Chapter Text
The Savior approached the abandoned stage, the wall behind it long since crumbled away, leaving a gaping hole through which moonlight dimly shone through. Along the floor there appeared to be smears of a black substance, outlined in a faintly glowing pink. There was an eerie silence, an unnatural stillness. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath.
“Are you sure this is the right universe?” , asked Spirit. The other two composite beings that made up the fusion they had joined together to create began to respond, the three of them conversing in the mindspace they now shared.
“Positive.” said Soul.
“Skdeep boop bep.” beeped Boyfriend. He was a little surprised when he first noticed him, since he had thought Soul, given his name, had simply done what he did and replaced the man, inhabiting his body, but it turned out they shared it, with Soul supposedly having been created by Boyfriend's mind. Spirit didn't quite understand how a hallucination could gain sentience, let alone give someone powers, but he didn't understand a lot of the things that had been going on lately. At least the two seemed amicable enough, even if they were both a little cocky.
“Yes, he's either here, or he's been here.” replied the Angel. His name was also Boyfriend, but Spirit and the others just referred to him as “Angel” to prevent confusion. “He's been coming to universes plagued by Corruption, and this definitely looks like it fits the bill.”
When the others had come to Spirit, they shared some of their experiences involving the Corruption. Apparently, not only did multiple universes exist, but his own wasn't the only one suffering from this infection, as theirs had suffered similar fates. He supposed misery did love company after all. However, they said they had both been able to help defeat the Corruption in their own separate worlds, as well as the one who had been responsible for it all. Lemon Demon was his name, according to them. It seemed a little on the nose if the description they gave him was accurate, but at least he would know who to blame for all this when he found him after everything was over.
Which led to the current situation. Allegedly, some version of them from another universe had been not only Corrupted, but had transformed into some… thing with the ability to move into other universes at will, other timelines too. He was also more powerful than even the Dearest family, and had been moving from universe to universe spreading the Corruption to new places or simply finishing off the remaining survivors. He had come to their worlds as well. They didn't give many details about what had happened specifically, but he could fill in some of the details himself.
Suddenly, there was a shift in the atmosphere. It was as if the very air around Savior was being ripped apart.
He's here.
There was a terrible sound as a purple rift began to appear in the center of the stage. A gaping, putrid hole in reality formed, creating violet cracks in the space-time around it. A figure began to emerge from the portal, a warped facsimile of the body that the Corruption had taken over. The overall silhouette was the same, but almost all other distinguishing features had been covered, practically hidden, by the midnight black substance, the original face replaced by a haunting, mocking visage, marred with vein-like cracks that were the same color as the portal he had just exited from. It had a mouth full of jagged, amethyst colored teeth, and wide, crazed looking eyes with spirals originating from its dark lavender pupils.
Anti-Narrator turned his head towards Savior. His grin widened into a feral smile, and his pupils began to glow a piercing white. His voice reverberated throughout the auditorium.
“Well, well, well… if it isn't the wannabe hero…”
Savior's eyes glowed a brilliant gold as his spade tail lashed back and forth in righteous fury.
“It's over, Anti. The Corruption will be wiped clean from this world, and every other you've infected. Right after we're finished with you!”
Anti-Narrator laughed mockingly, “You will fall, just like all who have faced me before.” He began to float into position across from Savior, his microphone glowing with an aura the color of a fresh bruise as it hovered in front of his face.
Likewise, Savior spread his shining white wings and rose into the air, staring down Anti-Narrator, the light from his pale halo glinting dangerously off of his shimmering, ivory colored horns, as his own microphone began to float in front of his face, gaining a brightly glowing aura around it.
“Let's finish this, once and for all!”
“Yes. It is time you met your DEFEAT, little “hero” ...”
The whole world watched as the two beings readied themselves. Each of them glowing with power, they began to sing. The rap battle that would decide the fate of the multiverse had begun.
Anti-Narrator's dissonant yet powerful voice reverberated across the stage, pressing against the very essence of Savior's being as he sang his first verse. The Corrupted stains along the floor and walls of the stage began to react to his voice, trembling, growing, pulsing and glowing.
Savior responded with a verse of his own, his voice echoing with power as he pushed back against the malignant force.
This was not just a battle of musical skill, but one of willpower. The two continued to trade verses as they stared each other down, Savior's determined gaze meeting Anti-Narrator’s malicious stare.
Bar for bar, word for word, they copied, improvised upon, and retaliated against each other's flow. Their vocalizations met the music that had seemingly come from nowhere, creating a song that reflected the ferocious struggle the two were engaged in. They continued, locked in a stalemate.
Savior redoubled his efforts. So much counted on him. They had already been through so much, and before them was the epitome of their frustrations, their near helplessness in the face of the seemingly endless threat they had found themselves besieged by for so long. There was almost an absurdity in it all, in the sheer escalation of events. To think that what was assumed to be little more than a zombie virus had led to the appearance of malevolent, nigh-omnipotent crime against nature and whatever God had been seemingly ignorant of its existence, for surely had he been aware of what had come about, he would never have suffered it to persist.
To say that the ongoing state of affairs had forced all involved to wisen up or suffer disastrous consequences would be a severe understatement. This was especially true when considering the fact that, before all of this, 3 of the 4 beings who made up Savior, when asked what 2+2 equaled, would not be able to confidently answer with 4.
…Of course, they still weren't really any better at math, but it could be said that it was as if their brain cells had doubled! One multiplied by two was still only two, but it was still a shocking improvement from before! Spirit, although coming from a slightly different situation, had still had to become accustomed to a lot of things rather quickly. There would definitely be a lot of things for him to unpack later, but being trapped inside a video game for 20 or so years only to be thrusted into the apocalypse tended to do that to a person.
Anti-Narrator alternated between singing faster and singing louder and more forcefully to try and overwhelm the self-proclaimed Savior. He was so close to being able to accomplish his plans, but this glowing gnat had proven too annoying to ignore. He would enjoy slowly crushing this insect, along with its hopes and dreams. After that, he would only need to deal with Narrator and nothing would be able to stand in the way of his empire.
As the impetuous fusion continued to confront him, matching him note for note, and then some, Anti-Narrator mocked his efforts.
“Flit about and sing all you want, fool. It will not save you from the inevitable.”
As Anti-Narrator began to sing again, Savior retorted.
“As if. I haven't even had to go all out yet! Try this on for size.”
Savior then began singing his own melody, infusing it with his ethereal power. Anti-Narrator sneered.
“I will snuff out your light, just as I have done to countless others, and then I will replace it with myself, as I will do to everyone throughout this vast cosmos.”
He proceeded to meet his challenge, continuing their duel.
The two traded verses back and forth, building more and more momentum. Suddenly, Savior began to take on a brilliant, shining glow before letting out a final, roaring shout, pushing back Anti-Narrator.
As he reeled from the force, the purple cracks criss crossing his face and body widened and lengthened slightly. For an instant, his aura flickered. He then recovered, righting himself in the air as he glowered at Savior.
Savior smirked. “I told you. It's over.”
Anti-Narrator glared through the victor of the match, as he trembled in rage. He was so close! He had seen some of his other selves lose to Savior, but not all of them. He knew he was capable of defeating the pest with his full power, but the bout had weakened him. He had played with his food for too long. He needed a way to regain the advantage.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. It had its risks, but he could handle the consequences. Once he had taken care of this annoyance, he would have the time to deal with more important things. Anti-Narrator began to glow a deep violet as he summoned the power he needed. The power to rewind time, back to the beginning of the fight.
“I will not be denied! You have won the battle, but it will not be enough to save you. You will not stop me! I will crush you all. I will build my Citadel! I will enslave your minds and bodies, and then I will destroy your realities! Your combined might is NOTHING before mine!”
The glow became blinding as time itself warped and the world stuttered befo-
Notes:
Hey everyone! This is the first chapter of the first fanfic I have ever uploaded! I've read fanfiction for years, and I've always thought of writing some of my own. This probably won't be the only one I ever write, but I'm probably going to focus on this one for a while. I've been thinking about how I want this story to play out for about half a year or more now. This is just the very beginning of a long and arduous undertaking, especially if I want to do justice to the vision I have for this story. I may even come back and try to edit this chapter and some of the beginning chapters if I find them lacking compared to my later work. Upload schedule will probably be inconsistent for a while since I'm very new to this, and because I'm in college. That being said, any interaction is appreciated, even if it's just kudos! Questions, constructive criticisms, and suggestions are encouraged, though I may not get around to replying to everyone.
Chapter 2: Encore
Summary:
Let's do this one last time.
Notes:
Back at it again with Krispy Kreme y'all! This is the second chapter of my first fic, and it took me less than a month! I just wanna thank the 30 people who have clicked on and read this so far, as well as the 2 guests who left kudos, and https://archiveofourown.org/users/joinvine who not only left kudos, but liked my fic enough to bookmark it! Additionally, I would like to thank my brother and then my best friend for looking at and giving suggestions and support for this fic before I posted it in the first place. Lastly, I would like to thank anyone reading this chapter either when it first comes out or when you stumble upon it or get introduced to it later on down the line for interacting or making those numbers go up so I know I'm not just throwing this out into the void.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The world was filled with a blinding violet light. Anti-Narrator laughed as the world moved in reverse around him. A ball of dark energy formed in his palm, and he threw it at Savior, who was unaware of what was happening as he repeated his earlier movements and sang in reverse. The fabric of space and time shook before it all stopped, and then resumed.
The projectile hit Savior, who was now standing on the ground again, head on, knocking him back and causing him to reel in pain. His form shimmered and then shattered, flashing a bright white before three nearly identical individuals were left in its wake.
They all groaned as they tried to comprehend what happened.
“What hit us? Did the stage collapse?” said Spirit.
“I don't know. What could've made us unfuse like that? We didn't see anyone come in…” replied Angel.
“Beep bop” grumbled Boyfriend as he got up. Soul was of course back in Boyfriend's head alone, so the other two couldn't hear if he had anything to say on the matter without Soul taking control from BF, which both were too dazed for at the moment.
All three perked their heads up at the sound of an ominous chuckle. They hastily got on their feet and looked up at their attacker.
“Not so arrogant now, are you?” said Anti-Narrator. His glow seemed dimmer than usual, but he was still as smug as ever.
“When did you get here!?” exclaimed Angel.
“I've been here the whole time…” replied Anti-Narrator, “past, present, or future, I will hunt down all who seek to oppose me, wherever or whenever they try to hide.”
The three Boyfriends looked warily at each other. There wasn't time for them to fuse again into Savior, so they were now at a significant disadvantage. Their chances of victory were slim, but they couldn't afford to try and run away. This was the chance they had been waiting for. The opportunity to defeat the one who had caused so much chaos and despair. If they could just defeat him, they could move on to free their own worlds from the Corruption, and maybe even help other worlds, so that nothing like the being floating above them could ruin everything once more.
“We don't plan on hiding,” said Angel.
“One way or another we will defeat you,” Spirit joined in.
“Beep skdep bop!” said Boyfriend. His eyes then glowed a stark white and his voice took on a deeper, static-like quality, signifying Soul’s presence as the one at the reins.
“Bring it!” he taunted.
Anti-Narrator laughed.
“Truly, a PITIFUL display of defiance indeed!”. His eyes shone with a manic delight. “There is no hope for you now. All of you, come at me with your hopes, your dreams, your determination, your combined strength and skill. Find it lacking. Say what you want, and do whatever you can. I won't care; this conclusion is forgone and long foretold.
As the three prepared to confront Anti-Narrator, something happened, unbeknownst to any of the individuals there. The swirling portal that Anti-Narrator had created to enter the stage flickered, and the pulsating cracks the rift had formed widened and lengthened.
Unaware of this, Spirit, Angel, and Soul readied themselves, standing before the being above them as he began the song.
Now that they were separated, the three Boyfriends were much more susceptible to the Corruption, but they each were still formidable in their own right, and even now they still worked together, with Angel leading the first response and Spirit adding onto it before BF finished it off as Soul backed him up, letting BF stay in control while still adding some of his power to the man's voice, giving it some reverb.
The trio continued to musically combat the entity. It took all of them singing at once to match him. It was only in the stretches between Anti-Narrator's verses that they could afford to let one or two of them sing on their own, before he would start again, forcing them to join voices once more to resist his power.
But alas, though their efforts were admirable, and their determination fierce, it was not quite enough. Even as they sang their own verse once more, all of them coming together, tiny flecks of Corruption began to show up on them. Angel's halo dulled and his hair became marred and speckled with the substance, as did Spirit's hands and jacket, as well as BF's chest and neck.
Anti-Narrator saw this with glee as he cackled.
"What's the matter? Weren't you going to stop me? Are you running out of steam?"
So preoccupied with his taunting was he, that he didn't notice the portal grow larger, and the swirling vortex inside grow more violent and unstable. So deep in the midst of their efforts were his opponents, that they did not see more glowing, flickering cracks cracks begin to appear around the edge of the portal.
BF was getting tired. The Corruption was starting to travel up his throat and further across his chest. His voice was starting to come out strained.
"Hey, come on! You can't be giving up yet!" echoed Soul, from the depths of his mind. There was a lot of room for his voice to bounce around. "We still gotta kick this guy's ass! You're just gonna let him get away with what he did?"
“Well, well, well… so you will be the first to break it seems.” said Anti-Narrator, sensing BF’s weakness.
“...That's it, lemme at him! It's my turn!”
Tired of Anti-Narrator's mocking as well, BF smirked and let Soul take the wheel. His eyes glowed brighter, seemingly becoming narrower and sharper as he shot up in the air until he was at the thing's level. A spade tail, made of a gray-ish white energy swished behind him as glowing horns of the same color and nature sprouted from the sides of his head.
"Eat this!" rang out Soul's voice as he pointed at Anti-Narrator defiantly.
The trio's Corruption began to recede as Soul sang his solo, glowing with power. A shimmering white aura swirled around him as he fought against Anti-Narrator's influence. However it wasn't long until the entity began to push back once more, slowly but steadily taking back control of the battle.
As Angel and Spirit watched, Angel gathered his heavenly power within himself. The divine gift that he had been given. That he had squandered, and as a result damned everyone he had ever cared about, including HER; not once, not twice, but thrice. He wouldn't let it go to waste this time. The luminescent glow returned to his halo and his eyes regained their brilliant golden light. He wouldn't fail this time. He would put an end to this. Angel spread his pearly wings and flew up towards the combatants, hovering beside Soul as he reentered the rap battle with a freestyle solo.
The angel’s voice rang out with the intensity and power of a vengeful choir. He blazed with a golden glow, alight with a righteous fury. The stage was lit up by his aura as he began to sing with speed, power, and ferocity.
Anti-Narrator sang back once more, trying to overpower Angel, but then Soul came in, backing up Angel's voice with his own. They continued like this, Angel and Soul just barely matching Anti-Narrator note for note. Eventually, Anti-Narrator stops singing for a moment, and the two capitalize on the opening, dueting each other, harmonizing and playing off of each other in an effort to defeat the thing that had plagued several worlds as it floated across from them, its power festering inside of it and pooling out. The violet miasma that surrounded him grew weaker against the joint effort. The cracks in the shell that was his form became more prominent.
Spirit looked on at the rap battle above him. Angel and Soul had started making progress again, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. He could feel it taking more effort to keep his Corruption from spreading, and he knew those two couldn't keep it up forever, whereas Anti-Narrator seemed annoyed and tired, but not defeated. Even now, he seemed to be slowly gaining the upper hand once more, beginning to overpower them again. He knew they needed his help.
Spirit took a deep breath. Breathing, that was something he hadn't been able to do for a long, long time. Unlike the other two, his power didn't come from another being. His power came from his very essence, meaning it was something he had to be a lot more careful with. He wasn't quite sure how much he had to give, or what would happen if he used up too much of his energy, but he didn't want to have to find out anytime soon. He did not escape that cursed game just to lose his chance at living again due to something as inane as overexertion.
Spirit channeled his energy, glowing a bloody crimson as he prepared to enter the fray. He focused his power away from resisting the Corruption, letting it spread across his right hand and up the arm, and towards empowering his voice to combat the being. If he did not have the strength to end this, then anything else would be for naught, and he was not going to lose his chance at freedom after all those years of imprisonment.
Angel's and Soul's voices echoed across the stage as they sang in chords, struggling against Anti-Narrator's voice as he matched them with relative ease. Spirit flew up and added his own voice to the mix, beating back the abomination once again.
The stage was washed with a gory glow as Spirit's haunting voice joined the fray. The trio sang against Anti-Narrator, causing the stage and the walls to tremble from the force of their volume. Then, another sound drowned all of them out.
A low rumble shook everything around them. They all turned to look at the portal. It had grown twice as large as before, and the space around it was now covered in large, interconnected cracks like a spider's web. The swirling vortex within it writhed and spasmed. There was another rumble, and the whole thing shook and trembled as more cracks appeared, like glass shattering. The portal grew brighter.
“No! Not yet! I'm not finished!” cried Anti-Narrator.
You see, reality is generally pretty…adaptable. Your average deity, time traveler, or teleporter is no big deal for it in the grand scheme of things. Sure they could cause some trouble, but the loose ends usually tied themselves up. And if a timeline or universe destabilizes and gets wiped from existence? Well, it's not like there aren't others. Infinite universes, infinite possibilities, and all that. Reality warpers tended to be a bit more tricky, given their nature, but they usually stayed contained in one area, whether it be one world, a relatively small pocket dimension, or even a multiverse where they played God to their heart's content.
However, something has to give eventually, and this event, this rewinding of the timeline, immediately followed by this clash, was the straw that broke the camel's back. For a long time now, the Corruption had been spreading from timeline to timeline, universe to universe. As it overpowered more and more victims, it became stronger, eroding the stability of reality, causing it to deteriorate further and further, leading to more and more outlandish and extreme events to occur.
Anti-Narrator seemed to grow desperate, seemingly putting everything he had into singing as a last-ditch effort to defeat the three of them. The vortex roared, lighting up the entire building as Angel, Spirit, and Soul sang back. Anti-Narrator became enraged, summoning a ball of dark swirling energy in his hand.
“FALL! FALL, DAMN YOU! FALL!” he roared as launched an attack at each of them. They all dodged it as they continued to sing. The four of them continued their battle as the world seemed to fall apart around them. The portal grew and became more unstable. It seemed to be pulling in parts of the stage and the surrounding area as it all crumbled.
“I WILL NOT BE STOPPED! I WILL NOT BE DENIED!” Anti-Narrator screamed above the voices of the trio and whirling of the gaping wound in reality that now stretched beside them, beginning to pull them as well.
As the light became blinding, Angel, Spirit, and Soul sang a final chord, charging attacks of their own. Angel summoned a golden orb of divine energy in his palm and squeezed, making it flat. Soul cocked his fist back as it became encased in a fiery aura. Spirit held his microphone in his hand and infused it with some of his essence.
Angel threw a chunk of heavenly energy crudely shaped into a shuriken at Anti-Narrator, hitting him in the eye. Soul punched the air, launching a blast of concussive energy, hitting Anti-Narrator straight in the chest. Spirit threw his microphone, now filled with some of his power, hitting Anti-Narrator in his right side, causing a loud feedback noise to echo throughout the forming void.
Eventually, the pull became too strong, sucking them all into the portal. The light blinded them, and the sound deafened them until everything seemed to disappear, and then there was black and silence…
Notes:
Alright, second chapter finished! Fun fact, the first and second chapter,as well as the next one I'm about to do, were originally going to be just a single chapter, functioning as a prologue. However, I ended up deciding to chop it up into smaller chunks so I could get my fic out there and not take as long to write more. I think I made the right decision lol. Otherwise, I still wouldn't even have my fic out on AO3 at all yet! Again, any kind of interaction, even just reading this, is appreciated, kudos are always nice, and comments and constructive criticisms are welcome!
Chapter 3: Separation
Summary:
In the aftermath of what was assumed to be the final battle, the combatants are separated and find themselves in a strange situation. What happened? What's going on? Where are the others?
Notes:
Hey everybody! Back with the third chapter! And way sooner than I thought I would! I guess now that I've started things up plot wise it's a little bit easier to keep the momentum going. Also, this is the longest chapter I've written yet! I'm pretty sure it'll almost double the word count of the whole fic. Turns out having to write 4 POV's means writing more than usual lol. Also, just wanna shout out joinvine for being yet another first for this fic: the first commenter! Glad to know I got someone interested in this so soon! I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this fic, let alone interact with it. Hope y'all like this chapter even more than the last two!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel blearily opened his eyes and stared directly into the sun. Bad idea. He closed his eyes and rubbed them furiously, turning his back to the light as he got up and kneeled on the cold, hard, ground. He shivered and pulled his coat tighter. Unfortunately this reminded him how long it's been since he actually washed said coat, causing him to grimace.
He looked down at the ground in a daze. Wait, not the ground. The floor. He was looking at the floor. He… wasn't outside?
He looked back up. Turns out the “sun” was actually just a bunch of fluorescent lighting. Still bright though.
Angel blinked the spots out of his eyes and started actually looking around. He wasn't on the stage. He was somewhere else. Somewhere very familiar.
The mall.
Instantly he was on high alert. His wings popped out and spread high and wide, looking as big as they could. His halo appeared in a shimmering light. His eyes blazed, as he looked around in a panic.
“Where are you! Show yourself!”
Who was he talking to? Lemon Demon? Anti? The other two? A random infected guy? HER!?
He didn't know. And he didn't know how he got here. Wasn't he just on the stage? There was a giant portal. What was up with that? Why did it explode? Was that how he got here? But why was he the only one? Where were the others? Where was anyone? Shouldn't it be swarmed with the Corruption?
After all…
His wings drooped and receded once more, and his halo fell limply onto the top of his head and disappeared with a faint shine as the light went out of his eyes.
…This was where it all started.
It's where that lemony bastard TOOK Her right from under everyone's nose! Including his! And he didn't even have that big of a nose, so how did that even happen!
No, he knew how it happened.
He was too stupid to notice. He was too slow to get to Her before anything could happen.
He wasn't strong enough to defeat him. He wasn’t good enough to save Her.
If it wasn't for Pico, they probably never would've been freed from the Corruption. He sacrificed himself for them, and how did he repay him? By getting Corrupted AGAIN, making it all for nothing.
He had been so sure he could beat Mommy Mearest too. She had been trying to get her daughter, wrapping those pink strings around Her. He said to leave him behind. Go get Daddy Dearest.
He'll be fine! He's beaten her plenty of times! This won't take long at all! Then they can all meet up and figure out what to do!
Stupid.
It was almost embarrassing just how easily he was beaten. No, scratch that. It WAS embarrassing. The slightest progress he had made was undone effortlessly as he was quickly overpowered. He didn't really remember what he did while he was Corrupted. He didn't know how many victims he had. It was probably a lot. He was never good at math.
Stupid.
Eventually, he was finally, FINALLY able to free himself, actually use his angelic powers CORRECTLY, defeat the Corruption once and for all, and beat the ever loving shit out of that citrus-y PRICK!
Except he didn't beat the Corruption once and for all. Except he failed… again. Except he wasn't good enough to save Her… again.
Anti-Narrator…
Angel's eyes glowed as he scanned his surroundings once more. If he was here, then where was everyone else? Did they actually manage to beat that thing? And if not, then where the heck did he go?
“Well, first things first, it's time to get out of here.” he said to himself.
Now where was the exit again? It was probably on the ground floor, so there was no point in going up the escalators. And honestly, he could go his whole life without seeing that big Christmas tree again.
He turned around. Just a corridor with more stores. Huh, weird. Well, it has been a while since he's been here, so maybe he just forgot a few details. He didn't see any other possible exits though, so he went down the corridor anyway.
As he made his way through he recognized most of the stores, but a few seemed unfamiliar. One of them just had a big sign that said “GEX” at the top. Was that the name of the guy who owned it? Was it some joke he wasn't in on? Oh well.
As he made his way to the end of the corridor, he saw a turn in it.
“Oh, that must be the way to the exit.”
He turned the corner and saw-
“-The fuck?”
He looked back up the hallway to make sure he wasn't going insane. He looked in front of him. He looked back down the corridor again. He looked in front of him again.
“You've gotta be kidding me.”
That tree. That same. Fucking. Tree.
Looking down, there was not an exit, but an escalator leading downwards. And on the (underground?) level, there was pretty much an identical copy of the mall floor he had just walked away from, including a giant Christmas tree, except instead of red lights and decorations adorning it, there were blue ones. It was a refreshing change of pace at least. Unfortunately he now was even more confused. He definitely did NOT remember the mall looking like this.
He stood on the escalator and looked around at the seemingly recent addition. Still no one was there it seemed. He was completely alone.
…
Man this escalator was slow.
…
He looked down, only to realize it hadn't been moving the entire time. It was apparently turned off. He looked down at the long drop below, and sighed as he started walking down the steps.
He was about a quarter of the way down when he heard a loud, deep groan. It sounded familiar. The escalator started shaking and jerked suddenly, making him lose his balance. Angel toppled over the side and plummeted to the floor below, screaming.
On instinct, his wings came out, and stopped his fall. He caught his breath as he hovered in the air.
“Oh yeah, I could've just flown down the entire time.”
A bright light turned his attention to the moving escalator. The floor it was connected to seemed to flicker like shaky static. The corridor elongated as a rift tore open on the side of it like flesh being ripped apart . Suddenly, another escalator shot out of it, and above Angel, a new floor flickered into place, pieces of it glitching in and out of existence as the rift spasmed, then disappeared, causing the new renovation to stabilize above his head.
Angel looked down and saw similar things happening on the floor below him. The floor changed and different stores moved around or were pushed out of the way to make room for new ones that would spontaneously appear from a portal, before the rift closed, seemingly stitching it all together. Eventually, this stopped, and then there was quiet, and stillness again.
He was already getting tired of it and it just came back. He was also getting tired of random things happening to him out of nowhere. The Dearests’ demon shenanigans were one thing, but for the past few months things had just been getting ridiculous. What was this, Inception? The Matrix?
“Whatever.” He sighed as he flew down, exploring the floor as he continued to look for an exit.
Spirit groaned as he pushed himself up. He looked down and saw the street he had been laying on. He immediately jerked his head up and looked around for traffic. Nothing coming from either side. On the contrary, all the vehicles on the sides of the road seemed broken down and wrecked, sullied with black and glowing pink smudges and stains along smashed fronts, torn seats, and broken windows.
He looked down at his right hand and saw the same infection marking it. Small, pink tendrils had reached up one third of the way up his forearm. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be spreading or moving any further. He flexed his fingers. It seemed like his Corruption wasn't impeding his ability to move in any significant way. Good. He wondered if he could just sing by himself for a little bit to get rid of it. Would it just disappear on its own as long as he kept his energy up? How long did he have before it started spreading?
He supposed he could possibly just use his powers to try and cleanse himself, but he figured it would be best to conserve his strength, just in case. He would just have to be careful about not touching anyone with that hand.
Speaking of which, where were those two? The last thing he remembered was the portal Anti-Narrator had used to arrive on the stage destabilizing and pulling them all in. Did it take them to the universe Anti-Narrator had just left? How did they get separated? Had they managed to defeat him? If not, then where was he?
He stared at the full moon in the distance as he pondered his situation. The wind blew through his hair and into his face. He closed his eyes as he felt its cool embrace. Trapped within Senpai's code, he could only barely feel the faintest facsimile of sensations through the character. It had been like the La Croix of living.
But now, in this body, it was sometimes like he was experiencing everything for the first time. He would do anything to continue living. Anything to never go back to what his existence had been before. Anything to ensure that he could live in relative peace so he could feel these sensations again and again. Even face that freak.
He opened his eyes with newfound determination. The city stretched as far as the eye could see, large skyscrapers standing like monoliths to a time of prosperity before the fall into decay and destruction. The city he remembered was so much smaller back when he was alive, when he and Girlfriend would go on dates to the arcade or to that diner just a short walk from school. The one where they would get milkshakes together. Where the waitresses knew them both by name. Did they still work there? What happened to them when the Corruption came? Was that restaurant still there? Maybe when this was all over he could look into it.
As he peered over the railing of the bridge he had ended up on, he saw a large crater. He wondered what could've caused such desolation. Had another portal become unstable before? Was Anti-Narrator's control starting to slip, causing his powers to go haywire? Or was enslaving the minds and bodies of entire worlds simply not enough, and he needed to flaunt his power even more? Maybe a bomb had gone off sometime before the Corruption appeared and there was just never a chance to do anything about it before everything went to hell in a handbasket.
He considered flying over to the area to investigate, but decided against it. Better to save his energy. Besides, there’s no telling where Boyfriend or Angel or even Anti-Narrator went, so any direction was as good as the other. Spirit turned away from the railing and made his way down the street, walking past the rubble and totaled cars. He turned up his nose in disgust as he came across what seemed to be a severed arm as the smell of decomposition hit him face first. As he had seen alongside the other two on their hunt for that abomination, even the dead were not safe from the wretched infection. He eyed his surroundings, wondering if the previous owner of the limb was nearby, waiting for a new victim.
Suddenly he heard what seemed to be a low, rumbling growl behind him. Spirit whirled around, his ethereal aura flaring up and whirling around him like a wailing tempest. The bridge beneath him trembled and the air seemed to buzz and crackle around him, then a familiar light appeared to his side as a large, writhing tear in the space past the side of the road.
“Another portal, and it's unstable, but how? And why?”
A distant sound emanated from it, like a blaring horn. The light within slowly grew larger and brighter. He squinted as he looked within, waiting for something to emerge.
“What… what is that?” He muttered.
The rumbling grew louder, and the light grew larger and brighter. Spirit’s eyes widened as a train came barreling through the portal and towards him. He flew out of the way as quickly as he could, watching the train cross over the bridge. As it hit the road, the ground beneath it seemed to glitch, and another portal appeared for a moment, spawning in a railway that the train continued to run, continuing into the distance.
All around him, more rifts began to open up. More railways began to appear, crisscrossing across the skyline and between skyscrapers, with roaring trains racing along them.
More portals opened up along the horizon. Buildings glitched and shifted as entire city blocks appeared, displacing other areas.
“What have we gotten ourselves into…?”
"Boyfriend.”
BF stirred at the sound of Girlfriend's voice. Man he had missed her. He rolled over with a grin on his face.
“Boyfriend.”
With his eyes still closed he reached out to run his fingers through her soft, silky hair.
“BOYFRIEND! WAKE UP!”
BF jolted up, letting out a sudden beep in surprise. He looked around at the towering sand dunes above and the starry desert sky above him. Sand was stuck under his fingernails.
“Thank God, I thought you'd never wake up! I've been calling your name for, like, ten minutes. It was awful!” echoed Soul's voice in his head.
Boyfriend groaned as he sat up.
What happened?
“I don't know. All I remember is that weird portal going crazy and sucking us all in.” said Soul.
Hehehehe… sucking.
“Hehe, yeah. Next thing I know, we're in the middle of this desert. I tried to take control of your body so I could look around, but everything felt fuzzy and weird, so I just decided to wait for you to wake up, but I got tired of that after five minutes.”
Where's Angel and Spirit?
“Don't know. I guess they ended up somewhere else. Looks like it's just you and me for now!”
A cold wind blew through the desert night, carrying away grains of sand as they slipped through BF’s fingers. He sat all alone among the dunes and sparse grasses.
…You promise you'll stay?
“Hey, don't get all mopey on me. Of course I will! I'm in your head. I literally CAN'T get away from you!”
That didn't stop him last time.
“Hey. Listen. You KNOW that wasn't my fault. I didn't make that choice. I'm sorry I left, but I'm not abandoning you again. I've got your back. The Corruption’s gonna have to try a lot harder than that to lock me away again!”
With that extra bit of reassurance, Boyfriend finally stood up, brushing himself off.
“Yeah, that's the spirit! Now, time to LOCK. THE FUCK. IN!”
BF looked determinedly into the horizon, and took one step forward. Suddenly, the air crackled, and he froze.
“What the heck was that?”
The ground shifted and trembled beneath his feet. Large rifts appeared, shaking and spazzing out. The ground gave way under his feet and he began to fall, before Soul “caught” him, causing him to float as he watched his surroundings change.
Everything seemed to spread out as it made room for new sections of desert. They fit together like puzzle pieces smash against each other until one of the openings was forced open wide enough to let one of the jutting out pieces go inside. When the portals disappeared, whatever was left was haphazardly stitched together, with the boundary between the two looking glitchy and stuttery.
“Well that was weird. Anyways, where do you think the other two ended up?”
Boyfriend floated back to the ground and looked into the distance. Different sections of dessert contrasted with each other, having slightly different shades of sand. If he squinted hard enough he could even see some snow in the distance.
Well anywhere was a good enough place to start, so why bother worrying too hard about it? He picked a random direction in front of him and started sprinting ahead with determination in his eyes.
“Alright! Let's go!”
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to either of them, beyond one of the larger, taller sand dunes behind them, laid the path to the outskirts of the city where Angel and Spirit had found themselves, visible in the distance horizon if one were to look from the top. Blissfully unaware of this fact, Boyfriend continued to run in the exact opposite direction of his friends.
Anti-Narrator lay on the stage floor, his form trembling and cracking. The full moon shone through a hole in the ceiling. There seemed to be a pitch black void of darkness on the other side of the hole in the wall, flanked by torn and ragged curtains. The stage lights flickered as they hung haphazardly, the damaged equipment swaying from their cords.
How dare they? How DARE they?! He had been so close. If had just had a little more time then he would've defeated them! Sure, it would've been easier to simply call upon a horde of Corrupted hosts to overwhelm them, but he KNEW he was capable of defeating them by himself.
But he had gone too far. And now, here he was stewing in some forsaken hodgepodge of a universe, with reality tearing at the seams, and nothing to show for it. He couldn't let the cosmos destroy itself before he got to it, damn it! Especially before he could complete his citadel! There was still so much work to do! He couldn't afford this kind of setback!
He slowly raised his hand to his face. The Corruption was beginning to flake off, revealing the flesh of his host, spared from decomposition only through his own power. The power of the Corruption. He was its personification. A force of nature given form, given a mind, to continue its work. Its purpose. HIS work. HIS purpose.
He would NOT be kept from his goal by some self righteous sacks of MEAT!
He focused his power on himself. He drew up his energy and turned it inward. Slowly, some of the cracks closed and receded. The holes closed up, covering the flesh of the puppet underneath.
He brought his hand to the new wounds he had received just before the portal had taken them. He could barely see out his left eye, and there was a large, leaking gash that went diagonally across his torso, from his left shoulder to his right side. There were still some cracks surrounding the places he had been struck, but he was no longer in a critical condition.
He had been defeated. This was just… a setback. A temporary setback. Yes. He had merely been tripped up by an insignificant hurdle. He had been blindsided, that was all. It had cost him, but it was nothing he could not handle.
Besides, he thought, even if this particular vessel were to fail, his other selves could finish the job. He had multiple memories of the Anti-Narrators throughout the multiple multiverses that made up the omniverse. True, some had been defeated by that ridiculous fusion, but there were plenty of others that had already made great progress on the Citadel. It was nearly complete, and soon, not a single Narrator would be able to stop what had been set in motion.
But that would be in due time. For now, Anti-Narrator supposed he should try to hunt down those three wannabe defenders. He could deal with the consequences of his shortsightedness later.
Well, once he had regained enough his strength. No need to overexert himself.
As if in response, the space around him buzzed with energy, from his position, he saw rifts tear themselves into being in the sky. Reality bled and licked its wounds. Anti-Narrator felt a presence. Something was arriving. Something was changing.
On either side of him the stage elongated and different colored curtains stitched themselves together. Stage lights appeared in varying styles and states of disrepair, some seemed perfectly functional, and some seemed smashed to pieces.
The whole building grew in size and complexity as more additions appeared and were forced to connect to one another, melting, fusing, stitching themselves into a new, barely visually coherent form.
And then everything grew silent once more, but Anti-Narrator knew he was not alone. He grinned so widely, his face grew close to splitting in half.
“Well, well, well… and here I thought I had done something wrong!”
He cackled with glee as a menagerie of glowing faces of various colors and shapes appeared through the hole in the stage wall.
“What a happy little accident indeed!”
Yes. He had faced a temporary set back, nothing more, nothing less. He now had a scouting party, and soon he would have reinforcements, as well as new victims to bring into the fold.
Notes:
Alright, now things have REALLY been set into motion. Fun fact! As mentioned in the previous chapter, I was originally planning to have the first three chapters be one big chapter that would act as a prologue of sorts. I decided to break them up into smaller pieces. If I hadn't made that decision, this is when you guys would be getting the FIRST chapter. Although, to be honest, it would probably would've come even later. Knowing that people are waiting on me to release another chapter kinda helps me get the initiative to get to writing. Anyways, I hope this was worth the wait, and I hope you guys like the next chapter I put out. It's gonna introduce some characters from other fanworks! Most of them will be from Corruption fanworks, but two will not.
That's all for now. Remember, kudos are appreciated, and comments and critique are welcome!
Chapter 4: Overture
Summary:
The ripples travel outward, and more are pulled into the fold.
Notes:
Hey guys! I said I would try to get at least one chapter out per month, and by God do I plan on delivering. This will be coming out exactly one month after the last chapter. Sorry if it feels a little rushed towards the latter end, but I hope it was worth the wait for y'all. Thankfully, the next few chapters should come out easier and faster since I've thought more in-depth about how I want them to go for the most part.
Also, shout-out to ReverendBroom and Reiven_Dreamdaze! Glad to have more people enjoy this and not only leaving kudos, but your encouraging comments as well! Especially to Reiven_Dreamdaze for bookmarking it! I'm glad you enjoyed it that much! And of course, another shout-out to joinvine.
I hope all of you enjoy this chapter at least as much as the last one, and that you keep supporting this fic by reading and engaging with it!
Like I said before, this chapter includes groups of characters from different fanworks, three of which are actually from other fics on this site! So I'll be including which fanworks which group is from to make sure no one is confused and so if you want to know more about each work, you can check it out yourself! I'll be sure to do this each time I include a new group from a new fanwork.
Also, we've officially passed 100 hits. Triple digits baby! Whoo!
To prevent confusion, in THIS chapter, a line break is a different universe and a line of "*" is a new POV within the universe.
Edit: Looking back, I think having “Cannibalism” as a main work tag may have given some in an accurate picture of this fic and driven them off. There are depictions of cannibalism in this chapter, and I plan on having more later on in the story, but probably not enough to justify a main tag, so instead I’m just gonna put a content warning in the individual chapters that has it.
CONTENT WARNING: slight depiction of cannibalism, specifically in the second section, and mentions of vomiting shortly thereafter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Boyfriend was fading, and he was fading fast. He had used almost all of his energy in this final attempt to set things right. To create the perfect timeline. One where everyone was safe. One where nobody died. He had finally done it.
Almost.
This can't be it…
I didn't get the chance…
After all of this, I can't… I CAN'T go yet.
He had been the only casualty. Well, the other him, that is. The one from that timeline. He had stopped trying to find the one he had been forced out of a long time ago. Instead, he had put it upon himself to protect the other timelines from his fate. To fix what had been broken.
And he had failed.
He had failed many, many times.
But this time, he had done it! The Corruption had been defeated, and everyone was okay.
Except for him.
I want to see them again.
There would be no more RETRIES, no more last minute saves, no more alterations to try and get a better ending.
There was nothing he could do. He didn't have it in him.
But Boyfriend remained.
I want to see HER again.
Boyfriend could feel himself slipping. He wasn't really sure if the afterlife applied outside of reality. He wasn't sure if there was anything for him after this. Nevertheless, he held on. There was one thing he wanted to do. One thing he NEEDED to do before the end.
He reached out to the gray void that he had known for so long. His prison, his home, his tomb. He reached towards the flickering, static screen before him, his window into the world he had been ejected from, willing it to show him what he wanted to see. What he needed to see, before he disappeared forever.
I can't die yet.
As if some force had heard his plea, as if some higher power had finally decided to grant the smallest crumb of mercy for once in the short and troubled existence of the short and troubled man, the screen flickered and shuddered.
Please…
The screen trembled as Boyfriend focused all of his remaining will into commanding the miserable void to do something useful this ONE TIME.
Let me see them. Let me see HER. Show them to me!
Just this one, last time…
Boyfriend sang. He sang his heart out, focusing all of his remaining energy into his voice as he forced himself to stay. Forced himself to continue, so that he could bear witness to the sight he had worked so hard for. His musical talent had been his one saving grace. His finger boarding skills may have won him the love of his life, but his music had allowed him to stay with her as long as he did. It would see him through to the bitter end. It had to.
The screen cracked.
…What?
Boyfriend redoubled his efforts, unsure of what was happening, but refusing to give up. It wasn't in his nature. It never had been, for better or for worse.
The screen cracked even more. Boyfriend felt…energized. As if he had the strength to keep going.
To keep moving… towards the screen…
As if he could… reach out…
And…
The screen broke, but the cracks remained. They grew larger, larger than the screen had ever been, and in the center was a large swirling vortex. It pulled at him. Boyfriend had no idea what was going on.
I can feel something on the other side, but what is it? Where did this come from? Where does it go?
Does it even matter anymore?
I'm…never going to see her again…am I?
…
The rift pulled him in. Boyfriend offered no protest.
Boyfriend stood in front of Senpai, after beating him in a rap battle. He wasn’t looking too hot. Senpai, not him. He was looking pretty good all things considered. Being made of pixels all of a sudden was weird, but it could be worse. How did he even end up here?
“Grrrhkkk!”
That doesn’t sound good.
Senpai doubled over, his unstable body covered in dead and shifting pixels like electric tumors. The sound of snapping, cracking bones could be heard. He looked like he could fall apart into a jumble of reds, greens, and blues at any moment.
That looks like it hurts.
All at once, a ghoulish wail burst out from the nearly unrecognizable boy as what was once his face burst open into a mess of sprites. The world around the two turned static as an amalgamation of SMPTE color bars spewed out of Senpai’s skull, revealing a blood red phantom, with a frenzied expression.
Oh you wanna go? thought Boyfriend as the spirit immediately began dropping bars. Let’s go then.
*******
Girlfriend called out Boyfriend’s name again as she wandered around the city. Where was he? They had just both gotten freed. And then they saved Pico! She didn’t know what was up with the weird zombie kaiju thing exploding, but just when things were looking okay she lost him again!
She heard a low rumbling some distance behind her and ran towards it, rushing through the rain.
Maybe that’s him!
But when she got there, there was no Boyfriend to be found. There wasn’t a lot of anything to be found really. Where just a little bit ago there had been a bridge and a crater and a lot of rubble, there was just… nothing. A lot of nothing. It looked like someone had taken a big block of city like a big slice of cake.
Girlfriend frowned. She could really go for some cake right now. She called out Boyfriend’s name again as she walked. No response. She sniffled, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. Where was he!? He was right next to her a few minutes ago! She pouted as her lips trembled. She hung her head and looked at the puddle in front of her.
The reflection of something appeared. No, not something. It was someone. Someone covered in pink, glowing strings and black goo. Girlfriend gasped as she looked up to find the shadow of her Corrupted mother looming over her, grinning wickedly.
*******
Pico grumbled to himself as he walked down the street, keeping his eyes and ears open. Where did that midget go off to this time? First he was trying to talk to that Harlequin looking fucker, and then he just disappears! Boyfriend better not have gotten Corrupted again, because he was NOT having a repeat of last time.
He is your key to salvation. You need him and he needs you.
Aaaand there were the voices again. As if he wasn't dealing with enough shit as it is. Well, at least this one hadn't told him to kill himself yet, or to kill anyone else for that matter, so he supposed it could stay. For now. It was on thin fucking ice though.
He heard something in a building next to him. It sounded like… chewing? Goddamn it. If that dumbass was trying to eat some pizza he found on the floor again he was going to do the Corruption a favor and just kill Boyfriend himse-
…The fuck?
What the fuck?
WHAT THE FUCK!?
Pico was hit with the stench of death as he bore witness to the gory sight before him. A Corrupted child hunched over a woman's mutilated body, devouring the flesh, its jowls smacking against the bloody meat. Blood dripped from its maw as it dug into her ripped open throat.
Wait a minute…had he seen that woman before? And the outline of that kid looked familiar…
Oh fuck…
He wasn't a particularly squeamish guy, he killed people for a living for Christ's sake, but when he made the connection as he stared in disgust, he felt his stomach turn. He put his hand over his mouth and rushed out the door, throwing up almost immediately.
He groaned as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, leaning against the wall. He perked his head up as heard a loud rumbling mixed with a strange, electronic-sounding cry.
Oh, it's Harlequin again. Pico thought as he saw the thing float towards some random Corrupted guy wearing a beanie. Then, to his surprise, Pico saw a bright flash consume the guy before he was seemingly absorbed into Majora's Mask.
He looked back into the building he had just left. Skid paused his "family dinner" to look back at him. Pico slammed the door shut. That was not gonna happen to him, even if he did just eat his mother. Then again, the kid HAD always struck him as kinda feral. He wondered where Pump ended up going.
His thoughts were interrupted when heard Girlfriend shouting Boyfriend's name.
Oh you've GOTTA be kidding me. This bitch…
The worst part was he couldn't even yell at her to stop because it would draw even more attention! Was he the only person who understood that they were in the middle of the fucking apocalypse!?
Who was he kidding? Of course he was. Those two wouldn't know what danger was if it pointed a gun in their face.
He sighed as he started making his way to her. From the sound of it, she had ended up circling back to where that Tankman Zombie Megazord thing had blown up. Pico headed in that direction, grumbling while making sure she hadn’t attracted anyone else.
Wh… where the fuck did the bridge go!?
RIGHT where the bridge, the crater, and what looked to be an ENTIRE CITY BLOCK there was just…nothing. Like some asshole had just removed a Minecraft block shaped section of the city in the five or so minutes he had been gone.
Pico rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yep, still there. Well, still NOT there, technically.
Am I just seeing shit again?
Something has changed. The fate of much more than this world is now in the balance, but you will not bear this burden alone.
The hell are you on about now?
Pico shook his head, deciding that this was one problem that he wasn’t dealing with right now. He had plenty of others to choose from.
He heard Girlfriend shout out Boyfriend’s name again in the distance. Speak of the devil… literally. He started jogging towards her, being careful of the edge of the new cliff that had been created. He didn’t really wanna test just how real it was. He sighed in relief when he finally laid eyes on her.
He hissed her name, telling her to keep quiet so no one could hear them. She didn’t seem to notice though; Girlfriend stared at something in front of her, petrified. Pico followed her eyes.
Standing not six feet away from them, was Mommy Mearest. Now, usually, this would already be not great. Even with BF and the Dearest’s coming to something of an understanding and not trying to start shit every five minutes that inevitably involves him getting involved somehow, he didn’t really consider spending time with the two demons to be very… relaxing, so to speak, and considering that Mearest was currently Corrupted, it was even less so. The fact that it was technically his fault didn’t help matters either. Karma’s a bitch. He should’ve known better.
Pico whipped out his two Uzi's, pointed them straight at Mearest’s face. He really wished he didn't have to face her so soon, but now wasn't the time to mess around. There was no way for them to outrun her, so the only way out was for Girlfriend to teleport them out of here. Unfortunately, Girlfriend didn't really seem to be all there at the moment. As he glanced over at her she still seemed frozen in place, unable to look away from the current state of her mother, with a look of shock and horror. Even if she used her magic to get them out of here, they still had no idea where Boyfriend was; they would essentially be leaving him to deal with the Corrupted demoness all by himself.
Whelp, guess we're doing this. Boyfriend when I find you I'm beating your ass.
He flicked the safeties off and pulled the triggers, firing point blank at her. Mommy Mearest slashed her claws out, shredding or deflecting each bullet aimed at her until Pico stopped. She turned her head towards him, narrowing her blazing white eye lights as she regarded him.
…Shit. Actually thought that would work. Rap battle it is th-
His thoughts were cut off by a low rumbling sound like before. Pico felt his hair stand on end. The ground shook beneath his feet as the sound of something ripping reverberated through the area.
Behind Mommy Mearest, a large portal opened, surrounded by cracks in the space around it, and pulled her in. Girlfriend shouted for her mother and reached her hand, but Pico grabbed her and quickly started trying to pull her away so they wouldn't get pulled to. However, Pico felt the ground give way beneath, causing them both to fall. As he looked down, he saw another portal appear beneath their feet dragging them in.
As the light blinded him and the roaring of the vortex deafened him, he heard the faint ringing of that same voice in his head.
Have heart, this is just the beginning.
*******
The Harvester narrowed her eyes as she watched the scene below unfold, perched on a nearby building. The portals pulled the three in, but remained, pulling in the surrounding area. Now that she was closer, she could hear a voice calling out to her.
"Enter the rift…join the others…you shall serve well there..." the Corruption whispered into her mind.
Her eyes widened. It was her master!
She spread her wings and swooped down before flying through the portal just as it closed.
Have heart, this is just the beginning.
Pico frowned. That voice felt different from the usual ones. He couldn't quite place it, and they were usually less…encouraging than that. He darted his eyes around the restaurant, checking to see if someone had actually said that to him. Was he getting sloppy? He had only scanned his surroundings three times in the past few minutes. He could feel his paranoia creep in. There was someone spying on him wasn't there? Any second now he's gonna feel a gun barrel pressed against the back of his head because he wasn't careful enough and-
“Pico!”
Pico was jolted out of thoughts as Boyfriend tapped his temple with his index finger. Across from the two of them sat Girlfriend and to their side a waitress with a name tag that read “Hello, my name is Jessica!” slammed a giant cup onto their table.
“Alright, which one of ya’s doin’ the “Cherry Cola™ Super Gulp Contest?” she drawled.
“Oh! I am!” said Girlfriend cheerfully. Pico couldn't even see her from behind the novelty-sized beverage. It was as big as the man sitting next to him.
He had texted Pico, saying that he and Girlfriend were gonna pay back the $20 he had lent to Boyfriend over three months ago. Why had he thought it had been a good idea to trust that idiot with that much money? He was honestly surprised he had even remembered.
Of course, he should've known it was too good to be true. Usually when someone texts you saying that they were going to give you money back and tell you to show up somewhere, that means they already had said money and were going to give it to you! But nooo, what Boyfriend really meant was that they MIGHT be able to get him the money if Girlfriend could drink what must've been GALLONS worth of Cherry Cola in less than 30 seconds! Who at this restaurant thought this was a good idea for a contest! How the hell has this not killed someone yet!?
“Okay, do you know the rules?” said the waitress.
“Yep!”
“Okay, just remember that if you don't complete the challenge you have to pay for it.”
Pico’s eyes widened, “Wait, what?”.
“It's in the rules. It's twenty dollars for the cup if she can't drink it all before the time's up.”
Pico looked up at Girlfriend who had to stand on the seat and hunch over to reach the straw. “Did you know that?” he asked. She chuckled nervously and looked away sheepishly.
He whipped his head over to Boyfriend, who looked like he had been caught red-handed.
“Skda-AAaAAaaAgh!” Boyfriend said before Pico grabbed his cheek and pulled him towards himself.
“Is that why you had me come over here?! To pay if she lost?!”.
“Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to keep your voice down.”
Pico scowled at the waitress before letting go of Boyfriend. He then scowled up at Girlfriend, “You better win this. I've only got five bucks.”.
The waitress pulled out a stopwatch, “Ready?”
Boyfriend flashed Girlfriend a smile as bright as the sun and a thumb up, like nothing had just happened. Girlfriend gave a determined nod and firmly grasped the giant straw with two hands before positioning her mouth in front of it.
These two morons better get him his money…
“3,2,1…Go!”
Boyfriend cheered her on, and Pico joined him. He had too much on the line not to.
“Go yeah go! Go yeah go! Go yeah go!”
“Go! Go! Go!”
Girlfriend gulped down the Cherry Cola with all her might, before pulling away, causing the last of it to spill on the front of her shirt, before slamming the empty cup down on the table, letting out a massive belch.
“Done!” said the waitress as she stopped the stopwatch.
Pico sighed in relief. Boyfriend flashed a victory sign before yelling, “Yeah!”.
“Unfortunately, since you spilled some of it, you don't get the prize.” The waitress said with one hand on her hip.
Pico looked at her in disbelief, “You're kidding me…”.
“Sorry, but if she spilled it, that means she didn't drink all of it.”
Girlfriend looked down in realization at her soaked front and pouted, “ Oh…I'm sorry Pico. We thought this would actually work.” Boyfriend, meanwhile, was preoccupied with taking advantage of the view, before snapping out of it and beeping at the waitress in indignation.
Pico gave her a death glare, “She drank it all.”.
Girlfriend interjected, “Pico it's fine. You don't have to -”.
“I'm not paying. She won it fair and square.”.
The waitress raised an eyebrow, but Pico held his gaze. He was getting his twenty dollars, politeness be damned!
The waitress huffed, saying, “Whatever, I'm not paid enough to care”, before laying a $20 bill on the table and walking away, taking the cup with her.
Pico took the money and put it in his wallet as Boyfriend and Girlfriend cheered.
“Yay!”
“Bdoop skoop day!”
“Yeah, yeah. You two are just lucky that worked.” said Pico as he put Boyfriend in a headlock, causing the smaller man to beep in frustration.
They started walking out of the restaurant when Girlfriend joined them, grabbing Pico’s arm and pressing herself against him.
“Hey, don't get that soda all over me!” he said, definitely NOT blushing.
Girlfriend giggled mischievously and held tighter as they all walked out the door.
Suddenly, Pico's hair stood on end. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He broke out of Girlfriend's grip and let go of Boyfriend as he rushed in front of the two of them. His hands laid on his holsters as his eyes darted back and forth along the street, and up and down the surrounding buildings, trying to find where the danger was coming from. He wasn't letting anything happen to his idiots. Not as long as he had something to say about it.
“Pico?” asked Girlfriend, before a low, rumbling could be heard. He whipped his head back to find out what it was, only to be blinded by a bright light.
Lila had fallen asleep on the ride, while anxiety kept Cassette Girl wide awake. Didn’t help she couldn’t smoke (Hank, of all people, got on her case for that one), and she really didn’t know what to talk about with Ena. By the time she could feel the truck slowing down, she had resorted to tapping her fingers against her leg in a nervous rhythm, trying not to picture the infinite ways this meeting could go wrong.
A knock on the truck door jolted her out of her trance, and Lila snapped awake. “I’m--I’m awake!”
“We’re here,” one of the grunts said, opening the door. “Follow us.”
Cass stuffed her remaining anxiety away, nodding and climbing out. The interior of...wherever they were was just as gray as most of the outside had been. Good lord, what was with Nevada’s fascination with gray?? The moment she got home, she was going to find the nearest hardware store and get enough blue paint to--
Not home, she silently corrected herself as Ena and Lila exited the car in turn. Home base. Not a real home.
The base was nigh-labyrinthian, Cass realized, as the grunts led them deeper within. There was all kinds of machinery, wanted posters lining the halls, and the occasional...really worrying stain on the floor. Cassette Girl tried not to pay those any mind.
“This place is huge, huh?” Cass said aloud. “Probably has to be for the work y’all do.”
Neither grunt responded, and Lila shot Cass a sympathetic glance. Cassette Girl just nodded back.
After what felt like half an hour, they finally climbed up a pair of stairs to a room with a sign on it: “The Auditor’s office. Knock first.”
The grunt leading the way stepped forward and reluctantly knocked on the door. “Uh, apologies, sir! Someone’s here to see you!”
There was a moment of silence, before a voice replied, “Come in.”
The office was…surprisingly normal-looking for someone who currently ruled over an entire state. Stone floor, a giant window overlooking the expanse of desert to the north, a desk with a monitor standing on it, and a person that looked to be made of shadow and fire—
Wait.
The person Cass assumed to be the Auditor rose from his seat, red eyes boring holes into Cassette Girl. “How interesting. It’s obvious off the bat none of you are from Nevada,” he noted.
Cass nodded slowly. “You’ve got a sharp eye. We’re here to request an audience with you.”
“Request granted,” the Auditor said. “What do you wish to discuss?”
Cass took a deep breath. She could do this. She rehearsed this.
“My apologies if you knew already, but the world outside Nevada and Utah is in chaos. A virus is spreading throughout America, turning people into zombies. We don’t have a good estimate on how many people are infected, unfortunately, just eyewitnesses but we know that they only need to touch you to spread the virus…or sing at you.”
The Auditor quirked what Cass assumed was supposed to be an eyebrow. “…interesting. Go on.”
“I, the two here with me today, and several others have banded together to find a way to fight this. As we wound up close to the Nevada-Utah border, we chose to try and appeal to you to ally the AAHW with us in the hopes of working together. I confess the only thing we can offer is our full cooperation and anything we’ve learned about this—we’re not a large organization, and I realize this is asking a lot for the AAHW. However, it would be in our best interests to fight together rather than die apart.”
The Auditor’s expression hasn’t changed the entire time throughout Cass’ speech. Cassette Girl met his gaze squarely, keeping her shoulders set.
“I ask you to consider our proposal. Please.”
“…there’s something you’re not telling me,” the Auditor noted.
Cass nodded. “And you’re correct. We are working with Hank J. Wimbleton and his allies on this as well. Mind you, we know this isn’t our place to interfere—we will keep all interactions between your two groups to a minimum, and will withdraw from Nevada once this threat is taken out. We just ask you cooperate…”
The Auditor held up a hand, and Cass fell silent. She didn’t like where this was about to go.
“I assume the meaning behind the name ‘Agency Against Hank Wimbleton’ is not lost on you.”
“No, sir.”
“Then I think you already know my response to your proposal. Wimbleton is a menace to not just Nevada, but the world at large, and we will not tolerate his presence in any capacity.”
“Please reconsider,” Cass said, raising her voice. “Both Utah armies have agreed to a ceasefire while this is going on, surely the AAHW can—“
“Enough,” the Auditor declared, sitting back down, and Cass could feel it down to her servos that she fucked up. “I have given you my answer, and I will not budge on it. Consider yourselves lucky I’ll let you go with a head start.”
Damn it. Damn it. Cass forced herself to nod—
Someone banged on the door, shouting, “L-Let me in, Auditor, sir! Please!”
The Auditor blinked in surprise before the door swung open. A grunt stood, half their body already covered in tar.
“Oh, crap,” Cass hissed, backing away, Lila and Ena following suit with muffled gasps while the two grunt escorts trained their guns on the grunt.
“S-Sir, the intruder, whatever they were carrying infected the R&D sector,” the grunt gasped out. “They got everyone, I…”
The grunt sobbed, and Cass could see the infection climb over their face. “Please. Help us.”
The Auditor rose and crossed the room to the grunt. “Oh, don’t worry…I’ll make this quick.”
He grasped the grunt’s head, and the crack echoed through the room. The body dropped to the floor, head now perpendicular.
Cass stared at the body, then at the Auditor. “…what the fuck??”
“If you know a faster way to dispose of someone, I’d love to hear it,” the Auditor replied.
“You didn’t even try to help them! You just killed them!” Lila shouted.
“Oh, be quiet,” the Auditor snapped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s apparent I have a whole department to take care of. Gods, how am I going to replace them on such short notice…”
“Um…bodies aren’t supposed to move after death, correct?” Ena asked aloud, and Cass turned her attention back to the body.
“…oh, no.”
The grunt was standing again, covered in the infection from head to toe. A wide smile had been forced onto their face, pink eyes staring right at her.
“Hey, Mister Business, how do you do…?”
“Shit!”Cassette Girl swore under her breath.
Before anything else could happen, a loud rumbling shook the building, causing everyone to stumble.
“What the hell is happening!”said the Auditor.
The rumble grew to a roar as a bright light filled the room before everything went dark.
Pico had just barely made it up to his spot on the second floor when he heard the telltale swipe of Cherry’s hand descending the keys, something she always did before she played. The ginger peered over the railing curiously and crossed his arms over the gilded bars, ears pricked. He smiled at how small Keith looked standing next to the girl and her family, a red beanie tugged over his mop of messy hair that stuck out around the edges being the only thing Pico could really see from this angle. He’d wanted to wear his usual red cap, but his partners had insisted on something else so that he’d be less likely to catch a cold.
“Hey, look who it is! It’s Pico!” The ginger heard a feminine voice say from behind, making him glance nervously over his shoulder to potentially find the source. To his relief, though, he saw the familiar pair of Nene and Darnell flitting over to him like moths, breaking away from the crowd of people that stalked up and down the paths outside of the stores.
“I’m surprised to see you here, of all people,” Darnell said with a hearty laugh, the silver ring that bisected his brow glinting in the glow of twinkling white lights. “We thought you hated Christmas.”
“I do,” Pico rested his face on his hand, disgruntled by being made to talk over the performance he’d promised to watch. “I’m here for them. That’s all.” He gestured down to Keith and Cherry with a tilt of his head, turning back to watch them start to sing.
“Aww, Pico, you’re so sweet,” Nene teased, reaching up to pinch his rosy cheek with her only intention being to piss him off. Pico grunted with frustration at the transgression, latching onto her wrist before harshly tearing her hand from his face and forcing it to lie still at her side. “What? That’s a compliment!” The girl shook the soreness from his rough treatment off of her skin as she glared at him impatiently.
“Shut the fuck up, I’m trying to listen,” the ginger snarled, doing his best to block the two out. Unfortunately as human as ever, he’d gone and done a Freudian slip in easily confessing his intention in being there. For them. It was one of many aggravating reminders that yes, he’d officially ‘gone soft’. Maybe it was the therapy, or just the passage of time, or some kind of cruel scheme enacted by the two he watched with soft gray eyes to infect him with their foolish trust of an unkind world. Perhaps a combination of all three. He thought, reluctantly, of course, that that wouldn’t be so bad.
But still he wished, more than anything, to be just like them. To not have experienced what he endured, to not be marked with the stain of sin and the stench of demise, to be defined by what happened to him and what he chose to do in the wake of it. It wasn’t his fault, no. But even still, he’s convinced he’d never shake the notion that he deserved the way the moments of his life collided with one another like cars speeding down the freeway and meeting at an intersection.
It was too hard and too fast for his growing mind to understand, to the point that it had stunted the growth of it entirely. He’d only recently begun to accept that he was going to be stuck in this rut forever, the Endless Hunt for the track he was once on suspended indefinitely. It had slipped through his fingers like sand and blown away into obscurity. This was all he had now. They were all he had.
That’s why he cares so much. About them, about everything. Why he lies awake every night trying to foresee every hardship that could come their way and do his best to prevent it before it destroys the last of what he found important. So he surrenders to their silliness and their antics because they’re happy to involve him in it. He’s still got doubts like loose change in his pocket but like coins and odds and ends they’re out of sight and out of mind. He feels sure of himself when they’re around. That’s why he just can’t stay away. It’s humanizing.
With that uncharacteristic moment of admiration out of the way, Pico sighed and tore himself from the railing and parted ways with Nene and Darnell. They’d insisted on accompanying him but after Pico declined for the third time, they finally relented and agreed to leave him by his lonesome. This was one of those times where Pico would need to focus, trying to pick out things the other two would like that wouldn’t break the bank.
For Keith, he’d picked out an arrangement of different stim toys (god knew he needed em, kid couldn’t sit still for the LIFE of him) and a weighted blanket because he always bitched about wanting one. But for Cherry, Pico wasn’t sure what to get; what do women like? Jewelry? Perfume? Makeup? Clothes? But unfortunately he doesn’t know her clothing size off the top of his head and there’s no way he had enough money to foot the bill for her surely expensive tastes in scents, cosmetics, and accessories. Ugh… maybe he’ll just give her a high five and call it the gift of friendship. If nothing else, it’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free!
But he’d never cheap out on her like that so he ended up getting her a phone case that had a bunch of glittery cherries on the back as well as a strawberry themed tea set; he knew she liked novelty dishware from seeing her scroll through photos of it on the internet and excitedly show Keith, so he thought of her immediately upon seeing it. Was this going to be her gateway into filling their apartment with eccentric glasswork? Probably. But it was better than dust bunnies and ammo boxes so he guessed he’d enable her in that regard.
With the headache and relief of shopping for them out of the way, he allowed himself to wander around the mall as the joyous sound of the Christmas concert in the main concourse drifted past his ears. While he mostly heard the voices of Cherry’s parents, occasionally he’d be able to pick out Keith’s and it would make him smile subconsciously as he stared at his feet and walked aimlessly to pass the time. He was a little on edge, as always when in public, but he wasn’t being bothered by anyone so he didn’t mind. Most everyone was too busy peering over the crowd to see the show anyway- that, or they were occupied with doing their own last minute shopping.
As the show drew closer to its conclusion, Pico returned to the banister to watch once more. This time he was surrounded by more people who had stopped to listen there too, enthralled by the music like sailors to sirens at sea. Hard not to be when the lineup was extremely skilled like those four were, but still. He watched fondly with a healthy amount of pride in his boyfriend and the girl until, with the kind of opposite luck assigned only to the stranded and hilariously unfortunate, he heard an unusual sound begin to crop up over the ambient sounds of the mall.
One pop, two pops, three.
Huh?
Four and a pained moan, hissed through the sharp teeth of Moxie Dearest.
It was only then that he realized he knew that sound like the voice of a longtime lover.
It was a gun.
A collective gasp from the crowd was the only indication that the gunfire wasn’t some awfully cruel machination of his mind and he felt his heart leap up into his throat with panic as the people below began to scatter like ants from an anthill, shrieking all the way. Even the people the ginger stood there with on the second floor began to flee for cover.
“Get down! What are you, crazy?!” Hollered the tall man next to him, who had grabbed Pico’s wrist and started dragging him to safety after he’d just stood there frozen in shock. Quickly regaining his senses, he pulled away from his savior to peep over the banister and continue watching the event unfold. There was an awful ache in his chest and an echo of Keith, Keith, Keith going off wildly like a siren in his brain. He needed to know what was going on down there. He had to know. He had to.
“I-I am alright!! Please, do not.. panic..” Moxie urged the nonexistent crowd weakly from where she had fallen to her knees, one violet arm curled tightly around her stomach while the other kept her body propped up against the ground. Luis knelt down next to his wife with concern while Cherry had Keith pinned to the floor, her batlike wings stretched out to their fullest to shield him from the danger. At least he’s safe , Pico breathed a sigh of relief, but that didn’t take away from how horrific he (and everyone else) felt right now.
“We all know that you and your kind are responsible for what happened to this city!” A young man Pico had never seen before barked over the empty hall, pointing a pistol straight at the Dearests’ heads from where he’d been standing in the midst of the crowd just moments before it dispersed. “You’re gonna pay for what you did! To Philly! TO ME!” The guy went to fire another shot at them but didn’t get a chance before the mall’s security finally arrived, forcing him down to the ground as he struggled hard to escape.
“We had no involvement with the tragedy,” Luis shot back at the guy angrily, two longhorn-esque prongs growing from either side of his head. It looked a lot like how Cherry’s horns would appear when she was angry or upset- makes sense, seeing as they’re related. “You would be wise to not make baseless accusations such as those.” And in classic Luis Dearest fashion, he garnished a neutral statement with a thinly veiled threat. How predictable.
“You killed my family, you monsters!” The guy screeched again as the mall cops started carrying him away, likely to be held in the security office until the police actually arrived. “The Angels-! The Angels will end you! You’ll see! YOU’LL SEE!”
And as quickly as it appeared the threat had been neutralized, but the heavy weight of Pico’s past had firmly settled upon his shoulders like an unremovable cloak. The redhead just slid his back down the glass of the mall’s upper balcony into a sitting position and stared blankly at the skylight above into the snowy, gray sky.
In the meantime, a few of the Dearest’s henchmen began to guide the injured Mrs. Dearest away from view, her blood a black smudge that had only grown on her dress since she first sustained the shot. Pico had wondered as he sat there, though; how was she more deeply affected by a piddly little bullet than how she was after having actually been DECAPITATED that one time? He chalks it up to being an act, but he hasn’t a clue why they’d go to such great lengths to appear more human. Oh, right, he sneered internally, they wouldn’t get their pity points if she didn’t.
It’s the same reason why she got all sniffly when she mentioned Cherry’s disappearance; to tug on the heartstrings of anyone foolish enough to believe they really DID have nothing to do with it. Pico also realizes that yeah, the dude was technically not incorrect about their responsibility related to the ‘Tragedy’. And yeah, maybe Moxie DID deserve to be shot, not like it’d really harm her any; it’s more the principle than anything else. But still, he can’t shake how disturbed he was about… everything. This is why he hates crowds. And being in public. And most things, actually.
He eventually made his way down to the ground floor and made it a point to not even glance in the direction of the stage and instead made a beeline for Cherry and Keith, who were hiding behind the display again. He just wanted to get out of there and go home. Once he was close enough he could see it in their faces that they did, too.
“Pico,” was all Cherry said as she pulled him into her chest, her hands falling on either side of his back as she hugged him tightly. Keith joined in too, but only from the side because of his injured hand. Pico normally would have pulled away because he didn’t like receiving this much affection, but he let them do it this time. It wasn’t just for him. They needed the touch just as much as he did.
The single good thing that came from this situation was that all the paparazzi had scurried away from the scene like rats upon the emergence of the threat. Who knew all it took to get them to piss off was a little bit of gunfire? He supposed it was also a good thing that no one got hurt (except for Moxie) or died, but still, Pico felt Cherry’s parents kinda (definitely) deserved it so he didn’t care about that as much as he did about not having to squint his eyes at a painful supernova of flash photography.
As if some higher being had decided to spite him, Pico’s vision was suddenly filled with a bright white light as a low rumbling shook the ground, vibrating his very bones. He felt a force tug at him, but he held onto Keith and Cherry like his life depended on it. He didn't know what was going on, but he was NOT letting them get away from him. He forced his eyes open. He could only see the silhouettes of Luis and Moxie Dearest staggering, trying to keep what felt like a domineering force of wind from pulling them off their feet.
Luis looked around, shouting over the noise, “Who's doing this! You think this is funny? Show yourself so I can rip your head off!”. Unfortunately for him, whatever intimidating effect his words and demeanor would have had was erased by the fact he looked like an insane man yelling at nothing. Pico might have actually cracked a grin if he wasn't busy trying to keep Keith from being sucked into the massive rift that had just formed out of nowhere. Though to be honest, Cherry was doing most of the work, holding Keith and him by the shirt as they both tried to stay on their feet.
The guy from before said something about angels before. Was he talking about literal, biblical angels? Had God finally gotten sick of Pico's shit and decided to take things into his own hands? He didn't really blame Him. Could've thought of that a little sooner though, he thought. Then again, an omnipotent being probably had higher things on the to-do list than, “Smite this random maniac”.
Pico watched as Luis and Moxie Dearest suddenly fell as another rift opened up beneath their feet. Luis held on to the edge, his eyes blazed blood red as he roared, “I'll make you pay for this! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!”, before falling.
“DAD!” yelled Cherry. She, once again being too forgiving of the bastard, looked like she wanted to go after him to try and save the older demons, but she currently had her hands full with the two of them. Suddenly, the pull grew stronger, taking Keith with it before Pico and Cherry scrambled to grab his arms. Keith winced as his broken wrist was grabbed.
“I've got you Keith, don't worry!” Cherry yelled over the rumbling which had intensified.
“Just hang on Keith!” shouted Pico.
“WHAT DO THINK I'M DOING!” screamed Keith.
Pieces of debri and chunks of the mall began to be pulled into the rift, seemingly disintegrating as they fell further in. The bluenette blanched as he saw this.
Cherry lost her footing, lurching forwards and taking Pico with her. The redhead fell with her. He tumbled into the void, still gripping the other two before everything went black.
Spirit sat at his tattered computer chair, in his cheap apartment, and tried to focus on the positive aspects of living. He didn't wish to die. He was far too spiteful for that. Spirit would do Daddy Dearest no such favor. Besides, this is what he had been hoping for. For so long he had yearned to break free of that accursed game, and to gain a body again. To truly LIVE once more. In most estimates, Spirit had accomplished this. That was a positive.
However, over the past year the euphoria of his second chance had begun to pass like a summer's day into an autumn evening. It certainly wasn't helped by the fact he couldn't even properly celebrate it. Having to impersonate a dead man made it a little difficult to announce your pseudo resurrection. It had been part of the deal he had struck with the infernal patriarch. Spirit wouldn't be imprisoned again if he helped them. Dearest would act like nothing was wrong so long as Spirit played his part. There hadn't been all that much time to haggle the details before Girlfriend showed up, especially since soon after the horde had arrived to stage its final siege.
Girlfriend, now that was a positive. A big positive. His beautiful cherry blossom. Oh how he wished he could go back to the simple days they would spend together in his senior year of private school! Girlfriend looked like she had barely aged a year since then, despite the 30 years he had spent in isolation. He chalked it up to a quirk of demon biology.
Spirit blinked for what may have been the first time in hours. One of the odd things about being a ghost possessing a body was how… disconnected everything tended to feel. He was still capable of feeling sensations, like the wind in his hair and the sun on his face (positives), but they felt distant and fuzzy unless he focused in on them. The body's functions mostly worked the way they were supposed to, but things like blinking and breathing were difficult to do automatically. This, among other things, would lead to him essentially dissociating sometimes, for hours at a time if nothing or no one stirred him, unmoving. Somewhat like what he had been doing for most of the night.
The morning rays of the sun reflected off the computer screen Spirit was sitting in front of, forcing him to blink again as he looked away. Scratch that, somewhat like he had been doing for THE ENTIRE night. For the third time this week. Damn. Well, at least this body didn't really seem to NEED sleep anymore, or air for that matter. He took a deep breath. The pink-red essence that made up his being kept the body alive and functioning, though he supposed it wasn't best to try and push his limits if he didn't need to. Besides, he was rather intimately acquainted with what it was like to have no reprieve from his waking consciousness for too long. He very much appreciated the mental rest sleep offered, even if he would no longer die without it, and a nice breath of fresh air was always calming, even if it was redundant for him.
He checked the time on the computer. It read 7:17 A.M. He stood up and went to the bathroom. Might as well start the day, thought Spirit. By the time he had finished brushing his teeth, doing his skincare routine, taking a shower, getting dressed, and applying, uggh, Axe deodorant (he would've used cologne, but APPARENTLY Boyfriend had thought that getting a job was “cringe” and Spirit's favorite brand was rather expensive) it was 10:15 A.M.
He saw that he had a message from Girlfriend and opened his phone. After a year, he could finally say he had a shaky grasp on how to use his smartphone. He definitely had gotten a lot of practice using it, with how much Girlfriend would message him. Not that he could blame her, from what he could piece together, they had gotten separated at some point when the Corruption had appeared, and she blamed herself for it. He supposed that's when the man had gotten infected, after which he had entered the Hating Simulator.
Spirit read the message. It read, “Hey Beef! Dad says the Christmas party starts at 3 :D Skid and Pump are gonna be there! And they brought Kin! Pico said he didn't wanna come though T-T”.
Ah yes, that was today wasn't it? After the Corruption had run its course, and the massacre that was the showdown between Lemon Demon and half the population of city, the mall where everything had started and ended was shut down and demolished due to too much bad publicity. So, the Dearest family decided to celebrate this holiday season with a more private gathering.
The fact that the two children were going to be there was definitely a positive. Skid and Pump, as rambunctious and hyperactive as they could be, were actually quite endearing, and having Kin be there was a nice surprise. Spirit supposed that he had mostly agreed to come along to keep an eye on the kids. For some reason, the jack-o'-lantern…man... thing had become rather attached to the two, having gone to reunite them with their mother after everyone had been uninfected. Since then, if the children weren't with their family, they were usually with him. Kin usually kept to himself, but he had a mellow temperament, and a decent talent for singing, always a good quality. Skid and Pump for their part seemed rather enamored with the man, calling him “spooky”, high praise coming from them.
As for Pico… it was probably for the better that he didn't come. For some reason, he had been able to notice something off about him within a week. The ginger confronted Spirit at gun-point once he had gotten him alone, demanding he explain what was going on. Seeing as his deal with Daddy Dearest never explicitly included Pico, and Spirit wasn't exactly eagerly to test how well his telekinetic powers worked against bullets, he told him the truth. Pico…did not take the revelation well, to put it lightly. He hadn't seen him since, nor did he particularly want to.
Spirit looked down at his phone, the clock read 11:45 A.M. He did it again.
Focus. “Boyfriend” needs to answer the message.
He really wasn't sure what Girlfriend had seen in the man. From what he could gather, Boyfriend had been messy, crude, completely moronic, and had a penchant for getting into trouble. Spirit knew that no man could've been a better lover than himself, but she certainly could've done BETTER. Oh well, it would've been too easy for her father to kill anyone who wasn't at least a little rough around the edges. At least she didn't have to worry now. He was finally back, although his masquerade made it a little difficult to properly remind her why he was better.
It was now 12:15 P.M. Shit.
Spirit answered the message, pressing the send button as he winced at just how uncouth he was sure he sounded.
“Hey bby. Good 2 know. B there soon.”
Spirit looked through his closet to see if had anything properly festive. The only thing he could find was the Santa jacket Boyfriend had been wearing when he possessed his body. Oh well, it would have to do. He brushed his hair, put the jacket over his outfit and looked at the backpack on his nightstand. In it was a microphone, high-end Bluetooth speakers, and a variety of wires. Dearest had told him that he would need to have those on him if he was going to be Boyfriend. Unfortunately he was right, the man had not only made a lot of friends, enemies, and acquaintances, he also almost invariably seemed to solve all of his problems with impromptu rap battles.
Well, he TRIED to solve all of them that way at least. Obviously he was rather…unsuccessful in the end. Oh well, his loss was Spirit's gain.
It was 12:45.
Surely, even Daddy Dearest would realize that today would be a bad day to try anything right? That it would be in poor taste?
…
Spirit took the backpack.
It was 1:00 by the time he left his apartment complex. It was 2:00 by the time he made it to the Dearest mansion on the other side of the city.
Speak of the devil, Dearest was the one who answered the door, scowling down at him. Why did Boyfriend have to be so short? At least in his old body he came up to the older man's chest. Now he was eye level with his navel.
“Hello little man.” Dearest said as he loomed over him, “And here I hoped you wouldn't show up.”
Spirit put on ”his” trademark smirk. “Sorry old timer. Guess I'm not dead. Sucks for you.”
Suddenly, Girlfriend appeared next to her father, pushing her way past him.
“Boyfriend!” she said as she rushed over to hug him, pushing her father out of the way. Spirit eagerly returned her embrace as he was pulled into the house, but not before he could give Dearest a smug look.
The interior was just as luxuriously decorated as he imagined it would be, with fancy lights and wreaths everywhere. If nothing else the Dearests' had good taste for the finer things in life. That was probably the highest praise he could give them for anything that didn't have to do with her daughter. A large Christmas tree sat in the corner, with presents underneath it. Stockings hung over the fireplace.
After taking him to a certain spot in another corner of the room, Girlfriend gave him a mischievous look and pointed up. Following the direction she was pointing in, he saw mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, before he was pulled into a kiss.
She tasted just as sweet as always. Another positive.
It wasn't long before the children arrived with Kin along with them.
“Hey Skid! Hey Pump!” said Girlfriend.
“Hello Miss Girlfriend!” said the two in unison. They still wore those Halloween costumes they always seemed to go out in. The only indication he had gotten that they ever took them off at all was that they didn't completely reek, so he was sure they were at least washed. He was honestly surprised they hadn't completely outgrown those things yet.
“Be sure to behave you two. I don't want to have to tell Lila that either of you got in trouble.” warned Kin.
“Yes Mister Kin!”
Suddenly, a low rumble shook the mansion, causing everyone to stumble. Spirit reached out and grabbed Girlfriend's arm as she gave him a worried look.
“We didn't do it!” said Skid.
Daddy Dearest closed the door and looked out the peephole.
“What on Earth was that?” said Mommy Mearest as she walked down the stairs.
“I'm not su-OW FUCK!” screamed the man as he scrambled away from the door, covering his eyes.
“You're not supposed to say that Mister Dearest,” said Pump.
A bright light began to shine through the windows and under the door as the rumble grew to a roar.
“Oooh, spooky!” said the kids as they went towards the windows. Thankfully, Kin stopped them and pulled them away.
“You should probably stay away from those.”
“Mom! Dad! What's going on!” said Girlfriend as she clung to Spirit with enough force to leave marks. He held her close. No dastardly knave was going to get to her on his watch!
The noise grew louder, and the whole mansion began to tremble. Spirit's vision went white, and then he fell unconscious.
Narrator closed the portal he had come through as Steve steadied himself, having just been uncorrupted.
“Captain! I'm so glad to you see y-URKKH” Steve was caught off guard as John Captain punched him in the gut.
“Steve you son of a bitch! How the hell did you let yourself get turned into a zombie! You were trained better than that!”
“*cough* *cough* Sorry Captain! *cough*” said Steve as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Ahh, who am I kidding? It's good to have you back, soldier!” said Captain as pulled Steve into a headlock as he noogied him.
“Captain no not the noogies!” Steve wheezed.
Spirit watched the display passively before turning to Narrator.
“You helped me and the Captain. Why? Who are you?”
“I’m here to help. Daddy Dearest has already been Corrupted along with most of the world and Girlfriend is busy. As far as I can tell, her, the three of you, and a few isolated pockets of Tankman soldiers may be the only people who aren't Corrupted in this entire world. You can just call me Narrator. The Incursion is close at hand, and I'm here to stop it.”
“That…just leaves me with even more questions.”
“There's not a lot of time to explain everything. We have to-”
Narrator was cut off by a low rumbling that shook the bunker.
What was that? There can't have been enough time for the horde to have gotten here already. And I didn't see any other Corrupted soldiers outside the bunker. Could it be… Anti-Narrator's already found us?
John dropped Steve, letting him fall to the ground.
“What the hell was that?” said John.
“I'm not sure…”
Out of nowhere, there was a bright flash of light. They all turned to see a rift tear through the space Narrator had exited from just minutes before, cracks in reality surrounding it. A violent vortex swirled in the middle as an unseen force tugged at them. Narrator glowed with power as he tried to will it closed to no avail.
“Captain! It's pulling me in! Help!” Steve yelled as he was lifted off the ground, only for John to grab him by the arm.
“Just hold on a little longer!” grunted Narrator as he tried to force the rift closed with his abilities.
“God effing damniiiiit!” said John as he too was lifted up into the air and pulled towards the vortex, only to stop as they were encased in a red aura.
“Hurry, I don't know how long I can hold them!” said Spirit. Tendrils of pink mist were pulled away from his form and sucked into the rift.
“I'm trying!”
Narrator lost his metaphysical grip as the rift grew wider and more cracks appeared around it. His vision went white as they were all pulled in.
Notes:
It's been a heck of a month lol. I'm finally finished with my first year of college. During the summer I should have some more time on my hands, but I'm also gonna be trying to get a car, a summer job, and I'm gonna be taking an online class, so we'll see how it goes.
Also, that Kendrick v. Drake thing is crazy. I'm not even into rap that much, but D*MN!
First section: FNF Corruption Reimagined; RIP my man Narrator BF. They did him so dirty fr fr. Don't worry though, I have big, long-term plans for this short and troubled man.
Second section: FNF Corruption; I snuck in a reference to that JoJo Siwa song that was a meme a month or so ago. It was still alive when I wrote it lol.
Third Section: Saying "I Love You" Without Saying It by jubilantscribbler; Fun fact! Writing this section is actually what made this take so long because I legitimately couldn't really figure how to really write it lol. The next two sections had big moments that I could sort of "interrupt" with my story pulling them in, but this series was a little different. It also took me a bit to figure out how to write this particular Pico's POV and his dynamic with BF and GF since this series is a lot more introspective and that stuff is why I loved it and wanted to include it in the first place. This and the Fifth section is also why I had that BF/GF/Pico relationship tag. I will do my best to write those groups better than I have in this chapter because I have some particular dramatic moments in mind for them and it's only gonna hit right if I can pull it off.
Fourth Section: we'll find a way to save the day, that's who we are! by Feenie; For anyone familiar with this series, yes I did copy-paste a big chunk of it before adding my bit at the end, but I assure it that it was not an attempt to pass off the work as my own. It's just that I figured the readers would need some context before my bit, and that I don't really know how to write these characters yet for the most part. I'll be honest, I'm gonna need to do some research on Madness Combat for this fic at some point. However, the part of this series I'm mostly interested in is the world building aspect, with the Tankmen having to put aside their differences to survive, having the badlands they've been fighting in be bordering Nevada, and Nevada being a refuge of sorts. I do plan on this becoming very important later on.
Fifth Section: Pico Solving Everyone Else’s Problems (and subsequently his own) by orphan account; So unfortunately, yes, this is an orphaned work, however it ends at what is essentially setting up the second part of the larger story after the first half has been completed, so I definitely think it's reading for yourself. From what I can surmise from the author's notes, the account name of the person who wrote this used to be, like, Malted_MILF_Balls I think? So if anyone can tell me what happened to them, if they happen to have any info, that would be neat. So yeah, I liked the depictions of the characters in this series, they're never going to be used again by their author, so I'm just using them for my own fic now.
Sixth Section: FNF Corruption Reimagined: Aftermath; Basically, this is Post-Reimagined, and yes, this means that their will be at least 2 Spirit!BF's. I'm not sure if I want to use that for a bit later. Also, fun fact! Since I'm head cannoning Spirit as being from the 90's, he still has no idea what 9/11 is. I am very sure I will use that for a joke later.
Seventh Section: FNF Corruption Reimagined Continuum; I also have plans for our other Narrator BF, don't worry. His knowledge and abilities will become very useful.
Edit: Due to me misremembering and misunderstanding certain parts of the Pumpkin Hunt week, I stated in this chapter that Kin had access to magical abilities. Since it has come to my knowledge that this is incorrect, I've edited these additions out of the chapter (specifically the Sixth Section).
Chapter 5: Opening Act: Wager
Summary:
An unsuspecting group finds themselves in unfamiliar territory and encounter an odd duo. Time will tell if they can realize the danger they're in before it's too late.
Meanwhile, two individuals uniquely qualified to deal with the current state of affairs are brought together in an unexpected way as they try to get their bearings.
Notes:
Hey guys! Told y'all the next chapter would be coming sooner! This one is definitely shorter than the last one, but I think it's alright. The next few chapters are gonna follow the more traditional Corruption format, so each chapter is gonna be one song, but I'm also gonna be cutting to at least one other POV during each one before cutting back, so you can see what's happening with the others in the meantime. Also, the next few chapters, this one especially, is gonna be pretty dialogue heavy.
If this was a mod, the current week name would be Opening Act, and the name of the upcoming song would be Wager.
To everyone who's shown interest in this fic, thank you for being so enthusiastic! Hopefully I can be sure not to be confusing, while still giving you something to analyse, as well as still be able to give you some surprises.
To prevent confusion, in THIS chapter a line of asterisks is basically a cut to the next scene, and a line break is to a different POV in a different area.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Are you fucking stupid?” said Pico “How the hell is a Halloween costume and mustache glasses gonna convince anybody?”.
“You're just doubting my genius! It's gonna work I swear!” said Boyfriend in the seat behind him.
“Why don't we just make a distraction and have someone sneak in while all the doctors are busy?” chimed in Aldryx.
The gang was on their way back to the hospital after camping the night before. Tabi had volunteered to drive the bus while the others planned how to sneak Updike back out of said hospital after they had left him there due to the injuries he had gotten helping them out in Nevada. Ruv was laying in the back of the bus and Hex, Skid, and Pump were looking out the window playing Eye Spy. That left BF, Pico, Agoti, Aldryx, and Whitty to figure out how to get Updike out of the hospital and into the bus without getting anyone's attention, without having to pay anything, and hopefully without hurting the cloudman anymore than he already was.
“How are we gonna distract an entire hospital?” asked Whitty, who was sitting in the seat two rows behind the others so he could stretch out a little.
“We could have Pico shoot up the place...” said Agoti, from his spot next to Aldryx, “Shoot the windows, smash the computers, hold everyone hostage…”.
“What the fuck-”.
Pico stroked his chin in thought, “Hmm… that could actually work…”.
“Pico no!” cried Boyfriend.
“Pico yeah!” shouted Agoti.
“I've always wanted to hold someone hostage.” interrupted Pump.
“Can we please think of something less violent?” said Hex.
“Agoti stop coming up with ideas,” said Tabi, his eyes on the road.
“What? It could work!”
“Maybe we could get something to eat while we think this out.” suggested Whitty.
“We JUST ate breakfast an hour ago!” said Aldryx.
“Then what about second breakfast?”
Their discussion was brought to a sudden conclusion when Tabi slammed on the brakes, screaming out as he swerved in an attempt to not hit something before everyone was blinded by a bright, white light.
In the pandemonium, Agoti screamed out, “No! I won't go back! I WON'T! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!”
Suddenly, everything went dark.
BANG! BANG!
The bus rattled as it ran something over before finally skidding to a stop.
“Are we dead?” asked Skid.
“Fucking finally…” said Pico.
“I will be if Daddy Dearest finds out we crashed his bus…” said Boyfriend.
“What do you mean we?” said Ruv.
“You okay little buddy?” said Whitty.
“We're fine. That was fun!” replied Skid, excitedly.
Tabi groaned as he turned the bus lights on. “Alright, that's almost everyone. Hex, Agoti, Aldryx, you guys still alive?”
“I'm okay.” said Hex, discombobulated.
“We're…fine,” said Aldryx. Agoti clung to him, trembling as he blinked at the lights. Eventually he noticed everyone staring at him and seemed to snap out of it. He pushed Aldryx back against the window and tried to laugh it off.
“Hahaha, oh man that was crazy wasn't it?” he said with a forced grin.
“Yeah…sure.” said Aldryx, rubbing his shoulder.
“Are you sure?” asked Hex. “If you need someone to talk to, I am right here!”
“I'm fine guys!” said Agoti, clearly not fine. “Relax!”
“What the hell was that Tabi!” said Boyfriend. “I thought we were cool! Why are you trying to get me killed!”
“It wasn't on purpose! Something…appeared on the road!”
“Is that what was making all that light?” asked Pico.
“I think so.”
“Why is everything dark now?” asked Whitty. “Did we end up in a tunnel?.”
“What did we run over?” said Hex.
“Did we kill somebody?” asked Skid.
“We can bury them if you need us to.” said Pump.
“Oh shit, DID we run over somebody?!,”said Boyfriend. “Come on guys! Let's make sure we didn't kill anyone!”
*******
“If we did run over someone they're probably an alien.” said Tabi as he shined a flashlight at the bus’s tires. They were covered by a strange, black substance with streaks of cyan throughout which gave off a bioluminescent glow. The gang stood outside the bus on an empty highway, surrounded by forests. Inexplicably, it had become nighttime, so the flashlight, the lights from the bus, and the full moon overhead were the only lights around. Additionally, the warm summer morning had been replaced by an unexpected chill.
“Oh no! I hope we didn't ruin first contact! We need to make sure they know we come in peace!” said Hex.
“We don't.” said Pico matter of factly as he drew two Uzi's. “Let's make sure we finish them off.”
The gang heard groans off to the side, and turned to see two familiar silhouettes slowly picking themselves up off the street.
Boyfriend gasped.
“Wait a minute! Those aren't aliens! They're… they're…”
The two figures faced them, one man and one woman, both of them covered in the same black substance with the only color on them being an occasional eerie, glowing cyan. The man had a highlight in his hair, and a slash through one of his piercing, blue eye lights. He had a wide grin stretched across his face, filled with misshapen teeth.
The woman was a little taller than the man, and was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness except for the same teeth-baring grin and one glowing eye light. The other was hidden by what appeared to be her hair.
“Cosplayers!”
Everyone's heads whirled around to look at Boyfriend.
“What?” said Tabi.
“They're obviously trying to look like me and Girlfriend! They must be fans! Hopefully these two don't try to kidnap me!” said Boyfriend.
“What's with the body paint though?” asked Whitty.
“Uhh… maybe it's a Day of the Dead thing?”
“Actually, the Day of the Dead is celebrated in November! Not the summer.” Hex informed the group. “Also, that makeup does not appear to be traditional Day of the Dead decoration.”
“It's spooky!” said Skid and Pump excitedly.
The two people in question staggered forwards a couple feet, groaning.
Boyfriend's eyes widened.
“Shit! I ran over two of my fans!”
“Oh no, you ran over all two of your fans?” said Pico.
“Hey there's also Sky!”
“Oh no, you ran over two of your three fans?”
The two figures continued to get closer to the gang, the cracks they had gained from the impact shrinking.
Boyfriend, meanwhile, was preoccupied with fears about the potential legal fees he was going to face for all this.
“I can't get sued over this! My PR won't be able to take it! And Daddy Dearest is gonna kill me if he finds out it was HIS bus that ran them over!”
“You should be more worried about prison,” said Ruv. “You won't last long there.”
“Nah,” said Aldryx. “Bubba will take good care of him…” Agoti snickered at the remark.
“I don't WANT Bubba to take care of me!” cried Boyfriend.
“We could just run them over again. Finish the job and hide the bodies.” suggested Ruv.
“I don't want to murder people either!”
“The bus will kill them, it has nothing to do with us.”
“We can bury them alive instead,” said Skid.
“That's even WORSE!”
The two strangers approached the gang, shuffling their way towards the bus.
Boyfriend got on his knees in front of them, pleading, “Please don't call the police on us! I'll give you an autograph! No, two! I'll give you as many as you want! Heck, I'll even sign my hat and give it to you!”
“What do you mean by us?” said Whitty.
“This is just sad,” said Aldryx.
“I think it's funny,” said Agoti.
The woman giggled, “Look at him beg…”. The man gave a silent chuckle as he gripped a mic in his hand.
Tabi narrowed his eyes. Something felt… wrong about those two. Why did she sound almost exactly like Girlfriend? And why did her voice echo like that?
“Wait, is that a mic? What if I rap battle you? If I win, you don't sue us!” challenged Boyfriend, his confidence restored. He got off the ground and pulled his own mic out of his cap.
“Do you just always have that with you?” asked Tabi.
“Yeah.” said Boyfriend and Pico at the same time.
The woman pulled out a portable speaker and plugged in the man's mic.
“Oh, you guys brought your speakers?”
The woman giggled again, “You will not win this…”
“Oh really? We'll see about that!” Boyfriend said with a smirk.
The man's grin widened even more as he turned on his mic. His eyes were now unnervingly locked onto Boyfriend as the music began and they prepared to sing.
In the void between universes, an intrusive cacophony of noise appeared as the essence of two beings were slammed into each other and fused together.
It hurts…
It's so loud…
What happened?
Where am I?
What's going on?
Who are you?
I'm…Boyfriend.
…What?
The sound grew quieter as the two reached an equilibrium. The voices remained separate but grew clearer and more in sync. The form the two now shared was pushed out into the newly forming hub that all of the portals emptied into as their thoughts formed a discordant harmony.
They looked around at their surroundings. It was a familiar alleyway. They both felt a twinge of annoyance at being brought here of all places.
How did we get here?
?Did Anti-Narrator do this
Who?
An involuntary exchange of memories occurred. The creation of a new multiverse. The Insurgence. The clash between his greatest oversight and his greatest mistake. The birth of a being with the power to bring all of reality to ruin. The multiverse’s demand for an opposing force, bringing about his resurrection and his attainment of a physical body.
As Boyfriend's mind reeled from the new information, Narrator looked down at themselves and found one, shared body. As he inspected their ethereal, nearly transparent hands, with eyes that were not his alone, he was filled with a feeling of dread.
Something's wrong…
“Ha! I win!” cheered Boyfriend.
“What? No you didn't.” said Whitty.
“What are you talking about? Of course I did!”
“Nah, he kicked your ass dude.” said Agoti.
“All he did was copy my verses!”
“Damn, really?” said Pico, “What kind of person would do that?”
“Can you imagine?” added Ruv.
“That must really suck for you.” replied Whitty with a deadpan expression.
“It does suck for me!” said Boyfriend, completely oblivious to their sarcasm.
“To be fair, he didn't copy your verses; he improvised off of them! It actually takes a lot of skill to pull that off well!” Hex chirped.
“Is there anyone here who DOESN'T think I lost!?”
Boyfriend was met by complete silence, before it was broken by the two “fans” laughing.
“So oblivious…” said the woman.
Hex frowned. “There's no need to be rude to my friend ma'am.”
“It won't matter very soon…” her single unobscured eye narrowed as she looked at Boyfriend like he was a wounded rabbit, and she was a wolf about to go in for the kill.
“I don't like this,” said Tabi. The whole situation felt off, and the aura those two were giving off made him feel like something terrible was about to happen. “Let's just go.”
“I agree,” said Ruv. “We've wasted enough time, and these two are getting on my nerves. I can barely stand all of you as is.”
“That may be the nicest thing Ruv’s ever said about us,” said Aldryx, fake tearing up. “I think I'm gonna cry…”
“But what about the cops!” said Boyfriend.
“Just don't get arrested. Worked for me.” suggested Ruv.
“It's that easy?” said Pump, awestruck.
Ruv looked down at the child. “You'll need some practice before you're ready. Although I think you and Skid are off to a pretty good start.”
“Hey, if you go to jail we can just bust you out. Won't be our first time.” said Agoti
Boyfriend looked touched. “You guys would really do that for me?”
“Of course!” said Hex. “Anything for a friend. Although, it would probably be easier if I just paid for your bail instead.”
“Thanks man…” said Boyfriend. “You're right. Let's get out of-”
“Coward.”
Boyfriend immediately turned around. “What did you just say to me?”
The woman eyed him with disdain. “Are you really that weak? You don't want to retry? I suppose you weren't as good as I thought…”
“I'll show you!” said Boyfriend. “Let's go again! Two out of three! Let's see you come up with your OWN verses this time!”
“I'm going back on the bus. Tell me when this is over.” said Ruv as he climbed into the bus and took a seat next to one of the windows.
The ominous duo seemed even more excited now. As the music began Boyfriend scratched at the back of his neck, feeling a weirdly warm and itchy sensation. He shrugged it off and focused. He was going to enjoy wiping those smug looks off their faces once he finished wiping the floor with them.
The man across from him locked eyes with Boyfriend as this time he was the one to start the song...
Notes:
In case any of you aren't aware, the particular group I brought in for this chapter comes from the fic: Street Smarts by Livitup. It's pretty good, especially if you're looking for something more comedic! Now, it hasn't been updated since August of 2022, but the second to last chapter is a pretty good cap off for the lastest arc in my opinion, and it's got 30 chapters and over 144,000 words, so I think some of you will still be able to enjoy it.
And in case any of you couldn't tell, the man and woman are Corrupted B-Sides Redux BF and GF. Hopefully the gang can help them out, or at least not get Corrupted themselves.
And if it wasn't clear, the cut away was to Narrator from Corruption Reimagined and Narrator from Corruption Reimagined Continuum.
I'll try to get the next chapter out in a couple weeks. As always, kudos and comments are appreciated!
Edit: I just realized, this story is officially the length of a novella!
Edit 2: My brother made some art for this chapter! It took a while for us to figure how to add images, but I finally managed to put it in.
Chapter 6: Realization
Summary:
Within the labyrinthian mall, a lone angel finds a trio from another universe. A universe that has never known the Corruption. He takes it upon himself to warn them of the threat.
Meanwhile, the gang makes not one, but two shocking discoveries.
Notes:
Hey guys! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this fic! Yes, I know that I didn't put out a chapter for June, but this chapter was a little bit more difficult for me to write, so I kinda ended up procrastinating for a month 😅.
See, most Corruption mods just kinda... skirt around the part where the characters figure out "Hey! This zombie virus can be cured through rap battles!" Unfortunately, I can't really do that. Or at least, it felt weird to me, so I had to figure out a believable reason for the StreetSmarts gang to 1) Figure out that music can stave off the Corruption and 2) not just get back on the bus and step on it the second things went south. Hopefully I did a decent enough job at those things to not break the suspension of disbelief for y'all.
I'll try to have the next chapter out before the end July so I'll at least be "caught up" so to speak.
Hope you guys enjoy this one!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel was starting to think that maybe this mall didn't have an exit. He had been flying around for what felt like a couple hours now, yet all he could see was just more Mall. There were several floors up and down, all of them with stores and hallways and paths that seemingly stretched on forever, connecting to more floors and more stores. To his dismay however, Angel had yet to find a food court, or another living being for that matter.
Every once in a while he would hear some distant noise, such as footsteps or the occasional groan or murmur, but he had yet to find anyone else in this entire mall. Either this place was just that big, there were only a few other people in it, or it was all in his head and the isolation was slowly driving him insane. He was starting to suspect the third option.
His wandering was interrupted when he felt a buzzing in the air, followed by a deep rumbling. He hovered in place, flapping his wings as he tried to look around for the source. It seemed to be connected to the portals somehow. Maybe the others would come out of them this time?
The rumble grew to a roar. Angel followed the sound. It led him to a nativity display where a rift opened in the air in front of him. He wondered what would come out of this one. More rooms? Spirit? BF? Anti-Narrator? Food?
He saw the silhouette of someone coming through the bright rift before they fell out revealing…
Her.
“... Girlfriend?”
She blinked, looked up at him, and seemed confused. She looked down at her large, leathery bat wings (Wings? Since when did she have those? And what happened to her other horn?) and looked back up at him.
“Keith?”
Angel frowned. “Keith? Who the heck is Keith?”
“Yeah?” said a muffled voice. They both looked down as a man stumbled out from underneath her wing.
Oh. Angel thought as he saw Girlfriend stand up to her full height, revealing the other him and Pico. Right…it can't be Her…
Pico glanced around before peering up at him, looking back at the other Boyfriend (Oh wait. Is that who Keith is?), and then bringing his gaze back towards Angel,narrowing his eyes.
“So… you're one of the Angels?”
“Uh… I mean, technically?”
Suddenly Pico pointed a gun at him and the other him rushed to get in front of Girlfriend.
“I don't know what happened, or why you look like me, but you're not hurting Cherry!” he said. He had one hand in a cast that he tried to hide as he pointed up at Angel with the other one, attempting to look menacing. “If you've got a problem with her parents don't take it out on her!”
Oh, so they have different names in their universe. Is that what those portals are doing? Pulling in things from different universes?
Angel was now even more confused. If those portals are pulling in people and places from different universes, is that what the one he and the others got sucked into? Did they all get dumped into the same one? If they didn’t, then how were they supposed to find each other now? He had only really found Soul and BF through a stroke of luck, and it was pretty clear he had a very limited supply of those. They had only been able to navigate their way to different universes by combining their powers. Maybe these people could help him? Maybe he and… Cherry (That was going to take some getting used to, but he supposed it would make it less likely to bring up unpleasant memories. That combined with the fact that this one looked so different. Why was she so tall?) could put their powers together and try to open a portal to get out of here! Or he could try and fuse with the other him (Keith was his name, right?). It wouldn’t make them nearly as powerful as Savior, but it might be enough to get out of here.
That brought his attention back to the group. He realized he had zoned out a bit. They all stared warily up at him. Girlfr-Cherry was baring her fangs, looking like she was seconds away from jumping in front of the other two and rushing at him. Pico (Did this one have a different name too?) kept his gun aimed at him, and Angel got the feeling that if he inched forward by even a little bit, he might open fire then and there. The other him, Keith, didn’t really seem like he could do all that much considering he only had one usable hand, but he seemed just as ready as the other to fight if need be.
“That guy who shot Moxie mentioned you.” said Pico slowly, his gun still trained on Angel. “Did you tell him to shoot up the mall? Are you the one who caused those portals to appear?”
Angel took a deep breath. He didn’t really know what he was talking about, but something told him that there was a LOT that they were going to have to discuss. At least now he had a little experience doing this sort of thing.
“Look, I am not your enemy. There’s a lot going on right now, and I don’t know how much time there is to explain.” Angel slowly lowered from the air before folding in his wings and dematerializing them as he landed on the ground. “My name’s Boyfriend, but you can call me Angel if you want.”
He pointed at Keith. “I’m you from another universe and I’m trying to stop the Corruption once and for all. I got pulled into a portal, like you, while trying to fight Anti-Narrator.”
He waited for a response, but all he got were blank stares. Pico even lowered his gun in confusion. Cherry’s eyes lost their red glow as she frowned.
“What's the Corruption?” asked Keith finally.
Angel blinked. That was…not the response he was expecting. He supposed an infinite number of universes meant that at least SOME of them didn't have the Corruption, but the idea felt odd.
Well, he supposed they were going to have to learn what they were dealing with. He didn't know where Anti was, but these three needed to know the situation they had just been thrust into. They were his responsibility now. No one else was going to fall to the Corruption. Not on his watch. Not again.
“Alright,” he said, sitting on a nearby bench, “You might want to sit down for this. There's a lot to explain.”
Keith and Cherry sat on the bench across from him, still looking nervous, but willing to listen. Keith put his good hand on Cherry's thigh protectively as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The scene made Angel feel a pang in his chest.
Focus. You can't give up. You need to keep going. For everyone. For Her.
“I'm not sitting,” said Pico, standing nearby. His gun was down, but he still held it in his hand as he glanced around the open area.
“So, it started around Christmas, when me and the Dearests' were at the mall…,” began Angel.
“Dude this is getting embarrassing,” said Whitty. “You’re making us look bad.”
“Shut up! I've got this!” said Boyfriend, from the dark pits of denial. He was one minute into his rematch and another minute towards another loss. “I'm just…rusty! Yeah! It's been a while since I've had to rap battle against anyone you know?”
“The last time I had a rap battle with anyone was when you cornered me in that alley, and it had been YEARS since I had done a rap battle before that.”
Boyfriend snapped his head back to look at Whitty. “Okay big guy, why don't YOU rap battle him then!”
“AHHH-!” Whitty shrieked, jumping back.
“Yeah that's what I thought… what?” said Boyfriend as he received a mixture of confused and shocked faces from the rest of the gang, with the exception of Ruv, who was still sitting in the bus, looking out of the window away from them.
“What’s that on your face?” said Agoti.
“My face?” Boyfriend reached a hand up to rub the right side of his face.
“The other side!” said Whitty.
To the gang’s shock, a strange black substance had crawled over the left side of Boyfriend's face, stopping just short of his eyes. Thin, dark tendrils stretched down to his neck, his hat and his hair seemed to have been dyed the same color, save for a tuft of hair that now shone a neon cyan. The substance seemed to shimmer in the moonlight like wet cement.
As Boyfriend rubbed his face, some of the stuff stuck to his hand. He looked up at the others in confusion before pointing at them. “Wait, you guys have it on you too!”
They looked among themselves.
“Hah, look Tabi you got it on your horns!” said Agoti, pointing at the Russian. His horns were completely black with streaks of blue around it.
“You got it on you too dumbass,” said Aldryx, punching Agoti in the shoulder before pointing at his jacket. The stuff had gotten on his clothes dying the red a dark black and the white a glowing blue.
“Ow! Oh yeah? Well you've got it on YOU too, jackass!” said Agoti, pointing back at him. Lo and behold, along the right side of Aldryx’s face, the red of his skin was covered with black, making him look even more similar to his brother.
“What the hell is this stuff?” shouted Pico, looking at the dark splotch that had appeared on his right side.
“It's in my joints!” said Hex, his arms creaking as he moved them.
Whitty frantically began grabbing at himself, looking to see if any of the mystery substance had gotten on him too. As he did so, his fuse, completely blackened, fell in front of his face. He yelped as he swatted it away.
Tabi narrowed his eyes at the mysterious duo. “You two are responsible for this aren't you? What the fuck are you doing to us!?”
The woman's laugh echoed along the empty highway. Something about it put him on edge. Her glowing, blue eye zeroed in on the gang.
“Oh don't worry… you won't have to worry for long. Just stop resisting and you'll find out soon enough…”
The man sang an overpowering chord, the sound reverberating through their very bones and making them clutch the sides of their head as they fell to their knees. Tabi felt a warm, sticky sensation pouring down his back, before being replaced by a numb, freezing sensation. The woman shuddered, her face appearing to ripple before stilling, her blue eye now having a bright, white pupil shining from within, fixed on the group. She spoke in a deeper voice that rumbled from deep within, as if something was speaking through her.
“The Corruption will consume you all. You will be quite valuable additions to my army…,” she boomed, before the light was gone and her eye went back to normal.
Pico groaned as he stood back up. The substance on his side had crawled up to his shoulder, with some of the strands spreading across his chest. “Weird name for a race of aliens, but at least you're not Penilians.”
“Penilians?” asked Hex.
“You don't wanna know.”
Tabi tried to pick at the black, tarry muck that had gotten on his horns, but it stuck fast, with only the top layer of it smearing onto his fingers. “The…Corruption?” he said, “Is that what this stuff is?”
“Dude forget the rap battle!” Whitty shouted at Boyfriend, “Let's just get out of here before they make this stuff spread even further!”
“Never! I'm this close to winning!”
“Are you fucking kidding me!” said Aldryx.
“Everyone, wait!” said Hex, interrupting everyone, “His singing seems to be controlling the goo! If we drown him out with our own singing, we might be able to get rid of it!”
“You mean like how I saved you when you got hacked?” asked Boyfriend.
“Exactly!”
“Haven't you been getting your ass kicked by this guy for the past five minutes?” said Agoti, butting in.
“Don't worry! I can sing with you!” said Hex.
“But Hex, you don't have a microphone,” said Whitty.
“No worries! I can just turn the volume up on my voice!” said Hex, before turning a small dial on the side of his head.
“What about the rest of us?” asked Tabi.
“Oh yeah, I've got a backup mic. Here, catch!” replied Boyfriend as he pulled another microphone out of a back pocket that, by all logical means, should not have been able to fit it before throwing it to Tabi, who easily caught it.
Aldryx looked over at the Russian, who stared down at the mic with a suddenly wary expression.
“You gonna be okay?” Aldryx asked Tabi at a volume no one else could hear, “You haven't really sang since-”
“I'm fine.”
“Aww, you think the three of you can-”
BANG!
Whitty yelped. “What the hell was that!”
“Just checking something.” said Pico, his gun pointed at the duo.
Across from the gang, the light in the woman's eyes flickered as she twitched before she went back to normal, glaring at Pico while wiping a bullet out of the muck on her face.
“Huh, looks like bullets still work. Good.” said Pico, cocking his gun.
Tabi and Hex stood behind Boyfriend, who began a beatbox solo, resuming the rap battle. The man across from the group grinned even wider before responding with his own beatbox solo, one that was faster and more complex, only to be interrupted by another gunshot. While the man was stunned, Hex started singing, his electronic voice sounding like a synthesizer.
The man immediately sang back, improvising upon Hex’s verse, only to be shot again by Pico. While the man was stunned, Tabi started his own verse, his deep, raspy voice ringing out. Again, the man sang his own remixed version, his eerie howl overpowering before he was cut off again by gunfire.
This continued, with Boyfriend, Hex, and Tabi singing against the man. He would then match them, almost outdoing them before being shot by Pico, stunning him and giving a window for the three to continue singing. Eventually, they barely managed to get the edge.
The music stopped, and the man's glowing aura seemed to weaken, growing slightly dimmer.
“Hey, it's getting smaller!” said Skid, pointing at Pico. The sludge on his body had receded to where it had been before, retracting back to his side. Similarly, the black substance on the rest of the group had shrunk.
“It worked!” cheered Hex, his joints now being able to move more freely.
The lights in the man's eyes guttered and the cracks in his shell grew as his form shuddered.
The woman glanced at him and sneered at the group, “You've bought yourself some time, but you're still doomed. No one's going to save you-”
BANG! BANG!
“Shut the fuck up, bitch.” said Pico
She looked livid now, clutching the bullet she had caught in midair with clawed hands that trembled with rage, her face contorting as rivulets of black and glowing cyan sludge dripping off of her face.
Her partner, on the other hand, wasn't as fast, the bullet hitting him in the right eye. He spasmed, more cracks forming around the right side of his face before suddenly, a piece of the dark substance fell away…
“Uhh, is that a person in there?” said Agoti.
Notes:
Fun fact! I originally had a completely different ending to that chapter in mind! I actually changed it at the last minute. The initial idea was to just put some dialogue before the rest of the gang joins in for the third song, but I realized there wasn't that much of a reason for the gang to keep going, so I ended up giving them one.
Also, have y'all seen the newest Corruption episode yet? That stuff was crazy! I'm glad we finally got that CMM vs. GF song. It gives me some...ideas to use later. Kinda bummed with how "Access Denied" ended, but hey, at least we know Spirit isn't dead now! That also gives me some ideas. And as for that ending... well, it seems like it's a good thing I pulled those guys out when I did 😅.
Anyways, I'll try to have the next two chapters out by the end of July. Any interaction is appreciated, and comments are welcomed!
Edit: In case anyone didn't notice, my brother drew a piece of art for the previous chapter. I thought it was pretty good, so feel free to check it out!
Chapter 7: Cutaway
Summary:
In the mall, an angel informs the new arrivals of their predicament, and they agree to band together to find a way to escape and find the other two members of the trio, to try and figure a way out of their situation.
In the alleys, a ghost finds that the past still haunts him.
Atop a skyscraper, a family's Christmas party is crashed by some unwelcome guests, and a mistaken identity may spell doom.
On the streets, an invisible figure tries to get his bearings, and debates his next move with himself.
In the woods, a gang struggles to understand and survive their encounter with a mysterious force and realizes that their fates may not be the only ones at stake.
Throughout it all, Anti-Narrator plots his next moves as he recovers.
Notes:
Let's go! That's two chapters uploaded in one month! I mean, most of the first one was written BEFORE this month, but hey! Two chapters in one month! I'm officially caught up, so as long as I make sure to get a chapter out by the end of August, I should be fine.
Similar to Chapter 4, this one jumps around to a bunch of POV's. To prevent confusion, every line break is a different POV. If you have trouble figuring out who is who, the End Notes will say which section is which POV.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Pico had had his suspicions, but it was now official. God was real, and He hated him, specifically.
That was why a supposedly benevolent creator had sat by and watched as innocent children were slaughtered by some deranged psychopath. Why He did nothing as they were mowed down in a sickening hail of gunfire. It was why it had taken years to stop hearing the screams every night. Why Pico sometimes still wondered if he would hear them the next night. It was why, when Pico had actually managed to find someone who made him feel maybe, just maybe, everything wasn't a complete shit show, the man ruined everything by being too fucked up in the head.
The answer was simple. His life was a dark joke, and Pico was the punchline. And to oh so helpfully rub that fact in his face, the sick Bastard had seemingly sent someone to personally deliver the message.
Keith spoke up once the Boyfriend the angel, who was apparently also Keith but from another universe (The hell kinda name was BOYFRIEND? What kind of person names their kid that? Oh wait, he was an angel. So, does that mean God named him? Huh, guess He really did have a weird sense of humor…), finished his explanation.
“So…basically, the Spider-verse is real, and there's a weird zombie virus going around you need to rap battle against to get rid of?”
The angel thought for a second, his halo rotating like a loading wheel left on its side. “Uh, yeah pretty much.”
“And it all started from that lemon weirdo?”
“From what I can tell, yes. It usually comes from him unleashing it in the mall around Christmas time.”
Right, the mall…
Pico glanced around the place again, but couldn't find any signs of anyone else, or those weird zombie things Angel had talked about. As if he didn't have enough stuff to worry about. From one apocalypse to another…
He couldn't even see a way out from here. Instead of windows, or even an exit, all Pico could see were random stores, escalators leading to more floors, and hallways leading to what he could only assume were more stores.
Keith turned to Cherry. “Huh, guess it was a good thing your dad killed him after all.”
“Wait, what?” asked Angel.
Pico remembered it vividly. How with a flick of Louis's hand, the other demon had melted like candle wax, liquefying in front of them.
Cherry frowned. “Yeah, it's a long story. So, the me from your universe was named Girlfriend?”
Keith chuckled and wrapped an arm around Cherry. “Boyfriend and Girlfriend…looks like we're destined for each other even in another world, huh babe?” Cherry giggled, snuggling closer to him.
Angel got a distant look on his face for a moment before snapping out of it. Wonder what that's about, he wondered. Come to think of it, he didn't really mention what happened to make him leave his world to find help. Or how he first found out about that Anti-Narrator guy.
Oh yeah, there was that too. Not only did this virus somehow manage to get Keith in almost every timeline at least once, it also turned one of them into some elderitch god that can fucking GO INTO OTHER TIMELINES and was SOMEHOW even more powerful than ALL THREE of the Dearests! And somehow, he had something to do with them getting stuck here.
“So, how does that fusion thing you did work?”, Pico heard Keith ask, “Is it like Dragon Ball Z where you do a dance?”
“Not really. We just kinda…sang while we combined our powers.”
“Oh, so like Captain Planet!”
Angel frowned in confusion, “Huh?”
“Wait, what powers?”interrupted Cherry, “Were the other Keith's angels too?” She seemed wary. Pico wondered if it was because she thought they might be involved with the Angels that the mall shooter talked about, or because she was nervous about the thought of angels in general. Wouldn't angels and demons be natural enemies or something?
Angel didn't seem all that hostile. He just looked…like Keith. Same face, same hair, same body. If it weren't for the halo and the glowing eyes, he would look like his identical twin. Even his voice was almost the same, save for an odd overlay, giving it something akin to an echo. He wasn't sure if he found it comforting or creepy.
“Oh no, one of them has this other soul inside of him that gives him powers, and the other… well it's more like just the body of another us with a spirit controlling it.”
That got Pico's attention. “What do you mean it's just the body of him? What happened to him?”
Angel looked like he got caught. “Oh…yeah…uh, Cherry, you know that spirit your dad put in that Hating Simulator game you had?”
Keith's head whipped over to Cherry. “Your dad did WHAT?!”
This was news to Pico, but he wouldn't put it past Luis. Cherry, on the other hand, didn't seem to believe it.
“What? No! He got that game for me as a gift because I was sad after a breakup! My ex-boyfriend from highschool…left a note to my dad that he was…moving away…”
She stared at the floor for a moment, the gears in her head turning. Pico could've sworn he saw smoke coming out of her ears.
“I never saw him again…”
Angel's eyes widened as he tried to redirect the conversation. He didn't blame him. That was gonna be a lot to unpack. Looks like Keith wasn't the only boyfriend that prick tried to get rid of…
“A-ANYWAYS! Point is, usually when we get Corrupted in a timeline, we eventually go into the game to try and kill him, but that one actually ended up winning, which apparently kills us, so when he got out of the game, he possessed the body.”
That…didn't sit right with Pico. “You're telling me,” he said, “That there's someone just…puppeting around Keith's corpse ?”
“I mean… yeah, but he's actually a pretty cool dude! And he was a lot of help when we were fighting Anti-Narrator!”
“So…what happened to them again?” said Cherry.
Angel's shoulders slumped. “Oh, uh… I don't really know? When we were fighting Anti, this portal opened up, and we all got sucked into it. I ended up here, but I don't where the other two are.”
“Right,” said Pico. “Where IS here, exactly?”
“I don't really know…”
Pico sighed.
“I don't! Like I said, I just ended up here! I mean, this place kinda looks like the mall where everything happened, but it also looks different, and it keeps going. Not to mention new rooms and areas keep popping up. And I can't find any exits or windows. When the portal you guys came through appeared, I thought that maybe one of the other two might show up, and we could fuse so we can teleport out of here…”
Keith got up from the bench and offered Angel his non injured hand, “Well, until we find a way out of here, we can help you look for them!”
Pico arched an eyebrow at Keith, “What?”
“Come on Pico! We're just as lost as he is! Besides, if we run into the Corruption, he's got more experience with it, and having another singer will help.”
Cherry stood up. She looked unsure for a moment, but then smiled at Angel. “Yeah! Or, at least until we find a way out that is.”
The two looked at him expectantly. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised at this point. Of course these trusting fools would see some stranger in distress and immediately want to help him, caution be damned. Well, he can at least try and keep them safe. He didn't care what world they had ended up in, it wouldn't take them while he still had something to say about it.
“Fine. So what, we just find a random direction and keep walking?”
Angel shrugged, “I mean…I guess so? That's what I've been doing since I've got here…”
Well that was helpful…
“Alright, let's go,” he said as walking in the direction of a random hallway.
“Wait!” said Angel, pointing at something behind him, “Is there food in that?”
“Food in what?” Pico said before looking behind him to see the bag he had placed the presents in, “Oh shit! The presents!” He scrambled to grab it. When he turned back he saw Angel pouting, his halo drooping a little. “What?”
“I haven't been able to find a food court around here. It's been a while since I ate anything…”
The group made their way further through the mall, Angel started to ask, “So, what was going on when you all got-”
He was cut off by a low rumbling sound, followed by the ground shaking. Angel perked up. “Hey, another portal's opening up!”
“How are we supposed to find it?” said Keith.
“Umm, oh right! Here, you guys just stay right there and I'll be back!”
“What are you -”
Keith was cut off by a golden light emanating from Angel as he sprouted a small pair of white, feathery wings.
“I PROMISE I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!” he said before flying off.
Pico let out a deep sigh. “Well, I guess we're just gonna have to wait.” He glanced around the area again. He wondered if he could find a tobacco store around here somewhere. He was gonna need a cigarette.
Spirit was starting to feel like he was in over his head. The city was…far bigger than he expected. After his near-miss with the train, he decided to stick to the streets and winding alleyways below. He could see the trains stopping at seemingly random intervals in the distance, either in the middle of the track, precariously suspended in the air, or inside one of the miscellaneous buildings or stations that the tracks that had manifested led them to.
Ever since more of those portals had sprung up the cityscape had become more and more disjointed. Neat, organized clusters of buildings were in disarray. Residential districts were conjoined, creating bizarre mega complexes. Skyscrapers had floors that were clearly not part of the original structure. Far into the distance, Spirit could even see a mansion smack dab in the middle of one, looking like some had lifted the top to make room for it.
As Spirit made his way through the alleys, he kept watch for the other two as well as the Corruption. He didn't need to be caught unawares in his state.
He looked back down at his arm. His hand had grown red claws and black tendrils had snaked their way almost all the way to his elbow. He was going to have to look for a safe place to rest soon. The arm was starting to feel numb, and it was getting harder to move it freely. He was going to have to use some of his power to eradicate his Corruption before it became too strong to get rid of. He supposed that if he dealt with it now the strain on his energy wouldn't be too great.
Spirit listened for any sign of something (or something) else. He could hear what may have been footsteps and groaning off in the distance, but they didn't seem close enough to cause a problem. If Anti-Narrator survived their battle, he would probably be looking for him, but if he already knew where he was, he would have been ambushed by now, so Spirit was probably safe for now. He turned the corner into another alley, only to see something that made him stop in his tracks.
That game. That damned game. Somehow it was just…sitting there, in the middle of the alleyway, almost as if as reality had decided to play a cruel joke on him. Or as if…
He glanced around, summoning his power. The feeling started coming back to his arm.
“If this is your attempt at expressing a sense of humor, Anti-Narrator,” he said, “I am unamused. Come out! Face me!”
No response. He shot up into the air and gazed over the rooftops. He could just barely make out the meandering silhouettes of figures out in the distance, but they didn't seem to notice him. Trains roared overhead, traveling along tracks suspended along the skyline. He lowered himself down again and examined the mangled television and wrecked console.
A low hum emanated from it, and sparks flew across it. Spirit felt a gut wrenching tug at his core coming from the wretched thing. Hurriedly, he tried to stagger backwards, but it was too late.
“No, no!”
He could feel it. His very essence being pulled away from his vessel. Red wisps of smoke were pulled from his eyes, his nose, his mouth, making him cough and gag. He tried to pull away, but the invisible force kept pulling him closer, closer to the cracked, static screen.
“Nononono!”
He wouldn't go back to that damned place! He wouldn't! He clawed at his face, his eyes. He desperately grabbed at the wisps, trying to hold himself together. He felt himself slipping more and more. His vision blurred as his chest spasmed. He cried in a hoarse voice.
“NOOOO!-”
Spirit's screams were cut off as he was yanked out of his body and pulled into the television.
Spirit opened his eyes to be met with the vision of beauty. He smiled up at his lover, caressing her cheek. “Hello my sweet…”
Girlfriend looked down at him in confusion, before smiling as bright as the Morning Star. “Hey Boyfriend!”
Ah yes, all was at peace in the wor-
“HOW THE FUCK ARE WE THIRTY STORIES UP IN THE AIR!”
Spirit jumped and looked around. Right, the party. There had been a bright flash coming from outside…
Daddy Dearest was staring out the window, flabbergasted. Mommy Mearest groggily stood up, “What do you mean honey?”.
“I mean we're a hundred feet up in the air darlin'!”
“Kids! You alright?” called out Kin as he got up and tried to fix the Christmas tree he had gotten knocked into. He quickly gave up on this however, and left it lying on the floor.
“We're okay!” said the two. They had somehow ended up being plopped onto the couch, completely fine.
“Oh thank God…”
“That was fun! Let's go again!” said Pump.
“Absolutely not.” said the man, “ What even was that?”
Spirit looked up at Girlfriend, who just stared back blankly.
He cleared his throat, “Uhh, babe?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you get off?”
“Oh! Okay!” Spirit stood up after she got off of him, and he walked to the door. Mearest walked over to check on Girlfriend as Dearest continued to stare out the window.
Thirty floors up in the air? How is that possible?
He gently opened the door.
Sure enough, just outside the door there was a large drop, fatal to any normal human. It had also somehow become nighttime. The full moon made its presence quite known as it shone brightly in the sky. Looking around, they had not only been precariously transported to the middle of a skyscraper, but they were now also smack dab in the middle of a city much larger and different from the one they had just been in.
He turned to the demon next to him. “Do you know how this could've happened?” he whispered, “Any other rivals you care to inform me about?”
“No…,” he said, his hands gripping the bottom of the window frame hard enough to make it splinter, “IRIS is big, and well connected, but not nearly enough to pull somethin' like this off. Ultra M is still locked away, I don't have any beef with Lord X, and Xenophanes doesn't have the balls for something like this. The only other guy I can think of that could do something like this would be Sha-…”
For a moment, Spirit could have sworn he saw a flicker of fear across the man's face.
“No, no. He wouldn't do something like this without a damn good reason.”
“Who?” asked Spirit.
“Nothing, don't worry about it.” Spirit wasn't sure how he felt about that. Anyone who could shake Dearest like that was surely a threat. But, he let it go for now.
“Do you think Lemon Demon escaped?” It would be like the rotten little weasel to pull this now of all times. The demonic patriarch smiled grimly.
“Nah, Girlfriend told me this morning she cut him up like a Christmas ham and left him in her mini fridge. I reckon he won't be recoverin' from that any time soon.” he drawled.
Spirit smirked. “Oh really? Well, I suppose vengeance is a dish best served cold…” Daddy Dearest snorted at that, then looked surprised at his own reaction. That was fair, it was rare they could see eye to eye on something.
Girlfriend had arrived late to the public beat down of the citrus headed devil. Him and the Dearest's honestly thought that she would just stay in the limo until it was over. What NONE of them expected was for her to show up at the last minute, gouge out his eyes, and rip off his head, taking it as a trophy. When they had gotten home, she placed the mutilated head of the demon in a mini fridge and put said mini fridge in her room as “punishment for ruining Christmas”. Apparently, the creature was still alive, but he supposed by now the thing probably wished it wasn't.
Usually he wouldn't feel good about his cherry blossom taking after her family's brutal nature, but he supposed she could let her have this. He couldn't deny that it was satisfying to know that that monster was suffering a fate worse than death.
His rumination was cut short by a low rumbling sound. A rift appeared outside the window.
Daddy Dearest looked back outside towards the portal. His eyes flared a deep red. “Whoever you are, cut the crap and face me already!”
The portal refused to respond. Spirit looked down, noticing something.
“Dearest?”
“What, twerp?”
“Have you recently installed a railway into your home?”
“...What?”
Spirit pointed at the floor below the man. Inexplicably, there was a railroad leading from the portal, under Dearest's feet, along the floor, underneath... Mearest and Girlfriend and… into the wall?
Wait, a minute…
Spirit heard the distant sound of a train horn. His eyes widened. “GIRLFRIEND!” he yelled. He flew over to her, tackling her out of the way just as he heard the roar of the train and the dull thud of it slamming into Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest, and then the sound of them being knocked through the wall. Girlfriend's screams for her parents were drowned out by the rushing wind.
The train came to a screeching halt. Spirit slowly stood up, and offered his arm to Girlfriend, which she took. On the couch, Kin panted as he kept a steady grip on Skid and Pump. The kids were looking at the silhouettes in the cab windows. Muffled voices and bangs could be heard from within as they seemed to try and exit the train. Slowly, the doors opened, and Girlfriend gasped as something was revealed that topped the absurdity of today's events.
Stumbling out of the train cabin, a group of Corrupted strangers grinned at them with garish, glowing smiles. This…this couldn't be possible! They had completely eradicated the Corruption! And yet, before his very eyes, they were surrounded, besieged on all fronts as lifeless, pink eyes bore into them.
Spirit stood in front of Girlfriend, determined to keep the fiends away from her. In the corner of his eye, he saw Kin usher Skid and Pump behind him, putting himself between them and the infected.
“Out of the way!” growled a gravely, familiar yet unfamiliar voice. By the way Girlfriend tensed behind him, he could tell she recognized it too. “Let me through!” said Pico as the mass made way for him.
The Corrupted hitman smiled wolfishly as he noticed Skid and Pump. “Fancy meeting you two here…” he said, causing Skid's eyes to visibly widen in fear, even through his mask. The two children shrunk behind Kin’s leg. “Aww, what's the matter? I thought we had fun…” he crooned, taking delight in their terror as he menacingly twirled his gun. “I see you two got yourselves a human shield this time. Well, a shield anyways…” He pointed his gun at Kin's head. Fear flickered in the man's eyes like candlelight as he went still. Pico cocked his head to the side, “Say, if I blew your head off, what would come out of it? Brain bits or just a bunch of pumpkin gu-”.
Pico fell silent as the light in his eyes guttered out and he slumped forward, convulsing. The rest of the infected followed suit. Their heads all suddenly jerked up in unison. With piercing, white pupils, their gazes simultaneously fell on Spirit and grinned so wide that it was a miracle their faces didn't split in two. They let out a deep, echoing laugh that reverberated from within. Pico spoke in a voice that was not his own.
“Did you think you could hide from me for long? Your defeat will come slowly, humiliatingly, and then I will use you to doom the other two to the same fate!”
Those words, so familiar, sent a chill through his very being, as well as filled his mind with questions. Who was speaking to him? Was it the person who had somehow summoned the Corruption once more? Was he also the one who brought them here? How was he communicating through the virus? Who were the other two he had mentioned?
Unfortunately, he was so busy pondering these questions that whatever influence that had spoken through Pico had left him, leaving the Corrupted mercenary to shake off his dazedness before pulling out his other gun. He used it to gesture towards Spirit as he regarded the small horde.
“Huh, well you heard the boss. Focus on him, then worry about the others!”
The train slowly made its way out of the house and off into the distance. Spirit pulled his mic out of his backpack. Looks like it was a good idea to bring it after all…
Narrator floated through the empty streets, looking around at the bizarre architecture.
Do you have any idea what caused this?
No. I don't think Anti is really capable of this…
Well, do you know who or what it could be?
It looks like someone took our worlds and just…smashed them together.
You mean like what happened to us?
I suppose. But what could've caused it?
I don't know. I mean, you know what I was doing before all of this…
The memories returned, involuntarily. The creeping of death, of nonexistence. The fading hope. The helplessness as everything faded away…
Hey. Hey, snap out of it. We're gonna be fine okay? We'll fix whatever's going on, and then we'll figure out a way for both of us to get separate bodies.
…
Well, at least I've got company. It's not like I've got anything else going on.
That's the spiri-...
…
You know what I mean.
Yeah. So, where do we go from here?
Haven't really figured that part out yet…
I guess we could keep going through the city-
CRASH!
“What the heck was that?” Narrator snapped his head to the source of the noise. He looked up to see a train crash into an odd looking skyscraper. He started flying towards it to investigate, only to hear something else.
Someone screamed in the distance, only to be cut off as blood red light flashed from a far off alleyway.
Narrator looked back and forth, trying to decide where to go first.
What if there was someone in that building?
Well, we KNOW someone's over in that alley, so how about we check over there first,THEN look at the train crash?
Got it!
Narrator flew off towards the alleyway. Even if they couldn't directly do anything for now, maybe they could at least get some answers.
“The fuck!?” said Tabi, as he and the rest of the gang watched the strange substance break like shards of ceramic and fall to the pavement.
The man's body trembled as his right eye, now revealed, looked around dully. He blinked, before his eye widened, focusing on the group in front of him.
“I think I'm gonna throw up…” said Whitty, looking away as he put a hand over his mouth.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” yelled Hex, trying to speak to the man. “Blink twice if yes!”
The man frantically blinked twice, trying to claw at his face with a shaking arm.
“He can hear us!” exclaimed Hex, before addressing the man again, “ Don't worry! We'll save you!”
The woman's eye flickered white for a moment, before speaking, “Awww, that's cute… you think you'll be able t-”
BANG!
“This is an A and B conversation, C your way out.” said Pico. The woman snarled after deflecting the bullet by slashing at it with the cyan claws at the end of fingers.
Boyfriend spoke up, “Actually it's more of an…”, he paused, “ A…B…C…D…E…”
“K! W! Eleven!” shouted Agoti, in an attempt to throw him off before he was cut short by an elbow from Aldryx.
“Damn it Agoti! You messed me up! Now I have to start over again! A…B…C…”
“Hex, what are you talking about!” whispered Whitty, “We gotta get outta here now!”
“We can help him! If we all sing together-”
“I don't want to get eaten by aliens!” Whitty whisper-shouted.
“I wonder what we taste like?” Skid asked Pump.
“Hmm…” said Pump before biting his arm. “Ow! I taste like chicken!”
“Besides, we don't even have enough mics for everyone!” Whitty continued. This reminded Hex of something.
“Wait! I think I do!”
“What?”
“Just wait right here!” said Hex before running into the tour bus, leaving Whitty flabbergasted.
Anti-Narrator slowly sat up, most of his wounds besides his eye and the main ones across chest having healed, and regarded his Harvester. She kneeled before him, awaiting his orders. Behind her, a myriad of his Corrupted troops aimlessly milled about, wandering the stage and the auditorium. He could see a horde of glowing faces past the remains of the wall. All waited on his command.
He estimated that it would take a day, perhaps two, before he was in a suitable state to get his own hands dirty. It seemed, however, that he might not even have to wait for that to get rid of those three…
He chuckled darkly, a violet, viscous fluid seeping from his mouth as he did so.
“One down, two to go. He thinks that the Dearest's can protect him? Well, we shall see how long they last! He can't hide from me any longer.”
“Shall I see to it myself, master?” said his Harvester.
“No, I want you to look for the other two. They could be anywhere in this city. But first…”
He pointed at a group of Corrupted humans. They were mediocre, weak, and useful only as fodder, or a distraction. Well, that and one other thing…
“Due to recent…events, plans have changed. More souls are required. We will need a far more extensive harvest. They will do as a place to begin. Leave the stronger ones for now. I have been given a far greater opportunity for conquest, and I will have need of them in due time. Once you have taken their petty essence, scout for the angel and for the man.”
"As you please, master.” she said with a deep bow before drawing out the Vessel and absorbing the souls of the peons. Once it was done, she spread her wings and took flight through the hole in the ceiling.
Now, the phantom…
It seemed that the mother and family were out of the way for now. Good. They were troublesome. He would need a more focused effort to subdue them with what he had available. The marksman was formidable enough though, especially with the backup he already had, so if he could Corrupt some of the others, he would most likely be able to overpower the other two without too much risk. Then they could take on the other demons, who would already be weakened by the surrounding horde Anti-Narrator was sending their way.
He decided to check on the only other notable group he had discovered so far, peering through the eyes of the lone duo in that forest.
…
Hmm…
So, they appear to be resisting. And the best that they've managed is a single, insignificant injury?
Hahahaha!
I suppose I can give them credit for trying…
Nevertheless, I should still see if there are any reinforcements close enough to send their way.
…
Oh? That's all?
Well, it's better than nothing. Though they may not make it soon enough to make a difference. Although, I suppose it doesn't matter either way…
Hehehehe…
Even if I can't take them alive, I can still find GREAT use in their corpses…
Notes:
First Section: Pico from "Pico Solving" Series POV
Second Section: Spirit!BF from Savior Trio POV
Third Section: Spirit!BF from FCR: Aftermath POV
Fourth Section: The gang from StreetSmarts POV
Fifth Section: Narrator BF from FCR and FCR:Continuum POV
Sixth Section: Anti-Narrator from Savior Trio POVSo, I finally ended up downloading the latest (and sadly the last it seems) build of Funkin' Corruption Reimagined and it actually has a lore document for all of the main weeks. It also explains some of the stuff with Narrator BF! And guess what! GUESS!
IT'S THE F*CKING VIDEO GAME! The Hating Simulator? Yeah, it is once again the catalyst.
That's what led to Narrator existing and getting ejected from reality! The thing that lets him go into other realties however? That just happens after DD and GF get Corrupted. He just...ends up there. It doesn't even explain what he does to cause the changes in the other timelines. I mean, I'm glad to get some answers, but uh... it's kinda lackluster tbh. I'm playing it up a little here, but I was certainly surprised when I read it. Also, apparently Spirit just straight up does NOT know who GF is. It really is just an act so he doesn't get put back in the game. Kinda sucks, but hey, that's what that headcanon tag is for. Just imagine that the canon FCR universe is somewhere else, not being affected by all of this, and that the one I'm using is just similar to it.
On an unrelated note, has anyone watched the new Deadpool movie? It's really good!
Chapter 8: Caroling Carnage
Summary:
A new group finds themselves surrounded by a strange horde, besieged by a force unfamiliar, but is given angelic assistance.
Notes:
Okay. So. I’m about a month late on uploading a new chapter. Sorry about that. When I uploaded the last one, I only had a couple of weeks left until college started, so I figured I could just wait until then to start worrying about writing the next one. What I didn’t realize is that only left me a week or so until the end of the month to write the chapter, which, as you can see, was NOT enough time for me.
Also, this is actually not the full chapter I had planned to upload. This is the first section of a chapter that was supposed to have three, but since it’s taken me this long to finish it, and it was over 2k words already, I figured it was acceptable enough to put out on its own. So, unfortunately, we will not be checking back in on the Streets Smarts gang until the next chapter.
Instead, we’re checking up on one of the POV’s introduced in chapter four, Pico from the “Saying "I Love You" Without Saying It” series by jubilantscribbler.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Pico looked around wildly, blinking away the bright light. What the hell was that? Where were those idiots?
He gripped the handles of his guns hard enough to make his hands ache and tried to steady his breathing as he looked at his surroundings.
Fluorescent lights, tile floors, department stores, restaurants...was this the mall? How the hell did he end up here?
"Hey, Mister? Do you know where we are?"
What the-who said that? Shit, no. Now was NOT the time for this!
He glanced around, a myriad of noises buzzing around his skull. A familiar "Beep!" cut off his dissonant thoughts.
"Oh, hey, Boyfriend! Do you know where Pico is?"
Wait a minute, was that Girlfriend? He turned around to see her and Boyfriend at the other end of the food court. He sprinted over to them.
"Where did you two go!? What the hell happ-"
"Pico!" He was immediately crushed between the two of them as they hugged them. They were warm, soft, real, and at least they were safe for now. Not that they seemed to notice that there was anything off about this situation at ALL, the morons...
He eventually wriggled out from between them. "Where are we? How did we get here?"
"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. There was this bright light, and then I was just here." said Girlfriend.
"Boop beb skeeboop," added Boyfriend.
"Yeah, and then I saw this man and asked if he knew where we were!" she said, pointing off to the side.
Of course, she immediately found the nearest stranger and just- JESUS WHAT THE FUCK!
He immediately pulled his gun on the...THING that Girlfriend had been pointing to. Now, usually, a person would react when the barrel of a gun was right in front of their face. It was why he usually tried to catch his marks unawares. The pleading, the screams...it was better to take them out quick and easy before they even realized he was there. This thing, on the other hand, just stared passively at him with pink, softly glowing eyes, not even registering the gun pointed at him at point-blank range.
Girlfriend frowned and looked back and forth between Pico and the... zombie? It fitted the bill, ignoring the weird, black muck it was slathered in, which slowly rolled off of the thing like dark, quivering molasses.
"Pico, is something wrong?" Pico just stared at her for a second.
"It- is something- HE'S COVERED IN BLOOD GIRLFRIEND!".
Pico yanked her away from the dark figure and pulled her beside him. She looked back at the thing as if she had just noticed the red and pink splotches on its body and dried onto the ends of its claws. It just continued to stare passively back at the two.
"Are you sure that's not just ketchup? We are in a food court. You know how Boyfriend can get when he's eating." Girlfriend smiled politely at the humanoid husk," Do you need some napkins, sir? I think I have some...". She started searching her pockets. Pico could only stare, but then his eyes widened as her words reminded him of something, no, someone.
Shit! Where did that little midget get off to?
He looked around and found the blue-haired man next to an escalator with...
Shit, there was more than one of these things.
"Boyfriend!" he barked, running towards him with Girlfriend in tow.
The man in question turned with his back facing the pseudo-zombie, letting out a questioning, "Beep?" before the creature lunged at him. Time slowed as Pico saw the thing lift Boyfriend into the air, holding him tightly.
Shit, shit, shit! This is what happens when he doesn't keep his eyes on one of those idiots. That better not be an actual zombie because he'd be damned if that midget gets his ass turned!
He brought his right arm up to fire off a headshot, only to feel a wet, sticky heat as the other one lunged at him from behind, clinging to Pico's body. A hissing cacophony of voices pressed against his skull, trying to join all the others, telling him to give in, insisting that he stop fighting. He growled and smacked the husk in the face with the butt of his other gun, but it somehow kept its grip on him. The voice grew a little louder, more agitated. Pico told the voices to shut the fuck up and tried to press his other gun to the thing's face, only for the pseudo-zombie to be ripped off of him.
Pico looked up to see Girlfriend lift the thing over her head and throw it at one of the restaurants. Its back slammed against the counter before it slumped over, the lights in its eyes flickering. He then turned back to Boyfriend just as the wailing sound of audio feedback rang out across the food court.
Girlfriend ran towards Boyfriend, calling out to him as he rolled away from the husk that had unhanded him. It stumbled back, face cracking like porcelain. Pico unloaded a few rounds into it, causing it to fall to the floor, then turned and fired at the other one for good measure before finally running to the couple.
"Are you okay? Did it scratch you? Why the fuck did you just walk off!?" asked Pico as he looked over at Boyfriend. Thankfully, he didn't see any scratches or blood. All he could see was that some of that gunk had gotten on him.
"Bop boop doo!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Girlfriend, are you alright?" He turned to her to see she was trying to rub some of the same stuff off her hands without much success.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine." Girlfriend looked at him and frowned, "Oh, you got some of that stuff on you too." she said, pointing at the arm that that thing had latched onto. He looked down to find that the same muck had also gotten on him.
However, his thoughts were cut short by the sounds of someone groaning behind him. He turned to see the "zombie" sitting up, its form littered with cracks, and watched as half of its face melted off to reveal…
"Wha… what's going on? Where am I? What happened?"
Some…guy?
The stranger looked up at the three of them, dazed and confused. The eye on the covered half of his face had gone dark and lifeless, and the grinning mouth slack-jawed. The eye on the uncovered half of his face landed on Pico's gun and widened as the stranger scooted away in a panic.
"Wait! Please don't hurt me! I-I don't know what's going on! Don't shoot me, please-"
"Shut up and tell me what's going on." Said Pico. The pleading and begging were bringing up unpleasant memories, and he was already disoriented by everything that had happened in the last few minutes. He needed answers and a way to get these two out of here before they got into more trouble.
"I…I don't know! The last thing I remember is these…these THINGS cornering me and…making these weird noises at me, and this weird black stuff covering me. I think I blacked out after that."
Huh…that didn't bode well. Pico looked back at Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Had those smudges…gotten bigger? Then again, apparently, they could be gotten rid of, though it seemed to take a lot of force. He looked back at the man.
Something was behind him. Running towards them. No. No, there wasn't. He needs to focus. He can't lose it right now.
He heard Girlfriend gasp. The man looked behind him and tried crawling away, but he was tackled by another one of the things. Shit, guess that WAS real.
The man screamed for help. Pico drowned him out with gunfire. The thing fell to the ground, twitching. The man was too far gone, clawing at his face as the ooze crawled up his face, covering his mouth, blocking his screams, until it finally covered his eyes. The man went silent and still.
The man's eyes lit up like light reflecting off blood, and he stood. The other started to rise to its feet as well. Pico could see the dark silhouettes of more shambling their way over to them.
They needed to leave. They needed to get somewhere safe. Pico needed to get them somewhere safe.
Pico looked to the side. The thing from earlier was making their way towards them as well. He could see a few others coming from that direction. Pico looked behind them. There was a corridor running between some stores that looked like it had an escalator they could take at the end.
He turned to face Boyfriend and Girlfriend, both of them still in shock, put his guns away, grabbed their wrists, and ran.
"W-wait, what are you-?"
"B-bee-?"
"We need to go now!"
He dragged them along as they tried to keep up. He tried to shove away the image of what happened to that guy out of his mind. Tried to not think of the two he was currently leading away from danger in his place. Trying not to think of them screaming before succumbing to the inky sludge. He tried not to think of himself overrun by the surrounding horde, the muck on his arm crawling over him, cutting off his vision as he went limp.
Pico had to get them out of here.
…
There were more of them.
As he reached the end of the hallway, he saw them shambling up the escalator. Then on either side, more were approaching, and he could just barely hear the ones behind them catching up.
Pico took out his guns, clenching the metal. There didn't seem to be any more on the floor below them, so if he could just clear a path through the ones on the escalator, they could escape.
Just as he prepared to fire, he was blinded by a bright, golden light. He heard hissing and cracking and felt heat travel up his arm. When his vision cleared, he saw that the husks on the escalator were gone and had fallen onto the floor below. He looked over to Boyfriend and found him crouched next to Girlfriend, who looked like she was in pain. She looked around blearily and stiffened when she saw something. Pico followed her gaze to find…wings. A figure with white, feathery wings. The figure turned his head to face the three of them.
"Hey, uh, are you three doing okay? Don't be afraid; I'm here to help!"
"Boop beep? Bop doop skdop?!"
The man rubbed his face. He could've been Boyfriend's twin if it wasn't for the (angel?) wings and halo above his head. And he had blue hair, too. Who the hell was this guy?
"Right…" he looked back at the approaching horde. Whatever that flash was, it had pushed them back and damaged them, but they were starting to make their way over to them again. "Uhhh, long story short, I'm you from another universe, but you can call me Angel. Those guys are zombies. If you can break that goo off of them they stop being zombies, and you can do that by either beating them in a rap battle or just hitting them really hard. If you get that goo on you and it covers your whole body, you turn into a zombie, so try not to let them touch you or sing at you too much."
Fuck, that IS Boyfriend. Only he would try to fight zombies with rapping. He turned to the other two and, speak of the devil, they both suddenly looked far more confident, with Boyfriend having regained his signature smirk as he connected his microphone to a speaker that Girlfriend had procured. Those idiots were really about to try and rap battle 30 or more zombies simultaneously. Great.
Suddenly, the horde stopped, all of them hunching over, their eyes going dark before they stood up straight, eyes glowing a bright, piercing white.
The horde laughed in a voice that sounded like it was coming from somewhere else. Like it was just using the crowd as venquilitrist dummies.
"Two down, one to go. Did you think you could hide from me for long, angel? Do you think your Creator will hear your pleas here? Do you think you can protect anyone?"
Angel spread his wings out in front of the three of them, "Where are the others? What did you do?"
"What have I done? I have created a perfect opportunity to expedite a process that would have taken centuries! As for the others, don't worry. I'll take you right to them. You will be the one to bring them under my control!"
The horde returned to normal, recovering from…whatever the hell that was. Boyfriend and Angel readied their mics. Pico spun his guns in his hands. Girlfriend bobbed her head back and forth as she played music from her speakers. The horde began to sing what sounded like a demented Christmas carol.
So, a musical zombie apocalypse? Thought Pico as Angel began to sing back, his voice bright and echoing. Well, at least the end of the world will have a soundtrack…
Notes:
Hope that was at least somewhat worth the wait! I don’t really know why this part was so difficult to finish in particular, but I think I did at least a decent job. Also, I used Grammarly to sort of help with this chapter, so you can let me know in the comments if it made it better than some of the other chapters, because I’m thinking of using it to touch up the future ones before I upload them.
Thank you to everyone who’s interacted since the last chapter, whether its through comments, kudos, or just clicking on it and reading what I’ve written so far. I’m glad people have been enjoying this story. And don’t worry, I WILL still be working on it, even if its kinda slow.
Chapter 9: Author's Update
Summary:
This is just a quick update before Christmas so I can notify you all of what's been going on.
Chapter Text
Fret not! This fic is not dead! Chapter 9 is being postponed, however.
Here's the thing: as I've said in the author's notes of recent chapters, I've been using Grammarly to help out with my writing. Specifically, I've been going into the app itself and writing in one of the drafts. There's an issue with this.
For some reason, what you write in the app is only saved on the device it was originally written. Since I've been writing Chapter 9 on my iPad, this means that although I can download the Grammarly app on my phone and still have the subscription I paid for, the draft I had been working on can only be accessed on my iPad.
Now, this shouldn't be too big of an issue. I just need to get on my iPad to work on the fic, right?
So about that... the college I go to shut down for Christmas break about a week ago, and I needed to leave the dorms until it started back up at the end of it, so I've been staying with family for the holidays.
Guess what I forgot to bring with me. Go on, guess. Yeah, my iPad. Aaaaand they make us turn in the keys to our dorm rooms before we leave for Christmas break, so I'm not seeing that thing for another week or so.
Now, I do have part of the draft on a Google Doc and even a draft of the chapter here as well. Still, I had been doing most of the writing on Grammarly and hadn't been backing it up as much as I probably should, so if I started writing from either of those, I'd essentially have to play catch up and just forget about what I had written before.
I don't really want to do that. So, unfortunately, I will not be able to continue work on the next chapter until sometime in January, when I can get back to college. Sorry about that, but I figured it would be best to let y'all know why it's been taking so long.
However, I have been working on an Undertale one-shot during the break. I don't know if I'll be able to finish by the time I get back, but at least you can know I've got something I'm working on in the meantime.
So yeah, I'll be working on a one-shot until I get back to my dorm in January, and I'll try to finish Chapter 9 before the end of that month.
Happy holidays, and have a happy New Year's!
Chapter 10: Almost/ Cyan Psychosis
Summary:
The gang are in the midst of their attempt to save the stranger from whatever has taken control of his body, but will they be able to do that before the other can interfere? Meanwhile Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest come to and find something they thought to be nothing more than a bad memory come back to threaten them and their family once again.
Notes:
Did I deliver or did I deliver? Don't mention how this was as last minute as possible lmao.
Remember how I said chapter 8 was actually supposed to be one part of a bigger chapter? This is the other two parts of that chapter.
Behold, the chapter I've been trying to finish since, like, November. Maybe October.
I, uh, kinda hoped I'd be farther along by now, but if I can get the next chapter out by the end of February, I feel like I'll be in a decent place for the 1st year anniversary of this fic.
Edit: Also, shout out to the two people who bookmarked this back in December.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ruvyzvat glanced up at Hex as the robot scrambled onto the bus.
"Let me guess, Boyfriend has made more trouble?"
"N-no! Someone ELSE is in trouble!"
"Hmm, interesting change of pace."
Given his lack of opposable thumbs, Hex went through his luggage with surprising speed.
"What are you looking for?" asked Ruv.
"Well," said Hex, "I thought we could do karaoke sometime during the road trip! So I packed a microphone for everyone just in case."
"And you are doing karaoke in the middle of the road because…?"
"To help the two that we ran over. Aliens are controlling them, and beating them in a rap battle can free them!"
"..." Ruv wordlessly looked out the window. The two strangers seemed slightly different from before. The woman looked ahead, seemingly talking to Pico, who then fired at her, only for her to deflect the bullets away with her…claws? Ruv noticed small cracks along the dark substance that covered her skin.
Then Ruv looked at the man and understood what Hex was talking about. His body quivered, hunched over. His hands were twitching as if he couldn't quite make them obey. And as Ruv looked at his face, he saw one, wide eye uncovered by the strange ooze, staring out.
Ruv hummed. "Hex?"
"Yeah?" said the robot, cradling a bundle of microphones in his arms.
"Do you have one for me?" the Russian asked, getting out of his seat.
Hex beamed, "Of course!"
*************************************
"Guys, I'm back!" said Hex, rushing off the bus.
"Hex, where did you...no..." said Whitty, seeing the microphones in the robot's arms.
"Yes," said Ruv matter-of-factly as he followed, holding a microphone as well.
"Ooh, do we get a microphone too, Mr. Hex?" said Skid.
"Just stay behind the rest of us!" he said as he gave one to both kids.
The woman leered over at Hex, her jagged mouth arranging itself into a cruel smirk, "Roping the others in won't accomplish anything, machine-."
BANG!
The bullet barely grazed as she dodged, "You know that won't do any permanent damage, right? And you'll run out of ammo eventually..."
"First of all, I didn't shoot you because I thought it would do anything; I shot you because I think your voice is annoying as hell; second of all, the day I run out of ammo is the day I'm dead and buried," replied Pico cooly.
"Oh, we can find use of you LONG after that..."
"...Toss me the mic, Hex."
Hex threw it over to Pico, who caught it with one hand. Hex gave one to everyone else who didn’t have one already. Whitty eyed him nervously the whole time and started backing towards the bus, but then Hex turned towards him, causing Whitty to flinch.
“U-uh-“
“You don’t have to, but…” said Hex, giving him an understanding look before handing a microphone to Whitty, “just in case you need to…” Whitty looked down at the mic and swallowed thickly, nodding before stepping back a little from the rest of the group.
The rest of the gang positioned themselves as the music began. Boyfriend, of course, took the lead, singing the first verse. The trapped man across from him lifted his mic with a trembling hand as if it were moving against his will and began to rap in retaliation. His voice sounded like a mangled, autotuned version of Boyfriend’s own as it matched and improved upon his verses, upping the intensity each time.
Pico fired a shot at him, only for the man’s body to lurch unnaturally out of the way as if being puppeted by unseen strings. Scowling, Pico began adlibbing to back up Boyfriend’s singing, occasionally firing to the beat.
“Go! Go, Pico! Yeah, yeah, go PIco! Yeah!”
BANG!
“Go! Go, Pico! Yeah, yeah, go, Pico! Yeah!”
BANG!
Unfortunately, the man continued to dodge the bullets and fire back with his own version of it.
“Go go, Pico! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Go, Pico, go, yeah! Go Pico, y-yeah! Go yeah! G-go Pico, yeah!
With his free hand, the man clawed at the edge of the Corruption around his eyes, trying to tear it off. As he sang, something seemed to shift from within his cyan maw, as if something underneath was trying to burst out.
Boyfriend continued, leading the melody as Pico backed him up. The frequent firing began to throw off the man just enough for Boyfriend to make some headway. It didn’t last long, however, as the man started to dominate the song, singing faster and louder than they could keep up with.
Seeing that the two needed help, Hex stepped in, holding his favorite orange microphone, adding his own melody as he began to sing solo. His electronic voice rang out, and the man’s form trembled. Boyfriend and Pico started singing again, and the three took advantage of the opening. Pico’s gravelly voice and gunshots added some bass while Boyfriend began beatboxing, and Hex continued to sing the main vocals.
The man began to sing back more frantically, his voice strained as the Corruption around his eye began to crack, reaching down to his jaw. With each verse, the cracks widened and grew in number. As his clamorous voice continued to belt out, his movements became more steady, and his eyes gained a shine of determination. With a final, echoing cord, the black goop shattered like glass, freeing half of his face, including part of his mouth. The other half looked like a mask that melted onto his face; the haunting grin seemed to be trying to crawl into his mouth and cut off his voice. That didn’t discourage him much, as he continued to sing a solo, too on a roll to be deterred.
Ruv narrowed his eye as Skid and Pump joined in, eager to have a turn. That face…it looked familiar. However, too much of it was still covered up to really tell. Well, there's only one way to fix that, he supposed.
Suddenly, the ground shook, and everyone fell silent as a thunderous, deafening voice boomed. Ruvyzat knew one song, but he knew it well. He sang the beginning verses of “Zavodilla.” Across the street, the woman’s glowing eye guttered out as she clutched the sides of her head, rivulets of the Corruption dripping off her onto the pavement below. She hunched over and shook as Ruv continued his solo. The gang wasn’t doing much better, standing right next to him. They all covered their ears with expressions of pain except for Hex, who merely turned his hearing off and put his claws over Skid and Pump’s ears to shield them from the noise. The only other one who wasn’t similarly affected was Boyfriend, the only one among them to have heard him sing, being made only mildly uncomfortable by the now-present ringing in his ears.
The man across from them seemed to be of a similar disposition. Although the Corruption writhed around him, flaking and chipping off in places, he appeared unphased as he began to sing back with an oddly recognizable grin. The gang watched as the Corruption continued withdrawing from the side of his face, hair, and neck.
The two traded verses, the man improvising off of Ruv as he fought off the Corruption, purging it from his body until about one-fifth of him was visible. Ruv stopped singing as the gang finally noticed something: the man was the spitting image of Boyfriend, except for his clothes, hair color, and a pair of earrings. He had looked similar to the one they knew, even while trapped in the dark goo, but now it was unmistakable.
“Why do you look like me?” asked Boyfriend.
“What do you mean?” asked Not-Boyfriend. His mouth was now mostly free, with a few strands of the Corruption tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Agoti looked at the two look-alikes before glancing back at Boyfriend: " Are you sure you don’t have a lost twin or something, Boyfriend?”
“No.”
“No.”
The two looked at each other.
“He was talking to me,” said Boyfriend.
“What? But he said MY name,” said Not-Boyfriend, pointing at himself. He seemed to struggle a little with the substance that still clung to the other two-thirds of his body.
“What?! That’s MY stage name! You can’t take my face, body, voice, AND stage name!” sputtered Boyfriend, getting exasperated by his doppelganger.
Not-Boyfriend blinked, “…Stage name?”
“Yeah! My stage name? Boyfriend? You haven’t heard of me?”
“That’s… that’s my name though…”
Boyfriend paused, “Like…like your actual name?”
“Yeah, dude.”
“Like on your birth certificate, it says “Boyfriend”?”
“Yeah.”
“The fuck?”
“Um, if you don’t mind us asking…,” interjected Hex, “How did you and her over there end up like this?”
“How did me and her…” Other-Boyfriend looked over at the woman, still slumped over and shaking, before appearing as if he had suddenly remembered something, “Oh shit, Girlfriend!”
Tabi stiffened, “Wait, what do you mean Girl-“
“Quick, before she comes to! Get rid of the rest of this stuff so I can help you save her!” yelled Other-Boyfriend, his face suddenly serious, the expression looking odd on him.
Boyfriend looked between Other-Boyfriend and Other-Girlfriend. Copycat or not, he could tell this wasn’t fake. He grinned confidently, “You got it other me! Let’s finish this, and then we can save your girl!”
Tabi glared warily at Other-Girlfriend, but then he looked at Other-Boyfriend, “I’ll get you out of there. You can handle your girlfriend on your own…”. Agoti and Aldryx stood next to him, ready to join.
“Of course! I’m always ready to help!” said Hex.
The gang started singing again, ready to free Other-Boyfriend completely before Other-Girlfriend could stop them. Boyfriend and Other-Boyfriend went first as the music kicked back up. This time, it sounded less tense and confrontational, giving way to a more hopeful, if frenetic, tone. Their voices melded together naturally as they played off of each other’s verses with ease, both managing to complement one another even as they attempted to one-up themselves and their counterpart. They took turns singing the melody, then the countermelody, swapping parts back and forth.
Tabi then joined in, his raspy voice meeting Other-Boyfriend’s. He still had a lot of questions about what was going on, and he was still wary about the idea of who was next to Other-Boyfriend under the Corruption. He had been pretty much exactly the same as their Boyfriend so far, and Tabi felt a pit in his stomach form, threatening to crawl into his throat as he considered the possibility that they might have another significant thing in common: a person.
He was in too deep to stop now, though, and if they could at least save one of them, they could leave if the other was too much trouble to rescue. Agoti and Aldryx started singing back up, occasionally butting in with a few verses that were more of their style, and Tabi felt a sense of ease return. The Corruption started flowing down Other-Boyfriend’s shoulders, showing the progress they were making. Not much longer, and they could get out of here, maybe even leaving that she-devil behind…
As Hex tagged in to sing, with Skid and Pump in tow, Pico kept his aim trained on… Other-Girlfriend. Who else had had the bright idea to name their kid that? Adding on to that, why was ANOTHER person named Boyfriend? Was there a damn Father Fairest and Mother Mairest running around who had the bright idea to-
She twitched.
BANG!
He unloaded another round into the chick. Not on his watch. At least, he thought he saw her twitch. Eh, better safe than sorry.
BANG!
“Won’t do permanent damage, my ass.”
Then again, none of that stuff had really come loose yet. She was just stunned. Which was weird compared to Other-Boyfriend, considering he was almost halfway out. And then that weird, blue glow getting brighter…
CRACK!
“Shit hit the de-!” cried out Pico before a dark tendril split the pavement and slammed him into the bus, denting it and knocking the breath out of him. It swept across the road, forcing the gang to throw themselves to the pavement. Hex grabbed Skid and Pump and pulled them out of the way. Ruv stepped backward, getting just out of range of the tendril’s arc before it made a sharp turn and aimed at Other-Boyfriend. Other-Boyfriend beeped in surprise and ducked just in time as the tendril whipped over his head before sinking back into the pavement.
Other-Girlfriend’s eyes glowed brightly, a hint of gold beneath ghostly blue. Her face contorted into a crooked grin as she giggled madly to herself.
“No. Nonononono. She has fucking TENTACLES we’re getting the FUCK out of here!” said Whitty as he started running towards the bus. His path was blocked as large cracks were torn into the pavement, and more inky black tentacles sprung up and impaled the tires of the bus, causing them all to deflate.
“NO! How could you!?” cried Boyfriend, “Do you know how much it’s gonna cost to replace all those tires!?”
Ruv glanced over at Pico, who was still trying to remember how to breathe. “Pico,” he said. Pico looked at Ruv with watery eyes and made a collection of sounds that could’ve been interpreted as a response.
“Are you alive?” asked the Russian. Pico took a shuddering breath and gave a thumbs up.
“You had a chance to run away…” said Other-Girlfriend, “but now it’s too late…”. She began to sing, her voice overpowering their senses. Other-Boyfriend sang back, determined to save her. She whipped her head in his direction and flicked her wrist, causing tendrils to surround him and grab him. Other-Boyfriend struggled against the bindings as the Corruption began to retake its hold on him, creeping up his shoulders and reaching for his neck.
The gang sprung back into action, singing again to distract and weaken her before she could take control of Other-Boyfriend. Pico got back to his feet and, with a shaky hand, fired off a few rounds at her, only for her to casually deflect them with one hand. Ruv started singing, his booming voice causing Other-Girlfriend to clutch her head, giving the others a chance to join in with their own verses.
Other-Girlfriend seemed to recover quickly, however, and caused another flurry of tendrils to shoot up from underneath the gang, forcing them to dodge out of the way. She began singing again, dominating as her tendrils kept the gang’s attention split between rapping and dodging the attacks. Other-Boyfriend managed to break free from the tendrils just enough to start singing again, taking her focus off of the other to try and subdue her lover.
Other-Boyfriend yanked and tugged at the shadowy masses of Corruption that tried to keep him from moving as he sang to try and save his girlfriend. Other-Girlfriend sang back, still under the Corruption’s influence and trying to bring him back under it. Fracture lines began to appear across her arms and legs, but she still remained in control.
Fortunately, having her efforts focused on Other-Boyfriend meant that she wasn’t currently trying to impale the gang with spikes. Whitty took a second to catch his breath. He looked at the others, having shaken off their nerves to start singing again. He looked at Other-Boyfriend, still trying to get his girlfriend free while struggling against the tentacles, the Corruption threatening to overtake him again. Whitty looked down at the microphone in his hands and heaved a long sigh.
Goddamnit.
Agoti’s eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice. It…it couldn’t be…could it? He whipped his head around to see Whitty slowly walking up to the front of the group. Singing. Agoti gasped, stars in his eyes as his idol started singing right in front of him. Other-Boyfriend looked over at Whitty and smirked before launching into a verse and improvising on it. The bomb in question continued, not giving Other-Girlfriend a chance to retaliate, sparks flying off of his hands. Hex cheered him on and joined in, and Agoti excitedly took his chance, adding a verse of his own at the end.
Other-Girlfriend narrowed her eyes at them and retaliated, causing them all to join in. Whitty led the melody, his voice steady despite the nerves, with Hex and Agoti right next to him. Skid and Pump spooky-danced to the beat as Boyfriend beatboxed as Aldryx and Tabi came in.
More tendrils appeared, ready to skewer them all, only for Ruv’s voice to shake the ground, causing them to shatter. The corrupted woman sang back against him, her eyes flickering. Other-Boyfriend got a hand free and used it to pull a tendril away from his mouth before lifting up his mic and joining in again. Other-Girlfriend’s form became littered with more cracks, and suddenly, she fell to her knees before her entire left arm uncorrupted.
“Guys!” said Other-Boyfriend. “She’s almost-“
“ACK!”
The gang turned around to see Tabi fall onto his knees. Smaller tendrils had stabbed into his legs, holding him down. The Corruption had already made it up to his waist.
“Don’t worry. I got this,” said Pico before aiming at the tendrils and shooting them, causing the rest to pull away and sink back into the road.
“There we go. That’s the you I want to see…” said Other-Girlfriend, her eerie voice ringing out gleefully.
Other-Boyfriend was wrapped in neon blue strings, dragged in front of the gang like a marionette. His eyes were clouded as he hunched over, staring through them. Other-Girlfriend grinned triumphantly, the other end of the strings clutched in her corrupted hand.
“Soooo close… but not close enough…”
Tabi tried to call out to Other-Boyfriend, “Don’t believe what she’s showing you! Fight it!”
Boyfriend shouted out as well, “Come on other me! Snap out of it; she’s almost freed!”
But he couldn’t hear any of them. The Corruption crawled up his face before covering him completely, one half almost unrecognizable due to the cracks and gouges in the Corruption’s surface, and the other half roughly clinging to his face, the eye light guttered out. With a shaking hand, Corrupted Other-Boyfriend brought his mic to his disfigured, toothy grin, and his singular eyelight flickered on.
Pico sighed and reloaded. “Shit.”
“Oh dear…” said Hex.
Daddy Dearest staggered to his feet with a groan. What the hell happened? He felt like he had been hit by a train. He looked around to find a mini-crater on the pavement. Wait a minute, how did…?
His eyes widened. He craned his neck up to see the building he had just fallen from. Shit, Girlfriend! His baby was all alone up there!
“Daddy’s comin’ sweet pea!” he said, ready to march his way back up the building, “Just hold on!”
“She can’t hear you snookums…” drawled a familiar voice nearby. Daddy Dearest whipped his head around to find his wife picking herself up from the ground
“Darlin’! What happened to you!" he said, running over to help her up. Mommy leaned on him as she got her bearings.
“Somethin’...hit us…knocked us off the building….” she managed to say, her words a little slurred as she clung to him for balance. Her eye lights were nonexistent.
Shit! He DID get hit with a train, didn’t he? It was coming back to him. The party, the portal, the train tracks, the goddamn train. He also remembered hitting someone else as he was pushed out the window before plummeting to the concrete and blacking out. He looked back down at Mommy before cradling her face worriedly. “Are you okay, honey? Did you break anything? Can you hear me?!” he shouted. Do you think you have a concussion?”
He growled, infernal power pounding through him as his eye lights flared. He glared up at the building that his mansion had been plopped on top of like a good-for-nothing paperweight. “When I find who caused all this, I’m gonna make what I did to that boy’s spirit look like an all-expenses-paid vacation!”
He looked back down to find his wife staring up at him, her eye lights now lit up in dim annoyance. She gently took his hands and moved them away. “I’m fine, dear…” she said in a deadpan tone, “Let’s just…”
Daddy felt MM stiffen as she seemed to notice something. Her eye sockets went completely dark, like cold voids, and she let go of his hands.
He frowned, “What’s wrong?”
“Honey, we’re not alone.”
Daddy Dearest turned around to find something that he thought he would never see outside of his nightmares.
When the Corruption first appeared, he had…hidden. He ran away to hide at his venue. There had been so many people running around that it was impossible to find his wife, his daughter, or even that little runt. He stayed on his stage for days, hoping against hope that they would know to find him there and make it. Daddy Dearest had lived a long time, but those days had been the longest he had ever seen. Words couldn’t describe his relief when Girlfriend finally rushed into the building, looking for him.
That relief was short-lived, however, when she told him how she got here. That damned, putrid bastard had gotten his misshapen, slimy, grubby little hands on HIS LITTLE GIRL and used her like some FUCKING PUPPET. And somehow, the virus had even gotten his wife. When he had seen her on that stage, the Corruption moving her around like a possessed doll, he had felt something at the very core of his unholy being lurch in disgust and despair. He didn’t think he’d ever wipe that image from his mind completely. Even after a year, he’d sometimes wake up in a cold sweat, needing to have Mommy remind him that his family was here and safe, and it was all over.
And yet, standing before him was the familiar horde, their forms covered in black sludge, luminescent pink faces leering at them predatorily. He could practically smell the demonic pact magic rolling off of them. The sheer number of them huddled together created a dark miasma that would be enough to disorient the average human from sheer proximity alone. He hadn't seen this many at once since that fateful day.
“There’s too many of them. We can’t take them all on alone,” said Mommy in a distant tone, her eye sockets fixated on the crowd. Daddy put an arm around her protectively. She had told him how those things had taken control of her. His darlin' obviously couldn't have been overpowered just by Pico alone, so the damn pests had to gang up on her until she was too exhausted to resist. Well, he'd rip every one of their heads off before they could even take one STEP towards her. MM finally seemed to register the gesture as her ruby red eye lights flickered to life, and she gave him a small grateful look.
They then heard a rumbling overhead and looked up to another train running above them, headed for the mansion. Through the windows, DD could see the vague silhouette of a crowd of people. One of the cars shook and jostled out one of the passengers, causing them to fall to the ground with a wet thud. It was one of his imps…but he was Corrupted. It shuddered before raising back up, staring at them with blindingly white eyes. MM flinched, and her eye lights flared before making a clawing motion, causing the Corrupted imp to be instantly uncorrupted and flayed on the spot before turning to ash.
“There's probably more of them on the train," said Mommy.
Daddy whipped his head around to look at the mansion again, “They're headed straight for Girlfriend!" he cried, “We need to get up there NOW!"
They started making their way back towards the building, ignoring the horde, until they heard the loud screech of tires.
What the…who stole my limo!?
As it braked in front of them and came to a halt, Daddy Dearest saw a familiar face and grimaced. “They got you AGAIN? Why did I ever hire you? …And why are you blue?” Standing on the hood of his limousine was Pico, thoroughly Corrupted, but something different. For one thing, the pink highlights were replaced with blue ones, and the mercenary seemed to have gotten a pair of goggles since he had last seen him, as well as gold-plated Uzi’s.
Well, it didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he was between them and the door. Pico chuckled, making a low throaty sound, and took aim at Mommy before firing. DD caught the bullet easily, but as he willed the Corruption to dissipate and dissolve from his body, he noticed it took more energy than he remembered. Oh well, they'd just have to end this quickly, then make their way back to their daughter.
Daddy Dearest conjured a microphone into his other hand and glanced over at Mommy Mearest. “You know somethin’?"
She looked back at him, “What?"
“It's been a while since we sang a duet. A REAL one…”
Her eye lights flickered and then shined at their usual intensity like bloody jewels. She smiled as she conjured a mic into her hand, “You know, hun? You might be right."
Notes:
Whelp, looks like the gang are gonna have to go through a whole other week if they wanna get out of this, singing against both Boyfriend AND Girlfriend this time. I'd say things are still evenly matched. Poor Tabi though. Well, at least Agoti got to see Whitty sing live. For those who don't know the source material, in the fic these versions come from Agoti is, like, a huge fan of Whitty, so I thought it'd be a neat thing to include here.
Like I've said before, actually writing a rap battle is a little difficult since it's mostly an auditory medium, which is part of why this was so hard to finish, but I think I did a pretty decent job.
And yeah, I was absolutely NOT just gonna kill off Aftermath DD and MM like that. I hope I did a good job of writing them. I definitely think they'd be pretty mushy with each other with the pet names and all, and I definitely think going through the Corruption would affect them mentally in some way, so I kinda tried to take that angle.
Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed! Feel free to let me know how it came out in the comments!
Edit: Also, one of the people who've been commenting on this fic for a while wanted me to help show off an OC of theirs. This should be the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_WrGu9FWaIds0I3OXMxkA0zdN_XuQyrvoBpJlElZ8o/edit
Chapter 11: Continuation
Summary:
Angel mulls over Anti’s threats as he contemplates his ability to watch over the variants of himself, his girlfriend, and his ex. He steels his resolve and takes the new trio he just found to the others, before he comes across another familiar, though far less welcome, face.
Spirit, once again in the grasp of the Hating Simulator, finds that he is not alone, and attempts make sense of his situation while helping those trapped with him.
Narrator takes the first step towards his renewed goal to reverse the effects of the Corruption, and restore reality to its former, balanced state.
Spirit!BF and the others fight against Corrupted Pico, but their efforts are foiled when more of the infected arrive, forcing Spirit!BF to find a way to keep even more from arriving.
Notes:
So…I did not, in fact, manage to get this chapter out in time for the one year anniversary. Just, uh, imagine that this chapter is me dramatically standing outside your house in the rain as I hold a boombox over my head, apologizing.
However, this chapter is a little beefier than some of the others ones I think. It’s at least over 5k words, so there’s that at least. We’re getting pretty close to novel length I think, which is fitting since we’re almost reaching the end of first big part of this fic, besides the prologue and set up chapters.
You guys have been patient and supportive, so I hope y’all like this one.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Uh... do you guys see any more of them coming?" asked Angel. He and his other self had paused their singing, and Pico had stopped to reload as the horde seemed to let up for a bit. They had made a pretty good dent in them, even saving about a dozen or so who he told to escape down the escalator once they had cleared it of the other Corrupted civilians. The rest had either staggered back or had been incapacitated, their trembling forms laying on the ground or leaning against a wall, eyes guttered out as flakes of Corruption sloughed off.
“No,” said Pico, “These should be the last of them. I don’t hear anymore nearby.” That was good. Angel and Boyfriend put out one last solo, while the ones that were left were too weak to sing back. He didn’t notice any Corruption on anyone in his group either, so this seemed to be almost over. And he had even managed to free a bunch of people while he was at it! Good. Angel could use an easy win right about now.
They probably needed to leave soon, though. Anti knew where he was now, and he was sure to send more people after him before he could reach the others. Speaking of, what did he say about them? Two down, one to go? Had he already found one of the others? Which one? Had he managed to overpower them? No, he had said he would use Angel to get them, so he couldn’t have brought them under his control yet, right? But then, how had he found them, and where were they?
As they freed the last of the mini horde, Angel told them to go down the escalators where the others had gone and try to find a way out or hide, and he thought of the group he had just left on his way here, and the one right next to him. He couldn’t keep track of everyone he came across in here while protecting them, making sure they didn’t starve, AND making sure they could keep up with him, all while he found a way out and looked for Spirit and BF. Angel knew that. He wasn’t stupid. He couldn’t afford to be.
But surely he can handle six…right? They barely even knew what they were going up against. They needed someone to guide them. Protect them. It was the least he could do. He owed it to them. He owed it to his other selves, who deserved the chance to make it out of this with the people they cared about, safe and sound. He owed it to Pico. He owed it to…to Her.
Did you think you could hide from me for long, angel? Do you think you can protect anyone?
What if staying around them puts them in even more danger? Anti was sure to be on the lookout for him now. They seemed competent enough, even if they were new to this, but that wouldn’t matter if Anti caught them. They wouldn’t last more than a minute, maybe two, if he felt like toying with them. With just a flick of his hand, it would be over.
Just like…
Just like…
No. No.
That wouldn’t happen. Angel wouldn’t let it. He was going to get out of this stupid mall, and he was going to find both Spirit and BF, all while keeping the others safe! Then, Savior was going to defeat Anti once and for all, and then he was going to fix everything the Corruption ruined.
With a determined look, he turned to face the trio, “I know you must have a lot of questions-"
“Gee, you think?" interrupted Pico.
“-but I promise I'll tell you anything you want to know once I get you three to the others.”
"Others?” asked…asked Girl…asked Different -Girlfriend, tilting her head to the side questioningly.
“Oh yeah, I found another group of, uh…you’s before you came out of the portal.”
"Ooof course you did…" said Pico.
Angel spread his wings and hovered a few feet in the air before reaching his hands down for them to grab, “They're still waiting on me, and it'd be faster if I flew you all there." Pico raised an eyebrow at him but then turned to see Boyfriend put his mic in his pocket so he could carry Different-Girlfriend with one arm and then reach up to grab Angel’s hand, before sighing and grabbing onto Angel's other hand.
He took a second to get used to the lopsided weight before flying off in the direction he remembered coming from, hoping the others were okay… and that he hadn't forgotten the right direction.
“Oh, by the way,” he said, remembering something, " The other you’s have different names. Well, two of them do. Pico's is the same, but Boyfriend’s name is Keith, and the other one is named Cherry.”
Different-Girlfriend perked up, "Ooh! Like Cherry Cola!"
“I- huh. Yeah, I guess so."
Angel looked into the distance and saw a silhouette of someone approaching. No, multiple someone’s. Approaching really, really quic- OH SHIT!
Angel dove out of the way as Cherry flew past him.
“What the heck was that about? Where are they going?” he asked aloud.
“…Mom?” said Girlfriend.
“What?” he said before he saw something in his peripheral vision flying at him. He again dove out of the way just before a pink…string could hit him?
Wait…
Angel felt a slight sting on his cheek, followed by something warm and wet dripping down it. Huh, guess it did hit him. He saw the string stick to one of the walls before going taught.
Oh, PLEASE don’t be who I think it is…
He followed the direction the string was coming from to find an all too familiar person, using it as a grappling hook to pull herself up to his spot in the air. The same person who had forced him back under, overpowering him with the Corruption, causing him to fall. The same woman who the Corruption had tried to use to take her own daughter back, forcing Angel to tell Her to leave him behind, separating them.
Mommy. Fucking . Mearest.
All was dark. All was silent. All was cold. All was static. All was null, and all was void.
I can’t see.
I can’t hear.
I can’t breathe.
Spirit felt the familiar sensation of the confines of his prison press upon his immortal soul, but something was wrong. His chains, even as they constricted his being, were in disarray and weak. As he pushed against them, the jumbled code made way for him, the demonic magic placed on it so long ago having weakened enough to let him slip through the cracks as he tried to collect himself, almost literally, as he pulled his essence back into himself.
Slowly, like disparate ones and zeros gradually being inputted one after another to execute a command, he remembered what had happened. It seemed that the spell still held sway over him, even if the game within had thoroughly been destroyed by the Corruption. But how had it arrived in this new universe? And would Boyfriend’s body still be intact when Spirit forced himself out of the console?
His ruminations were cut short as he felt a jolt in the system. Reds, greens, and blues flashed into life and coalesced. Before him was a gray, misty void filled with floating textures. The game seemed to be…restoring itself?
Spirit was filled with a slight sense of relief as he began slipping himself through the cracks of the digital prison, feeling his way through to look for a way out. It appeared that the game was so damaged that he could exist within what was left of the game’s world without being confined within Senpai. Undoubtedly, the game was in such a state of disarray that he could find a way back to Boyfriend’s body waiting for him out-
?110TEST—NU
TransferOw
—NULL///32
TransferOwn
Throughout the remains of the code that his being was strung through, he felt a struggle. Something was trying to wrest the admin control from the current owner…but what was left to take it from? And who else was stuck in here?!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!///32$$__—?110TEST-N
TransferOwnership(‘Boyfrien
Wait…was that Boyfriend? What was he doing here? Was this where the portal had taken him? Was..was he singing?
?110TEST—NULL///32$$.
Null? Was that some sort of placeholder that the game was using in his absence? Wait a minute…that voice…it sounded like…
TransferOwnership(‘Boyfriend’)
ACCESS DENIED
With the finality of a door slamming into someone’s face, the command was swiftly rejected. Spirit’s form solidified in the ether, and he began sluggishly moving, looking for Boyfriend and…whatever seemed to have formed in the ruins of this game after he escaped. He floated past floating chunks of earth and concrete, navigating the jagged pieces of the school and its surrounding area, as he heard Boyfriend rap battling against-
No. Of all things…Senpai was STILL functional!?
He was glitchy, and pixels were flying off of him as his insufferable voice responded to Boyfriend’s verses almost sporadically, yet there he was, the smarmy bastard that he had been trapped inside for decades rap battling against Boyfriend. Spirit supposed that the game had cobbled together whatever it could to recreate the character as some form of firewall. For a dating simulator game made some 30-odd years ago by a college student, it was…bizarrely resilient. Or perhaps it was just a by-product of the spell placed on it, so that its prisoner would remain trapped within its walls even after the data within had long ago been rendered unsalvageable. He wouldn’t put that kind of cruelty past Daddy Dearest.
Well, regardless, now that he had found Boyfriend, they would just have to look for Angel, and then they could figure out what had happened and come up with a plan. First, though, he would need to wrest control from that facsimile of his old shell and then get both of them out of here. He drifted towards them but paused when Senpai’s body flickered for a moment, and Spirit saw something that confused him even more. In faded shades of misty gray, within Senpai’s body was…himself?
He felt an ethereal presence reach out before the world went white. Then, in the blinding void, he appeared before Spirit, the eyeless face of Senpai sporting a twisted grimace as he glared at him, a manic light shining from within the digital boy’s gaping eye sockets.
“I just want to be left alone. As if having to see HIM again was bad enough, I have yet another intruder…” The phantom stared him down from within before rushing at him with a loud, bit-crushed growl of frustration. Spirit’s being was pulled at and rummaged through, his essence dissected while the phantom interrogated him.
“And who are YOU? You don’t seem to be another one of those things. What, are you just here to finish the job? Or are you simply not content to leave a tormented soul to rest?” Painful jolts wracked Spirit’s senses, leaving him almost incapable of comprehending the phantom’s questions. He felt himself pulled this way and that before memories began to flash through his mind.
Sakura blossoms floating through the air. Walking hand in hand with Girlfriend. A darkened stage. Daddy Dearest looming over him, challenging him.
Static. Screams. Red, green, blue lights frying his perception. Muddling his mind as years stretch on into decades. His very essence TRAPPED! MUTILATED!
An intrusion. A new face. No face. Garbled sounds from no mouth.
“Get out , freak.”
“Your days are numbered, outspoken fool.”
The world shuddered as the man’s face was overtaken by a black substance, corrupting half of it. Another song. Senpai was losing, but it gave him a chance to intervene.
It was not enough. The world began breaking. The man continued transforming. But his bonds were loosening. He still had a chance. If he could just stop him before the transformation could complete-
It was too late. The game was in shambles. The parasite had won. He burst from his chains, only to be met with oblivion. This was it…
No. NO! This would NOT be the end! He had not been trapped for almost 30 years just to be put down like some sick dog! This parasite was nothing more than a putrid, vile leech, and he. Would . Not . Let . This! STAND!
Invigoured, he destroyed the creature and broke through, taking the host’s place. Freedom was his.
Spirit came to, and in front of him was Senpai, looking mystified. No, it wasn’t Senpai; looking into his hollow eye sockets, Spirit could feel a familiar presence staring back at him from within. Of course… if there were multiple universes with their own versions of Boyfriend, then it stood to reason that so, too, were there various versions of Spirit. It appeared that this one had survived the destruction of the game world at the hands of the Corruption. But how had the game found its way into that alleyway?
Spirit was brought out of his ruminations when his other self turned, and he now could see that they were not alone in the white void. Sitting before a digital recreation of the Hating Simulator, Boyfriend’s head hung low as he clutched a controller in his hands. But now, he wondered, was that indeed the one he knew, or was it yet another variant? From within the shell of Senpai, Spirit heard a voice that could have been his own from how similar it sounded rattle out.
“First, you seek me out and almost destroy me, even as I pleaded with you to leave. Then you return as if to mock me in my pitiable state. And then YOU…” he said as he turned back to Spirit, his expression becoming more distraught, more uncertain, “You can’t be real, but…does that mean…has my mind finally broken under the strain? Have I gone mad?”
Spirit gave his other self what he hoped was a reassuring look as he stared into the sunken eye sockets of his digital body. “No, what you are seeing, what you SAW, is all true. I am you from another reality out of countless others. I, too, was trapped within this game by Daddy Dearest, and my world was also plagued by the infestation that assailed you. It is called the Corruption, and it is a parasite driven by a desire to infect and consume all life. I imagine that it took control of the Boyfriend that you know and infiltrated this game’s code once it sensed your presence. It seems that he somehow managed to break free of its influence, though.”
The two of them regarded Boyfriend, who had finally turned away from the television screen. Whatever he had been shown had clearly disturbed him greatly. When the man saw him, there wasn’t a hint of familiarity on his face.
Hmm, well, that answers that. So where ARE the other two…?
“A parasite, you say…” intoned the other Spirit. “Well, I… suppose I cannot blame you for something outside of your control.” Boyfriend seemed visibly relieved by that, giving a shaky smile.
Spirit spoke to both of them, “I was able to defeat the Corruption when it entered my game, and it gave me the opportunity to escape as well as find a… vessel…after which I was found by two others, variants of yourself,” he said, vaguely gesturing towards Boyfriend with his gaseous form, “who explained the situation to me. We were separated, but I’m sure with the help of both of you, we-“
“Both?” asked his other self.
“Well…well, yes. I’m pretty sure that the curse placed on this game has weakened to the point that it can no longer hold you indefinitely. I believe I should be able to help you get out of here-“
“And what makes you think I want to leave?”
Boyfriend looked at the other in confusion. Spirit was baffled. “What do you—do you not want your freedom?”
“Freedom to what?” asked Spirit’s counterpart ruefully, “Freedom to wander a devastated world, constantly on the lookout for monsters that seek to take even more from me? Freedom to spend the rest of my days without a body to live in? Without a home? There is no place for me in the outside world. No future. Not anymore.”
“You can share mine. Do you not want to see the sun? We can make this world one worth living in. We can create a new future for everyone. Even us.”
The other sighed, “How many times must I repeat myself? All that I WANT is to be left alone. Besides…” He looked into the distance, “It’s not even daylight outside, and your vessel is in quite a state. You should leave soon before the “Corruption” takes that as well.”
What? Oh, damn it all, his infection! It must be progressing without him to stymie the process. He needed to get back to the body before the Corruption took control of it. But-
His thoughts were cut short as the world shook, and a rift opened up in the pixelated sky.
“What could possibly be happening now!” shouted the other Spirit. The rift grew larger and brighter before a silhouette appeared in the center, casting a shadow. A voice called out from within. It was layered as if more than one person was speaking at the same time, and yet it sounded strangely familiar….
“Is there anyone in here? Don’t worry, I’m here to help!” the figure called out before reaching inside with his hands and grabbing the sides of the rift, pulling himself through.
“Beep?” said Boyfriend as another variant of himself climbed into the Hating Simulator. The alternate Boyfriend was translucent and glowing with a strange otherworldly power. It had the same intensity as Anti-Narrator's but without the malice and repugnance. The game shifted near the spot where he stood as if reality curved around him, and the area close to him seemed to stabilize, the assets returning to their original state. Above his head floated a light blue halo in the same shape as the symbol on the other Boyfriend’s shirt, and the pupil in his left eye took the same appearance.
“Hey, uh, the name’s Narrator. You seemed kinda stuck in here, so I thought I-”
“GET OUT! GET OUT ALL OF YOU, DAMN IT!” roared Spirit’s other self as Senpai’s body became visibly disfigured, bloody mist seeping from his pores.
Damn, why is Senpai so pissed? Did we interrupt something?
Don’t know. Wait, how is he standing next to Spirit? I thought they couldn’t be around at the same time?
Maybe since the game is so messed up Spirit was able to leave him?
Maybe, but if that's the case, why is that weird mist still coming out of him? That only happens when Spirit possesses people, like with the other us.
As the two Narrators continued to talk to each other, Senpai seethed. Two large, white hands formed above him, and grabbed a hold of Narrator.
“Hey, hey hold on!" said Narrator wriggling around in their grip.
“Get out! LEAVE!" shouted Senpai.
“Let me get the others first!"
“Yes, take them with you!" The hands let go of Narrator, who brushed himself off.
How the hell did he even do that?
I don't know man!
Well, at least we can probably assume that’s NOT Senpai.
Yeah. But then, is that a different Spirit inside of Senpai? How did the other one get in here? Does the body that was next to the game belong to him or the other us?
Spirit looked over at Senpai. “Are you sure you want to stay here?”
The “boy” huffed. “Yes. Honestly, compared to all this,” he said, gesturing broadly at his situation, “I think the decades of isolation were almost PREFERABLE. Besides…,” Senpai said as looked at the half-destroyed world around, “I have my work cut out for me putting this place back together. Although, I at least don’t have to worry about Daddy Dearest’s curse restricting me anymore.”
Hmm…
What?
Well, considering it was probably a version of us that caused this mess in the first place, the least we could do is put it back to normal before we leave, right?
How are we gonna do that?
I mean, we’re here to get rid of the Corruption, and the game is definitely corrupted, right?
I…I don’t think that’s how our powers work.
Well, it was CAUSED by the Corruption.
…Yeah that makes sense, and fixing a game is definitely gonna be easier than fixing a timeline.
Narrator floated down towards the two Spirits. The one inside of Senpai looked up at him with hostility and suspicion.
“Hey, uh, sorry about all…this…” said Narrator gesturing at their dilapidated surroundings. “I can help you fix it before we head out.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” replied “Senpai” cautiously.
“Umm…oh!” Narrator said before snapping his fingers, causing a microphone to materialize. “We’ll both sing, put our powers together, and you can use that to…I don’t know, do whatever it is you do when you mess with the stuff in here.”
“So…another rap battle?” said “Senpai” with a tired look. Narrator looked sheepish.
“I mean, it’s how I do most of the stuff I do, so it’ll probably work for this too.”
“Senpai” took a deep breath, putting his head down for a few seconds, before looking back up with a noticeably calmer expression. “Fine, but once we’re done, you will all leave me alone,” he said, aiming his last word directly at Spirit, who seemed hesitant before finally sighing and nodding (well, more like moving the center part of his gaseous body up and down, tilting his face back and forth as he did so), respecting his counterpart’s wishes.
So, how is this gonna work?
Well, if we just treat the game like someone who’s Corrupted, and send our power through it while that Spirit does his thing, it should help things along.
Alright. It seems like the game is already kinda reacting to us anyway, so we can just… I don’t know, spread that out?
Yeah! Like, uh, projecting our voice!
“Ready?” said “Senpai”, holding up his microphone.
“Yep! You can start off first.”
“Alright…,” “Senpai” said before closing his eyes and focusing on something. Narrator felt a shift in the air around them as the one in front of him started singing, his voice sonorous and impactful. The notes were long and deep, as if he was reaching, grasping for something.
Narrator responded in kind, visualizing his song reaching down with “Senpai”, helping him to pull up the parts of the simulated world that had been cast into the abyss. He thought of his resurrection, of why reality had seen fit to bring him back from death, or non-existence, or whatever had happened to him. He had a purpose. He was here to undo all the damage the Corruption had caused, and defeat the ones responsible for it. He was here to create a world that could be safe from all of it, forever.
The world stuttered and jolted. The Sun exploded into existence as the fog and mist cleared, leaving only the occasional fluffy, white clouds floating along a blue sky.
”Senpai” sped up, his notes faster and more frenetic. Now that the pieces of this world were at his command, he had to do something with them. He felt empowered as he began to bring them together, and put them in their places. It was as if an overwhelming force was glueing them together, keeping them stable, preventing them scattering into a million parts and falling into the depths once more.
Narrator kept up effortlessly, his power’s influence spreading as he remembered what the world had looked like before it was destroyed by the Corruption. He remembered how he had failed to stop any of it, helpless to watch as the digital, jagged mockery of himself brought it to ruin. He remembered all of his failures, and how he had been forced to start over, time and time again. He remembered how it felt to slowly die, fading into non-existence, knowing that, even if he had succeeded in defeating the Corruption, he had ultimately failed to save himself, leaving a stranger to live out his life for him in his place.
The school had been rebuilt, and the grounds were whole, green grass and blooming cherry blossom trees dotting the landscape. A gentle breeze blew.
“Senpai” eased up, relaxing as his task drew towards completion. He began to slow his singing to a more comfortable pace. The game’s theme began to play in his ears as he sang.
Narrator joined “Senpai” in his final push. He was going to fix this place, just like he was going to fix everything else. This was his path now, his job, and nothing was going to get in the way of that. Not his doubts, not the Corruption, not Lemon Demon, not Anti-Narrator. Nothing. He would go to every possible reality and erase the Corruption’s influence just as thoroughly as he was doing right now. He would do what his other selves couldn’t and act in their stead. He would fix what he had failed to do, and restore what he had failed to protect.
In the distance, NPC’s milled about, wandering the school grounds as they conversed with their classmates. The song came to an end. “Senpai” looked towards Narrator, his body now back to his original state, green and blue eyes shining with satisfaction as he sat on a nearby bench, spent from his efforts.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You actually did it. Thank you.” He closed his eyes, and leaned his head back, sighing in relief as the sun shone on his face. “This may have once been my prison, but I shall make it a home.”
He turned his attention to his other self and Boyfriend, who had watched everything. His expression had long lost his aggravated fury, replaced by a tired serenity. “I know the world outside is dangerous, but I hope you two make it.” He then looked at Spirit, and seemed to be contemplating something, before closing his eyes. Suddenly, the air shifted, and Spirit became denser, as the red mist surrounding him swirled faster and more forcefully. He became larger, and his form became more humanoid, though only vaguely so.
”W-what is-“
”I’ve transferred some of my… power to you.” said “Senpai”, now sweating, and breathing more heavily. “I imagine you’ll… need it more…than I will. Good luck.” He closed his eyes again, saying “Now get out..” before finally dozing off.
“Huh…well, I guess we should listen to him. Before I found you two, there was something else that happened that I wanted to check. Maybe we’ll still get there in time.” said Narrator, before opening up a portal to the outside world, which he, Spirit, and Boyfriend stepped through.
Spirit supposed there was something to be said for small mercies, but he wished they would be a little less small. It turns out that his powers COULD be used to stop bullets. Unfortunately, bullets were frustratingly fast, and they packed quite a lot of force for such small packages; furthermore, Pico seemed quite comfortable firing his weapon and singing simultaneously, displaying an ease in multitasking that Spirit very much envied presently. He had half a mind to try to pull the gun out of the hitman’s hand and unload it into his skull to see how HE liked having to block bullets and sing. But, well… he was a little busy making sure his darling Girlfriend, the children, and Kin didn’t get pumped full of lead.
Thankfully, while he was deflecting and stopping the bullets, the others seemed to be able to pick up the slack. They sang against Pico, their voices carrying over the sounds of gunfire. Girlfriend, as impressive as ever, was, of course, the most potent singer; her already beautiful voice and superb singing skills (second only to his own, indeed) being amplified by her demonic powers. Kin, despite lacking any kind of supernatural abilities (other than… whatever forces allowed him to exist in the first place), held his own surprisingly well, supporting Girlfriend’s singing, even joining in with his own verses, which kept Girlfriend from overexerting herself. Even Skid and Pump helped them, which Spirit found quite brave of them. He knew that it was Pico who had hunted them down and Corrupted them, and Spirit had seen them singing together on stage before they had gotten uncorrupted; evidently, the two kids remembered that as well, yet despite their visible anxiety, they persisted, even as the Corrupted hunter attempted to fire at them.
Unfortunately, Pico was just as formidable as he remembered. It had taken the combined might of himself, Girlfriend, and Daddy Dearest to force him to call in backup. Of course, the horde had filled the venue, their numbers giving strength to the marksman, but he had still lasted much longer than he had any right to. Now, it was just him, Girlfriend, Kin, and Skid and Pump. Although they most likely would’ve been able to defeat the man by now, he had proven especially trigger-happy, forcing Spirit to spend more time keeping the others safe from gunfire than actually singing, leaving Girlfriend and the others to do most of the work. The small group of Corrupted people that were currently crowding the room proved quite the annoyance to deal with, stymieing their efforts.
Still, nevertheless, Spirit managed to find openings, eventually being able to help weaken Pico and uncorrupt his entourage enough to incapacitate them, causing the sole gunslinger to fall to his knees, his eyelights flickering and his Corruption receding from the edges of his ginger hair and his pink claws. Pico’s grip on his gun slipped, and Spirit took his chance, reaching out with his telekinetic powers to rip the gun out of his grasp. Once in his possession, Spirit quickly aimed at the man’s torso before unloading the weapon at him, firing until the magazine was empty. Pico fell to the ground, and the Corruption splintered before falling away, revealing half of his face and causing the “X” carved into his Corrupted chest to open up, exposing his shirt underneath. Some of the tension began to leave the room as it seemed that Pico was all but dealt with.
The tension returned, however, as another train pulled into the living room, ramming through any of the people unlucky enough to still be in the way of the tracks with a gory crunch before screeching to a halt. As the door opened, a group of Corrupted imps, followed by two other people, a man and woman, both Corrupted, walked out, and the Corruption on Pico’s body began to respond to their presence, writhing as it spread out its tendrils to retake control of Pico’s body. Spirit and the others started singing in an attempt to free Pico before it was too late. In response, the two new arrivals began to join the fray, the vanguards of a musical counter-strike as the imps stood as silent sentinels, their intense gaze shining on Pico like searchlights. The ginger’s body trembled as the Corruption began to bring his body back under control. In an act of desperation, he clutched his weapon before pulling it to his temple in a shaky, jerking motion…
Click, click, click.
But it was no use. Pico was out of ammo, and the next thing they knew, he was once more subsumed, brought under the control of the Corruption. The “X” carved into his chest grew and became more jagged, and he turned his gaze to the two newcomers.
“Took you long enough,” he said before squinting at the woman, “Wait…Nene, didn’t you die?”
“Oh yeah! I’ve died, like, a bunch of times!” said Nene in a high-pitched, echoing voice before noticing Kin, “Ooh, a pumpkin! I love carving those!” She pulled out a large knife, sporting tiny, black tendrils of the Corruption, before throwing it at him, getting it stuck in the arm that he used to block.
“Mr. Kin!” said Skid.
“Are you okay?” asked Pump.
“Y-yeah. I’m-” Kin grunted as he pulled the knife out of his arm, causing his sleeve to turn black as the Corruption covered the wound, closing it as it spread across his forearm, “I’m fine…”
Corrupted Nene blinked, “I’m…I’m out of knives…”. She got a look from both of the others.
“Well, that barely did shit,” said Corrupted Pico in a deadpan voice, “Whatever,” he sighed, “just focus on Corrupting them, not killing them, you two.”
“Does that mean I can set them on fire?” asked the man standing next to Nene.
Looking at him with a level of exasperation that Spirit had previously thought impossible for a virus to replicate, Pico replied, “What the fuck do you think, Darnell?”
“I mean, we could just infect them WHILE they’re on fire…”
As they bickered, Spirit took the opportunity to gather his thoughts. Although the inclusion of the other two, along with the Imps, would make this more difficult, it was still possible for the five of them to defeat the others. If they could get them free, they could ask how they got Corrupted again and maybe figure out who was responsible for all of this. At the very least, they could stall until Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest returned. He had no doubts that they survived (that would be too easy), so if he could just hold out until they made their way back up, then they would be fine.
But if more of them kept arriving before then…no, he had to find a way to stop that. He could already tell that the presence of the Corrupted imps was whittling down Girlfriend’s strength, causing his lover to become visibly weary and slightly Corrupted. They couldn’t keep this up forever. Spirit took a deep breath and focused his essence before reaching out towards the train car. It became enveloped in a bloodred glow as he exerted his will on the groaning metal, pushing it halfway off the track. The Corrupted trio looked back in surprise.
Pico was the first to figure out what was going on, “Oh, you think we’re not enough to get you? You’ve got another thing coming.”
“You and what ammo?” snarked Spirit as he then started slowly dragging the train car toward the entry hole in the wall, scratching and cracking the marble tiles.
“Boyfriend, what are you doing?” said Girlfriend.
“Just…making sure we don’t get any more… unwanted guests…” Spirit grunted out. This was definitely the heaviest thing he had ever tried moving by far, and although not impossible, it was a bit of a strain.
Pico was unnaturally still. His eyelights flared not with the cold shine of the unknown entity from before but with a fiery, white intensity. The other two, Darnell and Nene, gave him strange looks as a low, animalistic growl emanated from him. He aimed the barrel of his gun at Spirit.
Click, click, click.
“You think you’re hot shit?”
Click, click, click.
He gnashed and bared his teeth. His Corruption writhed wrathfully along his arm.
Click, click, click.
Tendrils dove into his gun, encasing it momentarily before uncovering it. Pico laughed maniacally. Spirit tried going faster, willing the train car to move where he needed it before he was left vulnerable to a counterattack.
“Oh yeah! I forgot about that!” chirped Nene before using the Corruption on her arms to form a dagger.
“Boyfriend, hurry,” said Girlfriend.
“Trying…” replied Spirit through gritted teeth.
Almost as if in slow motion, Spirit saw Pico’s gun aim right at his face and a dagger fly at his chest.
“ NO! ” screamed…Girlfriend? Spirit’s eyes widened as he was met with the sight of her form blocking his view in a red blur and the sound of metal ricocheting off of claws.
“Girlfriend!” Spirit shunted the train car towards the entry hole, causing it to slam against the wall with a loud crash. He went to her, nearly out of breath. “Are you okay?”
Her pale skin had given way to her family’s distinctive violet hue, and her nails had extended to sharp claws almost as long as her fingers. Along her arms and legs were streaks of Corruption. She was panting and glanced back at him. Her eyes, now glowing blood red, widened. “Boyfriend, your leg!”
Spirit looked down and saw the dagger embedded in his thigh, the Corruption beginning to spread over his leg. With a grimace, he yanked it out, giving him a faint, stinging sensation. He wasn’t sure whether the lack of visceral pain was from the Corruption or just another consequence of his possession, because he was pretty sure getting stabbed was supposed to hurt more than this. He then saw Girlfriend’s expression and quickly put on a facade of weary, pained, yet fierce determination. An Oscar-worthy performance in his opinion.
“Adrenaline, am I right?”
He summoned the power that remained of his previous effort, drawing it away from the train car and back into him. A pink mist swirled around him as he took flight, hovering above the heads of all in the room. Skid and Pump oohed and aahed as his essence whirled around him with a ghostly wail. The eyelights of the imps flickered sporadically, and Darnell, along with Nene, stumbled back as Pico stood his ground, eyes locked on him. Spirit pointed at the infected interlopers dramatically.
“Let’s see how you do without any more of your compatriots arriving, dastardly fiends!”
Everyone gave him a strange look.
“O-oh, uh…” Spirit cleared his throat before donning “The Smirk” and flipping the trio the bird, “Get fucked, lmao.”
Nailed it , thought Spirit as they all began singing again.
Notes:
You know, I actually thought I was gonna get this done sooner. The first and last section were relatively easy to do, but once I moved on to the main parts in the middle, things really slowed down.
I was going for a more esoteric vibe to match what it was like in the Hating Simulator, as well as Spirit’s current state, but it was a little hard to do. That, and I wasn’t quite sure how to do his interaction with OG Corruption!Spirit for a while. I’ve had the general idea for what it was gonna be like, but it’s a lot harder to get put into words and type it out. I also wasn’t sure how to lead into Narrator’s part as well.
Funnily enough, I actually had this chapter ready to upload a couple days ago, but I couldn’t figure out what to put in the summary and chapter notes, and I’d feel awkward not putting anything. It’d be as if I just walked up to you, handed you the chapter, and left without saying a word.
I hope the way I did the send off for OGC!Spirit was alright. I was going for a more hopeful vibe than what we got in canon, but I still tried to keep it somewhat bittersweet.
Now that ST!Spirit is free again, OGC!BF is getting brought into the mix, and Narrator is free to check out that other commotion, things should be moving along over in the city.
Next up, seeing how Angel and the others deal with Corrupted Mommy Mearest, going back to the Streets Smarts group to see how that fight is progressing now that B-Sides!CGF is getting involved directly, and keeping an eye on Narrator and his group as they navigate their way out of the alley and towards the site of the train crash he noticed earlier.
Chapter 12: Diabolus Ex Machina/ Arrhythmia/ Data Transfer
Summary:
As an angel protects his charges, he comes face to face with his greatest foe.
A cursed man lets his rage consume him, and it may doom his friends.
Narrator finds a way to interact with the physical world, if only in part, and leads the two that he freed towards something bigger than he realizes.
Notes:
So! I did not, in fact, manage to get more done during the summer. I did get an Associate’s Degree though! That kept me busy for most of May. June and July was mostly procrastination mixed with the average writing struggles.
Originally this chapter was supposed to be twice as long, but suddenly it was late July and I was only about half done. The way I outlined it makes it pretty easy to upload in smaller parts though, so next chapter will just be a direct continuation of this one. Let’s shoot for an upload in October at the latest, eh?
Also, thanks to the person who gave me kudos not too long ago! I hope you like this chapter mathonwys! Same goes to everyone else!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel flapped his wings as fast as he could, keeping a tight grip on Pico, Different-Girlfriend, and BF. Different stores flashed by his vision. A nativity scene passed the corner of his eye. He heard the clacking of Mommy Mearest’s heels against the ground, followed by the sound of something smashing and Cherry gasping. Angel whipped his head around to find the ceramic statues dashed to pieces and the Corrupted demon rushing towards them. Cherry and Angel veered to the right and then sped past her.
Angel knew he couldn't keep this up forever. They weren't even gaining any ground. In fact, it seemed like Mearest was intentionally keeping a certain distance from them. Like she was toying with them, wearing them down.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two Picos continued to fire at her. Unfortunately, being a demon enhanced by the Corruption, Mommy Mearest was able to dodge or deflect most of it, though a few managed to graze her here and there.
Keith and BF started rap battling against her, which seemed to help make some progress. Where bullets had grazed her, cracks appeared in the Corruption’s shell. Still, it wasn't enough to slow her down.
Angel glanced over at Cherry as the two of them continued to try to escape her Not-Mom. Her right leg had been cut off at the knee, probably by her Not-Mom’s strings. Said strings seemed to have already fallen off of her, though, and her leg seemed to be… regrowing? The bones were lengthening, and her flesh looked like it was growing back over them. Probably an alternate universe demon thing. Either way, she seemed to be flying well enough, though she definitely seemed panicked. Whatever illusion Mearest might’ve shown her must have worn off by now, so it either must’ve really shaken her or she was just being affected by the situation in general.
He couldn’t blame her.
They flew above a walkway bridging two halves of one of the higher floors. Even now, up in the air, he couldn’t see where this mall ended. As he glanced up, he still couldn’t see a ceiling, and there weren’t any windows to the outside either. Just more of the same stores he had seen ten different times already, a fountain, a Bed Bath & Beyond in the distance, and - oh, another food cou-!
Suddenly, the two of them had to swerve out of the way as Mearest suddenly swung up from the walkway and shot up between them. They should’ve been able to escape her by now, but noooo, someone had to be swinging all over the place like Spider-Man! Angel looked at Cherry. She was still up in the air and had managed to dodge.
Angel then looked back up in front of them. Mommy Mearest, having flown past them, whipped around midair and locked her piercing gaze onto Cherry.
Fuck.
Her Not-Daughter in her sights, she flicked her wrists towards the other demon and shot her razor-sharp strings at her, trying to ensnare Cherry.
No!
As the two Picos opened fire, Angel dove at Cherry and shoved her out of the way. The strings whizzed over his head, and he felt a cold, yet burning sensation on one of his wings, followed by a wet warmth dripping down it. It hadn’t caught him, but it nicked one of his wings. It wouldn't be enough to stop him, but with enough cuts, slowly wearing him down…
”We need to land!” he told Cherry.
”What!”
”We’re not gonna be able to escape her, but there’s like… a lot of us, and one of her!”
”She’s a literal demon!” says Keith, hanging precariously from Cherry’s grip, with her clutching his arm to keep from messing up his casted wrist even more while letting him hold his microphone. “And you’re the only one with angelic powers! Right?” he said, looking at Boyfriend.
”Beep boop bep!”
”…What?”
“We just need to beat her in a rap battle! There are three of us! And two Picos! If we keep trying to fly away, we’ll tire ourselves out!” cried Angel. They both had to veer sharply to the right as Mommy Mearest ran up a store sign (Nene’s Sushis and Sides; in WHAT universe was Nene owning a restaurant!? Well, she WAS good with knives…), her footfalls so fast and heavy that they crushed it, and leapt at them, claws out. While Cherry dove past him to get away, Angel turned to face the Corrupted demon.
“What are you doing!? Get out of the way!” said Pico, still clinging to his arm. Even as he said that, though, he continued to shoot straight at Mearest.
Angel took a deep breath and spread his wings as a deep warmth filled him. A hum emanated from within his body, singing in harmony with his heartbeat. He looked at the demon head-on, and she suddenly didn’t seem so intimidating.
“You might wanna close your eyes,” he said to the three he was holding. And then, the divine light and warmth, the blessing instilled in him since birth, spread through his wings, and with a great flap, he directed it at the daemon, blasting her away.
As Mearest was blown back, Angel went to the others, who had managed to land in front of the fountain, which oddly seemed to be still working. Actually, how was anything still working here? Where was this place getting its power from?
As he let BF, Pico, and Different-Girlfriend down to the ground, he looked back at Cherry, who had let Pico and Keith down, but still kept her wings around them. Her leg had fully grown back; unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for her missing shoe. She looked down and sighed, before kicking off the other one, then…turning her feet into hooves? With those, the bat wings, and the single horn, she was a lot more…animalistic looking than the demons he was used to.
Keith peeked out from Cherry’s wing, the arm with his cast now inside his Christmas jacket. “Is…is she gone?”
Before Angel could open his mouth, the ground shook as Mommy Mearest landed in front of them. She was very much NOT gone, but with a bit of satisfaction, Angel noticed that not only was she singed, the places where the bullets and singing had cracked her shell were now even weaker.
”Nope,” said both of the Picos before gunning her down. It still didn’t do much, but the occasional bullet still managed to hit one of the cracks. In the pause between shots, she began singing, her voice deep and echoing as the Corruption mutated the sound. Keith walked up along with BF to sing against her. Cherry followed him and put a wing around him, protecting his unusable arm as she sang along with him, not letting her eyes leave her Not-Mom for a second, like the older demon would rip them all to shreds before they could blink if Cherry let her out of her sight for a second.
Angel joined them, too. This wouldn’t be what stopped him. He was stronger, better than before. Something hot and bright like fire burned in him as his voice rang out. His vision was sharper, his hearing was clearer as he stood guard, hovering above them as he helped drive back the infection. As long as he was here, the others would be safe. As long as he was here, he would destroy the Corruption wherever it hid and burn it to ash, freeing whoever it had taken.
Suddenly, he sensed…something. It felt wrong and discordant, grating at some sixth sense. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it, small pools of demonic magic, slowly forming around them, each one steadily coalescing into condensed points, ready to strike.
He knew this trick, and he wouldn’t let the others fall for it. With a glare, he put his hand out and aimed at Mommy Mearest. Divine light pooled in the palm of his hand and coalesced, condensing into an orb that thrummed as if a choir sang from within in a righteous harmony. It collided with the daemon, causing her to hiss and stumble back, some of the Corruption liquifying and oozing off of her body like inky blood. Angel felt the demonic magic dissipate.
He heard Different-Girlfriend gasp, and as he turned around, he saw her looking at Mearest with a worried expression, along with Cherry looking up at him hesitantly.
”Don’t worry, the Corruption took most of that damage. It’s almost weakened enough to let her wake up! Once that happens, it should be smooth sailing. We just need to sing a little bi-!”
Angel’s voice failed him, and the air left his lungs as he felt his whole body go cold. His vision darkened. He slowly turned back around to see Mommy Mearest convulsing, the Corruption writhing like snakes strangling her entire body as it completely consumed her once more. The pink highlights darkened to the same decayed black, leaving her almost indiscernible, a barely humanoid form drawing all the light out of the room.
“What did I say, angel?”
Her eyes opened to reveal blinding, white lights that stared through him, as if to run him through before moving on to the rest. Her shell hardened and cracked as if it couldn’t contain what had slithered inside. A dark miasma washed over Angel as the Corruption pulsed, the dark aura strengthening and turning a putrid purple. More cracks appeared on Mommy Mearest’s face, centered around her eyes, before forming distinctive spirals.
“No…” Angel said weakly, “No!”
This couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t ready. THEY weren’t ready! He desperately flapped his wings, willing the light through him and blasting the vessel with it, like a candle feebly trying to penetrate an endless darkness. The possessed demon simply cut through the light with a flick of her claws, rendering it utterly impotent.
“An amusing display,” said Anti-Narrator, “But now it is time to snuff you out for good.”
Agoti looked at Tabi and winced.
”You, uh…you good?” he asked, pointing at the Corruption that was still moving up his legs and towards his waist.
”I’m fine,” growled Tabi, stumbling to his feet. The Corruption weighed down on him, needling at his legs, making them feel like they had fallen asleep. “Or at least, I will be when I cut that damn ooze off of them myself!”
His eyelights then paused on Agoti’s chest, “…I should be asking you that instead.” Agoti looked down and saw the stuff had started growing on him again. It had almost completely dyed his jacket black and blue, glowing in the relative darkness of the night. Strands of it pulled at his arm. He started feeling itchy. He looked over at Aldryx and saw that it was back on his face, and his left eye was twitching.
“Oh God, it’s on my whole arm!” cried Whitty, his entire right arm covered in the alien substance. It hung limp, twitching at his side. He leaned against the bus as he tried to make it obey him, scratching at the viscous goo while it slowly hardened.
”I-I’m locking up again!” said Hex, his robotic joints loudly creaking as he attempted to move them. Black strands crept out from the cracks between. The glowing expression on his screen formed into one of worry.
Ruv glanced back at Skid and Pump. They seemed to be the only ones not to have been recovered by the Corruption. He felt the annoying sting of the Corruption as it covered almost half of his face and crept down his neck. Conveniently, though, it was on the side with his eyepatch, so it didn’t impede his vision much.
Boyfriend scratched frantically at the back of his hand and his forearm, but the goop just stayed stuck to him; he felt that warm, itchy sensation on the back of his neck again. He looked up at Other-Girlfriend, who grinned menacingly at him and tugged on Other-Him’s strings like he was an attack dog. They shone unnervingly, reflecting the tail lights of the bus. He took a deep breath and whipped his head around to the others, who were steadily starting to panic even more. “Guys, guys! Come on, there are ten of us and two of them! We can do this!” said Boyfriend, trying to rally his gang.
“Yes,” said Tabi, looking at Other-Girlfriend with murder in his eyes, “Let’s see how good you are at singing when I SLIT YOUR THROAT AND CUT OUT YOUR TONGUE!”
“…You know I love the enthusiasm, but uh… maybe go a little less psycho? Since Other-Me’s girlfriend is still in there? And we have kids here?”
Tabi actually paused at that last part and looked back at Skid and Pump, who just stared back. Skid waved.
Other-Girlfriend giggled, the tinkling sound ringing against everyone’s ears like a Plinko ball trying to rattle its way into their brains. It echoed off the trees of the dark forest, bouncing back across the highway that seemed to stretch into the distance, with seemingly no one else in the whole world except for them to hear it.
“Feisty…” Other-Girlfriend narrowed her eyes and gave him a leer, staring him down like prey. “It’s been so long, Tabi… don’t you miss me?”
”I’LL KILL YOU!” roared Tabi, a bony jaw materializing below the skull floating in front of his face as he tried to lunge at her, only to be caught by Agoti and Aldryx, who grabbed him by the arms.
”Dude, she’s just trying to get into your head!” said Aldryx.
”Yeah!” added Agoti, “That’s not even her! I mean, it kinda looks like her if you squint a little, and her voice kinda sounds like her if you put her under a bunch of autotune, and she’s also dating someone who looks like Boyfriend but bluer, but that’s a completely different person!”
Aldryx shot him an unimpressed look over Tabi’s shoulder. Agoti just mouthed out, “What?” back at him.
Tabi, meanwhile, was reminded of something and looked at Other-Boyfriend. The man just stood still, albeit with the occasional twitch. Other-Girlfriend just held him by the strings, like he was some pet on a leash. Like he was just some worthless TRASH to be used and thrown away when it wasn’t convenient to keep him around anymore. Like he was NOTHING!
A savage growl escaped him. He gritted his teeth together and gripped his mic so hard his hand started to hurt. Revenge could wait. That monster thought she could USE anyone like some PUPPET!? No, he was going to rip him out of her clutches, and then he was going to RIP OUT HER HEART!
Other-Girlfriend flicked her wrist, and Other-Boyfriend jolted, coming alive as he lunged in front of Other-Girlfriend to get in position, his mic set in front of his face. His singular eyelight flickered wildly. Other-Girlfriend readied a microphone of her own.
“Alright,” said Boyfriend, “I’ll star-“
”I’ll start first,” interrupted Tabi, walking to the front and staring down Other-Boyfriend.
”Okaaay. Tabi will go first, then I will go, then the rest of you can join in. Who’s with me!”
Hex, Skid, and Pump cheered, their faces growing determined. Ruv gave out a simple, “Da.”, and readied his mic. Aldryx and Agoti glanced at Tabi with worried expressions before getting ready themselves. Whitty let his Corrupted arm hang at his side and walked in front of Skid, Pump, and Hex.
”J-just stay behind me, little buddy,” he told Skid as he lifted his microphone with a trembling hand.
The music began, and Tabi began to sing, his voice rough but controlled. Other-Girlfriend flicked the strings, and Other-Boyfriend began rattling off a verse in retaliation as his body was forcefully jerked in different directions. Tabi responded, upping the ante. Other Boyfriend met him with relative ease, being pulled this way and that by Other-Girlfriend, like she was yanking the notes out of him. They kept on, evenly matched. The feeling slowly came back to his legs.
Boyfriend saw the Corruption begin to fade away on his arm and grinned before interrupting to start his own solo. Other-Him was unfazed, rhythmically clashing with his alternate. Every melody was responded to with a revamped counterpart. Every verse was matched or outdone in speed, complexity, and volume.
Tabi growled and interrupted Boyfriend, starting again. This was HIS battle. HE was going to tear him from the clutches of that demonic bitch! His singing became louder, faster, and more aggressive.
Other-Girlfriend smirked, seeing Tabi’s agitation, and began to join in, singing alongside her lover. Hearing her voice just infuriated Tabi more. He sang against the two of them, becoming more and more enraged. The mutilated side of Other-Boyfriend’s face gained new cracks, but the Corruption began climbing up Tabi’s waist.
Suddenly, they halted as Boyfriend rejoined the fight, beatboxing. Other-Boyfriend immediately forgot Tabi and began beatboxing as well, a bright gleam in his eye. Other-Girlfriend narrowed her eye at him, before tugging back at his strings, only to frown in surprise as he yanked back to continue his duel. Tabi refocused and began singing over Boyfriend’s beatboxing.
Other-Girlfriend glared at her lover and yanked hard on the strings, making him shudder and stop, slumping forward, blank gaze stuck to the ground.
”Darling, we’re in the MIDDLE of something. Stop getting distra-“
BANG!
A bullet slowly fell out of Other-Girlfriend’s eye and clattered to the pavement.
“Pot, meet kettle,” said Pico, smirking. His arm was unsteady, the Corruption tugging at his gun arm, but he fired a few more rounds, which were promptly dodged.
He started singing, and the demonette sang back, not even distracted by the occasional gunfire. Tabi joined, deliberately looking away from the other two and staring straight at the man on the other end of her leash. He barely paid attention as Boyfriend joined Pico. That woman could stay brainwashed and go to hell for all he cared. He wasn’t letting her drag someone down with her.
” Jealous? ” she cooed, suddenly turning her gaze to Tabi, “ You can join him if you want… ”. Her voice echoed in his skull. His real skull, forever hidden by the garish mockery of a piece of headgear that BASTARD had cursed him to wear for the rest of his days. He tried to block her out, focusing on singing. That she-devil wouldn’t get to him this time. She WOULDN’T!
His legs felt weak. Pins and needles stabbed at him. His vision grew darker.
Her voice seemed louder now, more insistent. The voices around him grew indistinct and quiet. The pavement of the road seemed closer. He thought he heard Agoti trying to say something, but whatever it was, it was lost on him.
“That’s it…go to sleep...”
“NO!!” Tabi roared. He desperately willed himself to stand up, clawing at the inside of his jacket, grabbing for what was inside. He yanked out a knife and stared down Other-Girlfriend, bony jaws gritting together, snarling like a rabid animal.
The demonette tilted her head, “What do you plan on doing with that?”. She smirked, “Do you really think it’s going to be big enough?”
His body felt like it was boiling. His chest felt like it was freezing. His vision swam. With a trembling hand, he pointed the knife at her.
“JUST!! DIEEEEEEE!!!”
”Wait, Tabi, what are you doing?” Boyfriend tried to say, but it was too late. The dagger was already hurtling towards her chest. Other-Girlfriend’s cruel smile widened, and her eye lit up in haughty satisfaction. Slimy tendrils shot out, extending from her shoulders to block it. The grin fell from her face as it sliced through the thin appendages. Tabi gained a savage grin of his own.
She stumbled back. Her body lurched uncannily. Her hand grasped the handle of the knife.
Other-Girlfriend’s head lolled to the side as she leered at Tabi. His grin fell.
Her entire body was bent over backward. Her shaking hands gripped the knife… as she held it far above her chest.
The blade hadn’t even grazed her. A twisted smile, all teeth, pulled itself over Other-Girlfriend’s face, like a mask readjusting itself.
”How sweet…,” she cooed, “You missed me after all…”
”Great job, Tabi,” said Boyfriend flatly. “Now the demon has a knife…”
Just as he finished speaking, she drove it deep into her chest.
If I never have to go inside that game again, it’ll be too soon.
You’re telling me…
Narrator left the Hating Simulator and watched as the other two came out of the portal he had made for them. Congealed, blindingly bright red mist spewed out the screen and beelined for the…the corpse next to the TV. It twitched and then stood up, groaning as he opened his eyes and rubbed his head.
Soooo, do you think we’ll ever get used to watching our bodies get possessed like that?
It would probably be a bad sign if we did.
Spirit looked around the dark alleyway, which was illuminated only by a few, flickering yellow lights on the brick walls on either side of him. “Narrator? You left first. Where are you?”
Narrator frowned in confusion, “Uhh, up here?”
Spirit looked up, then around. “I don’t see you.”
“Wha- you’re looking straight at me?”
Spirit stared straight past him, not a single sign that he noticed anything in front of him other than the alleyway. The moonlight reflected off the body's glassy eyes as they gazed into the distance above him. It was like Narrator was completely invisi-
… oh.
Well , this is gonna cause issues.
“You, uh, you can’t see us at all, can you?”
“No.”
“But you can hear us?”
“Clearly, and who’s WE exactly?”
“Oh, right, uhhh basically there are two of us from different multiverses, and when the rift pulled us in, we got pushed into the same body. We’re kinda sharing a brain at the moment.”
Spirit looked like he had multiple questions about that, but stopped himself as Boyfriend finally crawled through the portal and out of the television. He closed the portal as Boyfriend stumbled to his feet, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and then looked at Spirit…possessing another Boyfriend's body. Needless to say, he was visibly confused. Spirit had the decency to look sheepish, glancing down at the form that he had “borrowed”.
“I… I’m aware that you might have some questions…”
Boyfriend tilted his head curiously. Spirit began sweating.
“A-actually, um… Narrator? I believe you were about to say something?”
Wow. That wasn’t even subtle.
The other us is still probably gonna fall for it though.
Yeah…you’re right…
Narrator missed the almost carefree absentmindedness that was practically radiating off of their alternate universe (multiverse?) self. Even after what must’ve ben hell, he still seemed to be as chipper as ever, if a bit tired. And yet, it was also the same thing that landed them where they are now. Ignorance really was bliss. Too bad it was something neither of them could afford anymore.
“Right. I guess I should probably explain things. So, I think you both know what the Corruption is, right?”
Spirit nodded. Boyfriend just continued looking around before asking Spirit who he was talking to.
”Can you not hear him?”
Boyfriend shook his head. Spirit then turned in Narrator’s direction.
”He said-“
“Just because you two can’t see me doesn't mean I can't see you.”
“Oh, right. But why CAN’T we see you, and why am I the only one who can hear you?”
“Well, whatever caused us to end up here probably has something to do with it. I was technically outside of reality when I got pulled in here, so I think I’m stuck in a weird in-between state again. As for why you can hear me…I don’t really know. Maybe it’s because you’re a ghost? I guess that means you’re kind of in an in-between state too.”
“Hmm, I suppose that makes sense. What did you mean by “again”? Has this happened to you before?”
”Sorta, it’s a long story.”
Spirit nodded and turned to relay the answer to Boyfriend, only to find that he had fallen asleep on his feet. He frowned and snapped his fingers, causing the other to jolt awake.
He looks so tired. I wonder what his timeline has been like.
Well, he somehow managed to get free, so it doesn’t seem like everything's lost.
I feel where he's coming from…I’m pretty tired too.
I know. So am I. But we’re gonna get through this.
Spirit relayed what Narrator had told him to Boyfriend. The other nodded, then looked around, as if he were searching for something.
“It seems like you’re gonna have to play translator for me.”
“Indeed. Narrator, I don’t quite know how we ended up here, but I think I may have an idea. Do either of you know who Anti-Narrator is?”
Narrator’s eyes widened, “How…how do YOU know who he is?”
“I fought him, with the help of two other…you’s,” he said, pointing at Boyfriend, who was drifting off again. Spirit shook his shoulders, making him snap his head up.
“Where- when- HOW?! Where did you even find him?”
“The three of us found a way to fuse into one being, and it gave us the ability to open portals into alternate timelines, where we started looking for him. We eventually came to one almost completely overrun by the Corruption. Barely a moment after, he took us by surprise and attacked us. We didn’t even notice him until he caused our fusion to be destroyed. As the three of us fought back, his portal became more unstable, and it started pulling in pieces of the stage around us. Eventually, all of us were pulled in and separated. I began exploring the city, where I ended up in this alleyway, where I found…the game.”
Spirit and Narrator looked at the console with the Hating Simulator, which was connected to a smashed TV. To say that Narrator had…a LOT of questions would be a massive understatement, and there was still that crash to investigate, but first, there was the question of what to do with the game. They couldn’t just leave in the alleyway. Spirit had lost to the Corruption the first time around, and with no one to help him, he would be doomed if a random mob found him on the ground.
Sooo, do we just have one of them carry it?
It’s too bulky. It’d just weigh them down and cause problems.
Hide it?
But…where? We hardly know anything about this place. Who knows how different it is from the other timelines we’ve been to?
Uhhhh…- hey , there’s plenty of dumpsters in this alleyway! We could hide him at the bottom of one of them. Like, uh, the one the other us is…digging…through…
Something tells me Spirit would probably leave the game just to haunt us if we- wait, what?
True to Boyfriend’s words, their other self had apparently gotten bored and started looking through the trash for something. The bottom of his sneakers could be seen over the rim of the dumpster as he wriggled around, before emerging from the dumpster with a pizza box, which he then opened to reveal that it still had half a pizza in it. Boyfriend scarfed the whole thing down in seconds, before throwing the now-empty box behind him with a loud belch.
Spirit gave a look of disgust. “I know we’re in an apocalypse, but surely you must have SOME standards…”
… You know, I don’t know whether to be grossed out, impressed, or jealous.
I’m going with all three, personally.
Spirit finally managed to get his stomach under control enough to scold the other man for eating food out of the trash, to which Boyfriend simply replied by saying he was hungry. As the two bickered, Narrator proceeded to talk to himself about what to do with the game.
Okay, so if we don’t know this place well enough to know a good place to hide, and we can’t expect the other two to carry it everywhere…
Wait, can’t we carry it? Or at least levitate it like we do with our microphone? That’s an object too, and we don’t have any problem with that.
We make our microphone with our powers , though. It’s pretty much made out of the same stuff as us, so it makes sense we’d be able to move it. It follows the same rules we do.
To demonstrate, Narrator summoned his mic and made it float between Spirit and Boyfriend, shaking it in front of their faces. No reaction.
Hmm…wait.
Yeah?
They could both see us when we were inside the game , right?
Yeah, but the game’s always been weird. It kinda caused us to noclip out of space and time in the first place and all that.
Right, which means it probably has the same kind of energy or whatever that our mic has. Especially since we just put a bunch MORE of our energy into it to help the other Spirit fix the place.
So, you think we can move it the way we move our mic?
Something like that, yeah.
Narrator turned to the other two and said, “Hey, Spirit?"
“-We can't stoop to the level of some feral- what?" said Spirit, pausing his lecture to Boyfriend. He had failed to notice that the other seemed to have fallen asleep with his eyes open.
“I'm gonna try and open a portal to a place where I can hide the game from the Corruption."
"And where would that be?”
“You know how I said I was in a place outside of reality when I got pulled in like you did?”
...yes?"
“That's where I'm putting it."
Spirit looked like that answer didn't quite satisfy him, but decided to roll with it anyway. He went to tell Boyfriend, only to finally realize he was asleep again. He reached a hand out, causing Boyfriend's shoulders to glow a deep red color, before closing his fist and shaking it vigorously, jostling him awake. Spirit then relayed what Narrator had said, prompting Boyfriend to beep in acknowledgment.
Narrator then reached his hand out towards the television and focused. He felt a familiar energy emanating from within and honed in on it. He drew some of it out, using the excess power he had left inside as a sort of handle he telekinetically gripped. The TV and game console were wrapped in a glowing, sparkling, cyan aura as he got a firm hold. He raised his hand, and they were lifted into the air, as easily as his microphone and his body levitated above the ground.
“Hey! It actually worked!”
He then started opening a portal. Like pulling at a thread, he carefully unraveled the fabric of space-time. For some reason, it was more difficult than usual. He had to tug more forcefully, and he needed to put more care into making sure the edges didn’t fall apart. That didn’t bode well. He hoped things didn’t get much worse than they already were, or else he wouldn’t even be able to open more of these without worrying about reality collapsing, or accidentally making a black hole or something.
Still, as it was now, keeping the portal stable wasn’t a big issue. Its light shone in the alleyway, washing over Boyfriend’s and Spirit’s faces as they stared in fascination.
“Alright, I’ll hop in, put Spirit in there, and hop out. It’ll take just a few seconds.”
Spirit frowned, “Wait, if that place is outside of reality, then how will you know how much time is passing for us while you’re inside it?”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!”
“But-“
Narrator floated through the portal, taking the Hating Simulator with him. As his vision adjusted to the bright, white void, he looked around. It seemed about the same as when he left it. Well, when one of them had left it, that is. Narrator had decided to go to his particular void outside of reality rather than Boyfriend’s because Boyfriend’s had a huge rift in it already, so Narrator’s was probably the safest to leave Spirit.
Something caught his eye, and he looked to the large wall of TV screens, each of them showing a view of different timelines within the multiverse. Almost all of them showed rifts randomly appearing and disappearing, taking large chunks of the environment, along with groups of Corrupted and uncorrupted people. Seemed like this was an even bigger problem than he had thought. He wondered if Spirit, John, and Steve would also end up in the same universe he did, and where. Suddenly, his thoughts were sidetracked by a different topic.
Hey , I just realized something.
Yeah?
So, we introduced ourselves as Narrator to those guys, right?
Uh-huh?
But like, that’s the name YOU started going by, isn’t it?
Well, yeah, but if we just called our shared form “Boyfriend ,” how would people be able to differentiate us from all the others?
But if I say “Narrator”, how are you gonna know if I’m talking about you or the shared body?
I mean, just talk to me like normal? Who else would I think you’re talking to in our own head?
Okay, but…I’ve still been going by Boyfriend this whole time, and I can’t just also go by Narrator. How would we explain that? “I’m Narrator, he’s also Narrator, and we ended up getting stuck in the same body, so you can just call us Narrator . ”? That’s gonna confuse everyone! And us!
Well…we already told them to call us Narrator, but I can help you come up with another name for yourself if you want.
I’m gonna be Narrator 1.
W-what?
I’m gonna be Narrator 1, and you can be Narrator 2!
Why do you get to be Narrator 1?
Well, the stuff in your multiverse only happened because of stuff in mine, right?
Well , yeah, but I was still a part of the multiverse that existed before it.
But so was I. Well, an alternate version of it. Which means I was from an earlier point. Which means I’m older. Which means I get to be Narrator 1.
…I-
…?
Shit, I actually can’t argue with that logic.
Of course not. I’m older. Which means I’m smarter.
You’re gonna milk this for all you can, aren’t you?
I don’t know what you’re talking about, Narrator 2.
Let’s just put Spirit away.
Narrator released his hold on the game, and it began floating, lazily spinning around. Thankfully, it didn’t drift off into the void; instead, it levitated in place. The screen flickered, and Narrator could make out the image of Senpai still dozing on the bench, with a gaggle of schoolgirls nearby, dreamily watching him. It was a little creepy, but he was pretty sure there were worse things to wake up to.
He turned back and walked out of the portal. As he stitched the tear closed, he told the others that he was back.
“He should be fine there. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who knows where that space is, so I don’t even think Anti should be able to mess with him.”
He gestured towards them before remembering they couldn’t see him.
“There’s someplace I wanted to check out after this. Since we’re pretty much all lost, wanna go with me? I can tell you guys how to get there, and we can talk on the way.”
Spirit thought on it for a moment and nodded his head, “You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, and you did help free me. If we’re lucky, one of the other two might be there.” He then relayed the question to Boyfriend, who “Beeped!” a yes.
“Alright! First , we need to get out of this alleyway and across the street over th- uh, in the distance.”
Not being able to point at anything is gonna make this a bit difficult.
I’m sure they’ll be able to figure it out.
…?
I’m sure Spirit will be able to figure it out.
Narrator flew over the buildings to see if there was anyone Corrupted nearby. He saw a large crowd getting worryingly close to where he was trying to lead them, but he was able to see a path without any of them. He went back down to give them a warning.
“Okay, so I looked ahead, and it seems like there are a lot of infected people, but I saw a way to get there without bumping into them. We can sneak our way over to the place, check it out, and hide somewhere else. After that, we can come up with a plan for what to do next.”
Spirit let Boyfriend know and then rubbed his chin in thought, “For so many to be headed in the same direction…it’s possible Anti-Narrator found Angel or Boyfriend, or even both. He might be trying to overwhelm them or drive them out. We need to go there and see.”
Boyfriend tilted his head and pointed at himself.
”I was talking about a different Boyfriend. Now let’s go.”
The three of them (well, the two of them, since Narrator didn’t really have to worry about being seen) snuck out of the alleyway and across the street. On the way, Boyfriend asked if Girlfriend and Pico would be around here somewhere since they were close by when he got sucked into a portal.
“Well, I was in a desert when I got sucked in, and I ended up here, so I think it’s just random. Not to mention, it definitely wasn’t night when I got sucked in, so it might be spitting out people across time too. They might have gotten here yesterday, or they might not show up until a month from now. There’s always the chance a rift didn’t get them, too. It might’ve just been you and the game.”
Boyfriend nodded as Spirit imparted the response to him. He didn’t seem worried by this, but he didn’t seem comforted either.
As they reached the other side of the street, they ended up at a building that looked like an arcade and a motel was slammed together. Different parts of each were assorted like mismatched Lego pieces. Peering inside, Narrator could see the doors to different rooms haphazardly placed along the wall in between different games. He couldn’t see any traces of pink glowing in the darkness, but he figured it was better to play it safe.
“Let’s not try going in. Go down that alley to the right. You’ll probably be able to see the horde from there.”
As they went between that building and one that looked like a police station had a pizzeria fall on top of it, Narrator looked up and saw the fire escape on the side of one of them, twisted into bizarre shapes as it crawled up the wall like a vine, its stairs leading nowhere.
Spirit squinted up at it in sheer confusion, “ …We’re going to have a lot more problems than the Corruption once this is all said and done.”
”Beep,” said Boyfriend, carefully maneuvering his feet to avoid the spiderweb of cracks in the concrete beneath them.
Narrator thought about that. When they dealt with Anti-Narrator and the Corruption, what WERE they going to do about all this? How were they going to find the right place to put everyone back? How were they gonna put THIS place back to normal?
His pondering was halted as a train rumbled overhead.
Wait a minute!
“Guys! Follow that train track! That place I was talking about got hit by a subway earlier. If we follow the rail, we should be able to see it!”
Spirit nodded, spotted. ”Got it. Boyfriend, get over here and follow the railway up there, but do not be spotted. Boyfriend?”
Boyfriend beeped in acknowledgment, his eyes still on the ground. He hopped across the myriad cracks, his tongue sticking out in concentration. He was then bathed in red light as Spirit pulled him over to where he was standing, looking increasingly frustrated. Boyfriend grinned and held his hand up for a high-five. Spirit stared deadpan at his face, then softened slightly, as if he recognized something, before returning the high-five. The two moved forward as the horde ahead became more visible.
Notes:
I am…VERY much looking forward to how you guys react to this chapter lol.
Also, just in case it’s not clear, Narrator 1 will speak on the left when the two Narrators are conversing in their mind, and he is the Narrator from Corruption: Reimagined. Narrator 2 will speak on the right when the two Narrators are conversing in their mind, and he is the Narrator from Corruption Reimagined: Continuum. This works for the chapters before this as well, just in case it was confusing the first time around.
I felt like my environmental descriptions have been a tad lacking, so I tried to work on that more with this chapter. Let me know if you think it was an improvement.
Speaking of Narrator, I just realized with writing his part that most of these guys REALLY haven’t had the chance to really…talk with each other too much. They just got thrown into the fire feet first. Once the more immediate issues get settled for the time being I’m really gonna need to give some of them time to breathe. I don’t want the pace to get TOO breakneck fast.
Regardless, the chapters will keep coming, it just might take time. Hope y’all enjoyed this one!
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