat, you have full permission to come over here and kick my ass.”
“Free fight, let’s go.” He didn’t say anything about how one sided of a fight would be, and Slime appreciated that. “…You will be okay.”
“I know. I just…I need time, I think.” He rubbed at his eyes. “Fuck…so long I thought it was my fault.”
“And we will get them back.” He finally stood, nodding. “Things will be okay. Which reminds me, I need to get back. Baghera asked me to help today and she will yell if she realizes I am avoiding doing boring work.”
"That’s why you came to tell me, because you wanted to avoid deskwork.” He laughed, rubbing at his eyes again. “Fuck.”
“I thought you might try to kill me. Would be a fun little break.” His words are snarky, but the care is felt regardless. “…Please be safe, Slime.”
“I will be. Take care, king.”
Etoiles waved, before using his warpstone to leave.
Slime sat there on the floor, trying to get his brain back under control. He was still sniffling, tears still falling down his cheeks, when he heard a rustling. He turned his head quickly, eyes widening again.
Philza was out from behind the wall, feathers pulled tightly around himself. He was worried. He was worried because Slime was upset. That…that was the most reaction he’d gotten in days.
“Hey, buddy. Sorry…sorry you had to hear, that, uhm…” He shrugged with a broken laugh. “Shit’s fucked, you know?”
The crow moved over, lifting the slime into his arms. He made a series of bird noises, before moving back behind the wall.
“Oh, okay, bird mode engaged I guess. Sure, we can be back here. Sorry, I might cry for a while, but…but I’m not alone, at least. That’s what I promised, so…”
He made a content sound, as he attempted to get them both settled in the small space, finally using the blankets and pillows that Slime had tried to give him for a while.
If only he’d known that having a breakdown would get the birdbrain going to protect flock, he could have made so much progress already. …He was avoiding thinking about what he just heard again. Gods, he was so tired…maybe he could just sleep for a bit. It was…surprisingly comfy, there. And it wasn’t as cold as the rest of his house, which was starting to wear on his slime. Yeah, just…just some rest. Then he’d process his emotions.
Hah. Fat chance.
Chapter 11
Summary:
Jaiden sees Cucurucho again.
Max takes back what’s his.
There are consequences to actions taken.
Notes:
Gonna be honest this was not how this chapter was gonna initially end but looking at how I’ve designed how things work it had to go this way for future clarity.
Also because there was gonna be a scene of Ramon helping Fit get his hacked client to work but then I realized I 1) barely understand modded Minecraft and 2) have never used a hack client before and thus have even less of an idea of how they work
So please imagine that scene takes place off screen before the third scene. Thank you. Enjoy!
Chapter Text
Jaiden felt like she’d finally woken up, after such a long time of being in a haze.
It wasn’t just the birdbrain fully fading, again, it was also the grief she’d felt after losing Bobby finally flowing out of her veins. It was watching her friend play with their son, sitting him on the counter as he excitedly waved his hands around. It was finally feeling like she was home again.
…Though things weren’t exactly perfect, were they. He saw the look that Roier would get in his eyes when he thought she wasn’t watching, the glances towards the Castle when they went on walks under cover of darkness. She wasn’t blind, she’d known there was some kind of connection brewing between him and Cellbit. At first, she’d thought it was simply friendship, and she’d been glad for that, glad that he was finally getting a support system on the island. But she knows grief, and she knows the difference between platonic grief and romantic grief. She may not feel romantic feelings, but it’s not as hard to tell the difference between the two when you see it on others.
They’d all gotten so distracted by the eggs…As far as she knew, there hadn’t been any attempt thus far to get Cellbit back. She knew he wouldn’t hold it against them, he would also be putting everything he had into helping them. But all she could do was hope that he was safe while they worked on this.
She was outside again, trying to give her family a bit of space. She knew Bobby was getting restless, and didn’t want to smother him. And Roier…she knew that spider hybrids liked to have enclosed spaces, but being kept in one wasn’t the easiest, especially when birds were technically predators of spiders. Sure, the large ones had grown to a point to avoid birds, but the body remembered, and thus hybrids also still knew in their veins.
Even with Bobby having returned, she still found herself watching sunsets when she got the chance. It felt…important to keep doing. It was a moment of calm for her, a place where she could get out of her head for a bit, and just focus on what she saw, what she felt. It was probably the closest thing to meditation she’d ever been able to manage, and it…helped, even now.
She was so focused on the sun as it finished slipping past the horizon, she didn’t notice she wasn’t alone until a voice broke through her thoughts.
“Good evening.”
She flinched a bit, startled, as she quickly turned her head. Her feathers ruffled, before she tried to settle her wings back behind her. “Oh! Uh, hey, Cucurucho. Sorry, I didn’t hear you show up.” She nervously laughed, turning back to look at the horizon. “You startled me.”
“Hahaha.” The bear moved closer, sitting near her. “What are you doing?”
“I was just watching the sunset. It’s…” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had to be careful, she knew. She liked Cucurucho, she wanted to trust him, and against her better judgement she genuinely did, but she still was sure his loyalty belonged to the Federation first and foremost. “It’s soothing.”
He watched her for a moment, before he pulled out a book and began writing in it. He handed it to her.
[ARE YOU DISTRESSED?]
“I’m…” Okay, this was going to be more difficult than she’d expected. “My head’s been really foggy for a while. Hard to focus on things, you know? Coming out here, watching the sunset…it helps.”
He gently took the book back, writing again.
[ARE YOU HAPPY?]
She thought for a moment. “…I’m starting to feel happy again, yeah.”
“Yes.” He took the book again. It took him a while to write this time, hand starting to move, then scratching out what was written after only a single letter. Eventually, he passed the book back.
[IS BABY BLUE HAPPY, BLUEBIRD?]
She felt her blood run cold. She can see he’s trying to be vague, but she can’t tell if it’s a genuine question, or a threat. She took a slow breath. “…You know.” No point in hiding it anymore.
“Yes.” He nudged her, pointing to the book again. He was quiet for a moment, before he spoke again. “Please, f-” He twitched his head, and the audio interrupted. He pointed at the book once more.
She glanced between him and the book, before she took a steadying breath. “…Yeah. Yeah, he’s…he’s happy. I’m so happy to have him back, Cucurucho. Please, please don’t take him away. I’m sorry-”
“No. No. No. No.” He tilted his head. “Why?”
It took her a bit, but she thought she understood. “…The Federation took him away. You work for them. I don’t…I can’t let you take him away again-”
“No.” He took the book back again, writing with more ease this time. He handed it back.
[THE ISLAND NEEDS TO BE PERFECT.
YOU NEED TO BE HAPPY FOR PERFECTION.
THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONFUSION.
IT HAS BEEN SETTLED.]
“…It can’t be perfect yet, Cucurucho. And I think you know why.”
“Yes.”
“…But that’s not fixable right now, is it?”
“No.” He made grabby hands for the book, before returning it.
[THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.]
“I’ll keep waiting. But I can’t guarantee everyone else can wait as long as I can.”
“Yes.”
She sighed, rubbing at her temples. “…May I ask a few yes or no questions? Related to…baby blue?”
“Yes.”
“…He dosen’t have any quests left to complete.”
“Yes.”
“Is he safe? We’d been told before we had to do the quests…I’m worried about him.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t need to complete them anymore?”
“No.”
She let out a breath, curling forward. “He’s safe…he’s okay.”
“…Yes.”
She felt the paw near her wings, near her back, but it left just as quickly as it appeared. She heard him stand, and glanced over. “Cucurucho?”
“Yes?” He glanced down at her.
“…Thank you.”
He paused for a moment, as if he didn’t know how to respond to that. “…I hope you enjoy the island.” He turned and left just as quietly as he arrived.
Max felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He’d worked for days, tirelessly, desperately. He’d been dragged off to bed by Forever more times than he could count at that point, and had only snuck back out a handful of said times. It wasn’t like he needed sleep. Sure, it was nice, but he didn’t need it to function entirely. Just to function better. It wasn’t important then.
What was important was getting his son back. The Binary had been seen in various locations since they’d realized what it truly was, and most of the time it had just been seen watching. No one was sure why it was suddenly acting passive, but they gave it space and mostly tried to avoid it.
He needed his son back. The Entity was passive. He needed his son back now.
Forever was with him, taking a break from more code reading. He claimed it was to help keep Max stable, but he was pretty sure the other also wanted to meet his son.
Slimecicle was also there, which was unexpected. When he’d been asked, he’d just mumbled something about wanting to know the process, and being worried for his daughter.
Max was struggling not to pace around the room. His code was wound tight, and he was worried if they didn’t do something soon, he’d burst out of shape.
Finally, Sofia spoke up. “I believe it’s ready.”
Forever had to reach out to grab Max by the arm, just to keep him from launching across the room. “Stay put, Maxo. Let her work.”
Slime nervously chuckled. “Uhm, is there…anything we can do to help?”
“Be ready to take care of him once he is returned. I’m not sure how well this will work.” Sofia beeped a few times. “I managed to get a proxy set up, so I will be able to run the needed commands. But the Federation will notice quickly. Not what commands, but that commands are running. They will shut it down as soon as they get the chance.”
“So we have one shot, and then we’ll need to figure out a new method for the others.” Forever nodded once. “We’ll handle it.”
“Okay. Uh, Max, you ready?”
Max twitched where he was still held by Forever, gritting his teeth and nodding.
For a while, the only sounds in the room were various beeps and fan sounds coming from Sofia. Time passed in the strange way it does, when it feels like ages are passing in seconds, but an hour passes in a heartbeat. Suddenly, several whirs and chimes rang out into the room, along with an alarm that Max did not remember installing.
Before anyone could even start to react, a patch of code started to spiral out of the air by Sofia, circling around into a spinning cloud of numbers and letters, the text white instead of green. The code continued to spiral and shift, seemingly swaying, before there was a bright burst of light.
A single egg, wearing a propeller hat, stood where the code had just been a moment before. His knees buckled, and he started to fall.
Max ripped his arm out of Forever’s grip, dashing over to catch his son, pulling him into his arms. “Trump!”
The egg trembled in his arms, otherwise silent.
Forever hurried over. “Is he okay? He has no cracks…”
Slime crouched with the others. “He never did. None of the three of them did. They…they were gone before the kidnapping happened that resulted in the cracks.”
“Here, here is a healing potion. This should help until he is stable enough to eat. …Maxo, can you hear me?”
Max did not respond, simply clinging onto his son, as if he was afraid he would disappear if he let go.
He didn’t hear the other two speak to him. He didn’t hear the panic in their voices as they spoke about the world chat. He didn’t hear that TTT had been called. All he knew was his son was in his arms.
He was home.
[Pomme is bleeding. Pomme was slain by 01010000]
[Etoiles: TTT]
[Etoiles: TTT]
[Etoiles: TTT NOW]
[BagheraJones is bleeding. BagheraJones was slain by 01010000]
[BadBoyHalo: DONE]
[JaidenAnimations whispers Roier: Bobby’s nowhere at home]
[Roier: omw to NINHO now]
[JaidenAnimations whispers Roier: His room must have been set up at some point right??]
[Roier whispers JaidenAnimations: checking now]
[BagheraJones is bleeding. BagheraJones was slain by 01010000]
[BadBoyHalo: POMME UP]
[BadBoyHalo: POMME SAFE]
[BadBoyHalo: POMME SAFE]
[Roier whispers JaidenAnimations: hes here]
[JaidenAnimations whispers Roier: on my way right now]
[BagheraJones is bleeding. BagheraJones was slain by 01010000]
[BadBoyHalo whispers BagheraJones: POMME SAFE]
[FitMC whispers BadBoyHalo: Where are you? Where’s Dapper?]
[FitMC: Ramon secure.]
[FitMC: Tallulah and Chayanne secure.]
[FitMC whispers BadBoyHalo: Dapper’s not with Ramon, and he’s not in his room. Bad, I need you to answer me.]
[JaidenAnimations: Bobby’s secure]
[BagheraJones is bleeding. BagheraJones was slain by 01010000]
[BadBoyHalo whispers BagheraJones: POMME SAFE]
[BagheraJones whispers BadBoyHalo: thank you]
[Roier: Leo safe, Dapper safe]
[FitMC whispers Roier: Where’s Dapper?]
[Roier whispers FitMC: pomme’s room]
[FitMC whispers Roier: Thank you.]
[ForeverPlayer: RICHARLYSON???]
[JaidenAnimations: He’s with Bobby, he’s safe]
[01010000 is bleeding. 01010000 was slain by Etoiles using [CODE BREAKER] ]
[01010000 was slain]
[Roier: w]
[BadBoyHalo: what about 8]
[BadBoyHalo: forever?]
[ForeverPlayer: safe]
[Foolish: WHAT HAPPENED??]
[BadBoyHalo whispers Foolish: it was recovery day]
[Foolish whispers BadBoyHalo: OH DAMN, I WAS ASLEEP, LEO AND I WERE TAKING A NAP]
[Etoiles: code went from watching to attacking]
[Etoiles: all of a sudden name went from blank to binary]
[Etoiles: launched right at pomme]
[Etoiles: baghera went ham but it wasnt trying to kill her]
[Etoiles: it was like it was playing with her like a cat with a wounded bird]
[Etoiles: something changed]
[FitMC whispers BadBoyHalo: Fuck.]
[BadBoyHalo whispers FitMC: agreed.]
[Slimecicle: shit]
[Slimecicle: oh that’s not good]
[ForeverPlayer: Etoiles, we need to talk later]
[BadBoyHalo: forever, do you think…]
[ForeverPlayer: yes]
[Slimecicle: oh that's worse than not good]
[BadBoyHalo whispers ForeverPlayer: is max okay?]
[ForeverPlayer whispers BadBoyHalo: he’s having some kind of breakdown or attack of some kind? He hasn’t let go of 8 since we got him, and he’s not listening to anything we say]
[BadBoyHalo whispers ForeverPlayer: omw]
[Etoiles: baghera and pomme are first priority]
[Etoiles: we will speak when they are secure]
[ForeverPlayer: of course of course]
Chapter 12
Summary:
Slime talks with Phil.
Bad teaches Trump a new trick.
Fit comforts Ramon.
Notes:
Sorry the chapter’s a bit rough this time, it’s been fighting me the whole way. But now it’s out.
I’m on vacation right now, so I’m kinda hoping I’ll be able to get some more writing done, but I’ve learned bettter than to make promises. Also this keyboard types extra letters sometimes as you can see, but hey it was under 10 bucks and it connects to my iPad for travel so that’s all I can really ask for.Please enjoy.
Chapter Text
Slimecicle was nervous, on his way home.
Honestly, that was a massive understatement, but he didn’t really want to think about it. He got through a lot of problems by not thinking about things, and honestly if that had been working so well for him before why change it, you know? Maybe he just didn’t want to think about the fact that he saw one of the dead kids come back to life. That he saw Max nearly shut down entirely. That the Binary Entity immediately tried to kill Pomme as soon as they got Trump back out of it.
He really didn’t want to think about any of that at all. But since it had happened so recently, it was all he could think about.
…Well, almost all he could think about.
“Hey, Phil?” He spoke as he entered his house glancing around the darkened home. He didn’t mind the lower light level, he was a slime hybrid after all, and Philza seemed to want to hide in the dark. He perked up a bit at the sound of rustling, closing the door behind him. “Hey, I’m back!”
The crow peeked out of his hiding spot, looking over at him.
“Things went well. The kid’s back. Maxo’s and Dan’s kid. He’s kinda out of it, kinda freaked out, but I think he’ll be okay. He went with Bad, Forever, and Max over to Bad’s place.” He walked over and sat on the floor in front of him. “Sofia doesn’t think we can use that method again though, so we’ll have to find a new way to get the other two. But that’s fine! Because we’re gonna get them back, and it’s…it’s gonna be okay.”
The crow tilted his head, making several bird vocalizations. Slime didn’t understand what they actually meant, but he understood the tone of them. The crow was concerned about him.
“I’m fine, I just-” He cleared his throat. “…After we got him back, the Entity tried immediately to kill Pomme. Etoiles struck it down, and Bad saved Pomme, but..it’s scary, you know? They’re kids, but…they’re trying to kill the other kids. And while we know how to save those two, sort of at least, we…don’t know how to save any that fall now, you know?”
The crow pulled him into his arms, hiding him in his wings.
“It’s just…it’s scary. My kid is one of the two trying to kill the others, you know? And- and I don’t know what happened after she died, but I sure know I did a shit job at raising her. I killed her best friend, and left her with my- With Mariana, and she died for it, and now her and her best friend spend their time together trying to kill the other kids! And like-” He dug his hands into his hair, pulling tightly. “I wasn’t ever cut out for this parent thing, and kids are suffering for it, not just from my own breakdowns and mistakes, but from my daughter’s too. And there’s nothing I can do about it.”
For the first time in a while, Slime heard a reply. “…You did your best, Slime.”
His head shot up, locking eyes with Philza, the crow’s eyes looking clearer than they had in weeks. “What?”
“You did your best. And yeah, sometimes…sometimes our best is shit. I..didn’t do the best job with Wil, you unfortunately know that. I failed Tommy when he needed a father figure. The other kids on the server didn’t even have that.” He let out a shaky breath. “But what…happened after, isn’t your fault.”
“It’s not your fault either.” He let his hands fall from his hair, drips of slime falling down his scalp. “With the Entity…they’re trying to kill the kids. And the Entity’s deaths don’t stick.”
“…They’re still fledgelings, Slime.”
“Not right now they’re not. Only when we get them back are they fledgelings. Right now they’re…a monster. But we have to protect the others from them.” He looks more determined. “We have to protect them from themselves. Once we get them back…I doubt they’ll handle killing their siblings well. Juana…she’ll be gutted when she realizes what happened to Tallulah. To Dapper. It…” He took a breath. “Stopping them from killing them, however we have to, is the kindest thing we can do for them right now.”
Philza looked away, wings twitching. “…Slime…”
“It’s Tallulah’s birthday soon. Hers and Pomme’s. They want to celebrate together.” He looked away too. “The only present Tallulah keeps asking for is for you to come home.”
The crow flinched.
“Will you come to the birthday party? She and Chayanne really miss you. And…we could use the extra protection, too.”
“…I’ll come.” His voice was barely a whisper. “I’ll come to the party.”
Slime smiled fondly. “I’m glad. It’ll be a lovely surprise for them.” He bumped his head against Philza’s shoulder. “You can’t hide from us forever, dumbass. Too stubborn for our own good, right?”
“Stupid, more like…”
“You can’t run from your flock. Not in a way that sticks.”
The tension in the room was obvious to the demon, though it wasn’t quite as bad as the tension in the room behind him.
Bad had pulled Trump into a different room in his own base, leaving Forever and Maximus to yell in the other room. They’d retreated to his base after he’d arrived, wanting to get away from the area to make sure they were safe and secure.
The yelling was mostly muffled at that point, but even if it wasn’t, the mix of Spanish and Portuguese was too difficult for him to parse anyway. He was pretty sure they were just being loud, not that they were going to be violent or anything.
Maximus’ near shutdown when he’d gotten back his son had been a scare for everyone involved, and from the little he’d gleaned from the translator on his comm, he was prettty sure that was the main reason for the yelling; that it was from concern, not anger.
But the yelling was stressing out the poor egg that had returned, and the kid needed to learn something anyway, so it was easy enough to convince the others to let them move into a different room for learning. And Dapper had come with, as they were want to do. “Okay, Trump? You feeling a bit better?”
The egg shifted from foot to foot, before sitting down.
“I know, it’s a lot right now, isn’t it? I’m sorry. But there’s good news, we’re going to help you with something that might make you feel a bit more comfortable. Can you do that for me?”
The egg nodded slowly, propeller swinging on his hat.
“Perfect! Okay, do you see Dapper?” He gestured to the kid, who did a spin as they was looked at. “You see how they look like a person? While you aren’t able to hatch yet, the other eggs have been able to do a bit of shapeshifting to be able to take these humanoid forms. It makes it a bit easier to complete quests as well, though with you coming back, I don’t think you’ll be having to worry about that. Bobby hasn’t, so I don’t expect you’ll be having any quests either. But!” He clapped his hands together. “It’s also just easier for you to get around and do things if you have hands and feet and the like.”
Dapper chirped, gesturing with their hands. He knew it was some kind of dragon sign language, but he couldn’t understand it at all. But Trump seemed receptive to it, and a muffled clack could be heard from his shell.
“Okay. Dapper’s gonna explain it in more detail, but the main concept is…you focus on your energy, your power you feel in your chest. And you hold onto it, as you focus on how you feel. How you feel comfortable, and safe. And maybe that means something different for you than it does for Dapper, but you can have any kind of humanoid form that you want. Tallulah looks more human, for example, because of her connection to Wilbur. Meawhile Dapper looks more like me, because I make them feel loved and safe.”
Dapper nodded, moving over to sit cross legged in front of the egg. The two chirped and clicked, Dapper gesturing with their hands as the two talked.
Bad glanced back at the door, as the voices got close enough for him to be able to read them on his comm. He waited for the translations, raising an eyebrow, but he relaxed as he saw the words. It seemed Roier had arrived, and seemed to have soothed things over a bit between the two.
The door crashed open, as Bobby shoved his way inside. He scampered over to the other two, hopping around as he saw there were two kids instead of an egg and a kid.
Bad took a look over, before his eyes widened. “Hey Max? I think you should come see this.”
Max hurried into the room, the other two adults right behind him. He stopped short, adjusting his sunglasses. “…Trump?”
Trump was standing there, smaller than Dapper or Bobby, possibly even smaller than Pomme. His pants were jeans, and he had a cracked set of goggles he wore as a belt, that looked similar to Dan’s. While the jacket and sunglasses he wore looked like small versions of Max’s. His hair was long and dark like Max’s, while there were small streaks of a lighter brown like Dan’s. He had no tail or wings showing, but his eggshell had larger pieces that coated over the back of his jacket.
Max dropped to the ground, holding out his arms. “My son, my baby, come here. I love you, son, I love you so much-”
Trump stumbled over, falling into his father’s arms.
“You have so much love in your heart- I’m so sorry, son, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you before, I promise I will do much better now.”
Bad smiled, looking over to Dapper and Bobby. The two kids looked at each other, grins on their faces.
Fit groaned, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes.
It had been hours that he and Ramon had been trying to use his semi-repaired extra comm to search through the data, and they’d barely made any progress. Eventually, Ramon had gotten bored, and had set to messing with his own comm, making adjustments to his translator.
“I don’t get all of this. It feels so…over the top. It looks like hacked together player code. It looks like some Admin bullshit. There’s no reason for any of this.” He dropped his head onto the table. “What the hell is their game here?”
Ramon scribbled on his notepad, holding it up.
[I don’t remember anything before the Fed showed up. So whatever’s with our code, it’s probably due to them.]
“Yeah, but why? What do they gain from messing with your code like this?”
[Hostages maybe? Besides the bear, we’re the only other creatures left from before you guys showed up.]
“And the duck.”
[And the duck.]
“But why would they take you guys hostage? Proto Players are meant to be protected. If anyone outside of the server found out this happened to you guys, and they could get onto the server? The Feds being dead is the best case scenario they could hope for.” He sat back up. “Even in the Wasteland, if you had ever seen a Proto Player, or a young player, they’re not to be messed with. Even in a lawless land, that’s just a fact.”
Ramon set down his comm, staring at the notebook for a while.
[I don’t know. I don’t know who was on the island before you guys. But if we were here, there had to be others. Maybe even the mother dragon. Maybe they messed with our codes to keep them in line.]
“But, Ramon…there’s no one left.”
[…I know. So maybe it didn’t work. Or maybe they got tired of them, or something. Maybe they’re…gone forever. …Maybe we weren’t the only eggs, even.]
He rubbed at his eyes.
[We’ll never know. But…Dapper and I made a promise to each other. That we’d do anything to protect the siblings, the family, that we still have. So the why doesn’t matter.]
Fit sighed, reaching out and resting a hand on Ramon’s shoulder. “…That should be our jobs, not yours. I’m sorry life’s been so unfair to you all so far. One day, we’ll get you guys out of here, give you a real life.”
Ramon leaned into the touch, dropping his notebook on the table.
He pulled his son into his lap, holding him close. “One day, you’ll all be safe. You’ll be able to play and make mistakes with no permanent consequences. You’ll learn to fly, and I bet Phil will be one of those who teach you. You’ll get to see machines made with mods, and made without mods, that you’ve never been able to even dream of. Dapper will collect even more things. Tallulah will learn new songs, Bobby will find new shades of paint, Chayanne will find more things to fight. Leo will explore the worlds with her father, Richarlyson will find new ways to give his dads heart attacks, Pomme will see the worlds. Trump will get to learn who he is, Tilin will be loved and cared for, Juanaflippa will see the things her father told her stories about.” He took a slow breath. “You all will live. That’s a promise.”
Chapter 13
Summary:
Tallulah celebrates her birthday.
It doesn’t go to plan.
Notes:
Family stuff on vacation got so stressful I needed to write to get the stress and anxiety out. This is a scene I’ve had planned since the beginning, and is about halfway through what I’ve already got roughly hashed out for the story.
Which doesn’t mean the story is half over btw. There’s quite a few chapters inbetween I haven’t come up with concepts for, and a bunch after a major event that I haven’t planned out either. We got a lot more go to folks.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tallulah wasn’t entirely looking forward to her birthday.
This was the first time she wasn’t going to have either her Papa, or her Abuelito. It…hurt. Everyone tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, and while she knew that logically, it still…it was hard to believe it sometimes.
She’d been abandoned in the adoption center, after all the others. That…there had to be a reason for that, right? Even Pomme and Richarlyson had attention brought to them when they were put out for adoption. She’d been found. And then her Papa happened to be someone who traveled for work, which meant he left her behind. And now even her Abuelito had left her, afraid for her safety if he stayed.
It was hard to not think that she was the problem, at this point. But whenever she got too deep into that train of thought, she focused on her brother instead. Chayanne was struggling just as much as she was. He felt like he wasn’t good enough for his first dad to stick around, even though she knew it was because he did important work that required his time. And now he felt like he’d failed to protect his second dad from the things that wanted to hurt him, even though it was just Abuelito being scared because of bird brain.
…Yes it was different to her worries. Shut.
But regardless of how she felt about it, her birthday (she never really understood why they celebrated the day they were found every month, especially since the hadn’t hatched yet, and hatch day seemed a bit more important?) had arrived once again, and the adults around her were trying their best to keep her spirits high.
Pomme was delighted, so excited to be having a combo birthday with her ’favourite sister’ (not that there were many options left, and Leo usually preferred ‘sibling’ unless he was feeling very girl that day anyway), and had been excitedly messaging in the group chat the entire morning. The other eggs weren’t coming, the adults all very concerned at having too many eggs together at once at the moment, but everyone (except Trump, who supposedly still needed to find his comm?) had given kind messages in return.
Meanwhile, Tallulah felt a bit like she was preparing for war. Was that a bit dramatic? Probably. But cut her some slack; she was going through a lot, okay? She was allowed to be a bit dramatic. Some would say that was her brand.
A knock from the kitchen door pulled her out of her thoughts, and she looked over quickly. Chayanne opened the door, moving into the room, barely pulling his tail in before the door closed. His clothes were the usual, pants and shirt like Abuelito, purple sneakers, purple and blue jacket like his dad. But his skull mask was pulled on top of his head, and the rest of his usual outfit was entirely covered by his diamond armor. His wings, covered in black feather-like scales ruffled behind him, and his ducky squeaked slightly as it moved against his armor. “…You pick out your outfit for today?”
“What’s it matter? It’ll be covered by my armor anyway.” She turned away, sitting down with a quiet huff. “Might as well just be an egg.”
“Lulah…” Chayanne moved over, resting a hand on top of her shell. “It matters because you like what you wear. It being under the armor doesn’t mean you don’t get to enjoy it.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He sighed, tail lashing behind him. “Pomme’s gonna dress up, you know. Can’t let her outdo you at your own party, can you?”
She huffed, before finally letting her form change, her arms resting on top of her knees. “It’s her party too, you know.”
Chayanne grinned. “So?” He pulled back. “Do you want me to braid your hair today?”
Tallulah slowly pushed herself to her feet, arms out for balance. “…Sure. One single braid please?”
“You got it.”
—
Tallulah finally decided on her yellow long sleeve shirt, since it wasn’t supposed to be too cold, her brown corduroy skirt with the suspenders, yellow knee socks, and black flats. As well as her usual beanie, of course.
She was right, it was hidden under her diamond armor, but Tio Slime had gotten them to all take off their armor for a few pictures, including one where she showed off her twirl, so at least people had gotten to see her outfit for a little bit.
Tio Slime had been a surprise at the birthday, if she was honest. While she liked him, even though Chayanne was still a bit wary of him, she hadn’t expected him to be so…involved? Though considering that Tio Fit and Tio Bad were working on their secret projects, she assumed he had been sent to to be her parent figure for the day. Tio Slime had known both Papa and Abuelito before they’d come here, so that was okay with her.
Tia Baghera and Tio Etoiles were also there, of course, for Pomme. Well, and for her, but they were Pomme’s parents, so it made sense for them to be there. Apparently her other parents were busy, so they were going to have a family celebration later that night at home.
Good for them. Or whatever.
She was sitting off to the side with Chayanne, as he cooked. She'd done some dancing, and gotten tired, so she watched as the adults danced with Pomme.
“You okay?” He turned away from the stove, resting a hand on her forehead. “No fever…”
“Worrywart.” She smiled, gently knocking his hand away. “Just felt winded is all.”
“Do you have your inhaler? I have your backup-”
“I’m fine, Chay. Truly.” She closed her eyes, kicking her feet. “It’s…today is nice.”
He was quiet, before he returned to his cooking. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”
“And you?” She tilted her head towards him. “Are you having a good time?”
“…I’m happy to be outside with you.”
She sighed, tilting her head back and opening her eyes. “…I know. It’s hard.”
“…Yeah.” He tensed up a bit, gripping his spatula tighter as they were approached.
“Hey, Chayanne.” Tio Slime held up his hands, a nervous smile on his face. “No threat, just me.”
“Some would call you a threat…”
“Be nice to Tio Slime!” Tallulah reached out to bonk her brother on the shoulder.
“…Uh.” The slime hybrid, shifted from foot to foot before he clapped his hands together. “I wanted to give you your birthday present! Well, uh, one of them. Most of them are back at your house, for you to open when you feel up for it. No one really wanted to put any extra pressure on you, myself included, so…most of them are there. But there’s one that just can’t wait!”
She raised an eyebrow, glancing over to Chayanne. “You have any ideas?”
He shook his head, taking his pan off the stove and turning it off. “No clue.” He turned to fully face the adult, hand on his hip.
“Close your eyes you two, it’s a surprise! I promise, Chayanne, Etoiles is on guard duty right now, okay?”
The two kids glanced at each other again, before shrugging. They faced him again, closing their eyes.
“Okay, cool.” He moved some. “Hey, you can come over now!”
Tallulah’s face scrunched in confusion as she tried to figure out who he could be talking to, before she caught a hint of smell that made her freeze up. Scent of pine needles, feather down, nail polish and death. She felt Chayanne tense up next to her, as he reacted too.
“Uh, you two can open your-”
Her eyes flew open, and her mouth fell open in disbelief.
Abuelito, looking a bit worse for wear, and uncomfortably out of place as if he felt he didn’t belong, was standing right in front of the two of them. His talons dug into his shirt arms, and he was doing his best not to just bolt. But his eyes were on the two of them. He chirped quietly. Babies, mine, fledgelings
The two launched forward at the same time, crashing into Abuelito and breaking into immediate sobs.
He recoiled, before dropping to his knees, pulling the two close and wrapping his wings around them. He fussed and chirped. Hurt? Hurt? Okay? Safe?
She struggled through her sobs, but attempted a chirr close to one of his words. Yesyes.
He cooed, holding them tightly. Yesyes.
—
Tallulah wasn’t sure how long she cried, but eventually she calmed, and the wings pulled away, and Pomme sprinted over, hopping around. The youngest girl’s navy dress and white shirt were covered in grass stains, her navy flats scuffed, her beret almost falling out of her hair.
“Lulah! Your parent is home! Congratulations!!”
She smiled slightly. “Thank you. Did…did you know?”
“No!” She pressed her hands to the side of her face, a look of shock over it. “But once he walked over I looked up at Maman and she was smiling really bright so I think the adults knew!”
“His cloak smells of Slime.” Chayanne spoke, glancing over to the man in question.
“You think he was with Tio Slime? Why?”
“We can talk about that later, Lulah.”
“Oh Gods, I missed you both so much.” Abuelito seemed much more at ease than he had when he’d arrived, gently rocking the two from side to side. “I’m…I’m sorry I ran. I was…scared. There’s…a lot about avian hybrids I haven’t explained, but I’m…I’m done hiding. …Soon. I’ll be back home soon, okay?”
Tallulah beemed, chirring. Yesyes.
—
Of course, as she probably should have expected, that was when everything went to shit.
The sky quickly flipped from day to night, the adults all crying out in alarm. Pomme flinched backwards, eyes widening in fear as she scrambled for her armor in her inventory. Chayanne lept to his feet, drawing his sword, before quickly swapping it for his axe. She pushed herself up quickly, reaching for her totem.
The mobs spawned quickly, and she hid behind Chayanne, shaking in fear. She saw Abuelito spread his wings, before launching at the mobs with his talons out, face pulled into a snarl. Tio Etoiles joined him in fighting the mobs, cheering. Tia Baghera also drew her weapon, keeping an eye on the sky for the Entity itself. Tio Slime stayed near the two, typing into his comm.
“Chayanne, Tallulah, Pomme, prepare for teleport!”
“Pomme’s pearl is not in place!”
“Mierde, where is Pomme? Pomme!”
Before she could reach out to try to help, she felt a sharp pain, and the air was knocked out of her lungs. She coughed, water flowing into her mouth as she flailed, disoriented. Her armor was heavy even in the bubbling water, and she dropped her totem, feeling it fly up past her. As quickly as she was struggling, small hands grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the water, tearing off her armor and throwing it across the room.
She coughed and wheezed, clinging to her brother as he shook, his armor also discarded.
“Pomme’s pearl is not in place!”
“Mierde, where is Pomme? Pomme!”
Philza turned away from the mob he’d just killed, blood dripping from his talons. His eyes scanned over the area, before he pulled up his map.
“Pomme! Now is not the time to hide, we gotta get you- agh!”
“I am coming, Slime! Kite the mobs!”
He saw her name tag, rushing off into the forest. And right behind hers,he saw a second nametag. His eyes narrowed, and he took off running.
He would not fail again.
He heard a cry of pain as he approached, leaping forward and slashing with his talons at the Entity.
Pomme rolled away, pushing herself to her feet quickly, eyes wide with fear.
The Entity flinched, turning around quickly to slash at him instead.
“Pomme! Use your warpstone!” He cried, sliding his axe out of his inventory and into his hands. He feigned a slash, before locking the axe with the Entity’s sword.
The child cried out at the sound, before fumbling her warpstone into her hands and vanishing in a burst of purple sparks.
He wrenched the sword away, throwing it over his head, watching as the Entity rushed after it. He was glad he’d agreed to go with Slime to drop off the presents and pick something up. He quickly pulled out his comm.
[Ph1LzA: Pomme home]
[Ph1LzA: Get to her now]
[Etoiles: i see her at hotel going now]
[Slimecicle: Baghera and I are going too to check on Chay and Lulah]
[BadBoyHalo: Philza??]
He threw his comm back into his inventory, turning just in time to block the sword slash from the Entity. “Listen here you motherfucker.”
The Entity slashed at him again.
“I know how this works now, right? Your name is the letter you’re hunting right? And it’s a P, because you’ve been on Pomme’s ass for weeks now.”
The Entity paused, seemingly watching him.
“You want to kill someone who begins with P, right?” He took a breath, before tossing his axe into his inventory, holding his arms out to the side. “Kill me then. Kill me, and leave Pomme alone.”
The Entity watched him for a moment longer, before rushing forward, not slashing this time, but stabbing straight through.
He coughed involuntarily as the blade pierced through him, feeling the outrageous amount of damage immediately deplete his hearts. His knees gave out, and he fell to the ground, blade going with him.
[Ph1LzA is bleeding. Ph1LzA was slain by 01010000.]
His lungs were wet as he wheezed, looking up at the Entity as it floated over him. He felt the seconds burning away faster than they should, and that alarmed him. He was pretty sure that he would respawn, but the pain he felt was…worse than any other downing or any other death he was pretty sure he’d ever felt. Including the first one, that led to him meeting Her. He wondered, for a brief moment, if his cut off connection to Death was actually a danger. He realized quickly it was too late to care.
He grit his teeth. “Juana. Tilin. I’m sorry.” He coughed, blood dripping from his lips. “If I had known, I’d…I’d never have threatened you the way I did.”
The Entity moved closer, as if curious.
“I will do anything to-” He coughed again, pain flooding him. “To protect them. But you’re kids too. And I’m-” He wheezed, his vision fading. “I’m sorry.”
For a brief moment, as his vision went black, he thought for a moment he saw two kids in front of him, doused in green light, reaching out in distress towards him. But he was sure it must have been a trick of the mind.
[Ph1LzA was slain by 01010000.]
—
Darkness embraced him, but it was unlike how it usually did.
Usually, it held him gently, cradling him as his soul bound back together from whatever had felled him that time, locking his World away once again. Whispered to him as he recovered, as the tears fell, pulled the grief away.
This time, the darkness simply surrounded him. His soul still ached, his chest almost debilitating in its pain. The grief overflowed, as he realized the biggest concern; he was alone. There was no Lady to put him back together from another hardcore World lost, to wax poetic about the creations he had made. The darkness was not Hers, not Her section of Void that she cared for.
He’d never felt like this from a normal respawn. But he must have been respawning…right? He hadn’t…hadn’t been at his World recently…had he? Where…
…He couldn’t remember where he had been. He was in too much pain.
Death wasn’t supposed to hurt. The hurt came from dying itself. Death…was healing. Was comfort. Was love.
(And the Universe said I love you, because you are love)
He felt two small hands touch the wound on his chest, before something ripped away from him, a new batch of pain flaring before it was gone completely. His head was so foggy…Maybe this was the end.
“No.”
He would have made a confused noise, if he was able to speak. He…he knew that voice? But not here. Never here.
“No. No.”
He felt his soul being pulled through the darkness, before pain hit him again.
“Please- Yes. Yes. Goodnight.”
He slipped into unconsciousness.
Notes:
I realized as I was writing Philza’s scene that his death was kinda a reflection of him killing Wilbur on the DSMP and that makes it fit even better.
BTW please note the lack of ‘Main Character Death’ being tagged in this fic. Philza is gonna be okay. But any deaths to the Binary Entity in canon have ended up with the Players in Federation care, so I explored a bit of why that may be.
Chapter 14
Summary:
Slime watches the kids.
Fit visits Philza.
Cucurucho has some trouble.
Notes:
Surprise! I wasn’t originally gonna have a chapter up during the 12 days of Ficmas challenge, but I sat down during raid night and well, here we are. I likely won’t have an update for this fic on Christmas, but I thought I might as well get it out to you now. I hope you enjoy!
Also, as a note, this chapter mentions Technoblade. In this universe, Technoblade the character is still alive. He’s missing, no one can find him, and many people assume that he is dead, but he is alive. With this fic being the first time I have ever written Philza, and with this intended to be a story with a happy ending, I did not want to write a world where he is gone for good.
He continues to live on in these stories. I hope that if he’s somewhere where he can see what people still make involving him, he can feel how much people care about him.
Chapter Text
Slimecicle wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good idea, but he had to try something.
After the incident at Tallulah and Pomme’s party, both Tallulah and Chayanne had barely been willing to leave their house. Bad had managed to get them to complete their quests, but that had been days ago, and the isolation…was worrying him.
Of course he was worried about Philza too, but allegedly Cucurucho had finally cleared him to be visited in the hospital, and he wasn’t about to try to fight with Fit when the man had demanded he be the one to go see him. Which meant he was back to trying to fill babysitter duty.
He warped over to Philza’s base, glancing around. It was night, but with the amount of lights on the wall it was probably the safest place to be. He thought that might help too, that it was dark. Less things to focus on, and they could do some stargazing too maybe.
He moved over to the trapdoor, knocking on the metal. “Hello? It’s Tio Slime, I wanted to talk to you two.”
There was the sound of shuffling from down below, before the airlock opened as well as the trapdoor. The two kids climbed out, full armor already in place. Chayanne looked irritated, but the bags under his eyes were unfortunately dark. Tallulah, meanwhile, just looked drained.
“Hey, I was uh…thinking we could go on a walk along the wall. Maybe harvest some potatoes?” He gave a nervous smile, realizing he wasn’t wearing his armor.
Chayanne glared at him, before pulling out a book and scribbling in it.
[Do you know how my dad’s doing?]
“Fit is going to go visit him as soon as he gets the okay, which means he’s doing much better and might even be awake today!”
Tallulah relaxed slightly at the words, leaning against Chayanne. Chayanne immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“But yeah, I figured, uh…we could take a walk. I thought it might be good for you two?”
Tallulah took the book from Chayanne, writing sluggishly.
[That sounds nice Tio thank you]
Charlie’s smile became a bit more genuine. “It’s always nice to see the stars, you know?”
Tallulah rattled her maraca, smiling faintly.
He turned and started to lead the way along the wall. “Did you know that the stars are different on each World?” He gestured his hands as he walked. “Even if it’s a World swapped out on the same Server, the stars are different. There are so many different constellations, but each one is usually unique to a World.” He swung his arms from side to side.
Tallulah moved to his side, looking up at him curiously. Chayanne moved to the field, pulling out his scythe to harvest the potatoes that hadn’t overgrown.
Slime looked over to the field, taking note of the field’s state. They’d probably need to tear most of them out and replant the whole thing…but he knew that was Chayanne and his dad’s thing, he’s not gonna even seem like he’d interfere with that. He looked back down at Tallulah. “It’s true! The main places that actually bother to have star charts made tend to be long term Servers. Like Hypixel’s Hub, or the MCC arena. But even though we don’t all see the same stars, we’re all looking into the same universe. The Universe, some might say, ha…ha. Uhm.”
Their pace was slow, to let Tallulah breathe easy, as well as let Chayanne search through the field for any good potatoes. Slime appreciated it too. It had been a while since he had tried to let himself relax. And even though he was pretty sure he should still be on edge, especially after everything, he…couldn’t help but feel at ease.
They walked in silence for the next while, until they eventually neared the…the memorial. Slime didn’t like calling it that. He knew Tallulah meant well, that she was doing what she thought would help. But…Slime refused to believe he was gone.
Sure, he was one of only two people that hadn’t gotten out from the Server. And sure, the Server had…since had the portal no longer work, which usually meant…the Server was destroyed…but. But he refused to believe it. If Philza was gonna have faith, than so was he. Philza knew death, and Death, better than anyone.
He sat down near the structure, letting out a breath. “…Things are gonna be okay.”
Chayanne turned to look at him, before dusting off his hands and moving over. He pulled out a sign, setting it down.
[How do you know?]
Well wasn’t that a hell of a question. “Well…” He looked back up at the stars. “…The previous Server I was on, was…one of the worst experiences I ever had in my life. I know we don’t talk about it much, because it’s…hard to talk about, and we don’t want to worry you guys, but it was…genuinely a terrible place. People…what we went through there, was the stuff of nightmares. And even after all that…we got out. And things were okay. So…I think this will become okay too.”
Chayanne seemed to watch Slime, looking for any sort of a hint of a lie, but found nothing. He pulled the sign up, before moving over to sit with him. Tallulah sat next to her brother, pulling out a book, and sketching the stars.
“…It’ll be okay. We’ll do everything we can do make sure it is.”
Fit was so chill, thanks for asking.
His friend, who had finally returned to the group, and was possibly going to be able to be brought back into the fold and helped with whatever the fuck was going on in his bird brained head, had then gotten himself killed by…the code kids? The Code? The Binary Entity? What the fuck was he supposed to call it now? …Them? Man this was fucking hard to process.
They were lucky that Philza was okay. Any time the Code had attacked and killed, the amount of damage taken had been enough for the Federation to intervene. And they hadn’t known where he’d gone down. If they hadn’t been able to get Cucurucho’s attention when they did…
Well, that was something he really didn’t want to think about. So he wasn’t going to. He was going to bury that in the emotional box he hid every emotional stressor in, until he died.
He looked up quickly as he heard a door open, standing as soon as he saw Cucurucho. “Is he-“
“Please, follow me.”
“Right, yeah. Sure thing boss.”
He tried to not focus too hard on the hallways they walked, but he couldn’t help it. He had to. He had to know what direction he went, where he was going. He can’t help it. He can’t.
Unfortunately, that meant he did not hear a single thing that Cucurucho said as they walked, which he was pretty sure he was supposed to be listening to.
When he was directed to a door, he cautiously moved forward and opened it. As soon as he saw inside, he moved in as quick as possible.
Philza was lying in the hospital bed at the back of the room, seeming disoriented. The bed was designed for a winged Player, with two gaps in the bedding to allow his wings to hang down with gravity. As Fit got closer, he noticed what looked like a bit of frost over his eyes and ice on the feathers around his ears.
Fit narrowed his eyes, and really wished that he had paid more attention to the bear’s talking. “…the hell happened to you, Phil?” He reached out and rubbed his thumbs over the feathers, cracking and dusting the ice away.
“Fit?” He blinked slowly. “Who’s- fuckin, stop touchin’ me-“
“You’ve got ice on your feathers, Phil. I assumed it was better to touch without asking than let you freeze like that.” He pulled a cloth out of his inventory, wiping the frost away. “Feel any better?”
“I…” He blinked a few times, before he ruffled his feathers as he shivered. “…The fuck am I?”
“You’re in a Fed hospital.” He leaned against the bed, gesturing with his flesh hand. “Yeah, I know, not ideal. But you got merced by the Code, and it almost perma’d you, so the Feds had to step in.” He felt his frustration rise, he wanted to argue and fight with Phil, try to figure out what the hell he was thinking, why he’d throw his life on the line like that, what the hell went wrong. But on the other hand, Phil was very obviously out of it, and yelling at someone when they’re in that kind of state is rarely helpful, even if it would make him personally feel better.
“…The Code…” He flinched. “Shit, Pomme-“
“Take it easy, Pomme’s fine. Well, she’s not hurt, at least. She’s a bit freaked out that you nearly died for her, but she’s not harmed.”
“Tallulah-“
“Phil.” He rested his metal hand on the other man’s shoulder. “The kids are okay. They’re all freaked out, but they’re alright. It’s been days since you went down.”
“…Days?” He winced. “If I’ve been asleep for days, why do I feel like shit?”
“I’d imagine that healing from code damage isn’t exactly the most relaxing thing for your body to do.”
Phil stared off for a bit. “…When can I go home?”
Fit sighed. “…I don’t know. But I’ll be here with you until you can. And then your sorry ass is taking a bath, and getting in your nest, and not leaving for a week.” He grinned. “I already promised Chayanne that was what was gonna happen.”
“…Okay.” His eyes closed again, and he drifted back to sleep.
The bear was about to fucking lose it.
He- he? T…they? She? …He? …The bear wasn’t exactly having a good time.
The bear was…
Cucurucho let the door to the office shut behind it, and slammed it’s fist against the wall.
It hadn’t paid enough attention. It had almost lost one of it’s Players. Again.
Again.
It had almost lost the cat, and then it had almost lost the crow. And neither had been in the same way.
It wasn’t sure if that was worse or not.
It had to dig deep in the code, to snatch the crow back from where he had fallen. He had almost been out of range. If he had fallen even a little bit further-
And then the code damage…it had to have been what the Players had been calling the Entity. It had never seen the creature, but it had heard the Players speak of the thing.
It had seen the result of the thing’s attacks on it’s Players. This had been the worst so far.
The cat’s injuries had been bad, worse than the…other Player, but the crow…the creature had attempted to sever his heart. His Heart. The crow wasn’t supposed to be tied to Hardcore here. This was not a Hardcore Server. The fact that his status had somehow almost been reverted by the code damage was-
That was fucking horrifying.
And then to top it all off, Cucurucho had finally left the crow’s side for only a few minutes, and come back to see several workers trying to shove the crow in a fucking stasis pod. They wanted to keep the crow? Away from his family? Away from those who know the crow?
Were they stupid?
Ah yes, bait the anarchist, the demon, the weird slime creature, provoke the near feral Brazilian, the star plant, both of the ducks, and the son that was returning soon, not to mention the eggs that were willing to be the most violent out of even some of that group.
Cucurucho did not need that diamond sword pointed at it’s throat, thank you very much.
It needed to keep the islanders calm. Keep them happy. The Island needed to be perfect.
It was nowhere near perfect.
Cucurucho was nowhere near perfect.
It…it needed to calm down. Cucuru- the bear needed to calm down.
The bear was going to do what it was supposed to do. It would make things perfect.
And it wasn’t going to think about it’s flaws. About the Island’s flaws. About the Federation’s flaws.
…It never had been a good liar.
Chapter 15
Summary:
Philza is released from the hospital.
Wilbur heads home.
Two plan their next attack.
Notes:
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy the chapter :D
Chapter Text
To say Philza was off his game was putting it extremely lightly.
He’d tried to walk on his own, but the second he’d tried to stand his knees had buckled. And even once he was standing, trying to move in his shoes had caused him to lose his balance. He’d been lucky that Fit had a spare pair of leather boots on him, though if he thought about it a bit harder it was a wild coincidence to just happen to have a pair his size, and he’d been leaning on the anarchist ever since.
The trip to spawn from the hospital had seemed to take ages, and his attempts to counterbalance his stumbles with his wings proved more frustrating for both involved than actually helpful. But despite how many times they nearly fell, and how many times Philza accidentally hit Fit with his wing, the other never complained. Made jokes, sure. But never complained.
A part of him felt guilty. Fit had been at his side every time he’d woken up, and he’d known it had been at least a few days. Meaning Fit had probably been in that room the entire time. If he felt better, he’d make a quip about the man growing soft. But as it stood, it just made him feel worse to think about.
He’d run away from his flock, hadn’t told them he was alive, or anything, and they were still treating him like this. Willingly helping him. Not telling him he was a burden.
Sure, he’d been given a lecture about leaving his nameplate on if he was going to go brood, and he’d been glared at until he’d turned it back on, but that had been the extent of the frustration directed his way.
He didn’t know how to feel about it.
The waystone caused his knees to buckle again, but Fit was right at his side to catch him before he hit the grass, pulling him back to standing.
“There we go, old man. Come on, we’ve just gotta get you down the ladder and you’re home free.”
“More like home trapped.” He quipped back. “I know you’re not letting me out.”
“You’re grounded for at least a week.” Fit guided the two across the grass. “…Chayanne was worried sick, you know. Literally. He wasn’t able to keep any food down for two days after you were struck down.”
Ah, there was the more harsh reprimanding he was expecting. He was a terrible father for scaring his son like that-
“He cares about you, you know. More than you think you deserve, which is wrong by the way, but he does. So does Tallulah.”
Fit always knew how to read him. Goddamn.
“Missed them.” Gods his throat was dry. He hoped he could fix that once they were inside.
Getting down the ladder was a…whole ordeal, but they’d ended up at the bottom without much damage to either party (Philza was glad his talons had dug into Fit’s metal arm and not his flesh one, and that reminded him he really needed to glamour at some point, his talons were just going to get him in more trouble than the freedom was worth). He leaned against the wall once they were through the doors, and watched as Fit did a quick once over of the room.
The kid’s beds were pushed against the back wall, and bare. That would have alarmed him, if he didn’t see their pillows and blankets mixed into the nest of bedding between where their beds used to be. And the nest looked much better than the last time he’d seen it. At the time, it had been a halfassed project, just enough to get people off his back. But now it was a proper nest, with plenty of space for family. And he could see the little left pieces of clothing; one of Bad’s scarves, one of Fit’s bandanas, a glove from Ramon and a ribbon from one of Dapper’s hats. One of Wilbur’s sweaters had also been added to the pile, as well as one of Missa’s jackets.
He took a slow breath. He wanted to be in the nest so badly. He was so tired, he felt like shit, he’d felt like shit for weeks, he needed to be in the nest. He needed the nest now-
“Easy there, Phil.” Fit was at his side again. “How about we get you settled in and I preen your wings, huh?”
He let out a chirp, throat hurting too much to speak.
“The kids will be here soon. Wanted to get you settled before bringing them over. Come on, I’ve got some ice water for you.”
He practically collapsed into the blankets and pillows, burying his face into the softest one he could find.
“Okay, no, none of that. I’m not gonna let you suffocate because your birdbrain is getting to you.” Fit pulled at his arms. “Up a bit. Rest your torso on the edge of the nest. I’ll set you up with the water and a straw.”
He cawed out a complaint, but moved into the requested position, immediately setting to slowly drinking the water.
“There you go. Okay, I’m gonna work on your feathers now.”
He hummed in return, letting himself zone out since he felt safe.
Wilbur yawned and stretched his arms as he walked along the Hub.
He’d had a good time on his tour, had an absolutely wonderful time with his band mates, but he was glad to be getting…
Well, home. Not home as in a place, he knew that Server wasn’t going to be his ‘home’. But that was where his family was. His father, his daughter. His adopted kid brother who kept trying to set his house on fire. His friend, Slime. Quackity.
So yeah, it was home. But because of the people, not the location. In all honesty, he was concerned about returning to the location. He hadn’t gotten many messages from Philza in return to his own, and it was really starting to worry him.
As he turned the corner to start down the hall that led to the teleporter, he was caught off guard by someone calling his name.
“Wilbur!”
He held back a flinch, turning with an air of casualness to him. He had no idea who the man hurrying over was. He’d never heard the man’s voice, and he most certainly wasn’t on a first name basis with him. “Oh, hello!” He threw on the charm as a defense mechanism.
“I’m glad I caught you. I was worried I wasn’t going to make it.” The man gave an attempt at a comforting grin, but Wilbur could tell that it was an intentional facial movement. He rested a hand casually on his hip.
“Well, I can’t imagine why you’d be searching for me. Or why you’d be looking around here.” He gestured with his hands. “Mostly private Servers over here, yeah?”
“Oh, I knew you’d be over here. That’s why I had to rush over. You were ahead of schedule.”
Wilbur returned the grin, but he felt his anxiety rising. “Oh. You knew I’d be over here?”
The man watched him for a moment, grin falling to a neutral look. He blinked once, then twice. He abruptly seemed to realize something, and he had the decency to at least look sheepish. “Oh! My apologies. I’m- I’m Pixlrifs.” He cleared his throat. “I’m…a friend of Grian’s?”
Well, that eased his nerves a little bit. Not much though. “Oh?”
“Yeah. He knew you were ahead of schedule, so he sent me to get to you quickly to pause you so he could talk with you.” He rubbed the back of his head with his hand. “Sorry, I didn’t even think to mention that. Man, that probably sounded…really cryptic and bad, huh.”
“Little bit, to be honest.”
“My bad. I’m still getting used to Player behavior.” He glanced to the side.
What the hell did that mean? “I get it, man. No worries.” He absolutely did not get it. “You said Grian’s looking for me?”
“Yes! He should be here-“
“Hey Pix!” Grian swooped past him, landing on his feet near Wilbur. “Thanks for heading him off, I really appreciate it.”
“Of course, Grian. Wilbur, take care.” He waved once, before turning and walking off.
“…Well, he’s certainly interesting.”
Grian chuckled. “Yeah, he doesn’t exactly get out much. Joined a roleplay Server to work on it though.” He shook out his wings, before he pulled them behind him. “Anyway, it’s good to see you. How did your tour go?”
“It went great! Server portals still make me a bit sick, but seeing all the different sights and playing for so many different people really made it worth it.” He grinned, before it fell back to neutral. “…Grian. I know you didn’t have a stranger catch me before I left just to have a casual conversation.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “…Yeah, I didn’t. I wish I did.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, yeah. Something’s wrong with your Server.” He gestured with a hand and a wing. “You don’t need me to tell you that.”
“But you know? How? No one’s been able to really contact even me while I’ve been off the Server, how’d you find out?” He raised an eyebrow.
“MCC. Philza was there.”
His eyes widened. “He actually was allowed?” He realized the words had fallen out before he could stop them.
“…So it is that kind of lockdown, then.”
“Grian-“
“No, you’re not downplaying this. Not after what I’ve seen.” He pulled a book out of his inventory. “I need you to get this onto the Server. Get it to Philza, get it to someone else, just don’t let your Admin get it.”
“…What’s in this book?”
“An analysis of code data that was given to us by Philza on behalf of your Server. And with what we saw in that? It’s bad, Wil.” He let out a breath. “You have Pre Players there, Wil. Pre Players that haven’t been allowed to solidify their code.”
His eyes glazed over. “…Tallulah.”
“We’re working on what we can do from out here, putting solutions and safeguards into place. We’re doing everything we can. But a lot of work is gonna have to be done on the inside.” He handed over the book. “That’s not everything, but that’s about all we could manage for now. I needed to get as much over to you as possible.”
Wilbur took the book, looking at it in his hands. “…Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, get back before they get suspicious, yeah?” His wings twitched behind him. “…We’re gonna get you out of there. All of you.”
“We can’t leave the kids-“
“All of you. Like I said, we’re working on it, but there’s a lot that has to be done within the Server before we can even try to grab you all. We’re still figuring things out. But…hopefully this will help you all.”
“…” He put the book in his inventory, nodding once. “…Right. We’ll do what we can.”
Grian took a breath, before looking Wilbur in the eyes, his eyes purple. “The Parrot and the Raven send their regards to the Crow and his flock.”
Wilbur closed his eyes and nodded, before opening them, a fragment of his glamour fading. “The Fallen will pass along your regards. Fly free.”
“Fly free.” He blinked, and his eyes were black again. “Be safe, Wilbur.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” The glamour was back with a grin, and he waved. “We’ll all do out best in there.”
Bad sighed softly, running a hand down his face.
He felt like he simultaneously had no reason to be this worried about the mission they were planning, and also had one hundred percent reason to be worried about it. He and Forever had been planning for a few hours at that point, trying to narrow down the team of four that were going to go after Cellbit and Felps.
The first two choices had been easy; the two of them would go. Forever refused to sit back and wait for his friends, his family, to return any longer. And Bad wasn’t worried about putting his own life on the line to get them back either.
The main point of discussion had been who to bring along for the other two members. At first, there had been a lot of conversation about worrying about ‘wasting Etoiles’ time’ if it turned out there was no fighting to be had, until it sunk in for both of them that they were implying Etoiles would think rescuing two members of their family was a ‘waste of time’. The man might playfully complain about wanting to crack heads, but he wouldn’t turn down helping family if he could avoid it.
The fourth choice…
“I just…I do not know who would be good.” Forever groaned, resting his head on his arms on the table. “We have already asked much of Fit, and his job could be compromised if he returns again. I had wanted to ask Philza before he was injured, but…he is still recovering.”
“We also can’t ask Fit because he’s currently watching over Phil to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself again.” His tail twisted around the leg of the chair he sat in. “Roier would want to go, but…he might be emotionally compromised. Bringing him on the rescue would be actively putting him in more danger.”
“He also is needed by Jaiden at the moment.” He held up a finger. “The other French will be focusing on Pomme’s protection while Etoiles is busy. What about Slime?”
“Slime’s been on babysitting duty. As helpful as he would be, he’s absolutely running on fumes right now. Reeling from his daughter, watching Max’s moment, looking out for Phil, and then taking care of Chayanne and Tallulah has been way too much for the guy who’d been isolating himself for months.”
Forever groaned. “Then who do we choose? Do we try to go as three?”
“No, we can’t go as three. If we end up finding both of them, that’ll only leave one of us to defend while us other two carry them. We need at least one more person.”
Forever glanced over at his comm as both of their’s went off, picking it up. “Oh! The fabled son has returned.”
Bad’s eyes widened. “What?” He checked his own comm, tail lashing behind him. “Wilbur’s home!” He ran the words over in his head, realization hitting him. “…I’ll call Wilbur.”
“What? You just said Slime is too tired. Do you think that that is less tired than touring Servers to perform?”
“Mentally a bit, yeah. But also, trust me. I know Wilbur. And if we can’t get Slime’s help to break in, we’ll need Wilbur’s skills.” He fidgeted with his comm as he started mentally drafting a message.
“Wilbur does not even know me, or know Cellbo or Felps. Why would he help?”
“Because Wilbur doesn’t take too kindly to people trying to take those who aren’t their’s. Besides,” He rolled his shoulders with a grin. “Once I tell him it’s family? He’ll be clambering to join.”
“The man’s a performer. I’ve heard he died from fall damage at least three times, in front of his daughter.” He raised an eyebrow. “You think he will help?”
Bad chuckled a bit darkly. “I know quite well what he’s capable of. But Phil has him on a short leash. He can still help, even if he has to behave.”
“…What the fuck.”
“Don’t worry. It’s a Before thing.” He looked over at Forever. “A lot of us are more capable than we let on. It’s safer that way.”
Forever held his gaze, before he rested his head back on his arms. “I trust you.”
Bad pretended that didn’t make his chest feel strange, as he set to messaging Wilbur.
[You whisper WilburSoot: welcome back!]
[You whisper WilburSoot: we need to talk.]
Chapter 16
Summary:
The plan happens.
Some identities are revealed.
Some others take notice of the missing.
Notes:
This chapter has been fighting me, and it wasn’t even because of Maximus getting into the scene earlier than he was meant to. It is just so hard for me to write from Etoiles’ perspective for some reason!
Also I swapped an antidepressant halfway through and had a minor family crisis (ao3 writer moment am I right) but that’s less relevant
Please enjoy! Hopefully next chapter will be sooner.
Chapter Text
While the call from Fit wasn’t the last thing Bad wanted while they were getting ready for the mission, it was pretty darn close.
“What do you mean you’re both sick?” He felt his tail lashing around behind him.
“Have you heard my voice?” Fit snarked, before he coughed. “Probably a fuckin cold or something. Phil’s sick too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his was stress sick instead of real sick.”
He closed his eyes and let out a breath. “Please keep me updated on your health.”
“Sure. Also, I’m guessing he fell asleep before telling you, but Pac told me to tell you the entire Favella is sick too. Basically…basically everyone seems to be sick it looks like from the menu.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“Well I mean, check for yourself.” He coughed again. “…Thanks, Chayanne. But yeah, looks like the stress and pushing ourselves finally got to us.”
He opened up his menu, scrolling through the names with a huff. “Of course all the mortals I need help from are sick at the moment. Ugh. We might need to just go with three…”
“Slime doesn’t look sick.”
“He’s taking care of Quackity according to the map.”
“What about Max?”
Bad blinked. “Max isn’t sick?”
“Not according to his menu status. If you need four, he might be your best bet.” A thud could be heard from the mic. “Ow, okay Ramon, I get it. Sorry Bad, I gotta go.”
“No worries, take care of yourself.” He hung up his comm with a sigh.
“…You okay, Bad?” Wilbur raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. “Mortals causing you annoyance again?”
“Don’t get me started.” He pressed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “I need to contact Max.”
“Maximus?” Etoiles looked over at the two from where he had been checking his equipment. “Is he not busy with his son?”
“His son? He has a son?”
“Oh my God you know nothing. You are clueless.”
“I was at work!”
Bad turned away from the two, allowing them to continue their play arguement. He dialed Max’s comm.
“Ah, hello? Badboyhalo?”
“Hey Max. I need your help with a mission, if you’re available.”
“I…yes. I just- l-let me get t-the kids s-s-s-s-“ he coughed.
“Situated? You got it. Let me know when you’re heading over, okay?”
“Yes. Be there soon.”
He closed the call, before looking over to the other two.
They were still ‘arguing’, but it seemed like they quickly were used to each other. Wilbur always had enjoyed pushing buttons, and Etoiles seemed pleased to have someone who could keep up with his sharp tongue. As long as he was speaking English at least.
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, children. Are you ready to go over the plan one more time?”
“Hey!” Wilbur spun around. “Just because you’re old doesn’t mean we’re children.”
“We already went over it several times.” Etoiles rested his arms in a crossed position. “Go into the Federation building, find the missing Players, get the fuck out. Hopefully not run into anyone even though that would be boring.”
“Now we need to bring them somewhere else though. If the Favella is sick we should avoid the Order building entirely. We can go back to my place temporarily, I’ll ask Foolish to set up a medic station either in my base or his.”
“Might want to ask him before we go, give him enough time to at least get something done in time.” Wilbur shrugged. “Up to you though.”
“I’ll contact him once Max arrives, mainly so there’s less of a chance for Foolish to ask questions.” Bad sighed again. “I’m gonna have to mute my comm…”
“Unlucky.” Etoiles shrugged, returning to checking his equipment.
Bad sighed, and immediately went against what he said, messaging Foolish.
[You whisper FoolishGamers: hey foolish.]
[You whisper FoolishGamers: I need you to build an infirmary.]
[You whisper FoolishGamers: in my base or yours.]
[You whisper FoolishGamers: it’s serious.]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: OH SHIT OKAY]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: ill do yours then]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: easier to hide in case Cucurucho comes a knocking]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: like right now? or do I have a few hours?]
[You whisper FoolishGamers: you have like two]
[You whisper FoolishGamers: hopefully less.]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: you got it, it’ll be done]
[FoolishGamers whispers you: don’t go getting caught now and waste all my time]
He grinned to himself, recognizing the concern and care conveyed in such a simple message.
[You whisper FoolishGamers: yeah yeah whatever, don’t fall while building or anything]
He knew the reply would be received in kind.
There were a lot of things that Etoiles could expect from being pulled on a rescue mission, but if he was being honest, this cast of characters wouldn’t have been anywhere on his list together.
And he didn’t mean that in a bad way! Really, he didn’t. He just meant…well, he didn’t exactly…
Well, to start with, he hadn’t interacted very much with Maximus. He’d heard of the other man of course, it was hard not to when the guy was starting fights with Quackity, getting into an almost custody battle over his AI daughter, and the whole ‘his egg is the first one to come back to life’ thing. But other than that, he knew very little about the guy, other than the fact he seemed to struggle with English, sometimes he’d make sounds like a soundboard, and according to Bad just before the whole adventure he wasn’t exactly mortal. Which. Well. Was certainly an interesting bit of info, at the very least.
The man seemed on edge, like he himself wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing there. Or maybe he was just worried about being away from the kids? He couldn’t blame him if that was the case, he’d started getting worried about Pomme whenever he was away. But this seemed…more than just that. Honestly, it seemed suspicious, but he wasn’t exactly brought on the mission to ask questions.
Meanwhile, Wilbur was someone he hadn’t met until literally just before the mission. He hadn’t been entirely convinced the man even existed, wondering if maybe he had died and they hadn’t wanted to tell Tallulah. Of course, as soon as he’d found out from Philza that he was real, and alive, he started trying to take things at least a bit more seriously. But the fact that he and Bad seemed to have some history was interesting, as well as the fact that Bad had also implied that he wasn’t mortal either.
And wasn’t that interesting too? That the musician wasn’t mortal? And yet he was spending his life playing music instead of, well, anything else. Like taking care of his daughter. Yeah, that would be an issue for the future, not right now. There was too much going on right now to raise the issue. Besides, he was there now at least.
Meanwhile Bad had been extremely stressed out lately, and was still insisting on the rescue mission anyway. And, like, of course he got it. He’d wanted to rescue the Brazilian too. But there was a history there, the way they talked to each other. Talked about each other.
The stars in his code agreed. There was a connection between several people on the island, and he could feel it.
That was the thing, for him. It wasn’t just gut instinct, just his intuition. His code remembered things. Pieces of it did, at least. The stars that remained in his code remembered when they had still been part of the Universe, and sometimes they let him remember too.
Of course he was included in the ‘not being mortal’ thing. They didn’t call him the French Beast just for him to be mortal. Are you kidding?
Not that he’d talk about it with anyone, though. It wasn’t really important. Especially with how many non mortals were on the island.
Honestly, who decided that was a good idea?
He shook his head to clear it, realizing he’d zoned out. Not ideal, but considering how the mission was going so far it seemed like he hadn’t missed much of importance. He didn’t always keep up with lore.
They’d made their way deep into the building, avoiding any guards or other workers. Which seemed like a miracle itself, but then again, he didn’t actually know how many people the Feds had employed.
What was important now, though, was the door they had arrived at. A door with a keypad on their side, and what looked like a button on the other.
Before anyone could get too frustrated, Wilbur sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. “Of course. This is why you needed me or Slime, right?”
“Well, I didn’t know for sure we’d encounter something like this,” Bad gestured with a hand, “But I assumed we might, yes.”
“What can the music man do?” Etoiles quipped, smirking at the sound of outrage he caused the other to emit.
“Well, this, for one.” The brunette flashed a peace sign, as he rapidly faded from view. Literally. It was as if his opacity had gone down to zero percent.
What the fuck? He blinked several times, trying to glance around to figure out what had happened. His code caught on before his eyes caught the movement on the other side of the door.
“Oh. You are a Phantom.” He spoke as the door opened, looking at the other man who now leaned against the wall with his fist over the button.
“You’re quick.” He grinned back, his glamour shimmering for a brief second, giving only a glimpse of leathery wings, of mottled skin, of a streak of white hair before he returned to normal. The other two likely didn’t process it.
But Etoiles did. As they continued on, he fell back into deep thought. Phantom hybrids weren’t as uncommon as they seemed, most actually never even knew until they got their code tested. But Phantoms showing traits? That didn’t mean a connection with Death, though he knew very well that Wilbur did have that connection, but it did mean an experience with death. Lowercase. Usually something risking code damage, or something close to being perma’d. Phantom was recessive, and only showed up when needed to protect the Player.
Which meant that something had happened to the musician to put him in harms way. Maybe that explained why the non mortal was a bit more lax with things. A son of Death with showing Phantom traits raised by an ancient Avian (yes, he knew the difference between an Elytrian and an ancient Avian, no he wasn’t going to explain it thank you) who now toured the Worlds to perform. Very bard coded.
But he also glamoured. It didn’t seem to just be for sunlight purposes, not to mention there were much more simple glamours that would help one survive in the sun, or breathe the air when unacustomed. This was a severe glamour, to hide the traumatic results of his death experience.
Not that he could pass judgement on anyone for using a major glamour, whatever the reason. He had his ambiguous appearance for a reason of his own, after all. Sometimes it was just easier to lie when someone asked what you are.
He was getting off track again. Shit.
His attention was roughly grabbed by the feeling of something prodding at his coding. He hissed out an order to stop, glancing around as he tried to figure out where it was coming from. The three watched him, and it seemed like Wilbur was about to say something, when Etoiles’ eyes widened.
The piece of code had prodded at one of his stars, and his eyes glowed white. Panic, fear, stress, the code conveyed, understand, move, move. Calm, ease, the star replied without any action on his part, show, explain. And it did; A set of doors, one block wide by two blocks tall - a large room with two machines inside - a path towards the doors.
His eyes faded their glow as the code left him, shuddering as he regained himself. He fucking hated when his stars did that, bypassing him entirely to try to solve an objective. It was rare that the stars could, code glances rarely got that deep, but that was even more unsettling. What the fuck was held here that could do that?
“Etoiles?” Bad’s voice finally broke through to him. “Are you okay?”
“I know where to go.” His tone left no room for argument. “Follow me.”
They asked no more questions, as the four of them moved through the building. He caught a glance from Bad, and knew they’d have to talk later. Damn.
They came to a stop at the door in question, and he examined the keypad in front. Wilbur faded through it, before he cursed. “There’s no button on this side. It looks like there’s one on the second door, but not this one. Damn.”
Maximus looked over at the keypad, focusing on it intensely. He held a hand out for a moment, before glancing over to Etoiles. “…Tell me this is rule breaking.”
His eyes widened faintly. “What?”
“Tell me this,” He gestured more firmly, “is breaking rules. This. Panel, the-t-t-t-“ He whacked the side of his head with his other hand, a sound almost like static falling from his lips.
Oh. Of course. He’d seen behavior like this before, rules needing to be followed, voice lines breaking when pushed beyond their limits. Maximus wasn’t mortal, because he wasn’t originally a person. He was an NPC.
And NPCs had to follow certain rules, for worse and for better. And all a rogue NPC needed, all an NPC Player needed, was a truthful shove in the right direction. A fully believed shove.
“It is rule breaking. It needs removed.” Etoiles said with his whole chest, believing not in the truth of the words that he said, but believing in the truth of him needing to say them.
Maximus nodded once, white code dripping from his outstretched hand. It shot to connect to the panel, starting to dissolve into code of its own.
“Max- oh my gods, are you okay?” Bad moved quickly to his side.
“What’s going on out there- what is he doing?” Wilbur tried to peer through the bars of the door with little success.
Maximus grit his teeth seemingly in pain, before the panel fully dropped away, the door opening with a click. He gripped his upper arm, his lower arm up to his elbow a mess of white code.
Etoiles moved over then, wrapping an arm around Max’s back. “I have him. You two will need to carry the others.”
Bad glanced at him, before he nodded. “Right. Wilbur, get that other door open.”
“Don’t need to fuckin tell me twice.” He mumbled to himself as he popped the door.
Etoiles supported Max through the door, glancing at the two cases in the room. “We need a quick exit, BadBoyHalo.”
“I know. I’ll use a bit of magic of my own, perhaps.” He pulled out a warp plate, tossing it on the ground. The carelessness of the action seemingly bypassed the block placement restriction, as it clicked into place. “I’ll get Cellbit, Wilbur you grab Felps.”
“Already ahead of you.” The phantom had already gotten the unconscious human into his arms.
“Go through now. Etoiles and Max will follow last.”
Etoiles glanced over at him after Wilbur left. “…Why split up?”
“Because,” He sighed, pulling Cellbit out and into his own arms, “If he sees him looking like this when he’s already strained, he’ll break down.”
“Why would-“ His words caught in his throat as he saw the other man. Brown hair stained by a streak of white code damage, what he had seen through the glimpse behind the glamour. “…Oh.”
“We can only hope the damage isn’t too deep. Code… isn’t my specialty. And Death is a bit out of reach at the moment.”
“He- he- he-“ Maximus hit the side of his head again with his non damaged hand. “He will be okay. There is n-n-no other option.”
“He will survive, we will make sure if it.” Etoiles nodded once. “Bad, go. We will follow you.”
As they left, he felt something reach for his code, but it didn’t catch before the teleport hit.
Sneeg managed to keep his mouth shut for a few minutes after the thought came to his mind, before he finally spoke. “Guys? I think I’m starting to get really fuckin worried about Philza.”
He was sitting in a plant pot, resting in the shade provided by the potted tree. The others around him, Tommy, Aimsey and Ranboo, all turned to look at him. Ranboo had been sitting with a book in their hands, Aimsey had been searching his inventory, and Tommy had been digging in a chest.
“…I’m getting worried about Charlie too.” Ranboo spoke, flipping through the book in his lap. “He hasn’t messaged me in weeks. At first I thought he was just getting used to his new Server, but…”
“Wil’s been silent too.” Tommy let out a sigh. “Even now that he’s on his tour, he still isn’t answering my calls or messages! It’s like he’s got an entirely new comm or something.”
“Phil didn’t look too great at the last MCC. He kept…” Ranboo’s tail lashed from side to side. “Anytime he thought someone wasn’t looking, he just looked so…drained. It’s…been a long time since he’s had that look on his face.”
“So there’s definitely something going on then.” Sneeg’s wings fluttered behind him. “I’d get him being too focused on a project to come back to the Server, or being so into whatever he’s doing that he forgets to message back, but…”
“But three people all not responding?” Tommy ran a hand through his hair. “Tubbo got a ticket, you know.”
“To the Server they went to?” Ranboo’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. But he said he really wasn’t interested in going to a Server not run by one of us or a Hub. Quackity’s supposed to be a Mod, but like…”
“Does the ticket have any info on it?” Sneeg leaned forward. “Anything useful?”
“It has a set of coords, but it’s to a Hub world. Nothing else other than that, his name, and the Server name. QSMP or whatever.”
“Could I perhaps get those coords?” Aimsey finally spoke, eyes on her comm. “I’m messaging Scott right now to see if he knows anything. He says he doesn’t know much, but Grian might? But he wants to know those coords.”
“Wait, Smajor’s on the case? What’s he care for?” Tommy stretched out his wings behind him.
“It may be a Noxcrew Server officially, but he’s always viewed MCC competitors as his Players.” Aimsey shrugged. “So with Phil having issues, Bad canceling last minute last MCC, and Wil not answering calls, plus Grian being vague, Xisuma officially taking Ren, Grian, and Iskall off the roster for the next few MCCs, as well as Martyn and Solidarity being extremely cryptic even on his own RP Server, he’s reasonably concerned.”
“Oh, so it’s a big issue. Shit.” Sneeg shook out his wings. “If Xisuma and Scott are involved…”
“This is close to previous levels of bad.” Ranboo’s tail lashed before curling around their leg.
“I’m calling Toby-“ Tommy pushed himself to his feet, quickly walking off. “Tubbo! I need to talk- yeah, about that…”
“They’re on the case. We’ll do anything we can to help, but we might need to stay out of the way.” Aimsey nodded once. “They’ve got this.”
“I sure fuckin hope so…” Sneeg glanced back at the still unread messages on his communicator.
Chapter 17
Summary:
Philza’s sick.
Bad talks with Foolish.
The bear does some thinking.
Notes:
I’ve had half of this chapter done for ages. Stuff happened, including in my IRL life.
Ao3 writer’s curse, am I right?
But I’ve been able to write for two other fics now, and finally got this chapter finished too. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner but my life is currently still in the middle of a mess so we’ll see how that goes. Let’s hope the new antidepressants kick in soon, because this sucks.
I hope you enjoy, though. Sorry it took so long. Unfortunately, it will probably happen again.
Chapter Text
Something’s wrong.
That’s the first coherent thought the crow has had in a while now. His head felt full of…something, gunk or fluff or feathers maybe, but whatever it was it made it much harder for him to think. His body ached as he laid on his front, battered wings spread out behind him. He felt both too warm and too cold. He felt like something frozen warmed over. He felt like shit.
Oh, his brain provided so eloquently, it’s sickness.
That was something that he recognized, that…there had been sickness recently. He had been sick maybe? Others had been, at least. And now he definitely was, and was sequestered away…in a nest?
He hadn’t had a nest in so long…back when…
He let out a distressed warble, a name call in birdsong. His heartbeat rose when he heard no reply. He let out another name call, and another, and another, calls becoming more distressed as those in his care, his family, did not respond as they should. Where were they? Why was he in the nest alone? Where were the fledgelings, where were his friends, where were the kids he should have been protecting-
“Woah, take it easy there, bud.” A voice he knew but couldn’t put a name to, a Player name that is, spoke up from nearby.
He felt like he could cry, letting the man’s name call fall from his lips.
“Yup, that’s me, it’s Fit. Sorry, I thought you were asleep enough that I could slip into the kitchen for a moment. Get you something to drink for when you woke up, you know?” There were easy to track footsteps, intentional ones, that approached the nest. “Of course you’d wake up once the room was empty, now that I think about it. That’s my bad.”
Empty? Why would the room be empty? He let out a few more sounds.
“You know, I’m still rusty with chirps, but I’m guessing you’re asking about the kids?” There was a shuffling sound as he sat down just outside the nest. “Tallulah, Chayanne, and Ramon are playing in Tallulah’s garden, the one you built in the wall? They didn’t get sick. I was with you, and I was sick, but I think I had a different illness than you had.”
He let those words roll over in his brain for a bit. That accounted for the fledgelings, but…He let out another sad warble, another name call.
“…Oh. …Phil, where do you think you are right now?”
He hissed in frustration. How was he supposed to know?
“Right, sorry. Uh, you’re with us. The kids and the rest of us, stuck on this server, remember? You’re…you’re not back at the Dream SMP. They…they aren’t here to answer you.”
Another distressed warble, this one just emotion, not any names.
“No, none of them. The one who was here bolted after he found out there was a Server lock, since he still had World hop perms. Lucky bastard.” He sighed. “Tommy’s safe, though. Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, they’re all safe.”
“Sneeg.” It’s the first words to fall from his lips in too long.
“Sneeg is fine. He’s with the others, remember? You told me you got a message from Tommy about how he and his friends were gonna hang out on their own Server for a while. Said he called it Origin or something.”
“…Grian.”
“…The parrot guy from MCC? Uh, well he’s not here that’s for sure.” He clicked at his comm. “I’m pretty sure he’s on that exclusive server, isn’t he? With like, the guy who invented Bedwars, and that hopper clock guy.”
He hummed.
“…Is this a bird thing, or is there a reason you’re worried about him specifically? He’s not exactly usually in your question list.”
“…Helping. Book.” Gods, talking was hard.
“…Book…oh. He was helping you at MCC?”
“Yesyes.”
“Yeah, he’s fine from what I can tell. His Player status in the directory seems fine anyway. Says he’s on Hermitcraft, it looks like. …Well okay it literally just updated that he’s at a Hub, but you know what I mean.”
He hummed, finally calming down a bit. He let out a chirp.
“Yeah yeah, I’ll call over the babies. Bird brain.” He chuckled, moving across the room and opening the door. “Hey kids! Phil’s partially awake, and he wants you in the nest again.”
Two cheers were heard, as well as one groan of acceptance.
Phil laughed.
-
Richarlyson had been…lurking.
Okay, really what it was was he was supposed to be with other members of his family, but Pac took pity on him and was letting him stay where they had Cellbit recovering, as long as he was quiet and his other dads didn’t find out.
Which, easy enough. After the illness that went through all of them, most were still staying near home to rest. Which gave the perfect cover for no one to see him.
But it was hard to check on his Pai, because the hybrid was never left alone. There was always someone with him.
Such as that moment, where it was Uncle Bad. And, strangely enough, Uncle Foolish (Grandpa Foolish? Grandpa in law? Sure the marriage hadn’t happened yet but he knew how to dream, and honestly this family tree was a nightmare and a half) was with him too.
He stayed outside the door to the room, peeking in and listening.
Bad was sitting next to Cellbit’s bed, hood pulled down, a sad look in his eyes. He looked…haunted wasn’t the word to use, but was the closest to come to mind. His hand was gently holding the brunet’s, and he didn’t appear to be focused on anything in the room.
Foolish was leaned against the bed on the other side, arms loosely crossed mainly to do something with them. He was looking right at Bad, hidden concern on his face. It mainly showed in his tail, which nervously wagged behind him.
Richarlyson quickly glanced towards the monitor that his Pai was hooked up to, but everything looked the same as it had before, so that couldn’t be the problem. Then what was…
“Hey, Bad. Overworld to Bad, come in.” Foolish’s tone was quieter, a bit less jovial than usual. “You there?”
“…What?” Bad’s voice was even quieter, barely heard at all.
“You AFK, or you here?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Okay, well, responding’s a good sign.” He rolled his shoulders. “…What’s this about, specifically?”
“…” Bad slowly turned to look down at Cellbit.
“…Ah. You…” He pulled a hand up to run over his hood. “You do know this isn’t your fault, right?”
“This…isn’t the first time he’s needed medical. Because I wasn’t there.” He blinked slowly, a white glowing liquid falling from his eyes.
“…Oh. This is about the Games.” Foolish let out a breath. “That wasn’t your fault either. He shouldn’t have been in that situation, and you can’t fix everything-“
“He was a child.” His voice is a bit sharper, that time. “15 years old, in the Survival Games. Barely a teen. And I couldn’t protect him enough then.” He let out a shaky breath of his own. “And I couldn’t protect him enough now.”
“You didn’t know the dangers-“
“I should have!” Bad’s voice practically roared, compared to how quiet he was before. His breathing was heavy, teeth sharp and bared at Foolish. “…I should have.”
“You couldn’t have.” Foolish shrugged. “You were keeping as much as an eye as you could have. You and I both know what would have happened if you started to know too much too early.”
“I could have-“
“What, fought them? Bad, they know things here. They’ve done their research. Best case scenario? You would have gotten hurt. Worst case? They’d kill people. People you care about, to try to make it as much your fault as possible. When it wouldn’t be your fault at all.” He sighed, pushing up from his lean. “You’re going to tear yourself down again, and we both remember what happened last time.”
“Foolish, I…”
“No, no talking about it right now.” He moved over to stand at Bad’s side. “I know it was a different scenario. The entire…everything about that World, that Server, was different. But you still let it hit you hard. And back there, it was supposed to be a game. It isn’t, here. From the start, it isn’t.” He rested a hand on the other’s shoulder. “You’ve done everything you could-“
“I can’t lose more people.” Bad’s voice broke. “You know that more than anyone.”
Foolish’s face fell neutral. “…Bad, when do you think you are right now?”
Richarlyson tensed up, glancing around. If something was up with Uncle Bad, and Foolish was dropping the act, that…sounded really really bad.
“What’s it matter? It all goes the same anyway.” His head swayed from side to side.
“No, it’s actually super important. Like, really important. When do you think you are?”
“I never should have been a Player.” He let out a sad laugh. “You’d still be alive if I wasn’t.”
“Bad, I am alive, remember?”
Richarlyson shook his head. No more time to wait. He bolted into the room, leaping up towards Uncle Bad’s lap.
“Bad, I- Shit! Richarlyson, be careful!” Foolish snatched him out of the air, holding him close, arms under the boy’s.
Bad’s eyes quickly moved to look at the child, and he slowly blinked. “…Richas?”
“Oh, kiddo, you are so fuckin grounded- …Wait.” He blinked quickly. “Bad?”
“…Richarlyson. I’m…” He pressed a hand to his head. “…The island…?”
Richarlyson flailed in the grasp, letting out wordless draconic clicks and chirps, waving his arms towards Bad.
“Oh my Gods kid you could have gotten hurt-“
“Hurt?” Bad’s eyes focused slightly. “He’s hurt?”
“No, he isn’t- ow!” He flinched away as Bad’s claws caught him, and pulled the child into his arms instead. “Damnit Bad, you could have asked, instead of scratching me.”
Bad looked over Richarlyson, wrapping his tail around his torso to hold him up as claws ghosted over his body. He slowly calmed, pulling the boy to sit in his lap. “…What are you doing here? Did someone come to visit with you?”
He shook his head, pulling out a book to write in.
[NO]
“It was Pac, wasn’t it.” Foolish sighed, crossing his arms. “Leaves you here with your other dad who isn’t even awake right now.”
[MAYBE]
“Of course.” Bad seemed to settle more and more with the kid in his lap.
Richarlyson thought for a moment, before writing out some more.
[what were you two talking about?]
Bad tensed up a bit. “…How much did you hear?”
[enough. You mentioned my pai, said foolish was dead, and stuff.]
“Richas, we can’t tell you about Cellbit. That’s his story to tell, not ours.” Foolish finally ruffled a hand through the kid’s hair. “…The other thing…is a long story. And not something we should be telling a kid right now.”
“In summary, I’m very old. I wasn’t always a Player. I wasn’t…born a Player. Foolish was my first friend I made after I became a Player, and something happened, and he almost didn’t make it.”
“Which is why I’m part totem now!” He flexed. “I’m cool as hell, you usually don’t see shark hybrids outside of their modded Worlds, plus being part totem? People wish they were me.” He grinned with his sharp teeth.
Richarlyson thought about that for a moment.
[is that why you get worried about death so much, for being a grim reaper?]
“…Yes. I have always been one of the realm of the dead, but…after becoming a Player it has been much harder to make peace with that. Talking to the ghosties is one thing. Thinking about the passing of…well, that’s another matter entirely.”
He thought again.
[Is death not common off Server?]
“That’s…a complicated question.” Bad cleared his throat.
“No it isn’t. Yeah people die a lot on other Servers, it’s one of the things Players are best at. But Permadeath isn’t as common. Hell, even most Hardcore worlds have being perma’d turned off hard coded.” He shrugged. “That’s the kind of death that Bad’s referring to.”
[Chayanne says that Death is nice]
“Oh, Lady Death? She’s extremely nice. She and Lady Life both are. Eventually, everyone returns to the Universe. Why would they be mean upon creation or cessation?” He smiled, holding the kid close. “They love the entities of the Universe.”
“Hopefully one day we’ll be able to introduce you to her. In like, a safe way, you know?” He moved his tail from side to side. “Man, I haven’t seen her since…since the last Server. I hope she’s doing alright.”
“Without direct access to Philza? She’s probably not too happy about that, or about her kids being in danger. Or, I guess, her husband’s kids with his platonic husband? That’s confusing for me to quantify.”
“Bad, you literally were talking to me a few days ago about how you have two hands and-“
“Okay! That’s enough talking I think. Richarlyson, let’s get you home. And…I guess if I have to, I’ll get some rest.”
“Oh my gods, if I knew it would be this easy I would have dragged Dapper over here ages ago.”
-
The bear felt the most conflicted it had in a long time.
It was hiding things. From the Duck. From those Above It. It was not supposed to do that. It was not supposed to be able to do that.
It was meant to make things perfect. But…it could not do that for both those Above It, and the islanders. Not at the same time.
It knew the human and the hybrid had been taken from cold storage. It hadn’t been difficult to realize, they had not been nearly as stealthy as they’d hoped to be. But only it had noticed. And it had seen the broken door, and the teleport plate. And…it had removed them both. Replaced the door. Destroyed the plate.
Why? Was it really feeling loyalty to the cat hybrid, because of what had almost happened to him? That didn’t explain letting the human be taken unscathed.
That didn’t explain his knowledge about the theft of the bird’s egg, and the fact he said nothing to anyone other than the bird.
That didn’t explain him diving into the code to rescue the crow, pulling him out of cold storage before he could go fully under.
…It. It’s knowledge. It’s diving. It saying nothing.
…It was changing. Something about these islanders…made it want to change. It wasn’t sure it liked that.
…He wasn’t sure she’d get to decide about change or not anymore.
Chapter 18
Summary:
Cellbit wakes up.
Phil learns more about their situation.
Bad and Etoiles talk.
Notes:
I’m sorry it’s taken so long to update this chapter. I wish I had more to say other than Fic Writers Curse, but it’s the case. Anti-depressant issues, stress about my job (and then losing my job last month, woohoo /sarcasm), IRL becoming more and more of a hell as someone trans and disabled and autistic born in the USA.
And then the longer it took me to write the chapter, the more I felt bad about needing the chapter to be even better, and it became a vicious cycle.
So it’s not the best, but it’s here. It’s a chapter. And hopefully it breaks me through that ‘perfection’ feeling and lets me write more for it again. I hope you like it.
Chapter Text
The first time Cellbit woke, it was to pain, and noise.
His eyes refused to open, and all he could manage was a groan.
“He’s-“
“Someone stop that beeping-“
“Get a potion-“
He very quickly slipped back into darkness.
The second time he woke, it was just as brief, but more pleasant than the last time. Someone gently ran their fingers through his hair, and his brain was foggy enough to know they’d put him on some strong potions.
“I’m sorry.” An accented attempt at Portuguese, a voice he recognized. “Again. I fail again. No…no keep safe.”
He knew that voice, even if he typically knew it speaking English. He couldn’t get his mouth to work, giving up and letting out a purr.
He heard a breath, before the gentle touch continued, and he drifted back to sleep.
The third time, he felt a bit less like he’d been hit by a Create train, but awake enough to feel like shit.
He groaned, trying to move one of his arms.
“Woah there, you’ll wanna use the other one.” A voice he was less familiar with spoke. “That one’s got your IV in it, and you probably shouldn’t screw that up.”
“H…uh…?” He eloquently mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. “…the fuck?”
“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty.” FitMC, the 2b2t anarchest himself, was…sitting at his bedside? And had just put a book and quill into his inventory?
“What.” Gods, his brain felt like soup. Where the Hell even was he? He couldn’t…couldn’t remember much of anything, when he tried. It just made his head hurt worse.
“…Let me give the quick rundown. You’re in BadBoyHalo’s base, in the recovery ward. Felps is here too, though he’s recovered faster than you. Everyone is safe, or well, safe as anyone ever is on this island.” He counted off on his prosthetic. “I’m here because Bad was too overwhelmed, the Favela is with Richarlyson because it was either all of them or no one and they thought you’d be too overwhelmed, and because…” He sighed. “…Because I’ve got some experience with code damage.”
He let the words wash over him, giving him a bit of calm he didn’t know he needed. Until the last bit triggered a fragment of a memory, a feeling of severe pain. He winced. “…Code damage.”
Fit watched his comm, before he nodded. The translator, right. “Yeah. Yours doesn’t seem too severe at the moment, but we can’t exactly look super closely right now. Honestly, I can think of a few others that could commiserate a bit easier about this, but none of them are on the Server, so I’m the best you’re gonna get.”
“What’s damaged?”
“…Some of your hair, your ears, and a bit of your tail. You don’t seem to be acting like you’ve got any hearing damage, but if there’s any hearing loss we can probably get some hearing aids whipped together.” He gestured with his metal hand. “The hair has me concerned, plus the ears, just because of how close that code is to your brain, but a base level scan with a modified comm looked alright. I’m hoping if you’re willing to trust Phil, he can take a closer look later.” He shrugged. “…How’s the tail feeling?”
“…I feel like shit.” He held up a hand. “Give me a second. …Ears feel slow. Might be…potion related. Tail…tail is showing? Had it glamored. …Still feels glamored. Not…not there. Head…head hurts. Can’t…think too hard. Makes it worse.”
He nodded as he read the translation. “Okay. Head pain makes sense, some of the code damage may be trauma specific then, and less full code damage. Not usually repairable either, but better than the latter. I agree that the ears may be potion related, we’ll revisit that when you’re not so medicated. The tail…that’s a bit concerning to me, but if they were messing with code while you were glamored it could just be an override error that we can clear up. We’ll focus on getting you feeling less shit first.”
He nodded too. That sounded like it made sense. “…You know code damage?”
“I don’t have this bulky thing for fun, you know.” He rested his metal arm on the cot. “…Hacker in anarchy. Didn’t realize that while there’s no direct rules, causing permas or permanent damage was…frowned upon.” He shrugged. “Assistance code has improved a lot over the years…but it never replaces fully what was lost. Just makes shit easier sometimes.”
“…Does it bother you?” Aparently feeling like shit also stopped his filter, great to learn.
“…It used to. Now it’s just me. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore. That’s one thing they’ve really gotten right, is code to remove phantom pain. I…could get new code, get a newer arm. But it’s me now. I like it.”
He nodded slowly. “Good. It suits you.” He blinked even slower.
“I’ll keep watch. Get some more sleep.”
-
Phil grumbled, rubbing at his eyes.
In his opinion, he’d been stuck in bed for too damn long, but considering he hadn’t taken good care of himself before he went down, and then he got sick…yeah, that tracked. He still hated it, but he understood.
Slime had been the one coming by to take care of the kid’s quests, usually with either Bad close behind or with Fit leaving Phil’s side to go with him. But he hadn’t shown up yet that day, he was running late. And Phil was gonna insist he was allowed to go with, finally. The day’s quests looked easy enough that he could get back into the swing of things if he had help.
His head whipped around as he heard a bang from the kitchen followed by the thud of signs, and a few punches. Ramon quickly ducked through the door into the main room, hands over his head as he fled from an annoyed Chayanne. Maracas could be heard as the door closed.
Phil snickered. “Drop something?”
Ramon chirped. Yesyes.
He smirked. “Well, I assume he’ll be busy for a bit longer cleaning up whatever happened then.”
Ramon’s face fell to a more neutral one, as he moved closer. He nodded and chirped again. Yesyes. He pulled out a book as he moved into the nest, sitting next to the avian. He scribbled in the book quickly, before holding it out to him.
‘That was part of the plan.
We need to talk.
While they’re distracted and d Fit is out.’
Phil tensed up, feeling the seriousness. “What’s up?”
‘There was a book.
Sent here to you.
From an OffServer.
Fit keeps saying it’s important but said you shouldn’t be bothered yet.’
“It’s from Grian. He’s…” How did he explain this in a quick amount of time… “He’s an ally. His Server is. He’s an Admin who’s had the experience of being Server locked.”
‘Well, regardless, if you trust him that’s good enough for me.
All Fit said was he’s a builder.’
“He’s a bit more than that. He invented TNT Run, actually.”
Ramon blinked at him.
“Right, you don’t know what that is. It’s a well known minigame in the Hubs.” He stretched his wings. “So, what did you want to tell me about the book?”
He set the writing book in his lap, pulling a signed book out of his inventory. He held it out.
“…You stole it.”
A chirp. Yesyes.
“Of course you stole it.” He took it, nodding. “Thank you. I’ll still have to tell Fit though, later.
Ramon shrugged. There were some prices to pay sometimes for doing what was needed, the kid knew that well enough already.
Phil reached out a wing to pull Ramon against his side, as he opened the book and started to read.
And what he read…was awful, in all honesty. He forced the reality of the words out of his mind, and read it as if it was just theory. And even then, it was…bad.
There weren’t just unrecognized ID codes for the children, though it was confirmed they all had a lock on them preventing them from solidifying as full players. There were broken up IDs mixed in the Code Monster, which again was already known but was…disturbing to actually see. But the worst…were the damaged codes tied to no names at all.
They’d found several sets of IDs that seemed to be made of more than one person’s ID, but it was meshed together in such a way that it wasn’t possible to remove and see who was actually connected. Some guesses could be made, though, if he thought hard enough about those who had vanished. He didn’t want to.
They’d also found damaged IDs, IDs that very much had to previously have been Players, but…if they still were Players, they were not who they once were. They were all damaged in the same way, except for one, which had a note next to it stating that it appeared that ID had some kind of Mod access.
If he hadn’t started dissociating he was pretty sure he would have been sick.
He felt a tug on his sleeve, and looke down at the nervous looking kid.
‘What is it?’
“It’s…evidence. That things here are…” He took a breath. “…Much worse than we hoped it was. I…need to get this to Bad, later. He needs to take it to the Order.”
-
If Bad didn’t know any better, he would have thought Etoiles was just trying to piss him off.
The other had insisted, not taking no for an answer, that he get out and come with him, get some of that pent up stress out of his brain. And sure, okay, he knew the stress wasn’t healthy, and that eventually he would run the risk of being dangerous to those around him. He knew that. But he couldn’t afford to take a break. He could handle this. He’d handled worse!
“So, welcome to the Dojo.” Etoiles grinned as he spun back to look at the other, hands resting behind his head. “I know, very impressive, I am once again the GOAT, please give all of your applause.”
“Why did you really drag me here, Etoiles?” His tone wasn’t sharp, but it was getting closer to it.
“You need to get out more, yes? Dapper says you are always in your walls these days.”
“I get out.” He huffed, crossing his arms as he ducked under the doorway. He’d gotten too tall again. “I go on the quests with the eggs.”
“Ah, but that is work, no?” He grinned again.
“We have to work- we all work! Why is everyone ganging up on me?” His tail whipped side to side.
“You are overworking, I have heard-“
“Oh, like you’re one to talk.” He felt his mouth curl into a snarl. “What do you want, Etoiles.”
He shrugged. “You need to get out your thoughts, yes?”
“You brought me all the way out here, to ‘get out’, to get me to talk?” He was losing his patience. “You want to play therapist? Hear all about the Reaper’s issues? I thought you were sick of lore.”
“Would you talk with anyone else?” He raised an eyebrow.
He just snarled again. He didn’t like that he didn’t have a good answer.
“Anyway, talk? No. Not with words. There are many ways to handle thoughts.” He turned around, pulled two sticks off of their spot on the wall and walked back over. “We are going to spar.”
“Oh, so you just wanted a good fight, huh?” He couldn’t help his biting words, his sharp tone. He felt the black glow of his magic rise from his tail into the air.
“When one cannot use words, actions are what work. You are stressed. Cannot talk, cannot fight, cannot solve.” He held out a stick. “But you can spar.”
He snatched the stick from the other’s hand. “Fine. I’ll play your stupid game, if after you’ll let me get back to my work.”
“Yes, after this you will go back to your home, all promises that will be kept.” He took a step back. “Now, as a gentleman, I will let you go first-“
Before the other had even finished speaking, Bad launched forward, aiming to hit at Etoiles’ head.
Etoiles dropped before the stick had a chance to reach him, launching backwards and skidding on his feet. “Not very sportsmanlike of BadBoyHalo.”
“You wanted a fight. You didn’t say what kind.” He launched forward again, swinging at his torso.
He avoided the attack again. “I did say a spar, no?” He grinned. “You are too predictable when you are mad, BadBoy.”
He continued attempting to land attacks with the stick as the other dodged and spoke, his rage boiling faster and faster. He finally snapped during one of the snarky taunts, dropping the stick mid swing and swiping with his claws.
Etoiles just barely was too slow, the claw catching his cheek and slicing a line through. He skid to a halt, dropping his own stick to touch the blood. “Hmm.”
Bad felt himself freeze. The rage and frustration still boiled, but for a brief moment he felt like he was in in the eye of the storm. He’d…hurt Etoiles. He’d hurt his friend with his own claws. He knew better than to use his own abilities, that wasn’t safe, he could harm people if he- It took him a moment to realize the blood was glowing, as it dripped down to the ground. It fell through the air not like a liquid, but more like a ribbon, like a…solar flare. “…Your name. It’s Stars.”
“I’m not a Starborn, if that’s what you are asking.” He looked up at Bad. “Did you know the stars are different on every Server? On every World of every Server. Do you know what they have seen?”
His tail flicked side to side.
“I am not ‘the stars’. Just as you are not ‘Death’. And yet.” He grinned, taking a step forward. “You are death. And I am the stars. You are understanding, no?”
He felt he might start to be understanding. They were not what they were called, but they had power, had strength, had abilities. “Who’s domain?”
“Pieces of code have experienced many different ones, though I have heard that Life takes credit these days.” He smirked. “I am not one to complain. It does not effect me anyway.”
He knew that Players were made of code, as everything was made of code. He hadn’t known that even non-Player shaped pieces of code could be gifted Player status. But it…made sense. What was a Mob if not an Entity? What was an Entity if not a sprite given more form, more purpose? What was a skybox but a collective of sprites? “Why the…appearance?”
He snorted. “I like to keep people unassuming. It makes it funnier when I destroy them.” He shook his head, moving back into a defensive stance. “I have seen how you fight. How you truly spar, without limits. They have shown me. Now,” He tilted his head. “That is how you speak the overwhelming. Shall we spar for true?”
“I might…hurt you.” He wanted to, so badly. He hadn’t had a proper, proper spar in so long. First out of fear, then out of worry for the kids safety, and…he couldn’t ask that of Foolish with Leo under his care. Phil didn’t have his full strength, it would be too risky. He didn’t have his direct connection to Death, but his magic…
“I seem to be one of few with full strength. After all,” He chuckled. “you cannot hide from the stars in the Overworld.”
“…If something goes wrong, promise you will stop me.” The eye of the storm was moving away from him.
“I think you are giving yourself too much credit-“
“Etoiles. Promise me.”
“…I promise.”
Bad’s scythe popped into his hands as if it had always belonged there, wings sprouting from his back as his cloak dripped black magic onto the ground. His eyes glowed a brighter white than usual, puffs of white magic floating away. He stretched his wings, hopped from foot to foot, before once again launching at Etoiles.
A row of tiny stars slashed at him like a whip, black and white magic mixing with one that sparkled as both. The area became incomprehensible with the amount of excess magic that swarmed, causing the room to look more like a light show than a battlefield. Every once and a while a shadow would be seen, one with a scythe, one with an axe. A whip of stars, a slash of red. A burning, raging white light.
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